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The Lorax Quotes
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"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues."
"Those are trees, the real ones. They used to grow around here."
"What I want more than anything is to see a real tree growing on my backyard."
"Why is he leaving town? No one leaves town. See what he's up to."
"Well, that's me - the guy who still cares."
"If your intention turns out a failure instead of a success, I wouldn't be surprised at all."
"This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen."
"The legendary, slightly annoying guardian of the forest... the lorax."
"All the forces of nature will be unleashed upon you and you will be punished until the end of your days. You have been warned."
"Family time is over. It's personal time now."
"I can't think of any reason why you would love to get out of town ever again."
"When he (man) does the same stupid thing twice, then that is because he wants to impress a girl."
"Help is on it's way."
"I promise."
"I trust you. But I'm gonna keep my eye on you."
"Sleeping is another way of telling other people to go away."
"You're not the target market, weirdo."
"There's my suddenly successful son."
"I'm really glad that you clarified that because it pretty hurt my feelings for a long time."
"Would you hit a woman?"
"That's... a woman?"
"In behalf of the trees, get out."
"Be careful which way you lead."
"You have to do what's best for the company and your mama."
"Hey you broke your promise. You know you are better than this."
"Something good finally happens to me."
"How bad can I be? I'm just following my destiny. How bad can I be, I'm just doing what comes naturally."
"Why? Do I make you uncomfortable, remind you about your promises? The man you used to be?"
"Well that's it. The very last one that made me stop."
"I don't want any trouble."
"Yes, you won't get any trouble. Not from them."
"This is really your fault. You destroyed everything."
"I won't let you down."
"I know."
"Seriously? How cool is your grandma?"
"The last thing you would want around here are trees."
"Trees might be worth a try so I say let it grow."
"Let it grow. You can't reap what you can't sow."
"It's time to change the life we live."
"It could be time to start anew and maybe change my point of view. I say let it die. Let it die. Come on, who's with me?"
"No one."
"We say let it grow. We say let it grow. It's a brand new day."
"You've done good.""Mister!" he said with a sawdusty sneeze,
"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees."
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"I'm being quite useful. This thing is a Thneed.
A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!"
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And he thought that the Thneed I had knitted was great.
He happily bought it for three ninty-eight
I laughed at the Lorax, "You poor stupid guy!
You never can tell what some people will buy."
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Oh! Baby! Oh!
How my business did grow!
Now, chopping one tree
at a time was too slow.
So I quickly invented my Super-Axe-Hacker
which whacked off four Tuffula Trees at one smacker.
We were making Thneeds
four times as fast as before!
And that Lorax?...
He didn't show up anymore.
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"They loved living here. But I can't let them stay.
They'll have to find food. And I hope that they may.
Good luck, boys," he cried. And he sent them away.
I, the Once-ler, felt sad
as I watched them all go.
BUT...
business is business
And business must grow,
regardless of crummies in tummies, you know.
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And at that very moment, we heard a loud whack!
From outside in the fields came a sickening smack
of an axe on a tree. Then we heard the tree fall.
The very last Tuffula Tree of them all!
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Now all that was left 'neath the bad-smelling sky
was my big empty factory...
Lorax...
and I.
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The Lorax said nothing. Just gave me a glance...
just gave me a very sad, sad backward glance...
as he lifted himself by the seat of his pants.
And I'll never forget the grim look on his face
when he heisted himself and took leave of this place,
through a hole in the smog, without leaving a trace.
And all that the Lorax left here in this mess
was a smal pile of rocks, with one word...
UNLESS."
Whatever that meant, well, I couldn't guess.
That was long, long ago.
But each day since that day
I've sat here and worried
and worried away.
Through the years, while my buildings
have fallen apart,
I've worried about it
with all of my heart.
"But now," says the Once-ler,
"Now that you're here,
the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear.
UNLESS someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It's not.
"SO...
Catch!" calls the Once-ler.
He lets something fall.
"Its a Truffula Seed.
It's the last one of all!
You're in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.
And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.
Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
Then the Lorax
and all of his friends
may come back."Once-ler: I didn't think anyone still cared.
Ted: Well that's me: The guy who still cares.Did you chop down this tree?
You have been warned!
It's not about what it is, Its about what it can become.
The Once-ler
Audrey: I could just kiss you right now.
Ted's Mom: We don't have time for that!
Ted: I don't know, we have a little time.Ted: Whoa, this is amazing! What are those?
Audrey: Those are trees. They used to grow all around here.Who are you and what are you doing here?
The Once-ler
The Lorax: I'll go strait up your nose!
Ted: Wow, wow you wouldn't hit a woman?
The Lorax: That's a woman?A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.
Aunt Grizelda: [Comes out of the van] What a dump!
Ted's Mom: Come on Ted, dance with the tree!
Mr. O'Hare: The more smog in the sky, the more people will buy.
The Once-ler: Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better. It's not.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.”
“It's not about what it is, it's about what it can become.”
“Catch! calls the Once-ler.
He lets something fall.
It's a Truffula Seed.
It's the last one of all!
You're in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.
And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.
Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
Then the Lorax
and all of his friends
may come back.”
“But now," says the Once-ler, "now that you're here, the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear. UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
“I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.”
“Unless!”
“The Lorax: Which way does a tree fall?
The Once-ler: Uh, down?
The Lorax: A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.”
O'Hare: I'm Frankenstein's head on a spider's body!
The Lorax: Which way does a tree fall?
The Once-ler: Uh, down?
The Lorax: A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.
Ted: Wow, so this is really all your fault.
The Once-ler: Yes, and each day since The Lorax left I've been wondering what that meant. And now I'm wondering, well maybe The Lorax left that for you.
Ted: For me?! Why would he leave it for me?
The Once-ler: Because unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.The Once-ler: Oh! How nice to see someone so...unditurbed by...REALITY.
Ted: Thank you.The Lorax: So did you sell it?
The Once-ler: Yeah, oh, no. Turns out it's ahead of it's time.
The Lorax: You did your best. Come here, I'll deal you in.
The Once-ler: Oh, okay. What are we playing?
The Lorax: I'm playing poker. He's playing Go Fish. And I think he's hungry.Ted's Mom: This tree comes in all four seasons. Winter, summer, fall, and... disco!! [starts dancing]
Ted: Mom. No. Please stop.The Once-ler: Exactly and sleeping is the body's way of telling other people to go away!
The Lorax: I know but you looked so cosy!The Lorax: I'll go strait up your nose!
Ted: Wow wow you wouldn't hit a woman?
The Lorax: That's a woman?Audrey: I could just kiss you right now.
Ted's Mom: We don't have time for that!
Ted: I don't know, we have a little time.The Lorax: That's a woman?
The Lorax: A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.
The Once-ler: Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is ever going to get better it's not.
The Once-ler: I'm biggering my company, I'm biggering my factory, I'm biggering my corporate sign! Everybody out there take care of yours, and me? I'll take care of mine mine mine mine mine!
The Lorax: I speak for the trees.
The Lorax: So you're telling me you didn't magically appear from the stump... with all the lightning and stuff.
The Once-ler: Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
The Once-ler: I will see you tomorrow to tell the story!
The Lorax: Nice mustache.
The Lorax: I'm going to eat this but I am highly offended by it.
Audrey: What I want more than anything, is to see a real living tree.
Mr. O'Hare: Why, I can't think of any reason you'd ever want to leave town ever again.
The Once-ler: Unless someone like you cares an awful whole lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
The Lorax: I'm playing poker, he's playing gold fish, and I think he's hungry.
The Lorax: That's a woman?
Aunt Grizelda: Who invited the giant, furry peanut?
The Lorax: Yes, I am the Lorax who speaks for the trees, which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please.
2nd Marketing Guy: Our research shows that people will buy ANYTHING if you put it in a plastic bottle!
The Lorax: Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
The Once-ler: 'Cause when a guy does something stupid once, well that's because he's a guy. But if he does the same stupid thing twice, that's usually to impress some girl.
