(He looks up to see some Angela Glummox, Jessica Quilligan, Thomas "Tommy" Cow-Bear and Katie the Yak)
Good morning, class. Are you ready?
(The strange jungle animals drop down onto his back.) (offscreen)
Look out below! (He lands hardly on Horton’s back.)
Tommy’s on board. Katie, you there?
(lands on his back)
Ha-ah-a.
Okay. (The kind elephant escorts the kids to a lush tree, then stops.) Shh. There it is. (refers to a leaf on a twig) This is one of the jungle's most amazing creatures. The leaf bug. In order to protect itself from predators, it disguises itself as a leaf. (He pokes at it, with no response from the leaf. And then he climbs on the tree and tries to pull it off.) This one's got quite a deep grip. Come on, little buddy! Don't be shy! (He falls back from the tree.) I guess I was mistaken, kids. (leaf bugs were all over him) There are obviously no leaf bugs in this area. Even if they're... (notices the leaf bugs) OH! THEY’RE ON ME!! (rolls around) Get them off! (accidentally sucks up a leaf bug, which gags in disgust, and bangs his head) I think I swallowed one. (He blows his trunk, and slams it on the ground, trying to get the bug out, before turning to Tommy.) Tommy! PULL IT OUT!!!
(The animal kids pull on Horton’s trunk and he swings them around. Meanwhile, a purple kangaroo and her son were hopping through the jungle of Nool.)
Then, hopping a “humph!" was Sour Kangaroo,
the type who's convinced(buffalo-like animal from species of Yawling Yak notices Sour approaching and hides in the grass) she knows better than you.
(A Deer-whose-horns-are-connected-from-one-to-the-other full of chicken-like birds from species of Sala-ma-gooxes sees Sour coming as the birds on the Deer-whose-horns-are-connected-from-one-to-the-other's antlers flied off while the mammal hides in the water.) She made every law and then forced every rule
as self-proclaimed head of the Jungle of Nool. (Sour humphed when she sees the kids try to get the bug out of Horton. Her son, Rudy, looks at them in confusion.)
Why can't I play with the other kids. Mom?
How many times have I told you that the jungle is no place to act like a wild animal?
(The young animals then flew into the bushes and Horton spits out the leaf bug. As it tries to fly, Katie catches it with her tongue and eats it like a frog. Jessica's and Angela's mothers look at it and talk to Sour)
Mrs. Glummox (amused): My, that Horton certainly is eccentric.
Mrs. Quilligan (pointing at Horton): And that children are learning so much from him.
(Sour looks at her angrily) Sour Kangaroo (sarcastically): Learning to be a bunch a hairbrain half-wits. (proudly; she pats his son on the head) And that's why my Rudy is pouch-schooled.
So, while Kangaroo stood there sneering a sneer...
Horton, that was the best time I've ever had in my life! What are you gonna show us next?! (Soon, a speck arrived near Horton.)
Once again the speck floated right by Horton's ear.
And he heard it again! Just a very faint yelp,
as if some tiny person were calling for help.
(He imagines a helpless Who hanging onto the speck in Dr. Seuss illustration, then cuts back to Horton.)
And you know what he thought? What he thought there must
be someone on top of that small speck of dust.
Or even a family. It just might be so.
A family with children just starting to grow.
WB Who-Boy
(He then imagines a helpless Who family hanging onto the speck.)
I WANNA LIVE!
(Out of his thought, Horton decides to quickly save that speck.)
Uh… i gotta go! Katie, you’re in charge! (He runs off)
(As he runs off. Katie she opens her mouth to release the leaf bug, which chases after the other kids, who run away from it. Soon, Horton ran pass the mothers.)
Wait! Come back.
W Wickershams
(Cuts to chimpanzee-like apes of the species The Wickersham as they are chanting for Yummo Wickersham)
One more, one more, One more, one more.
(Yummo Wickersham has a bunch of bananas in his mouth, managing to fit one more as one of the bananas stick out their nose, splitting open, and they all cheer. Cuts to the two Yummo's younger brothers named Nuts and Nits at the top of the tree)
NW Nits Wickersham
Hear someone coming!
NW Nuts Wickersham
Get me those!
