The TERRIBLE Illumination Lorax Movie... 

I once watched the Lorax 60 times over the course of a month so i could memorise the script and piss off my friend who strongly hated this movie

You can say whatever you want about this movie, but “How bad can I be?” goes harder than it had any right to

It has nothing to do with dated source material. Ted’s story is entirely original to the movie. I don’t think he even has a name in the book. He’s just a kid who comes to ask the Once-ler about the Lorax, and that’s the extent of his role in the story.

The biggest flaw in this movie, to me, is how overt and unsubtle the message is now. In the books and the 1972 short film, there was no O'Hare, and the Once-ler was kept faceless to represent that anyone could become him. Plus, The Once-ler didn't turn evil, per se. The short especially shows that Once-ler feels bad for the what his factory is doing to the animals, but at the same time, pointed out how just shutting down the factory would put hundreds of people out of a job and impact the economy. The message doesn't completely demonize industry but still shows the impact it can have. There is no clear solution for how to fix everything, and anyone can just as easily help or be part of the problem. This film takes a dump on that nuanced message and completely waters everything down to "environment good, industry bad" and then puts out that hypocritical Mazda commercial. You should watch the short for comparison, it's leagues better.

There was a song that was gonna be in the movie, but was actually cut for How bad can I be, it’s called Biggering. It sounds 10 times better than How Bad Can I Be ever could dream to be. The song was cut for being too dark and disturbing.

You’ll notice how only one song is pro-trees, and it plays at the very end.

this movie is 12 years old... oh no

"Fun" Fact: Dr Seuss never wanted his books to be turned into films. After he died, LOOK WHAT HAPPENED. This is almost as worse as the Steven Hillenburg situation.

Wanna know the worst part? There was a cut song called "Biggering" that went really hard and was much more intense and thematically dark than "How Bad Can I Be?" but they had to replace it because the corporate higher-ups didn't like it. They replaced it with the more cheerful and sympathetic song instead. My best guess is that the song reminded them too much of themselves, and they didn't want to feel like the bad guys. :/

I think the worst thing about this movie is how many tie in products came out and how much of it ended up in landfills. Smooth move, Illumination.

Come on, how bad can it be?

love that Dazz doesn't know a tumblr sexyman is a tumblr sexyman because the guy isn't conventionally attractive, some tumblrinas have decided to simp over him

My actual least favorite illumination movie, it's an active bastardization of the orignal story that had the audacity to be sponsoed by an air polluting car. I genuinely hate what this movie stands for.

The truffula tree growing montage cut to attack on titan was gold

The lyrics to the better song that should have been im this movie The Once-Ler: At first i didn’t realize I needed all this stuff I had a little cottage And that cottage was enough A place where i could sit and knit A place where i could sell my thneeds But now i’ve had a little time To reassess my needs And i need a bigger office I need a bigger chair A bigger desk A bigger staff A bigger hat to wear! Because i’m biggering! (Yes, biggering!) I’m figuring on biggering! And biggering is triggering More biggering! The Lorax: Hey listen up meathead I’m a say this once and i’m not gonna repeat it Greed, see, it’s like a little pet, all right? And the more and more and more that you go and feed it The more hungry it’ll get But, you know, you really can’t blame greed Naw that’s stupid You see, it’s got a worm inside Oh yeah that’s right That’s one that always needs to feed And it is never satisfied You get it? But the more you try to find it The more it likes to hide Now listen That is a nasty little worm I like to call it pride! See now that’s why you’re biggering! Listen here idiot! And figuring on biggering! But that biggering’s just triggering more biggering! Got that? All right! The Once-Ler: There is a principle of nature that most every creature knows It’s called survival of the fittest, and this is how it goes The animal that wins has got to claw and bite and kick and punch The animal that doesn’t winds up someone else’s lunch A company’s an animal that’s trying to survive It’s struggling and fighting just to keep itself alive I must keep biggering! I’m figuring on biggering! Though biggering is triggering More biggering! I won’t stop biggering! I’m figuring on biggering! And biggering is triggering more biggering! With the customers all buying And the money multiplying And the pr people lying And the lawyers all denying Who cares if some things are dying? I don’t want to hear your crying This is all so gratifying

This movie is honestly a guilty pleasure of mine. Yes, it’s not very good, but the songs are catchy, and some of the jokes are actually pretty funny. Hell, I’d take THIS Seuss adaptation from Illumination over the stupid Grinch movie they did in 2018.

