Don't misunderstand, I love certain popcorn movies. Movies that are meant to be exactly what they are and nothing more, movies that aren't trying to Say anything.
And that's, more or less, what the four Seuss movies are...or would be if they had made them more or less the same but removed Seuss' name and character likenesses.
It's somewhat similar to Roland Emmerich's Godzilla (1998). If you watch it as a giant-monster-tearing-up-shit movie, then it's fine. Nothing special, but it's not trying to be either.
But, take that same movie and slap some famous franchise's name on it and Blammo; you've now misinformed those unfamiliar with the subject matter, changing how people are going to view the film, and the franchise itself.
Existing fans might notice that for a movie titled Godzilla...there doesn’t seem to be any Godzilla in it. Sure, there's that creature, who's over 60 meters tall, that destroys buildings and can repeatedly disappear in NYC (wait...what?), but eventually the army kills him with missiles. FUCKING MISSILES!
This is not a nitpick at all, half the point of the King of Monsters is we have nothing that can stop him. It's Not a small detail. It takes an already weak representation of a beloved character, or mythos, and just kicks you in the dick. It's a dick-kick! The point is, if you're going to change key elements, make sure it still works.
Altering the look of Godzilla is not a bad idea and that's been done a few times since 1954. But, making him barely recognizable as Godzilla doesn't make any sense. Altering Ichabod Crane's character, in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, from being a school teacher to a police detective helps to move the story. But, having the Headless Horseman cross a bridge over moving water shows the audience that the filmmakers may not actually care about the rules of that world. When you take someone's work and don't attempt to make it jive with the original intention...that's kind of okay, actually. Sad it wasn't closer to the original, though this happens all the time.
But, if you’re going to take a work of pure art by someone who is loved across the world by so many, generation after generation, and subject that to what uninformed, non-thinking focus groups say and not only misrepresent what the original material was but also completely change the focus and the message, then FUCK YOU!!
Dr. Seuss shared with us his own vision of the world, it was extremely unique and his stories, as mentioned, usually had an underlying moral. Admittedly, the Lorax movie looks great, but that's where the Seuss-ness stops.
The only 'vision' the filmmakers had for all these Seuss films was, clearly, box-office returns. And, when you make a film that is produced only according to what's popular then you're not trying to make it unique, but only profitable.
If you’re an artist whose work is getting downloaded for free illegally and you put up a fuss over lost revenue then you're arguably no longer a Real Artist.
It's supposed to be about sharing your vision, or interpretation of the world, with people. Sharing with, not selling to.
This is where the idea of studio-funded film-making can be fucking ridiculous. Trying to take someone's personal creative work and shove that into the machine of corporate douche-baggery. Just watch Tales from the Script, you won't believe how nasty that process is.
These vapid movies, especially the Seuss movies, make me picture a theater full of people, everyone getting riled up for the movie:
“This sounds like something made just for me!”,
They think to themselves, happy as can be.
They buy their candy and soda, their nachos with cheese.
The curtain goes up! Now, hush if you please.
But, instead of a screen with a film projected on it,
There's a brown-starred anus, what is this vomit?
It's the size of the screen, nothing else to be seen!
They cry, “What's this shit spewing out all over me?”
Well, that shit's called 'Shit', and it's all over this group.
A smell so foul, hard to believe it's just poop!
The weird thing is, at the point this all starts,
The crowd goes crazy, they demand more of this 'art'!
“We need more of this! Whos should kiss dog-ass in the Grinch!
We want anime' in Horton! We don't care that it stinks!!”
And, those sad little people, their wallets held open with glee,
Were the very same people, who killed the last Truffula Tree.