

Quite the contrary actually - many would argue it’s adults who need to heed the fabulist themes of the story more than children. The Lorax may be a children’s story, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain insight for adults too. The Lorax Script Takeaway #3 The Lorax is an environmental fable Seuss was known for memorable quotes - and The Lorax certainly has some of his best. “What I want more than anything is to see a real living tree.”ĭr.“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.” There are some great quotes in both the book and the script. All in all, it’s a novel approach to developing a children’s story into a screenplay. In a way, the Once-ler is testing Ted to see if he’s truly the one who’s worthy of the last Truffula seed. But they also use this tactic to develop the Once-ler’s character. To do this, they had to elongate the story through screenwriting tactics.īy having the Once-ler force Ted to leave and return the next day, the writers buy more time for the story to develop.

Paul and Dario knew they needed to make the nameless protagonist a character we can empathize with - and they knew they needed to fit Dr. Seuss’ version, “Ted” isn’t Ted at all but rather a nameless protagonist. Seuss’ The Lorax, the Once-ler doesn’t make Ted leave and return the next day - in fact, in Dr. So, how did Paul and Dario turn a picture book into a feature length script? The excerpt above shows how they did it. Structure plays a huge role in screenwriting. Audrey kisses Ted and all becomes right in the town of Thneedville. The Lorax returns, proud of his former friend. The Once-ler leaves his cave and tends to the growing trees. The denizens of Thneedville come together to plant the Truffula seed in the middle of town while O’Hare watches helplessly. Ted and Audrey rush to plant the Truffula seed before O’Hare can stop them. The Once-ler gives Ted the last Truffula seed and asks him to plant it. The Once-ler reveals that he destroyed every Truffula tree, forcing the Lorax to leave – and that the Lorax gave him a rock engraved with the word “unless” as a parting gift. The Once-ler describes how he was whisked away from harvesting the thneed from trees and enticed to chop them down instead. Ted attracts the attention of O’Hare, who warns him not to talk to the Once-ler because the return of trees would be a threat to his business. The Once-ler tells Ted the story of how he deforested the Truffula trees and invoked the wrath of the Lorax by selling Thneed to the denizens of the town next-door. Ted’s grandmother tells him that he needs to find the Once-ler to learn more about what happened to the trees. Inciting IncidentĪ boy named Ted hatches a plan to win over the heart of his crush Audrey by finding a real tree to replace the metal one in her backyard. The Lorax introduces the reader to the town of Thneedville - an industrial city that’s controlled by business magnate, Aloysius O’Hare. Here is the story structure for The Lorax screenplay: Exposition STORY BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE OF THE LORAX SCREENPLAY
