SugarPlum's Playdate

In the mid-1950's, Dr. Seuss was working his magic as a producer of children's books. As I grew up in the 1960's, I read most of them (How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Green Eggs & Ham, The Cat in the Hat, Hop on Pop, etc.). I outgrew Dr. Seuss before I could get around to reading Horton Hears A Who!

Well, I can now add this book to my booklist since I had occasion to check out the movie version on Saturday night when I took the SugarPlum and one of her girlfriends out on a playdate, so their mothers could have a Mom's Night Out.

So while they gorged on nachos, popcorn, Twizzlers, and Coca-Cola's, I sat intently and took in the magic that was Horton. The movie has a pretty simple premise: Horton comes across a speck which houses Whoville, but no one believes him. It was a pretty cool concept where the largest animal in the jungle has to protect the smallest speck. The moral of the story: a person is a person, no matter how small.

Surprise. Surprise. It works... probably the best children's movie that I've seen since Shrek 2! Excellent, well made flick with a cool message. Unfortunately, the SugarPlum and her friend were more enamored with their brush with celebrity since we went to the same movie theater that hosted the premier of Tyler Perry's latest flick (Meet the Browns): "We met Tyler Perry! We met Tyler Perry! We met Tyler Perry!" I guess all the kids in her class will know more about the us not being on the guest list to meet Tyler Perry than about Horton and Mayor of Whoville.

After the movie, we traipsed over to Johnny Rockets for some burgers and milkshakes. We rode home with the two of them singing along with the "High School Musical 2" soundtrack. We made it home a scant two hours before their mothers rolled in.

Incidently, Horton Hears a Who was the top grossing movie of the weekend with $45 million in receipts!