Dr. Seuss wasn’t afraid to provide serious messages in his books.  Not everything he wrote was Green Eggs and Ham (which, in all fairness, stresses the importance of trying new things).  Oh, the Places You’ll Go! is a moving story that could be read to anyone at any age and still be meaningful.  The Lorax didn’t have the joy and humor of his other books but instead left its readers with a poignant message and dire warning.  Illumination Entertainment’s big 3D CGI-animated adaptation could care less about either.  The Lorax gives a begrudging nod towards environmentalism, a halfhearted tip of the hat to Dr. Seuss, and then pours all of its energy into being hip and funny but succeeded at neither.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, the beloved children’s story that’s also its author’s favorite work, opens in theaters on March 2^nd. To promote the film’s release, Collider got to participate in the press junket and sit down with producer Chris Meledandri (founder and CEO of Illumination Entertainment).

While we will run what he had to say about the film, closer to its release date, we did want to share what he had to say about the development of the live-action film Illumination is doing on the life of Theodor Geisel, the man behind the work of Dr. Seuss, that is being produced by Johnny Depp, who will possibly star in the lead role. Meledandri said that he takes the protection of the Seuss legacy very serious and will not move forward with the film until they believe it’s right, and that they are planning for it do include a mix of the animated characters of his creation. He also said they’ve just started animating Despicable Me 2, and how excited they are to have Al Pacino making his animated feature debut as the villain. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

From the creators of Despicable Me comes the animated feature film adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, a beloved cautionary tale of environmental conservation wrapped up in a colorful children’s story.  We’ve previously brought you images, trailers and even a Super Bowl ad spot for Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda’s The Lorax, which stars Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Ed Helms, Betty White and Danny DeVito. Now we have eight clips from the movie, which will mark Universal’s third Dr. Seuss feature after How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat. On what would have been the author’s 108^th birthday, The Lorax will land in theaters on March 2^nd.  Hit the jump to check out the clips.

After Disney nearly pulled the plug on the big-budget adaptation of The Lone Ranger, the production is now a go.  Director Gore Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and stars Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer all agreed to take pay cuts, and Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio reworked the script by Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road) to excise some of the more costly aspects.  All in all, the creatives involved were able to bring the budget down from $250 million to $215 million (which is still an insane amount of money for a western).  While the behind-the-scenes drama is well documented, very little about the actual movie is known.  Depp recently talked a bit about the project and elaborated on the direction the film will take. He also touched on the Dr. Seuss biopic that he’s producing (and possibly starring in), revealing that the project will include some of Seuss’ beloved characters. Hit the jump to see what Depp had to say.

The first image of the eco-unfriendly Once-ler from the 3D CGI adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax has gone online.  In the book, the Once-ler’s face is never seen, probably because he’s meant as a stand-in for everyone responsible for abusing our natural resources (he’s also meant as a stand-in for all those bastards with spindly green arms).  But EW reports that in the new movie, “he’s a misguided, fresh-faced young man (voiced by Ed Helms), whose destructive actions warp not only his world, but eventually himself.”  That actually sounds kind of neat and reassuringly tragic.  Keep in mind that while Dr. Seuss’ book is filled with rhymes and colorful images, it ends where the only hope is a one-word message carved into a tree stump.

Hit the jump for a first look at the Once-ler and an explanation of how Illumination Entertainment came up with the design.  The film also features the voices of Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle, and Betty White.  The Lorax opens in 3D on March 2, 2012. [Update: We've updated the article with high resolution versions of the images].

Johnny Depp is developing a Dr. Seuss biopic through his production banner Infinitum Nihil in collaboration with Illumination Entertainment.  Risky Business says Depp is producing “with the potential to star as Seuss.”  I am not sure where this falls on the spectrum of attachment, so please keep your expectations—be they positive or negative—in check.

Illumination is currently animating the finishing touches on an adaptation of one of Seuss’s books, The Lorax, for a March 2, 2012 release.  The biopic, however, will be live-action.  Mostly, at least.  The studio did not rule out incorporating some animation into Keith Bunin’s screenplay.  Universal—another studio with Seuss experience bringing How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat to the big screen—will distribute the movie.  Depp’s Infinitum partner Christi Dembrowski as well as Illumination’s Christopher Meledandri and David Kennedy are also on board as producers.  More, including background on the life of  Theodor Seuss Geisel, after the jump.

Danny DeVito will voice the title character in Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax.  In a statement to USA Today, Illumination head Chris Meledandri said of DeVito, “Danny has this wonderful ability to be acerbic and grouchy but at the same time absolutely lovable.  It’s almost like Walter Matthau had. His comedic edge was very sharp, but he always maintained that warmth.”  Apparently, Melendandri has never seen an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or he’s just really hoping that you haven’t.  I am constantly amazed at how gross they’re willing to make his DeVito’s character, Frank Reynolds.  However, since DeVito is only voicing the character, perhaps it won’t be so easy to envision his disgusting Sunny antics.

Hit the jump to learn about what roles Zac Efron, Betty White, Ed Helms, and Rob Riggle will be playing in the 3D animated film.

Opening today is Universal’s 3D CGI feature Despicable Me and it features the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Julie Andrews, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, Danny McBride, and Jemaine Clement.  The film is about a villain named Gru (Carell) who has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.  I saw a screening and thought it was a really sweet family film and it should do very well at the box office.

Anyway, I was able to interview producer Chris Meledandri (Ice Age franchise, Robots, Horton Hears a Who!) and we discussed making the movie, how did it change over the course of its development, how did Steve Carell find the voice of Gru and was the studio afraid of him doing an accent, the 3D, and we also talked about his future projects like The Addams Family, The Lorax, Hop, and more.  It’s a great interview so hit the jump to check it out.  It’s time indexed so you can watch the parts you’re interested in:

At today’s press junket for Despicable Me, I was able to sit down with producer Chris Meledandri for an extended on camera interview.  While I’ll be posting the full interview the week of release, he gave me updates on director Tim Hill’s Hop, the next Dr. Seuss animated movie The Lorax, and a small but important update on the stop motion animated version of The Addams Family that will be directed by Tim Burton.

As we reported by in March, Tim Burton has signed on to helm a stop-motion animation adaptation of The Addams Family.  What was not known is where the project is in his always busy schedule.  According to Meledandri, it’s still in the very early stages.  Meaning don’t expect the film anytime soon.  For more on Addams Family, Hop and The Lorax, hit the jump:

Though rather small, we do have our first look at the posters for Hop and The Lorax, as well as what appears to be the cover of a novelization of Despicable Me.  The link between the three films is Illumination Entertainment, a production studio headed by Chris Meledandri, one of the minds behind Ice Age (check out Steve’s interview with the man here).  You can find more information on each project after the jump.

According to Dr. Seuss in his classic book “The Lorax”, a Sneed is a thing that most everyone needs.  If you’re Universal Pictures, however, I bet you’d trade a thousand sneeds for just one good weekend at the box office right about now.  Universal is having a bad summer – but they’re still out there looking for a way to turn things around… Perhaps there’s profit in that whole “green” movement we’ve heard so much about?  And that’s where the Lorax comes in.  The studio is adapting Seuss’ 1971 environmental opus into a 3D CGI animated feature film, according to Variety.  “The Lorax” will be co-directed by Chris Renaud, who worked on Seuss’ “Horton Hears a Who”, and is targeted for release on March 2, 2012 – the birthday of Theodore Geisel himself.