The Lorax: A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.
The Once-ler: Only if someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better...its not.
The Once-ler: Who are you, and what are you doing here?
The Oncel-ler: Its not about what it is, Its about what it can become.
The Lorax: You have been warned!
The Lorax: Did you chop down this tree?
The Lorax: That's a woman?
The Lorax: You have been warned!
Once-ler: You wanna know about trees? About what happened to them? They're gone.
[sadly]
Once-ler: It's because of me.
Ted: Huh?
[a Whisper-ma-Phone chutes down to Ted. Ted leans in to hear]
Once-ler: [shouts] IT'S BECAUSE OF ME!
Mr. O'Hare: You've got a beautiful town here, Ted! I can't think of any reason you'd want to leave town... ever again.
The Lorax: You have been warned!
Ted: The last seed?
Once-ler: It's not about what it is. It's about what it can become. Just like... you're not just a boy.
Once-ler: Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, things aren't going to get better. They're not.
Ted: You do know that you are talking in rhyme, don't you?
Once-ler: Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not.
The Lorax: [first meets Once-ler] Hey!
[Once-ler screams and falls backwards]
The Lorax: Did you chop down this tree?
Once-ler: Uhh... No.
The Lorax: Who did it?
Once-ler: [gasps] What's that?
[the Lorax looks back and Once-ler drops his ax on Pipsqueak the Bar-ba-loot]
Once-ler: I think he did it.
The Lorax: [growls] Leave! Vacate the premises! Take your ax and get out!
Once-ler: And who are you?
The Lorax: Hey, hey! I-I'm the Lorax! Guardian of the forest. I speak for the trees.
[doesn't get a reaction from Once-ler]
The Lorax: So you're telling me, that you didn't see me magically appear out of that stump. With all the thunder and lightning. You didn't see any of that?
Once-ler: No. But, that sounds amazing. Can I see some of that?
The Lorax: Yeah, I could show you. But that's not how it works.
Once-ler: Why are you so interested in trees, anyway? Why aren't you like other kids? Breakdancing and wearing bellbottoms and playing the Donkey Kongs?
Ted: [laughs] Yeah. Right, right. I don't know. Uh, I just thought it might be kinda cool to have one.
Once-ler: [knowingly] Uh-huh. It's a girl, isn't it?
Ted: [scoffs] What? No!
Once-ler: Really? Because when a guy does something stupid once, well that's because he's a guy. But if he does the same stupid thing twice, that's usually to impress some girl.
Ted: Hey, she is not just some girl! She's a woman. In high school. And she loves trees. And I'm gonna get her one.
Once-ler: Awww. How nice to see someone so undeterred by things like reality.
Ted: Thank you.
Audrey: [to Ted] I could just kiss you right now!
[Ted and Audrey lean in to kiss, only to be stopped by Ted's mother]
Ted's Mom: We don't have time for that!
Ted: I dunno, we have a little time.
Once-ler: [admiring his first thneed] Now that's a thneed! Nothing unmanly about knitting. No sir!
Once-ler: Whoa, whoa, whoa! You wouldn't hit a woman.
The Lorax: Hoo! That's a woman?
The Lorax: [after seeing Pipsqueak take and eat a truffula fruit] Ugh, barbaloots.
Ted's Mom: Why do you need a tree? It just... sticks out of the ground and it does what? I don't even know what it does. Look! We've GOT a tree! It's the Oak-a-matic! Three modes! Summer, Fall, Winter, and... Disco!
[starts dancing]
Ted's Mom: Come on, honey, dance with the tree.
Ted: Oh, it hurts, mom. Please stop.
Once-ler: It's a girl, isn't it?
Ted: What? No!
Once-ler: Really. Because when a guy does something stupid once, well, that's because he's guy. But he does the same stupid thing twice, that's usually to impress some girl.
The Lorax: Which way does a tree fall?
Once-ler: Uhhhh... down?
The Lorax: A tree falls the way it leans. be careful which way you lean.
Once-ler: It all started a long time ago.
Ted: Can we start not so long ago, maybe?
