Ice Age and its sequel have gone a considerable way to establishing Fox as a serious competitor to Pixar’s CGI crown. Here, they delve into the treasured Dr. Seuss back catalogue for an adaptation of the children’s tale Horton Hears a Who!

Horton (Jim Carrey) is a happy-go-lucky elephant, teaching the children of the Jungle of Nool about the various life around them. One day, he hears a yelp from a speck of dust on a clover. Convinced there is life on that speck, he tries to communicate, and reaches the (small) ears of The Mayor (Steve Carell). He is, obviously, mayor of Whoville, a city existing on that tiny speck, blissfully unaware of the universe around them. Horton realises he needs to get Whoville to safety, much to the chagrin of Kangaroo (Carol Burnett), who believes his eccentricities have no place in the Jungle community and hires a mercenary vulture called Vlad (Will Arnett) to hunt him down.

Animation always treads that fine line between being ‘for the little ones’ and including the adults. Horton... doesn’t have the intelligence of something like Shrek, however there’s a lot there to get the accompanying adult through to the credits. The story is straight forward, without being boring, and there are some clever references to Japanese animation, even some mafia-esque monkeys. At its heart it’s the children’s story of the books, although it does lack some of the kookiness of Seuss’ world.

Carrey must kind of know people are bored of his rubber-faced performances, and perhaps he is too, opting for more serious roles recently. However, maybe in his first voiceover part he’s found the best of both worlds. He can fully unload all of his intense energy in the voiceover booth, and that really comes across onscreen as his voice gives Horton a dimension that lazier voice actors (Martin Lawrence in Open Season, we’re looking at you) wouldn’t. Carell is a pretty good foil to Carrey, but gets his moments, as does a pretty impressive support cast (Isla Fisher, Arnett, and Knocked Up star Seth Rogen).

This is dwarfed, however, by a truly beautiful look to the film that promises more from Fox Animation, now that they’ve incorporated specialist studio Blue Sky. A lot better than most kids movies out there, this is a film that its makers took pride in. Not a masterpiece, but an entertaining afternoon no less.