"Horton" is big on seeing that all the little details work

With "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!," lightning has struck a second time for Jim Carrey as a definitive interpreter of major Seussian characters.

Carrey's lead role as the spoiler of Who-ville's winter holiday in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" was never really given its critical due as a great performance. Now, as the voice of altruistic elephant Horton — friend and guardian of Seuss' beloved, microscopic Who-ville — Carrey extends his respectful but adventurous contribution to big-screen adaptations of the author's classic children's literature.

Carrey's Horton — as with everything else in this cheeky computer-animated comedy — perfectly captures the playful-but-profound personality and tone of Seuss' 1954 book.

The film remains true to a story familiar to several generations: On the 15th of May, in the Jungle of Nool, big-eared Horton hears sounds from a tiny speck of dust attached to a flower. He discovers that the Whos of Who-ville — having no idea a world larger than their own exists — live a precarious existence on that speck, floating in the breeze and becoming attached to flowers.

Horton bonds with the Mayor of Who-ville (Steve Carell, in a touching and funny performance), swearing to keep the minute city safe. That task becomes harder as the protective pachyderm is besieged by cynics — led by a tyrannical kangaroo (a chilling but feisty Carol Burnett) — who insist nothing like Whos can exist if they can't be seen or heard by anyone except Horton.

There have been a couple of uninspiring and disappointing live-action adaptations of Seuss' work in recent years, including Ron Howard's underwhelming (except for Carrey) "Grinch" and Bo Welch's fussy "The Cat in the Hat," starring a misguided Mike Myers. So it's nice to see feature-length animation boldly, finally open up the antic cosmos implied in Seuss' rhyming prose and puckish illustrations.

The film is full of delightfully surprising moments that feel novel yet organically consistent with Seuss' vision. When we meet the Mayor's children (95 daughters and son Jo-Jo, the silent, smallest Who of all), first-time directors Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino turn the scene into a wildly inventive sight gag that honors Seuss' sense of mirth. At the same moment, "Saturday Night Live" comic Amy Poehler, voicing the Mayor's wife with her distinctive wit, adds a welcome, contemporary touch.

Gambling that the movie's emotional climax can benefit from a sly counterpoint, Hayward and Martino poke fun at animated features that include overbearing rock songs to tell us how to feel. It's a great joke that, again, masterfully handled, doesn't derail Seuss at all.

Best of all, this "Horton Hears a Who!" never loses sight of the simple but perennially powerful theme at the heart of Seuss' tale: "a person's a person, no matter how small." If your kids already know that line from Dr. Seuss' book, this rewarding film version will surely reinforce the message.

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com