The Lorax | Teen Ink

The Lorax

February 24, 2022
By Anonymous

Imagine a world without trees. How would we live the way we do? Let alone be able to breathe. Everything would be different. Now imagine someone cutting down all the trees. Taking that from the world. This actually happens in a movie called The Lorax. The aspect of the world, the storyline, and characters are all reasons The Lorax is a must watch. 

First is the aspect of the world. The Lorax covers the topic of deforestation. In the past a man named the Once-ler came to an area with beautiful trees. He ended up cutting down every single one. When the last one fell you could clearly see the difference all around. The sky was black with clouds , air brittle. It used to be so lovely there, with the water flowing and the bright trees everywhere. The trees being gone changed all of that. When the trees fell, the animals the Once-ler used to be friends with ended up leaving too. That shows the fact that animals cannot live without certain quantities. Over time a new town fell in the area. They now had to pay for air. Which is a necessity to live, they don’t have an option. The towns folk see things very differently than how they used to be. They think buying air is normal and that trees are dirty and unneeded. Yet they don’t know that outside of their little town box is the world dying. Pollution everywhere with the air thinning. The Lorax covers how one act can change everything. The aspect of the world is just one part in the amazing story line. 

The plot of The Lorax is very detailed. It starts off in the present normal and happy. Once it takes you back to the past things get rough. The problems start there and only get worse till fixed. The way it travels back and forth between present and past helps you keep up with all that is happening. The story of the past is told from the perspective of the Once-ler. He decided to go on a search for the perfect material to make his thneed. He cut down one of the truffula trees that were perfect for the thneed. After the first tree fell, all the animals were shocked. It also summoned the Lorax otherwise known as the speaker of the trees. He tried to get the Once-ler to leave. Over the next few days his new thneed invention started to grow. Which involves cutting down more trees to make more thneeds. Once all the trees were gone and the Once-ler ran out of sales, he realized what he had done. All the animals left, including the Lorax too. The world different already. Around 40 years later the Once-ler was still regretting what he had done. Along came a kid who wanted to learn about trees. With the help of him and his friends they were able to get a seed. The mayor of the town has a different idea though. He wants to stop any thought of trees. He will do whatever it takes for that seed to not get planted. This race against each other is what makes the storyline so great. But without the characters it wouldn’t be the same.

The 3rd reason The Lorax is a must watch is its characters. There are 2 main characters. We have the Once-ler who you have heard about, and the kid whose name is Ted. Ted has friends and family who help him with his journey. The reason he is going through all this work is because of a girl named Ashley. Ashley loves trees, all she wants is to see a real one. Ted will do anything for that to happen. So he starts the story. He found out about the Once-ler from his grandma. She was alive when trees were still everywhere. So of course she wanted to help out Ted. The only thing that was stopping him, is the mayor named Aloysius O’hare. O’hare owns the company which sells air making him a zillionaire. He does not want trees to come back making it so people would no longer buy from his company. My personal favorite character is all the animals who used to live in the truffula tree forest. There were baby bears, fish, and birds everywhere. The Lorax himself is a great character too. He was always thinking about the animals. Most of the characters have a great personality making the movie enjoyable.

The aspect of the world, storyline, and characters make this movie a must watch. From the way it covers mistakes, to the characters who make you not want to stop watching. It’s a great children's movie and you will be rewatching it all the time. Not only does it make you wonder what life would be like without trees, it also shows that actions have consequences. Which is a great skill to learn. The next time you are scrolling through netflix, pull up the Lorax and enjoy. 



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