(He takes the bananas and can see Horton running by the bananas, blocking his view.)
Wait!
NW Nuts Wickersham
Sound the alarm!
(Nits Wickersham reaches higher into the tree and grabs another Wickersham's leg, biting it and causing them to scream out in pain, alerting the other Wickershams of Horton's presence.)
Excuse me! Pardon my stampede!
(The Wickershams are flung above the trees)
Sorry, Wickershams. I promise I'm gonna clean all this up later!
Yummo Wickersham Bring the ammo!
(Two Wichershams by his sides grab some bananas with a mischievous chuckle, and stick them under Yummo's armpits, and in slow motion, shows as he crushes the bananas with his armpits, like a minigun. Then back to real motion to show how fast the bananas are being launched at Horton.)
I love the smell of the bananas in the morning.
W Wickersham
(The Wickershams reveal from the leaf tree to show a big ball that's made of bananas)
Banana in the Hole!
(The big banana ball is being launched at Horton.)
Come on, guys! We're all mammals! (in slow-motion) Woah! (As Henry Kissinger) I feel the diplomatic process is beginning to break down. (In regular motion, he slips through a pile of banana peels, sliding through until he sees that speck) There you are. I got ya. I got ya. (He tries to get that speck with his trunk, but to no rescue; while running after the speck) Hi, kids.
(as John F. Kennedy's voice)
And, uh, we will, uh, put us back on Mount Nool before the end of this, uh, decade.
(Just as Horton arriving to Mount Nool, Mrs. Quilligan, who is lying on a tree, noticed Horton's speck is still alive. Shocked, she flies in panic, although her wings are disproportionately small for her body.)
Q Mrs. Quilligan
(rapidly)
Oh! This-this Elephant, he's crazy. Oh my goodness! I gotta tell everybody. I need to get to the Kangaroo. Whoo! Wait til they find out about...
Oh! You should've been seeing me. I really let elephant have it. I chase him, i torment him. And then I break him into million little elephant pieces. (Rudy gasps in shocked, hearing about it) It was thing of beauty, really. My best work. Classic Vlad.
Clover is finished. No way in million years Horton find it. Read my beak: Clover is gone forever.
Q Mrs. Quilligan
(Mrs. Quilligan lands and fell off, Vlad laughs as he sees her)
I just saw Horton and he is still talking to that CLOVER!
(Sour looks at Vlad, who chuckles nervously, in anger, thinking he was lying to her)
Idiot! (storms off)
Whoa! Come on, I'm your bro! It's me you're talking to! We have history! Come on, let's not forget, I did this for free!
(she wipes through large leaves)
What is happening to the Jungle of Nool? (she jumps towards the animals in the clearing) There once was a time when people were people, (Tommy, his father Willie, and another cow-bear standing next to them look at Sour in surprise with other animals), and specks were specks. (three Zatz-Its look on her, and these on left slowly shakes his head yes) Well I say if you can't see it, hear it, or feel it (jumps onto the central rock), it doesn't exist. Our way of life is under attack. And who's leading that attack? (turns gently, then turns abruptly and raises their hands in a gesture of haunting) Horton!!
(The animals gasp in shocked and horror, then Morton arrived, interrupting the speech)
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute! This is Horton we're talking about, you know about him. He wouldn't hurt a fly. Except for that fly city he sat on. But he didn't do that on purpose.
(coldly and angrily)
SHUT UP, Mouse!
Oh, yeah. That's weird. My brownies are burning. I got to go. (He runs off quickly)
Are we going to let troublemakers like Horton (grabs Rudy as an example) poison the minds of our children?!
Yummo Wickersham Not the children!!
(The Wickershams arrives to all the animals hear Sour's speech too)
When Horton tells our children about worlds beyond the jungle, he makes them question the authority. Which leads to defiance, which leads to ANARCHY!!!
Yummo Wickersham Yeah!! Horton must pay!!
G Mrs. Glummox
It's that speck!
WC Willie Cow-Bear
Now, we have to do something!
Q Mrs. Quilligan
For the children!
Yummo Wickersham For the children!
ARE WE GOING TO LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THIS??!!
VR Various Residents
NO!!!
