The Lorax is an animated

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

 musical

Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

 television special

Television special

A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...

 produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises

DePatie-Freleng Enterprises

DePatie-Freleng Enterprises was a Hollywood-based animation production company, active from 1963 to 1981. They produced theatrical cartoons, animated series, commercials, title sequences and television specials. Notable among these is The Pink Panther film titles and cartoon shorts and the Dr....

 and first aired on CBS on February 14, 1972 based on the book of the same name

The Lorax

The Lorax is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and first published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, who speaks for the trees against the greedy Once-ler. As in most Dr...

 by Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....

.

Plot

A young boy goes to meet a ruined industrialist called the Once-ler in a tireless wasteland and hear his tale of what happened to him. His tragic story is about how he began a thriving business with a useless but versatile fashion product derived from the trees of a forest. As his business booms, the forest and its inhabitants suffer as he wantonly clearcuts without regard to the warnings of a wise old creature called The Lorax about the dire consequences of his greed.

Production notes

• The Truffula Trees produce assorted colors of material. About halfway into the special, both the Truffula Trees and the Thneeds we see are pink.
• This is the first Dr. Seuss CBS
  CBS
  CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
  
   television special to feature the short version of the 1971–1975 Cat in the Hat Productions logo with only the "Cat in the Hat doing tricks" sequence. The short version of the logo was also seen on Green Eggs and Ham, The Sneetches and The Hoober-Bloob Highway
  The Hoober-Bloob Highway
  The Hoober-Bloob Highway is an animated musical special written by Dr. Seuss and produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises for CBS in 1975. The special is a musical, and features several songs written by Dr. Seuss and composed by Dean Elliott.Mr...
  
  , thus ending the company. The Cat in the Hat
  The Cat in the Hat (TV special)
  The Cat in the Hat is an animated musical television special first aired on CBS on March 10, 1971, based on the 1957 Dr. Seuss' children's book of the same name and produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
  
  uses the extended version of the 1971–1975 logo instead.
• This is also the first Dr. Seuss CBS
  CBS
  CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
  
   television special to use the Cat in the Hat Productions logo at the end since Horton Hears a Who!
  Horton Hears a Who! (TV special)
  Horton Hears a Who! is a 1970 television half-hour long special based on the Dr. Seuss book of the same name, Horton Hears a Who!. It was produced and directed by Chuck Jones - who previously produced the Seuss special How the Grinch Stole Christmas! - for MGM Television...
  
  . The Cat in the Hat
  The Cat in the Hat (TV special)
  The Cat in the Hat is an animated musical television special first aired on CBS on March 10, 1971, based on the 1957 Dr. Seuss' children's book of the same name and produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
  
  does not use this logo at the end. It was last used as an animated closing variant at the end of The Hoober-Bloob Highway
  The Hoober-Bloob Highway
  The Hoober-Bloob Highway is an animated musical special written by Dr. Seuss and produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises for CBS in 1975. The special is a musical, and features several songs written by Dr. Seuss and composed by Dean Elliott.Mr...
  
  causing the last TV special produced by Cat in the Hat Productions.
• This is the last Dr. Seuss television special until Halloween Is Grinch Night
  Halloween is Grinch Night
  Halloween Is Grinch Night is a 1977 25-minute TV special and prequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. It won the 1977 Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. It premiered on ABC on October 29, 1977...
  
  to feature Thurl Ravenscroft
  Thurl Ravenscroft
  Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft was an American voice actor and singer best known as the deep voice behind Tony the Tiger's "They're grrreat!" in Frosted Flakes television commercials for more than five decades. Ravenscroft was also known, however uncredited, as the vocalist for the song "You're a Mean...
  
  . Ravenscroft died on May 22, 2005.
• In honor to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the special and the film The Lorax
  The Lorax (film)
  The Lorax, also known as Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, is an upcoming American computer-animated 3-D film based on Dr. Seuss' children's book of the same name. It is being produced by Illumination Entertainment and will be released by Universal Pictures on March 2, 2012, what would have been the 108th...
  
  , Warner Home Video
  Warner Home Video
  Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
  
   will release the special on a deluxe edition DVD
  DVD
  A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
  
   and Blu-ray on February 14, 2012.

Differences from the book

• The kid does not have to pay The Once-ler for his time. In the book, he has to pay The Once-ler 15 cents, a nail, and the shell of a great, great, great grandfather snail.
• No mention of The Crummies, a gastrointestinal disease that The Bar-Ba-Loots suffered, although there is a scene in the special where a Bar-Ba-Loot had to be carried because he was too sick to walk.
• There is a more in-depth look at the problems - at one point, the Once-ler argues with himself about what he is doing (ultimately justifying his actions by claiming that if he didn't do it, someone else would), and points out to the Lorax that shutting down his factory would put hundreds of people out of a job; the Lorax admits that he has a point, and also that he himself wouldn't know the answer.