Comedy Legends and Young Superstars: Casting the Film

“UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” —The Once-ler in “The Lorax”

When casting the actors who would voice the characters in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, the filmmakers looked to a variety of performers to find not just the ideal actors for the film, but also the perfect people to embody Dr. Seuss’ iconic characters.

Producer Healy reveals that many of the animators’ choices were influenced by the voices of the actors. “The animators study the actors as they are doing their lines, and take the nuances of the actors’ expressions and put them in the movie,” she says. “That’s what really brings the characters to life. They do a lot of homework and look at the actors and see what’s unique about them and what they are bringing to this particular performance, and borrow from them.”

Cast as the gruff yet comical Lorax was legendary comic actor Danny DeVito, who currently entertains TV audiences weekly with his portrayal of Frank Reynolds


Grammy Norma (BETTY WHITE).


The Once-ler makes a very costly mistake.

on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. For the filmmakers, DeVito’s voice represented the sharpish and bossy nature of the Lorax, while also coming off as lovable. Compliments Meledandri: “The challenge in casting this role was to find an actor who has the ability to be both acerbic and lovable: someone who could give a real comedic wit to a grouchy character but who is simultaneously incredibly appealing. Danny, with his immense talent, became the perfect fit.”

Agrees Renaud: “There really was no second choice. Quite literally, we had a painting of the Lorax at the time, and we put Danny’s voice against it. It was just perfect. There wasn’t another choice in anyone’s mind. He felt like perfect casting to us, and it’s worked beautifully.”

The film and television actor, who is as known from the seminal TV series Taxi as he is for his roles in blockbusters such as Romancing the Stone, Terms of Endearment, Ruthless People and Big Fish, is no stranger to voice work for animated characters. His vocal work as the satyr/trainer Philoctetes in Disney’s hit animated film Hercules was effortless and scene-stealing.

DeVito, a father of three, is a lifelong fan of Dr. Seuss’ books and is an environmental advocate. Seeing the artists’ sketch of the Lorax made him even more eager to work on the project. He says: “There’s a certain thing about doing the voice for a character that you love. All of Dr. Seuss’ books are a lot of fun, and some of them are a bit political. I’m green, and I want everybody to take care of the forests. Chris brought the drawing of the Lorax over, and it popped into my head that it was such a great character. I love the way he was written so energetically, and I jumped at the chance to work on the film.”

DeVito also feels that the Lorax is a symbol of something that is inside all of us. “He’s a unique species, but there is a Lorax in every one of us. He’s the spirit inside of us, the one that says, ‘Don’t throw that on the ground. Put that in the recycling bin.’ He’s the guy who says, ‘You know what? I think I’ve eaten enough sugar today. I’m going to go have an apple.’”

Cast in the role of the enigmatic Once-ler was comedic actor Ed Helms, known to audiences for his roles in The Hangover series and NBC’s The Office. Unlike any other character in the story, the Once-ler has a sobering story arc that crosses time. Helms had the challenge of voicing the Once-ler as the old hermit from the book, as well as the Once-ler as a young man who moves to Truffula Valley in hopes of making his fortune.

Shares Renaud of his actor’s talents: “Ed was excited to take this iconic character, which you never see in the book, and get the opportunity to expand upon him, flesh him out and make him whole. Ed’s ability to be both sarcastic and biting, but also vulnerable and innocent, was what we needed to make this character work.”

“The challenge of performing both those ages convincingly is enormous because they have to sound vocally distinct, while maintaining an integrity and consistency between the older and younger versions,” explains Meledandri. “Ed Helms brings his brand of wit and irony to the role of the Once-ler. He has the acting chops, strong comedy instincts, and he is, at heart, a writer, which is a wonderful quality to have in a lead voice of an animated movie. The shaping of the role frequently involves many ad libs and lots of invention on behalf of the actor.”

