The Lorax is a story of many meanings that pertain to the environment and the importance of trees on Earth. The main plot of the story is about a town that lives without trees due to all the trees being chopped down for a product called the thneed. Ted, the main character, looks to find a tree to impress his crush Audrey, who always wanted to see a real-life tree. While Ted tries to find a tree, he is faced with many challenges from the mayor and the Once-ler, the man that created the viral thneed. With the many challenges that Ted faced, he was still able to obtain a tree seed, which changed the town for the better. The people of the town finally saw why trees were important and the importance of the environment.
The movie starts with introducing the fake town of Thneedville, where trees don’t grow and where air is sold to people in bulk. In Thneedville, the mayor named Aloysius O’ Hare relies on the pollution that the lack of trees brings in order to sell “fresh air” to people, which keeps him in power. In the beginning, Ted learns that he can find out what happens to trees by talking to the Once-ler, the creator of the Thneed. However, there is a problem. The Once-ler is located outside the city, where no one is allowed to go, and this creates many problems for Ted. During many of his visits, he is stopped by O’ Hare and is told never to return outside of the town.
Once Ted meets the Once-ler, he is told a story that teaches him the history of trees and why there are no longer any trees around. Throughout the story, Ted learns that the Once-ler created a viral product called the thneed, which had multiple different uses. To produce the thneed, he had to cut down trees in the forest, which housed many different types of animals. Along with cutting down trees, he built a large factory which created loads of pollution. When the Once-ler first cut down a tree, an orange character with a mustache called the Lorax warned the Once-ler of the danger of cutting down trees. The Once-ler didn’t take the Lorax seriously due to his big ego and all the money he had made because of the thneed. Over time, with more people buying the thneed, more trees were cut down, which caused lots of wildlife to “leave”. The last animal to leave was the Lorax which broke the Once-ler’s heart. However, the Lorax left a message on a rock-circle-thing that said “Unless”.
Fast forward to the present day, there are no trees in Thneedville, and there is only one tree seed left. The last tree seed belonged to the Once-ler, which he then gave to Ted. The Once-ler wanted him to plant the seed in the middle of the town, which would anger O’Hare. However, he did it anyway. After the tree was planted, more trees began to grow later in Thneedville, which in turn led to the magical Lorax appearing again.
After reflecting on the whole movie, I believe the purpose of the movie was to warn companies about the importance of caring about the environment and not overproducing their products. The movie also highlights the importance of parks, trees, and just nature in general.