21:30 That transition to Attack on Titan was PERFECT lmao

I forgot Taylor Swift was in this

To this video I say.. Let it grow!

This is actually one of my favorite illumination movies, it was more serious than other movies making me like It a bit more

This was just a odd movie but how bad could it be

I hate that they cut the song biggering. Would've been peak.

when i watched this movie again recently i noticed that the onceler’s electric guitar is never plugged into anything. i’m no guitarist, but i’m pretty sure that’s not how that works.

Dazz you should check out the original 2D Lorax animation, i watched it a bunch as a kid and thought it was pretty enjoyable for its short runtime.

It’s ironic how people were pissed the Lorax and the grinch weren’t faithful to the book itself and called the movie mediocre illumination movies but when the Super Mario Bros Movie was faithful to the games themselves people still called it another mediocre illumination movie Shows how people are ungrateful It seems like nobody took illumination movies seriously as a movie untill the Mario movie then they start criticizing it

bro I cant believe this movie was made over a decade ago...

The internet love's this movie just for the wrong reason's.

that Attack On Titan tree timelapse is gold

I enjoyed watching this movie and no one will ever change it.

For those who don't know, there was another song in the place of "How bad can it be" and it is called "The biggering". It was not put in the movie however because it was too real and too anti consumerism. Check it out if you have not heard of it. It is amazing

I don't think cgi is the best medium for Dr Seuss either, it smooths away so much texture that made his artwork stand out. This would have been great to see in stop motion though.

The movie may be terrible, but the Once-Ler is still the best thing out of it.

You should do a video on the terrible wreck it ralph 2

The Lorax TikTok trend from last year tortured me.

Okay, but you have to listen to the cut song, Biggering, which would have taken the place of How Bad Can I be. Now, if they had kept that song in, it would have been a wholly different movie

This is literally one of my favorite films of all time. I don't get why everyone hates it so much. _"How ba-a-a-a-ad can it be?"_

Worst of all. The Oncler’s song could have been BETTER! If you listend to Biggering you know what I’m talking about.

Nostalgia Critic's got nothing on Dazz

Surprised he didn't talk about Biggering

Still hate how they got rid of biggering

I think you're all entirely incorrect (I haven't watched the full video) this is the movie of all time, I swear. Though, the cut song Biggering is a great demonstration of what this movie could of been.

my intent with this comment truly isn’t to be mean, but i just wanted to say that i feel like this video could’ve benefitted from some additional research? multiple times you question if something was part of the original (it wasnt), or comment on how something shows the original is quite dated (it wasnt in the original). like you said, it’s Dr Suess, it’s a bedtime story length, you can even find it online for free. it feels hard to take your criticism as being about the movie and its content when you aren’t able to discern what’s part of Dr Suess’ original and what’s Illumination’s add-on. clearly you have some knowledge of the original book and its plot but it feels very surface level and your analysis of the movie feels the same as a result

Not even 1 second in and I already disagree with this movie review 😡

Look at the bright side, at least they didn't try and adapt "The Butter Battle Book".

I'm pretty sure once-ler is a pun on "things that once were" not necessarily "once upon a time"

I will NOT stand for The Lorax slander 😭🙏 This is one of the best illumination movies

You know How Bad I Can Be was an alternative version of the song that was supposed be there instead of it, called "Biggering". The song that would have been way more faithful to the message of the book.

I especially do not like the pacing of Illumination's Lorax at all, since I have to wait for the How Bad Can I Be song for something to happen during the Once-ler's story. And even then, we only witnessed the effects in the form of a montage during the song as the pristine Truffula forest being degraded into a polluted wasteland. The 1972 animated Lorax short is far better in terms of the pacing, as we see the environment gradually getting more polluted as the factory grows and more Truffula trees are being chopped down and in turn replaced with more buildings and roads, along with the animals leaving their homes, as the environment became too polluted for them to live.

