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From Sour Kangaroos to those tiny Whos

Looking back on the films of Dr. Seuss!

By Allie Davison, Staff Writer

heodor Seuss Geisel (1904— T= has been a household

name since the 1930s, but you probably know him better as Dr. Seuss. His works have sold over 222-million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 15 languages. He’s a rock star in children’s literature—and with sassy characters like The Cat in the Hat and Yertle the Turtle, who can blame the world for loving him.

Many of Dr. Seuss’ stories have been adapted into classic television specials, some as well known as their original source material. In recent years though, a number of the great doctor’s books have been transformed into full-length features (How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), The Cat in the Hat (2003), and Horton Hears a Who! (2008)). The latest of these films, The Lorax, was released into theatres on March 2. In celebration of the film’s release,

it’s time to take a look back at the Dr. Seuss movie adaptations thus far.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) “Their mouths will hang open a minute or two, then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry, Boo Hoo.” — The Grinch

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of my favourite Christmas movies. This festive flick covers all the major points of both the animated version and the children’s book. Jim Carrey as The Grinch manages to send chills down the spine while being devious, and tug at heartstrings during his triumphant epiphany. Throw in the adorable Taylor Momsen as Cindy Lou Who to balance things out, and you've got a great Christmas film for the whole family.

The Cat in the Hat (2003) “We looked! Then we saw him step in on the mat! We looked! And we saw him! The Cat in the Hat!” — Sally and Conrad

The Cat in the Hat is probably the most well-known of Dr. Seuss’ characters. However, while the Cat’s crazy antics delighted

readers, they seemed to fall short in the transition to the big screen. Everything from the Cat’s dramatic entrance (soaking wet on the children’s doorstop) to the demise of Sally and Conrad’s neat and organized home seems overdone. Although the movie had a number of talented names involved (Mike Myers as The Cat, Alec Baldwin was the nosy neighbour, and Dakota Fanning as Sally), the over- the-top screenplay failed to do them and the book justice.

Horton Hears a Who! (2008)

“T meant what I said, and I said what I meant.” — Horton

“An elephant’s faithful one hundred percent.” — Morton

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Exploring Canadian culture through art Lights Out! and Beat Nation at the Vancouver Art Gallery

By Joel MacKenzie, Contributor

wo new exhibits at the © [Mancouve Art Gallery

explore Canadian identity through different perspectives. Lights Out! features Canadian paintings from the 1960s, and tells the story of people living in a time of many political and cultural changes in Canada. Beat Nation features visual and musical art influenced by both hip-hop and Aboriginal cultures. While the works are vastly different, each tells stories of passionate people expressing many different sides of their humanity.

Lights Out!, which opened

February 18, reveals the ‘60s as a time of exploration in painting for Canadian artists. As Lorna Farrell-Ward, the gallery’s curator, describes on one of the many information posters set up around the gallery, the ‘60s represent a time when Canadian art “was thrown wide open to the imagination.” The styles range from abstract to impressionistic to realistic. Some were inspired by topics that pushed the limits on human experience, like optics and abstract art’s reflection of the mind. Michael

Morris’s “Untitled” (1967), for

instance, explores colour, shapes, and patterns to create a striking flat image that appears three- dimensional. Many other abstracts push the boundaries of the painting medium by changing dimensions with added paint or other objects, or removing parts of canvas. Many that are perhaps not instantly outstanding are made mesmerising by their amounts of detail and precision, and often their use of contrast with colours and spacing.

amount that Canadians had to offer to the world of art at the time, as passionate, creative, and unique individuals.

The passion and experimentation found in Lights Out! is also reflected in Beat Nation. Beat Nation, which opened February 25, documents the blending of identities, and the meaning of an identity, seen through the art of young Aboriginal artists. The exhibit

“Together these exhibits paint a portrait of different aspects of being Canadian. They show the diversity, the separation, and often the unity of the Canadian culture.”

Other sources of inspiration include more personal feelings, like isolation and freedom—topics that relate not only to individuals, but Canada altogether in the 1960s, as it began moving further towards being an independent country.

A good example of this personal expression is Jean Paul Lemieux’s “La Jeune Anglaise” (1963), which uses a large, single human figure in a huge, empty, simplistic landscape to reflect, as the gallery puts it,

“the ultimate solitude of all human experience.” The exhibit shows the

features video presentations of dance performances and video collages, sculptures, paintings, and music, both on its own and used

in conjunction with other pieces. Many pieces are a blatant mix of aboriginal and urban cultures, such as a wall of vinyl record images painted on deer-hide drums, or Jordan Bennett's sculpture “Turning Tables” (2010), which features spinning wooden turntables. The pieces are more than just that mix though: for instance, “Turning Tables’” skipping, unclear voices

Horton Hears a Who! is delightful from start to finish, and the first of the modern animated Dr. Seuss movies. In this 2008 rendition, Horton the nature loving elephant (another excellent portrayal by Jim Carrey) is on a mission to save Whoville—currently located, very unsafely, on a speck of dust.

In order to succeed, Horton must get past the argumentative Sour Kangaroo (Carol Burnett) and a venomous vulture (Will Arnett)

to reach the safest place in the jungle, Mt. Nool. Well-written and hilarious, the script managed to duplicate the great rhymes that Dr. Seuss was known for—let’s hope The Lorax does the same.

and rhythmic scraping of its wooden “records” give the piece an eerie, unsettling quality.

The whole exhibit emits a mix of the energy and passion found in the bright, flowing colours, music, and satirical pieces of popular culture along with inspiration from feelings including isolation, loss, and pride in a unique, evolving culture. The artists display through their art both their love of history and their respect for it and one another. Being in the exhibit is being immersed in the culture; it gives a taste of Aboriginal culture, and a reminder of the importance of the human need for identity.

Together these exhibits paint a portrait of different aspects of being Canadian. They show the diversity, the separation, and often the unity of the Canadian culture. The exhibits show that Canadian artists are linked together not just by borders, but by their passion for self-expression and their courage to explore many different aspects of humanity.

Lights Out! will be running at the Vancouver Art Gallery until April 29, and Beat Nation until June 3.