Once-ler: Do you want a tree?
Ted: Yes, yes.
Once-ler: Then it all started a long, long time ago.
The Lorax: [quietly to the barbaloots] Who taught you guys how to steal a bed?
Once-ler: [whispers] Thank you, Ted.
The Lorax: I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees.
The Lorax: Yes, I am the Lorax who speaks for the trees, which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please. But I'm also in charge of the brown Bar-ba-loots, who played in the shade in their Bar-ba-loot suits and happily lived eating truffula fruits. Now, thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground, there's not enough truffula fruit to go 'round!
The Once-ler: I see your point. Yes, I do see your point.
The Lorax: They loved living here. But I can't let them stay. They'll have to find food, and I hope that they may. Good luck, boys! Good luck!
The Lorax: Well, Mr. Once-ler?
The Once-ler: Hmm. First the poor Bar-ba-loots. Then the poor Swommee-Swans. Now the poor Humming Fish... oh, Mr. Lorax, Mr. Lorax... this cursed factory of mine! Now, at last, I understand.
Ms. Funce-ler: [over intercom] Mr. Once-ler! Mr. Once-ler!
The Once-ler: Hmm? Oh, yes, Ms. Funce-ler?
Ms. Funce-ler: Stock markets just closed, and Thneeds Inc. stock is up! Up 27 and 5/8 points!
The Once-ler: Wow. Wow! Rowdy-dow!
[to Lorax]
The Once-ler: Now, you listen to me, Pop, while I blow my top! Trees? Ha! You speak for the trees? Well I speak for men, and human opportunities! For your information, you Lorax, I'm figgering on biggering and biggering, and biggering, and BIGGERING, turning MORE truffula trees into thneeds! Which everyone, everyone, EVERYONE NEEDS!
[reacting to the Once-ler making a "thneed" from a tree he cut down]
The Lorax: I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues. And I'm asking you sir, at the top of my lungs - that thing! That horrible thing that I see! What's that thing you've made out of my truffula tree?
The Once-ler: Look, Lorax, calm down. There's no cause for alarm. I chopped just one tree, I'm doing no harm. This thing is most useful! This thing is a "thneed." A theed, a fine something-that-all-people-need! It's a shirt. It's a sock. It's a glove! It's a hat! But it has other uses, yes, far beyond that. You can use it for carpets, for pillows, for sheets, for curtains! Or covers for bicycle seats!
The Lorax: Sir, you're crazy. You're crazy with greed. There's no one on earth who will buy that fool thneed!
[a man drives by, buys the thneed and pays the Once-ler]
The Once-ler: The birth of an industry, you poor, stupid guy! You telling me what the public will buy?
[first lines]
Narrator: [sung] At the far end of town where the grickle grass grows/and the wind smells slow and sour when it blows/and no birds ever sing, excepting old crows/is the street of the lifted Lorax.
Narrator: What was the Lorax? And why was it there? And why was it lifted and taken somewhere from the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows? The old Once-ler still lives here. Ask him. He knows. You won't see the Once-ler. Don't knock at his door. He lurks in his Lerkim on top of his store. And on grickly midnights in August he peeks out of the shutters and sometimes he speaks, and tells how the Lorax was lifted away.
The Once-ler: [to the boy] It all started back. Such a long, long time back. Way back in the days when the grass was still green, and the pond was still wet, and the clouds were still clean, and the song of the Swomee swans rang out in space. One morning I came to this glorious place.
The Once-ler: Those trees! Those trees! Those truffula trees! All my life I'd been searching for trees such as these! The touch of their tufts was much softer than silk, and they had the sweet smell of fresh butterfly milk! I felt a great leaping of love in my heart! In knew just what I'd do. I unloaded my cart... and in no time at all, I had built a small shop. Then, I chopped down a truffula tree with one chop!
The Lorax: Please! I object in the name of the trees!
The Once-ler: [nailing a box to a tree] All complaints will be filed in this box, if you please.