Yummo Wickersham (They all start to run, attack, and charge at Horton as a mob)
Let's get him!
(As the animals start charging which making a stampede, cuts to Horton as he is heading to Mount Nool when he stops to hear something from the ground. He lifts up and he sees Morton running to him)
Morton. I told you, 100%!
(Panting while running)
Horton.
Morton, pick up your feet. Jeez!
(The rumbling gets louder as the stampede of the various animals appears.)
Oh, ho, ho. I see, it’s an angry mob. Sorry, Morton. I thought it was you that was making all that… (he then realizes it) but it’s… (shocked) oh, darn.
[jumps into the air.]
'RUN, HORTON!!! (gets stepped on by the giant animals)
Yummo Wickersham There he is!! (The large crowd of animal stampede runs as Jane gets up on a rock, watching, Yummo jumps through it.) Let's rope him!
Wickersham Let's cage him!
(Horton tries to run away from enraged animals in Jungle of Nool, but is stopped by an angry mob of animals, blocking his path)
STOP!!!! (the running animals stops)
Hey, fellas. Good to see ya, all at once. You look really great as a horde.
Horton, Horton, Horton, look at the mess you created for yourself. All this hullabaloo over a silly little flower.
Right. I mean it's silly, really, all this talk of roping you and caging you and... well, we don't need to go into the details. The point is, this angry mob, of all the trouble you're in, it can all go away.
(The Wickershams look at Horton and goes "Aw!")
Really?
Of course. All you have to do is admit to everyone that there are no small people living on that speck, that you were wrong and I was right. You do that, and things can go right back to the way they were. But, if you don't, You're going to have to pay the price.
(The Wickershams grabbed a big cage, much to Horton's fear, as an example)
So I just have to say it isn't true? (the residents were silent, hearing about what Horton will have to say) Go ahead! Rope me! Cage me! Do whatever you want! But there are people on this speck. And they have a Mayor, who has 96 daughters and one son name JoJo, who all share a bathroom, whatever that is. And even though you can't hear or see them at all, a person's a person, no matter how small.
(Much of the Jungle's resident's, including the Wickershams, felt touched by Horton's speech. One of the Wickersham scratches another Wickersham's back and looks at a dandruff, before he realizes and looks up, puppy eyes)
(touched)
That was beautiful, Horton. (enraged) Rope him! Cage him! (All of the residents she grin) Burn that speck in a pot of boiling beezle-nut oil!
(The same Wickersham eats the dandruff instead)
(Back at Who-Ville, every Who, including the Mayor, heard what Sour said about through the horn, gasps of shocked)
They don't believe we're here. (to the Who's) We got to make some noise! We are here! We are here! We are here!
MW Men Whos
We are here! We are here! We are here!
LW ladies Whos
We are here! We are here! We are here!
(to the Charimans)
Come on! (to the Whos) Everybody! (All of the Who's start saying "We are here!" repeatedly) We are here. We are here. We are here.
(Back in Nool, the Wickershams brings in a cauldron of Beelzenut Oil through the angry mob. When dropped on the ground, Horton sees a splash of it killing a flower near it)
(enraged)
THIS WILL TEACH YOU NOT TO MAKE UP STORIES ABOUT PEOPLE ON SPECKS!!!!
(as the mob comes closer to Horton.)
Listen. There they are!
(He holds the clover to let them listen. Willie Cow-Bear, tilts his head and lifts his right ear in confusion, while Mrs. Glummox, Mrs. Quilligan, and one of the Wickershams also look at him in confusion. However, he hears nothing because, looking at Quilligan, he shakes his head no. They become furious again)
Wickersham Rope him!
WC Willie Cow-Bear
Cage him!
(The animals in Jungle of Nool start to surround Horton) (to the speck)
It's not working. I can hear you. But, their ears aren't strong enough.
(Back in Whoville)
We need to be louder. Get every Who to make noise! Everyone!
(All Whos start getting louder while shouting "We are here!" with horns and anything to make noise. Jojo, taking noticed, starts running off before the Mayor takes noticed.)
JoJo, where're you going? We need every voice, JoJo!
(The Wickershams start roping Horton up to be pulled to the cage)
You need to make some noise down there. Or we all be destroyed.