The performer was eager to take on the role. Helms recounts his interest: “‘The Lorax’ was a definite favorite on my childhood bookshelf. My mom loved Dr. Seuss and got my brother, sister and me started very early reading his books. I felt a strong connection to Dr. Seuss’ fantastical world; it made me laugh and made sense to me in a weird way. Playing the Once-ler was a huge thrill because it enabled me to actually inhabit that world.” When Helms heard about a film adaptation of “The Lorax,” he sought out the filmmakers and asked to be involved. He explains: “I heard that these guys were making The Lorax, and I asked for a meeting with Chris Meledandri. I sat down and told him that I would love to be a part of the movie, no matter how small the role, just because this story is special to me and I have a visceral connection to it.”

Helms elaborates upon his character: “Like a lot of us, the Once-ler wants to make his mark on the world. He’s driven and intelligent, and he sets out on this path to do great things and be successful. But he gets overwhelmed by it. I think that the Once-ler is intrinsically good, but he gets sucked into this feedback loop of profit and success, and that takes him down a very dark path. Fortunately, he sees the error of his ways, but it might be too late!”

When it came to vocals, Helms found voicing the young Once-ler an easier task than creating the older version of the character. “The young Once-ler sounds very close to me and how I normally talk,” he says. “The old Once-ler sounds very different and much older than I actually am, so it was harder to refind that voice every time I came back in for a recording session. I figured out that if I screamed and coughed a lot, then I was able to get to that older, raspier voice a little easier. The character has the same brain and he thinks the same, but he’s a lot more jaded and bitter later on in the story.”

Healy acknowledges that Helms’ work helped to make the character of the Once-ler one of her favorites in the film. She says: “I love the Once-ler character, and I always have from the time we first settled on Ed’s voice and the character design. We did things like put a rakish hat and a vest on him, and we made the Once-ler a very interesting character.”

The role of the passionate and curious 12-year-old named Ted went to Zac Efron, known to audiences for the High School Musical series and the hit musical Hairspray. Though the character is much younger than the actor, the filmmakers knew that Efron’s charm and youthful spirit would serve the character well. It was more important to cast someone who could bring life to the character in a unique and passionate way than it was to stay true to the literal age of Ted. Meledandri says, “Zac is a gifted actor and has a boyish charm


Ted (ZAC EFRON) cautiously approaches the Lerkim.


Ted searches for the story of the Lorax.

that makes him irresistible. He is able to channel that charm in his voice performance.”

Efron vividly remembers his parents reading “The Lorax” to him as a child and credits the book as “planting the seed of an environmentalist” in him. Reflecting upon his character, he states: “Ted is a regular kid growing up who is hungry for adventure. He’s got a crush on this girl, and he has a crazy grandma and a mom who is too strict, so he wants his freedom. He lives in a world in which there is virtually no nature—no trees and no plants. Everything exists through technology, so it’s fun to see him navigating a similar family life that we have today.”

Voicing an animated character was a new experience for Efron. He notes that though the process of recording alone in a booth felt a bit awkward at times, he enjoyed the challenge. “I thought back to my childhood and put myself in these awkward, hilarious situations that this kid finds himself in. The variations between something being funny and something not quite fitting are so slight, but they can make all the difference. It’s fun to really let go, though I’m sure it looked ridiculous when I was in the sound booth.”

Global superstar and award-winning singer Taylor Swift was cast as Ted’s dream girl, Audrey, a high-school environmentalist and budding activist who wishes to see a real tree. Meledandri says: “We are beginning to see the extraordinary range of Taylor Swift’s talents. Audrey was a new character that we introduced to the story, so it was vital that we find someone who could capture her in a convincing and compelling way. Taylor’s intrinsic passion and expressiveness make Audrey one of the most appealing characters in the film.”

Swift’s excitement for working on the project only grew when the filmmakers showed her a drawing of the character that she would voice. “I loved the character from the first time I saw any kind of drawings or renderings of Audrey,” the performer explains. “I thought she looked quirky and different. There was something really special about the way that they conjured her up in their minds, and I wanted to be a part of it.