The Once-ler: Now I'd reached the stage where the potential was known - this job was too big for one Once-ler alone! So promptly I built me a radio phone. And I called my brothers and uncles and aunts and said 'Listen here! Here's a wonderful chance for the whole Once-ler family to get mighty rich! Get over here fast. Take the road to North Nitch, turn left at Weehawken, sharp right at South Stitch!'
The Once-ler: Then, oh, baby, oh! How my business did grow! Now chopping trees one at a time was too slow! So I promptly invented my Super-Axe-Hacker, which whacked off four truffula trees in one smacker! We were making thneeds four times as fast as before! And my profits, incidentally, were soaring galore!
The Lorax: I speak for the trees! Let them grow! Let them grow!
[machines clear the landscape of stumps and grass]
The Lorax: But nobody listens too much, don't you know.
[as suburbs suddenly spring up around him]
The Lorax: They say I'm old-fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast!
The Once-ler: Every once in a while I sit down with myself asking 'Once-ler, why are you a Once-ler?' And I cringe, I don't smile as I sit there on trial asking 'Aren't you ashamed, you old Once-ler? You ought to be locked in a hoosegow, you should! The things that you do are completely un-good.' Yeah? But if I didn't do them, then someone else WOULD! That's a very good point, Mr. Once-ler. Progress is progress, and progress must grow!
The Lorax: Once-ler! You're making such smogulous smoke - my poor swomee swans, why they can't sing a note! No one can sing who has smog in his throat. And so -
[coughs]
The Lorax: please pardon my cough- they cannot live here, so I'm sending them off.
The Once-ler: Where will they go?
The Lorax: Where will they go? I don't hopefully know.
Swomee Swams: [singing] Will there be another dawn/ a sunrise for the swomee swan/ exit, exit swomee swan/ going, going, going, gone...
[they disappear into the distance]
The Once-ler: Well, what do you want? I should shut down my factory, fire a hundred-thousand workers? Is that good economics, is that sound for the country?
The Lorax: I see your point. But I wouldn't know the answer.
The Lorax: I'm sorry to yell, but my dander is up! let me say a few words about gluppity-glupp. Your machinery chugs on, day and night without stop, making gluppity-glupp, and also schloppity-schlopp! And what do you do with this left-over goo? I'll show you, you dirty old Once-ler man, you!
[watching industrial waste being dumped in the pond]
The Lorax: You're glumping the pond where the humming fish hummed! No more can they hum, for their gills are all gummed. So I'm sending them off! Oh, their future is dreary.
Humming Fish: I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.
The Once-ler: And at that very moment, we heard a lound whack. From outside in the fields came the sickening smack of an axe on a tree. Then we saw the tree fall... the very last truffula tree of them all. No more trees. No more thneeds. No more work to be done. And in no time, my uncles and aunts, everyone, had all waved me goodbye and jumped into their cars, and drove away under the smoke-smothered stars.
The Once-ler: Now, all that was left 'neath the bad-smelling sky was my big, empty factory, the Lorax, and I. The Lorax said nothing. Just gave me a glance. Just gave me a very sad, sad backward glance... as he LIFTED himself by the seat of his pants, and I'll never forget the grim look on his face when he hoisted himself and took leave of this place through a hole in the smog without leaving a trace!
The Once-ler: And all that the Lorax left here in this mess was a small pile of rocks with one word.
Boy: [reading it] "Unless?"
The Once-ler: Yes. "Unless."
Boy: What's an unless?
The Once-ler: [sung] Just a far away word/just a far away thought...
Boy: A thought about what? About something I ought?
The Once-ler: [sung] Well... A thought about something that somebody ought/a thought about something... that somebody... ought.
[spoken]
The Once-ler: Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better. It's not.
[Last lines]
[the boy starts to walk away after hearing the Once-ler's story]
The Once-ler: [to himself] Let's see now... where is it?
[to the boy]
The Once-ler: Don't go! Don't go! I've got something for you!
[the boy stops]
The Once-ler: Ah, here it is! It's a truffula seed. It's the last one of all. Catch it, don't muff!
