Horton the Elephant is a fictional character from the 1940 book Horton Hatches the Egg and 1954 book Horton Hears a Who!, both by Dr. Seuss. Horton is a kind, sweet-natured elephant who cares about other animals or people. Though he goes through many hardships, whether trying to keep an egg warm through storms, rough travels, and humiliating shows or tries to save a small planet from harm, he always triumphs; the egg hatches into an elephant-bird, while the planet is saved and respected by the others. He is very popular because of his big heart and respectful compassion, which makes him more humorous. In 1942, Warner Bros. made the animated short film, Horton Hatches the Egg, in which Horton is voiced by Kent Rogers. In 1970, MGM Animation/Visual Arts made a 30-minute TV Special of Horton Hears a Who. Horton is voiced by Hans Conried, who also leads his voice as the narrator. Horton is also a character on the TV series The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. John Kennedy voiced the character in "Horton Hatches the Egg". Horton is also a principal character in Seussical the Musical (2000), which uses most of the two Horton books as its primary plot. Horton is voiced by Jim Carrey in the 2008 computer-animated adaptation of Horton Hears A Who!, where he is shown as being eccentric and imaginative, and sort of absent-minded. Horton appeared in a new Dr. Seuss book, Horton and the Kwuggerbug, which came out on September 9, 2014, the second Dr. Seuss book published after his death in 1991 (the first being Daisy-Head Mayzie in 1995).