Honestly, as a non native, i thought that "the once-ler" refeers to him only having his things once. Its not sustainable as that also plays into the originals message a bit

Okay, there are a few simple ways to fix this film. First of all I'd kill three birds with one stone. 1) Lose the villain, the idea behind the Lorax that there is no villain! That you don't have to be evil to ruin nature, that it's possible for anyone to take too much and not realize it until it's too late. 2) Lose the love interest. Give our hero a BETTER reason to go out to try and find a tree. 3) I notice the kid doesn't have a father in this story, give him a dad! In place of the villain that runs the town, make the kid's dad run the town! Show all of the mounting pressure his dad is under to keep this town together while trying to make everyone happy and content. Which in turn inspires the kid to try and help his dad and everyone. The next thing I'd do is keep the Oncler's face HIDDEN. It wouldn't be hard to do too! You could build a series of gags around it! For crying out loud they kept the Neighbor's face mostly hidden on "Home Improvement" for the entire show's run, you could easily do it for an hour and a half movie! But yes! The idea behind the Oncler is to again emphasize that this could be or happen to ANYONE. That he could be you or me! Lastly I'd keep the ambiguous ending! Don't reveal whether or not the kid succeeds in convincing people to change. But hey! Keep the song "Let it grow" but instead, use it differently. Show the kid returning to town, show faded images of how the land use to look and may yet still be again. Leave the audience wondering, are these shadows of the past or of the future? And end it with the kid returning to his dad who just got done with another hectic meeting with the last shot being the kid showing his dad the seed the Oncler gave him.

To be fair, it was one of illumination's better movies. Ah shit this studio is that bad isn't it?

Literally at 21:30 I was so confused cuz I didn't remember that part of the movie and the tree looked different. Then i realized, I do remember. That made me laugh a bit too much

When this movie came out, my school was going to take everyone to go watch it but apparently some of the parents were not sure if it’d be scary for kids so none of us got to watch it. After us already paying (I believe)

How bad can I be I’m just doing what comes naturally

Not me reading the official green eggs and ham book by Dr.sues when I was 3😂

I would like you to reconsider

To be fair I like the villain song

No dazz this movie is a masterpiece

The most infuriating part of this movie is that instead of "how bad can i be" we could've had "biggering" but that was scrapped.

Ill never forget what tumblr did with the once-ler... they went wild

Whoever on the illumination team that pushed for Mazda ad should’ve been fired…. Or at least gotten a pay cut

I don't like these ham fisted message movies, it just annoys me.

Literally DazzReviews in a nutshell. He calls every movie he sees terrible, and gets paid 50K grand for it.

5:02 The oncler is supposed to be for like what once was. He’s supposed to represent corporations who deliberately harm the environment knowingly in order to make a profit. This is why Dr. Seuss chose not to show his face and just show his gloves because you’re not supposed to think of him as a person but more so a corporation. The 1970s film also does not show his face. This is something illumination chose to do deliberately because if they had actually stuck to the story, they would call themselves out. This is the major thing I have an issue with this Lorax. they made him young and hip in order to feel sad and sorry for him. They chose to sing “how bad can be” rather than the song “bigering” Because it makes the oncler sound more naïve where is biggering he openly admits to knowingly harm the environment in order for profit like the original story calls for. I’m also bothered by the choice of having the “kid“ be named Ted and have a conclusive ending. The whole point is that the audience/the reader can put themselves in the shoes of the kid. By giving him a name and ultimately making him choose to plant the seed it makes it feel as if the story is concluded. Where is the original Lorax the whole point is the fact that change and deforestation is still an ongoing issue. And ultimately it is up to you as the reader to choose whether or not you want to do something about it. That’s why the book doesn’t have a conclusive ending and ends on open because it’s supposed to make you reflect. But the way the movie ends, it kinda of wraps everything up and the audience leaves the movie, assuming that the story has been wrapped up and there’s no other need to reflect on the morals of the movie. I think illumination animation wise is best for Dr. Seuss. They heavily butchered the story of the Lorax because if they told the true story they themselves would be hypocrites.