(The Mayor starts playing the tom-toms, with the Chairman's confusion)
The Mayor grabbed the tom-toms and starting to smack it.
(A female Who says "Here!" in an high opera voice with the horns playing)
And all over Whoville, They whooped up a racket!
(Dr. Larue was about to knock the door, until it opens itself to let a really long horn playing, with much of the Who's playing it. Cut to a montage of Whos making noises)
They rattle tin kettles, they beat on brass pans!
On garbage pail tops and old cranberry cans!
They blew on bazookas and blasted great toots!
On clarinets, oom-pahs, boom-pahs and flutes!
(A green, overweight Who plays a really small flute before a symphony of horns plays. Cuts to the Who's still being louder and saying "We are here!" repeatedly)
There! (to Horton) Can they hear us now?
Listen! Please! It's the most beautiful thing ever.
Yummo Wickersham I don't hear nothing!
I don't think so. But, keep trying. (The Wickershams starts pulling Horton to get on the cage) Never give in! (tries to struggle, but the Wickershams pulls him harder) Are you sure that every Who down in Whoville is trying?
(The Mayor looks at every Who still saying "We are here!" and making noise, then he sees Sally with a megaphone) Sally O'Malley-McDodd: We are here! We are here!
Where's JoJo?
Sally O'Malley-McDodd: Probably up the old observatory.
(As the Mayor runs to the observatory, we then cut back to Horton, who is still struggling to get in the cage. The Wickersham inside the cage looks horrors as he is crushed by Horton's butt. The Wickershams then pokes Horton through the closing gate)
(We then cut to the Mayor, blessing for his godspeed, as he is catapult through the observatory) (Back at the Jungle, the Wickershams keep poking Horton's butt, and pulls his nose longer)
That's not supposed to STRETCH THAT FAR!!! (His tail is also being stretched as well)
(Back at Who-ville, The Mayor struggles to open the door with wood planks until he noticed a tiny door and opens it to see a bunch of instruments playing inside, with him being amazed and saw Jojo, who is adjusting an instrument)
(Horns kites violins bells drums cymbals) (Back at Nool, Horton is still struggling. But the Kangaroo walks to Horton and yanks the clover. She angry on her face.) (sadden)
You're making a mistake.
(As Sour walks to the pot, she shows the residents of the Jungle of Nool the speck, with the residents all cheer as they're preparing for this moment.)
But Mom!
Sour Kangaroo: This doesn't concern you, sweety. BACK IN THE POUCH!
Everybody, don't stop! Keep going! This is gonna do it! (to Horton) Can they hear?
(Most of the Whos stop after realizing it's not louder enough) (to JoJo)
No matter what happens, I couldn't ask for better, son. (Because of his father's advice, he takes the horn and runs through the stairs) Hey, JoJo? (To the Whos) Come on! Keep going!
JM JoJo McDodd
(As they reach the top of the stairs, JoJo lets out a really big noise through the horn)
Y-Y-Y-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-P-P-P!!!!
(She drops it. But the Rudy he grabbed and i caught it)
I hear it! I hear it! They are there!
(The crowd looks at Rudy as roping and caging stops)
And that "Yopp!", that one small extra "Yopp!" put it over.
W1 Wickersham 1
(as the Wickershams let Horton out of the cage)
I hear it.
(Sour looks at son)
Rudy. (She tries to give Rudy the clover) Give me that! Come, Ru...
(Rudy jumps out of mother's pouch, away from his mother.) (smiling nervously)
Rudy, get back in the pouch, now.
(he turns his head to his mother)
No, Mom.(Horton is clued up)
Uh, Wickershams! Get that clover!
(Rudy stops in front of the Wickersham Brothers. They let him pass while glancing at the Rudy's mother) (shocked)
Well...A..Anybody take it from him.
(The crowd all glances and growls of the Sour. Yawling Yak, Deer-whose-horns-are-connected-from-one-to-the-other and Cow-Bear looking at her with angry. Sour sighs in humiliation. Her son approaches Horton and gives him his clover)
(to the speck)
You did it, Mayor. You did it.
(Back in Whoville.)
We did it!