“Audrey’s a total dreamer and she has these impossible dreams,” continues Swift. “I’ve always been drawn to people with impossible dreams. She draws this mural of these Truffula Trees on her wall, and those had been long forgotten by everyone else. She dreams of the day when everything won’t be so concrete and cold. Audrey is a regular high-school girl, but she’s got some extraordinary characteristics about her personality. She’s adventurous, and she takes chances.”

The small, yet powerful villain and financial king of Thneedville, Aloysius O’Hare, is voiced by comedic actor Rob Riggle. The character was created for the film, and he represents greed personified and control of all information in and out of Thneedville. Riggle describes his duplicitous, yet industrious character: “O’Hare is wise at times and unethical at others. He’s an industrialist who is trying to create a Thneedville that maybe others don’t want. It’s the Napoleon complex that gives him his rage and anger.”

Explains Efron about his on-screen nemesis’ motivation: “Ted has a strange vibe from him, from the very beginning. O’Hare looks like he’s three feet tall and has a weird bowl haircut. He walks around with these two huge bodyguards [Mooney and McGurk] and manipulates everyone. He doesn’t want any trees to come back because they’ll start producing the product he’s become rich off of: air.”

Renaud thought Rob Riggle was a perfect fit for the part of O’Hare: “The character that Rob plays is a very broad character, and he loves going broad. He has this booming voice and he was able to capture that slick, smarmy side and also the abrasive, ruthless, aggressive side of O’Hare, while still being funny. Rob has this wonderful quality to balance all of that.”

Riggle jokes that he was actually cast because of the convincing tirade he launched into when he sat down with the filmmakers. “I went on a tirade against trees and how much I hated them. As I read for the filmmakers, I realized that we were kindred spirits and I had to play the role.” To prepare to play O’Hare, Riggle wryly states, “I spent many days down at the playground, yelling at children. If I didn’t like the way they ran, or they were too slow on the monkey bars, I’d yell at them.”

As Riggle recorded his vocals, he interacted with Renaud, even though the director was across the Atlantic in France. During these sessions, the director Skyped in from the animation studio in Paris. Riggle says: “Chris Renaud was very good about giving you a sense of where we are in the story and what’s happening and what you’re feeling. I love the fact that the director is in Paris and I was here in Los Angeles, and yet, we’re making magic. We live in a great time.”

Award-winning actress Betty White, who will be forever beloved for playing Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls, was cast as the sassy and energetic Grammy Norma, who tells Ted to visit the Once-ler and explains what to do when he gets there. She is instrumental in making sure that the Truffula Tree seed is found and kept safe.

Though her character is not in the book, Grammy Norma is one of Audrey Geisel’s favorite characters in the film. “Grammy Norma’s rich design looks nothing like Betty White, but with her iconic voice, the personality of Betty White comes blasting through,” explains Meledandri. “She’s the character that others have written off as being too old, but her grandson realizes that her wisdom can be very helpful to him. She surprises all of us and becomes this incredible ally to Ted in ultimately achieving his goals.”

Not a stranger to working in animation, White enjoyed the challenging task of voice-over work. “You have to make somewhat of a fool of yourself in the booth, but it’s great fun and it’s interesting,” she says. “You do the voice work alone, and it’s great that you don’t have to put on makeup or have your hair done or anything like that. You’re kind of talking to yourself, really. The hardest part is not the lines as much as the sound effects like when you have to sound like you’re falling off a motorcycle or you’re running into a wall. But that’s show business.”

Toward the climax of the film, an agile and feisty Grammy Norma teams up with Ted to fight off O’Hare


“UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”


The Lorax tries to reason with the Once-ler.

and his goons in a sweeping third-act chase. “I never thought I’d be an action hero,” laughs White. “I may still not be much of an action hero, but Grammy Norma gets up on a truck and she does all kinds of things and runs the whole show to help her grandson.”

Source: The Lorax Movie | Official Site for the The Lorax Film