Bruh this was my FAVORITE movie as a kid! I think I would watch it so many times to the point where my parents were just tired of it 💀💀- But it will always have a special place in my heart for just that reason lol (yet for some reason I don’t know the script even though I watched it like 3,000 times during my life 💀?-)

Oh no.. THE SIMPS ARE COMING! THEY’RE COMING!

I was only 7 years old when this movie came to theaters. I reflect to this movie from 12 years back. I think this movie is so not accurate to the book, except for the onceler’s backstory which takes up about 60% of the film

the main thing i hate about the lorax movue is the "How Bad Can I Be?" song and how it displays it as just a misunderstanding- most likely intentionally making companies that actually do stuff like this look innocent.

Forgot how much mid-late 2000s movies loved the extreme sports grannies trope 😂

I remember watching this way back when so I could understand the Tumblr sexyman. It bored me to death and I never uncovered the secret of the Once-ler or why he became a sexyman. Personally, Reigen Arataka is a Tumblr sexyman I can get behind. Still devastated he lost to Sans in 2022.

I hate how they had chosen to use "How Bad Can I Be?" instead of biggering. The cut scenes created a better movie, but this is Illuminations, what do we expect? 21:30 WHY A AOT REFERENCE, NAH WHY THOUGH, I THOUGHT WE WERE DONE WITH EREN'S GRAVE!

Obligated Mention Of The Scrapped Biggering Song Here!

She’s painting a mural on her own home.

We don’t mess with how bad can I be that is a bop of a song

For anniversary tone, Let's see The Lego Movie, Song of the Sea, and the Incredibles.

POV: That one kid who did no research but also wants to present

Remember only a glimpse of this movie from when I was younger but I absolutely cannot see the onceler without having flashbacks to the insane simps online he has 😨😟

The best part of this movie is a cut song, go listen to biggering

Anyone gonna talk about how the houses and the people randomly teleport when the Once-ler goes to sell thneeds

WHY IN THE GROSS CAT WOULD YOU CALL THIS FILM TERRIBLE? THATS AN AUDACITY, AN AUDACITY THAT IS AS DUMB AS ME IN MY EXAMS!

14:45 maybe he was just talking about the quality of the movie he's in

The ending transition of the Lorax to the ending of AoT was smooth😭

You kind sir are now public enemy number one

I think a better joke to describe all the boring padding in this more would've been calling it the SNORErax.

Ted and Audrey are named after Dr Seuss and his wife respectively.

It's a decent watch. One of those movies that you wouldn't actively watch unless you were sick or absolutely nothing else was on TV, but it be enjoyable

Wait what year is it?? What the hell is going on??

Those books weren't available in my language when I was a kid and so this movie is still fire, and no I will not read those books now that I know the language

The fact you find EVERY ILLUMINATION MOVIE to be terrible really says a lot about the company...

I remember seeing this movie back in 2012 when I was in denial that it was a bad movie. I even noticed that the film exclusive characters in the film's present day had more screentime than the characters in the original source material who only appear in flashbacks.

4:41 I believe it is supposed to be like he did a mistake that can only be done once, and cant be reserved or something like that

Terrible? Yeah I get it but there’s 20 minutes of a good movie in here showing how the once let goes from sympathetic ambitious entrepreneur who was shunned on by everyone to full on villain, ending in a chilling serious scene where the last tree is chopped down. Good stuff

Cmon, how bad could it possibly be?

I wouldn’t call this “terrible” per say, I mean, there are worser illumination movies out there, which honestly makes this movie better.

READ THE GODDAMN BOOK. NOW.

Ayo, what anime was that tree timelapse from?

Screw off, i love this movie and you can’t change my mind

This song is so close to my heart when I was little

Bro doesn’t know cinema when he sees it.

Will you stop ruining my childhood?