NARRATOR [SINGING]: At the far end of town Where the Grickle-grass grows
And the wind smells slow and sour When it blows
And no birds ever sing Excepting old crows
Is the Street of the Lifted Lorax
Grickle-grass, Grickle-grass
Street of the Lifted Lorax
Grickle-grass, Grickle-grass
Somebody lifted the Lorax away
NARRATOR [IN NORMAL VOICE]: What was the Lorax?
And why was it there?
And why was it lifted and taken somewhere...
from the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows?
The old Once-ler still lives here.
Ask him. He knows.
You won't see the Once-ler. Don't knock at his door.
He lurks in his Lerkim on top of his store.
And on Grickle-y midnights in August, he peeks out of the shutters...
and sometimes he speaks and tells how the Lorax was lifted away.
ONCE-LER: It all started way back.
Such a long, long time back.
Way back in the days when the grass was still green...
and the pond was still wet and the clouds were still clean...
and the song of the Swomee-Swans rang out in space.
[CHIRPING]
One morning, I came to this glorious place.
Then I saw the trees, the Truffula Trees.
The bright-colored tufts of the Truffula Trees.
Mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze.
And under the trees, I saw Brown Bar-ba-loots...
frisking about in their Bar-ba-loot suits.
CHORUS [SINGING]: Under the trees
Happy, dappy Bar-ba-loots
Under the trees in our Bar-ba-loot suits
Under the trees eating Truffula Fruits
- MEN: Oh, these succulent - WOMEN: Mellifluous
- Deliciously - Delifluous
Sweetly succulifluous
CHORUS: Truffula fruits
WOMEN: Summertime's a-comin', comin'
MEN: Under the trees
Humming-Fish are hummin', hummin'
Under the trees
[CHORUS HUMMING]
WOMEN: Under the trees
- MAN 1: Oh, these glorious - WOMAN 1: Splendembulous
MAN 2: Splendorious
- WOMAN 2: Splendimulous - MAN 3: Namby-flamby, flimbulous
CHORUS: Truffula Trees
ONCE-LER: Those trees. Those trees.
Those Truffula Trees.
All my life I've been searching for trees such as these.
The touch of their tufts was much softer than silk.
And they had the sweet smell of fresh butterfly milk.
I felt a great leaping of love in my heart.
I knew just what I'd do. I unloaded my cart.
In no time at all, I had built a small shop.
Then I chopped down a Truffula Tree with one chop.
ONCE-LER: What you doing in my tree stump, buddy?
Your tree stump?
Mister, I am the Lorax.
- I speak for the... - Forget it. Hmp.
I don't really need the stump. You can have it, little fellow.
Aha. Just enough to finish the cuffs.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
Now, uh, uh, oh, oh, who do you say you were, little fella?
Mister, I am the Lorax.
I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.
And I'm asking you, sir, at the top of my lungs.
That thing, that horrible thing that I see...
what's that thing you've made out of my Truffula Tree?
Look, Lorax, calm down. There's no cause for alarm.
I chopped down just one tree. I'm doing no harm.
Hah. This thing is most useful. This thing is a Thneed.
A Thneed, a fine something that all people need.
It's a shirt.
It's a sock.
It's a glove.
It's a hat.
But it has other uses.
Yes, far beyond that.
You can use it for carpets, for pillows, for sheets or curtains...
or covers for bicycle seats.
Sir, you're crazy.
You're crazy with greed.
Why, there's no one on earth who would buy that fool Thneed.
[TIRES SCREECH]
ONCE-LER: The birth of an industry, you poor, stupid guy.
You telling me what the public will buy?
[CASH REGISTER RINGS]
Please, I object, in the name of the trees.
All complaints will be filed in this box, if you please.
ONCE-LER: Now I had reached the stage where the potential was known.
This business was too big for one Once-ler alone.
Promptly I built me a radio phone.
I called my brothers, uncles and aunts. I said, "Listen here.
Here's a wonderful chance for the whole Once-ler family to get rich."
Get over here fast. Take the road to North Nitch. Turn left at Weehawken.
Sharp right at South Stitch.
CHORUS [SINGING]: Don't stand around gawkin'
Turn left at Weehawken To the Once-ler's house we go
Don't waste your time talkin'
Turn left at Weehawken To the house of the glorious Once-ler we go
Opportunity's knockin' There'll be no more squawkin'
We're gonna get rich
MAN: Filthy rich
CHORUS [SINGING]: No more holes in our stockin'
Turn left at Weehawken To the house of the glorious Once-ler we go
Gentlemen, I wish to speak for the trees.
Here are some facts to cogitate and ruminate.
It takes 10 months for a Truffula seed to germinate.
It takes 10 long years before the seed grows into a sapling.
It takes 10 more years...
[LORAX COUGHS]
ONCE-LER: And, in no time at all, in the factory I built...
the whole Once-ler family was working full tilt.