OW Obnoxious Who
YEAH!!! (Tries to high five somebody, but one Who high fives him)
JM JoJo McDodd
Dad, you're one of the Greats!
(Back at the Jungle of Nool)
Wow! Easy, everyone. Easy! (looks down) Oh hi, Vlad. (The animals gasp in shock, knowing. But, out of nowhere, it's actually a bunny named Vlad. He holding the cookies, the one Horton was confused about earlier, and wants him to have one) Well, I shouldn't. But...
(He takes a cookie, but when he starts to eat it. But Sour, she defeated. He later shows up to her and wants her to have a cookie. Sour then smiles and uses his umbrella at the speck, knowing to let go of her past)
Oh man, that is nice touch. I'm a mess of this, right? Emotional! Here come the water slide. (starts to cry)
Wow. (chuckles) There are so many people to thank. The good people of Nool who put me on a cage and poke me with sticks...
Yummo Wickersham That was me!
My buddy, Morton, for being the only who stood by me. Well, not right by me. He's hidden in the bushes sending me good thoughts. He's small.
Dude, you are a warrior poet.
And most of all, I'd like to thank to the Mayor of Whoville. Who believed me from the beginning.
Oh, Horton, we're going to miss you.
JM JoJo McDodd
What are we gonna do without you, Horton?
Ah, don't worry. I'll always be around. (sings to the lyrics of "I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore" by REO Speedwagon) (He holds Willie Cow-Bear in a dancing gesture, stroking his head) And even as I wander, (he puts her arms around him and Mrs. Quilligan) I'll keep you in sight.
(sings)
You're a candle in the window.
Sally O'Malley-McDodd: (sings) On a cool dark winter's night.
HA Horton and Mayor
(singing)
And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might.
Whoo, little too high for me.
(sings) Baby, (He, Sour Kangaroo and Mrs. Quilligan go in the direction of snapping their fingers)
I can't fight this feeling any more.
Yummo Wickersham (sings)
I've forgotten what I started fighting for.
(Katie then starts flying out of existence) (sings)
And if I have to crawl upon the floor.
Sally O'Malley-McDodd: (sings) Crawl upon the floor.
(sings)
Come crashing through your door.
(sings)
Crashing through your door.
W Whos
(sings)
Baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore.
JM JoJo McDodd
(sings)
I can't fight this feeling anymore (Cut back to the Jungle of Nool, where Horton, along with Rudy's mother, who is holding an umbrella over the clover, are walking towards Mount Nool to set up Who-ville, with the other animals following them. The camera zooms out.)
And so, all ended well for those, Horton and Whos.
And for all in the jungle, even Kangaroos.
So let that be a lesson to one and to all.
A person's a person...
(As it zooms out, turns out that the Jungle of Nool, like Who-ville, is a tiny speck (and only one of many) in spacewith.)... no matter how small.
(Katie still flying out of existence, ending the film)
(In the international credits, the song still plays, but in a different version) (sings)
And I can't fight this feeling anymore. Yeah, I like-like this, faster, more up-tempo.
Sally O'Malley-McDodd: (sings) I've forgotten what I started fighting for.
Yummo Wickersham (sings)
I can't fight this feeling.
(sings)
It's time to bring my ship into your shore.
MM Mayor the Mouse
That's a metaphor!
(sings)
And throw away the oars.
Ha-aa-ah!
Sally O'Malley-McDodd: (sings) I've forgotten what I started fighting for.
(sings)
And I can't fight this feeling anymore.
(sings)
I've forgotten what I started fighting for.
Sally O'Malley-McDodd: Well, you shouldn't be fighting anything, enjoy yourself.
(sings, crying)
And if I have to crawl upon the floor.
(sings)
And break down your stupid door.
Yummo Wickersham Crashing through your door.
(sings)
Baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore on an empty stomach.
Sally O'Malley-McDodd: (sings) I can't fight this feeling...
(Yummo makes monkey noises) Sally and Sour Kangaroo: (sings) I can't fight this feeling anymore.
(As the song ends, Mayor holds down the final note and Horton makes more noises, then laughs)
Sorry, just faking words.
(Mayor still holds down, then breathes)
Oh, that felt good. Cathartic! What?
