"The Lorax" takes the classic Dr. Seuss story about environmentalism and the dangers of greed and brings it to the big screen in a movie with singing, dancing, cuddly forest creatures, and bad jokes. Interestingly enough, the minute the film pre-screened for audiences, FOX News jumped in and condemned it for teaching kids about environmental issues, as if that were a bad thing. FOX's Lou Dobbs even claimed that the movie was a result of President Obama and Hollywood working behind the scenes to brainwash our kids.
Of course, that is silly. For one thing, Dr. Seuss published the book in 1971 and there has already been one adaptation of it, released in 1972. Besides that, the movie does little in the way of teaching environmental lessons. There are moments when kids learn that cutting all the trees down makes it hard to breathe and there is a bad guy who doesn't want trees back because he became rich selling air, but that is about it.
The rest of the movie contains cheesy songs only young kids will enjoy and a silly story about a boy who wants to bring back the trees. Of course, he doesn't want the trees to help bring back clean oxygen -- he wants to plant the tree in order to win over a girl.
That is all this movie is about. If you want to find a movie that will actually help teach your kids life lessons, try one of these instead.
"Wall-E"
"Wall-E" is a superior movie that teaches kids about environmentalism and uses the same setup to do it. People have destroyed the earth because they refuse to accept there are consequences behind their actions. As a result, humans now live on giant spacecraft floating through space waiting for word to come that the earth's atmosphere is suitable for human life again.
Also, just like "The Lorax," it is about a seed that can finally grow in a desolate world.
"Toy Story 2"
While the first movie in the "Toy Story" trilogy was about friendship, "Toy Story 2" had other lessons hidden in the plot as well. When a toy collector steals Woody, seeking to complete his rare collectible toy collection, Woody's friends set out to save him.
The message here is that toys exist for kids to play with, not as collection pieces. This also adds to the meaning of the story when Woody has to decide what is more important, being idolized as a special toy or being there for the ones who truly love him.
"The Fox and the Hound"
Too many special interest groups deride "The Fox and the Hound" as an anti-hunting movie. Those people only scan the surface of this Disney tale and never understood the true lessons involved.
This movie is about two friends, a hunting dog and a fox, who realize they are supposed to be enemies when they grow up. However, they have to decide at the end whether they should remain loyal to their breeding or stay true to their friendship. This is a movie about people born different, whether by religion or race, and how hatred is man-made and something that never has to develop.
Check out the "The Hunger Games" live red carpet premiere on March 12 only on Yahoo! Movies.