We were all knitting Thneeds just as busy as bees...
to the sound of the chopping of Truffula Trees.
Then, oh, baby, oh, how my business did grow.
Now chopping trees one at a time was too slow.
So I promptly invented my Super-Axe-Hacker...
which whacked off four Truffula Trees in one smacker.
We were making Thneeds four times as fast as before...
and my profits, incidentally, were soaring galore.
[CARS HONKING]
Hmm, inadequate roadways. I want a four-lane highway over there.
WORKER: Instant Roadway Company, at your service, sir.
[BIRD COUGHS]
[TRUCK WHINING]
I speak for the trees.
Let them grow. Let them grow.
[WHIRRING]
But nobody listens too much, don't you know?
I speak for the trees.
And I'll yell and I'll shout...
for the fine things on Earth that are on the way out.
[BUZZING]
They say I'm old-fashioned and live in the past.
But sometimes I think progress progresses too fast.
They say I'm a fool to oppose things like these...
but I'm going to continue to speak for the trees.
I'm going to continue to speak for the trees.
CHORUS [SINGING]: It's always fair weather
When good Once-lers get together
LORAX: I'm going to continue to speak for the trees.
[ALARM RINGING]
CHORUS [SINGING]: Off the old assembly line
Comes another Thneed
Answering humanity's Each and every need
Everybody do, do, do Do, do need a Thneed
WOMAN 1: It isn't just a tanning vest
MAN 1: Use it for a hammock when you need rest
WOMAN 2: A toothbrush holder For your weekend guest
MAN 2: Your canary will love it It's a lovely nest
WOMAN 3: Try it in soup, it adds great zest
MAN 3: It will cure those backache pains In your chest
CHORUS [SINGING]: Everybody do, do, do
Do, do need a Thneed
You'll be amazed, you'll be nonplussed It tastes like bread without the crust
MAN 1: Grooms your hair when it gets mussed
WOMAN 1: Rids your home of dismal dust
MAN 2: It's a natural, it's a must
MAN 3: Eliminates carburetor rust
CHORUS: Everybody do, do, do Do, do need a Thneed
It's super-duper, hooper-hyper
Makes a perfect windshield wiper
Foolproof trap to catch a viper
We've no complaints from any griper
Papa smokes 'em in his piper
- WOMAN: Baby says - MAN: Boy, what a diaper
CHORUS: Everybody do, do, do
Everybody do, do, do
Do need a Thneed
Today we're here to celebrate
Perpetuate and demonstrate
Our love for the good ol' Once-ler
Founding father of the Thneed
Three cheers for the good ol' Once-ler
Georgie Washington of the Thneed
ONCE-LER: Very heartwarming.
Very heartwarming.
CHORUS [SINGING]: Oh, place your hand upon your heart
And recollect his humble start
He came here in a horse-drawn cart
Upon his sacred mission
Today the Once-ler's fame has grown
Today the name of Thneed is known
It's carved in everlasting stone
Everlasting stone
And seen on television
For he's a jolly good Once-ler Aren't we all?
CHORUS [IN NORMAL VOICE]: Nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand...
nine hundred and ninety-five.
Ninety-six, 97, 98, 99, 1 million.
[CROWD CHEERS]
Stop it! Stop it!
There's something I've got to tell you.
Huh? Oh, it's Nature Boy, the garden club member.
Now, listen all of you. I am the Lorax.
I speak for the trees.
Whoops.
ONCE-LER: That was the Lorax. He spoke for the trees.
[CHUCKLES]
Miss Funtzler, Miss Funtzler?
MISS FUNTZLER [OVER INTERCOM]: Yes, Mr. Once-ler?
Miss Funtzler, send in Miss O'Schmunsler.
MISS FUNTZLER: Miss O'Schmunsler for Mr. Once-ler.
MISS O'SCHMUNSLER: Take a letter, Mr. Once-ler?
ONCE-LER [SINGING]: Take a letter, Miss O'Schmunsler
To my cousin Yenna Yuntzler
General manager, Thneeds Incorporated Stockholm, Sweden
Dear Yonni
[IN NORMAL VOICE] I'm overjoyed to hear how our business in the Scandinavian market is...
by leaps and bounds speeding.
The entire international picture is most exuberantly rosy and...
[RINGING]
MISS FUNTZLER [OVER SPEAKER]: Mr. Once-ler, he's back.
That Lorax nut is back again.
Yes, I am the Lorax who speaks for the trees...
which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please.
But I'm also in charge of the Brown Bar-ba-loots...
who played in the shade in their Bar-ba-loot suits...
and happily lived, eating Truffula Fruits.
Now thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground...
there's not enough Truffula Fruit to go around.
I see your point, yes, I do see your point.
They loved living here, but I can't let them stay.
They'll have to find food.
And I hope that they may.
Good luck, boys. Good luck.
CHORUS [SINGING]: Bar-ba-loot suits
Bar-ba-loot suits
Hikin' off to somewhere In our Bar-ba-loot suits
Please think about it, would you?
