or simply Horton) is a 2008 American animated adventure musical comedy film based on the 1954 book of the same name by Dr. Seuss, produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox.

The film was directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, from a screenplay written by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio.

It stars the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell as Horton the Elephant and Mayor Ned McDodd, respectively, alongside Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Dan Fogler, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, and Amy Poehler.

Once Horton begins carrying the speck with him, the city starts experiencing strange phenomena (earthquakes and changes in the weather), and the mayor finds his attempts to caution Whoville challenged by the town council, led by the opportunistic yet condescending chairman.

Eventually, the Kangaroo, refusing to believe that the Whos exist, enlists a sinister but idiotic vulture named Vlad Vladikoff to get rid of the speck by force.

Horton refuses, and despite the heartfelt speech that he gives, the Kangaroo orders the animals to rope and cage him, and to have the speck and Whoville destroyed in a pot of beezlenut oil.

Meanwhile, JoJo grabs the horn used to project Horton's voice, runs up the highest tower, and screams his first word, breaking through the sound barrier just seconds before the speck hits the oil, and causing the rest of the animals to hear them.

[20][2] The art director for Robots, Steve Martino, along with story consultant and additional scene director Jimmy Hayward,[21] created a model of protagonist Horton and some animation tests to showcase their design ideas to Geisel,[20] who eventually agreed on "a seven-figure deal" for both the book and its predecessor Horton Hatches the Egg.

Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio were then hired to write the script,[22] to be directed by Hayward and Martino with a set release date of early 2008.

[24] To make Horton different from the mammoths Blue Sky created for the Ice Age series, he would at times stand and walk upright and bipedally on two legs in a way that made him look like "a fat man in an elephant suit".

The directors noticed Horton's design in the book varied according to his emotion, and the 3D wireframe tried to allow for the same effects, with a bigger mouth to allow for wider facial expressions like those of Jim Carrey.

[26][27] Near the end of the picture, the cast comes together and sings the song "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon.

[32] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter called it "a delight, brimming with colorful, elastic characters and bountiful wit.

"[33] John Anderson of Variety wrote: "The real stars of the movie are the animators, who imbue even the overgrowth in Horton's jungle with a certain floppy Seuss-ishness.