Horton the Elephant is the kind-hearted elephant who is the main protagonist of the 1940 book, Horton Hatches the Egg and its 1950 sequel Horton Hears a Who!. He also appears in Seussical the Musical, and The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. Horton is the leader of the Jungle of Nool characters in Horton Hatches the Egg, Horton Hears a Who!, and Horton and the Kwuggerbug and more Lost Stories. He is also the deuteragonist of the special.
Appearance[]
Horton is a gray elephant with blue eyes. His ears sprout like wings.
- In the Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon version, he is portrayed as pink instead of gray.
- He has a tuft of black hair on the top of his head. His body is round in shape.
- He is extremely heavy.
Personality[]
In each of Horton's book appearances, he endures a good amount of ridicule, for believing in something that no one else does. In 1942, Horton the Elephant appeared in Horton Hatches the Egg.
Horton never loses faith, though. Even after being roped and caged, he continually insisted that the Whos existed, which they did. In The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, he is performed by John Kennedy.
Horton is also one of the main characters of Seussical, played by Kevin Chamberlin, combining his roles in Horton Hatches the Egg and Horton Hears a Who!. The basic story line of the musical is centered around him.
Horton is an enormous elephant with a simple mind but a heart of gold. In both stories, he selflessly protects a thing that seems meaningless to other animals (an egg and a speck that contains a very small world) and is cruelly mocked. He pays no attention to them, and gets rewarded in the end of his torments.
Horton is very innocent and daydreaming (even a bit nuts in the film), but also very fearless and compassionate. He is very forgiving as well, since he never holds hard feelings for the other animals despite all the harm they did to him.
He is also a father to an elephant bird by the name Morton and a brother to an moose by the name Thidwick.
Book Appearances[]
Filmography[]
- Horton Hatches the Egg (1942)
- Horton Hears a Who! (Cartoon)
- The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss
- Episode 01: The Gink
- Episode 04: The Song of the Zubble-Wump
- Episode 05: The Guest
- Episode 18: Horton Has a Hit!
- Episode 19: The Birthday Moose
- Seussical
- Seussical (TV Special)
- Horton Hears a Who! (film)