ONCE-LER [SINGING]: Every once in a while
I sit down with myself asking
"Once-ler, why are you a Once-ler?"
And I cringe, I don't smile As I sit there on trial asking
"Aren't you ashamed, you old Once-ler?
You ought to be locked in a hoosegow, you should.
The things that you do are completely ungood."
Yeah. Ha, ha.
But if I didn't do them
Then someone else would
"That's a very good point, Mr. Once-ler."
[IN NORMAL VOICE] Progress is progress,
and progress must roll.
ONCE-LER: Things were going just fine all the way down the line.
Thneeds were selling like hotcakes from Timbuktu to Texas.
I was feeling quite relaxed in my good old solar plexus...
when he snuck out of a pipe.
He was back with another gripe.
[COUGHS]
Once-ler, you're making such smogulous smoke.
My poor Swomee-Swans, why, they can't sing a note.
No one can sing who has smog in his throat.
And so...
[COUGHS]
Please pardon my cough.
They cannot live here.
I am sending them off.
ONCE-LER: Where will they go?
Where will they go?
I don't hopefully know.
CHORUS [SINGING]: Will there be another dawn?
A sunrise for the Swomee-Swan
Exit, exit Swomee-Swan
Going, going, going, gone
What do you want, I should shut down my factory?
Fire a hundred thousand workers? Is that good economics?
Is that sound for the country?
I see your point, but I wouldn't know the answer.
Tell you what I'll do. I'll think it over.
No!
You've run out of time for thinking things over!
I'm sorry to yell, but my dander is up.
Let me say a few words about gluppity-glupp.
Your machinery chugs on day and night without stop...
making gluppity-glupp and also schloppity-schlopp.
[CHORUS SINGING]
You're glumping the pond where the Humming-Fish hummed.
No more can they hum, for their gills are all gummed.
So I'm sending them off.
Oh, their future is dreary.
I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.
CHORUS [SINGING]: Just fish out of water on hard, dry land
People ain't fish So they can't understand
What happens when simple things Get out of hand
And the fish and his family's On hard, dry land
Well, Mr. Once-ler?
ONCE-LER: Hmp.
First the poor Bar-ba-loots, then the poor Swomee-Swans.
Now the poor Humming-Fish.
Oh, Mr. Lorax.
Mr. Lorax, this cursed factory of mine, now at last I understand.
MISS FUNTZLER [OVER SPEAKER]: Mr. Once-ler, Mr. Once-ler!
ONCE-LER: Huh?
Oh, uh, yes, Miss Funtzler.
Stock market has just closed, and Thneeds Incorporated stock is up.
Up 27 and five-eighth points.
ONCE-LER: Wow. Wow.
Rowdy-dow!
Now, you listen to me, pop, while I blow my top.
Trees.
[ONCE-LER SCOFFS]
You speak for the trees.
Well, I speak for men and human opportunities.
For your information, you Lorax...
I'm figgering on biggering and biggering...
and biggering and biggering.
Turning more Truffula Trees into Thneeds...
which everyone, everyone, everyone needs!
ONCE-LER: And at that very moment, we heard a loud whack...
[AXE WHACKS]
from outside in the fields came the sickening smack...
of an axe on a tree.
Then we saw the tree fall.
The very last Truffula Tree of them all.
No more trees.
No more Thneeds. No more work to be done.
And in no time my uncles and aunts, everyone all waved me goodbye.
They jumped into their cars and drove away under smoke-smuggered stars.
CHORUS [SINGING]: For he's a jolly good Once-ler
Aren't we all?
For he's a jolly good Once-ler
Aren't we all?
ONCE-LER: Now all that was left beneath the bad-smelling sky...
was my big, empty factory, the Lorax, and I.
The Lorax said nothing.
Just gave me a glance.
Just gave me a very sad, sad backward glance.
As he lifted himself by the seat of his pants, and I...
I'll never forget the grim look on his face when he heisted himself...
and took leave of this place through a hole in the smog...
without leaving a trace.
And all that the Lorax left here in this mess...
was a small pile of rocks with one word.
"Unless"?
ONCE-LER: Yes, unless.
What's an unless?
ONCE-LER [SINGING]: Just a faraway word
Just a faraway thought
A thought? About what?
About something I ought?
[IN NORMAL VOICE] Well...
[CONTINUES SINGING] A thought about something
That somebody ought
A thought about something
That somebody ought
[IN NORMAL VOICE] Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot...
nothing is going to get better.
It's not.
Hold on a minute. Where is it now?
Uh, don't go, don't go. I've got something for you.
Ah, here it is. It's a Truffula seed. It's the last one of all.
Catch, don't muff.
You're in charge of the last of the Truffula seeds.
And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
Plant a new Truffula.
Treat it with care.
Give it clean water and feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest.
Protect it from axes that hack.
Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back.
[ENGLISH - US - SDH]