Nobody Needs a Thneed

By Amilcar Ferrero & Nahir Penelas

A big dazzling advertisement welcomes us to “Thneedville”, a surreal, plastic, artificial and superficial city, where the film ‘The Lorax’ is set. This movie released by Universal Picture in 2012 and directed by Chris Renaud is based on the book with the same name written by Dr. Seuss in 1971. The director and the producers readapted this children’s story into a modern 3D animated movie for kids.

The main character of the story is Tod, a ten year old boy who lives in Thneedville, a place without trees. Fighting against a superficial and consumerist society, Tod will restore fresh air by seeding a tree in the city again.

Despite the bright colours, catchy songs, and funny characters, “The Lorax” does not just want to entertain children, but it makes a criticism to the capitalist system.

Let’s take for example one of the film’s songs: “Everybody needs a Thneed, a fine thing that all people need.” By singing the lyrics the citizens show their enthusiasm to buy the Thneed, an absurd and useless product. Clearly, the name this product receives is not casual. “Thneed” recalls the idea of basic needs; as if it were something that you need in order to live. Once-ler, the inventor of this product, creates a commodity which everybody wants to have by using an effective slogan. Highlighting the multiple absurd functions this product has (it can be used as a scarf, a hat, a rag and many other things), he seduces people to buy the “Thneed”. Companies in a capitalist system try to infer and cover all the needs people might have in order to make their lives easier, as a strategy to sell products. In this way, the film shows a typical strategy of marketing.

Another problem comes when we are surprised by the method in which the “thneed” is produced. This product is made of a raw material that comes from trees.  Instead of using a harmless method to obtain it by using a clamp to collect the leaves from the crown of the tree, Once-ler decides to chop down all the trees. Once-ler’s mom influences his son to work with this easy but harmful method.  “You have to do what is best for the company,” she says, representing the common sense of businessmen in the capitalist system and underestimating the importance of nature. We can even hear in one of the songs: “There's a principle in business…It says the people with the money make this ever-loving world go 'round.” The thing is that underestimation and misunderstanding of nature is produced by a system in which money is the most important value. Or at least this is what the movie wants to transmit.

Everything in Thneedville can be sold, even the air. O´Hair Air, the main company in the village, takes advantage of the inexistence of trees, and decides to produce bottles with air. The mayor of Thneedville and head of the O'Hare Air company (power and money go hand in hand), Mr O´Hair says “The more smog, the more people who buy.” This means that in order to sell more “bottled air”, this man pollutes the environment without any guilty feeling. In this sense ‘The Lorax’ shows the ambition produced by the capitalist system where the only thing that matters is becoming rich and powerful.

Luckily, Tod will change this city and its citizen’s perception of their reality by planting a seed, and of course, singing a catchy song! Depicting an extreme consumerist society, the aim of the film is to criticize the capitalist system in order to make the audience reflect upon the world where they live, trying to encourage them to change it. In words of Once-ler (actually, Dr. Seuss’ words): “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

From the beginning up to the end of the story, ‘The Lorax’ shows in a funny but critical way a capitalist society where money and power are more important than nature. Should we follow Dr. Seuss’s advice? At least, let’s give it a thought.