[he drops the seed, and the boy catches it]
The Once-ler: You're in charge of the last of the truffula seeds. And truffula trees are what everyone needs! Plant a new truffula. Treat it with care. Give it clean water, and feed it fresh air. Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack. Then the Lorax, and all of his friends may... come back.
[he closes the shutters. The boy walks off with the seed in his hands]
The Lorax: I am the Lorax, and I'll yell and I'll shout for the fine things on earth that are on their way out!
- Who taught you guys how to steal a bed?
- Look, everyone here needs the trees and you're chopping them down!
- [when the Once-ler shows the Thneed to him; laughs] You chopped down one of my trees to make that piece of garbage?
- [To the Once-ler] A tree falls in the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.
- [when the last Truffula tree is chopped down] That's it. The very last one. That may stop you.
- [Referring to her mural] Those are trees. Real ones. They used to grow all around here. And people said that the touch of their tufts was softer than anything, even silk. And they smelled like butterfly milk.
- What I want more than anything in the whole world is to see a real living tree, growing in my backyard.
- [After the Lorax accuses him of harming Pipsqueak after almost hitting him with a hammer] What? No! I would never hit this little guy. You, on the other hand, I would gladly pound you and your mustache into the ground!
- [admiring his first thneed] Now that's a thneed! Nothing unmanly about knitting. No sir!
- [After surviving the waterfall incident] Now, I've got a big day tomorrow, and I gonna get some sleep. [walks away, then comes back] Right after I find my bed.
- [To the Lorax] You know what? You can just shut your mustache. My conscience is clear. I have done nothing illegal. I have my rights, and I intend to keep on biggering and biggering, and turning more Truffula trees in to Thneeds. And nothing is going to stop me!
- [To Ted] Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better... it's not.
- [To Ted; referring to the last Truffula seed] I know it may seem small and insignificant, but it's not about what it is, it's about what it can become. That's not just a seed... anymore than you're just a boy.
- [opens the window for the first time as he hears the city singing "Let it Grow" and is on the verge of tears] Thank you, Ted.
- [reffering to Ted] Why is he leaving town? No one ever leaves town! See what he's up to.
- You listen to me, boy. Don't go pocking around in things you don't understand, or I'll be your worst nightmare. I'm Frankenstein's head on a spider's body!
- You've got a beautiful town here, Ted. Lots of fun stuff to occupy your short attention span. I can't think of any reason you'd ever wanna go outside of town again. Ever.
- You haven't got the guts!
- Ted: [interrupting the story] Hey, hey, hey. Wait a minute.
The Once-ler: Excuse me?
Ted: [chuckles] Yeah. That's awesome. You know, feeding junk food to forest animals? That's great. But, uh, is there a musical number where you show me how to get a tree? 'Cause I'd love to hear that one.
The Once-ler: Oh, yes. Right after the musical number about the kid who kept interrupting the story and was never heard from ever again.
Ted: Right. Got it. Proceed. -
The Lorax: [first meets Once-ler] Hey!
[Once-ler screams and falls backwards]
The Lorax: Did you chop down this tree?
Once-ler: Uhh... No.
The Lorax: Who did it?
Once-ler: [gasps] What's that?
[the Lorax looks back and Once-ler drops his ax on Pipsqueak the Bar-ba-loot]
Once-ler: I think he did it.
The Lorax: [growls] Leave! Vacate the premises! Take your ax and get out!
Once-ler: And who are you?
The Lorax: Hey, hey! I-I'm the Lorax! Guardian of the forest. I speak for the trees.
[doesn't get a reaction from Once-ler]
The Lorax: So you're telling me, that you didn't see me magically appear out of that stump. With all the thunder and lightning. You didn't see any of that?
Once-ler: No. But, that sounds amazing. Can I see some of that?
The Lorax: Yeah, I could show you. But that's not how it works.
Once-ler: You wanna know about trees? About what happened to them? They're gone.
[sadly]
Once-ler: It's because of me.
Ted: Huh?
[a Whisper-ma-Phone chutes down to Ted. Ted leans in to hear]
Once-ler: [shouts] IT'S BECAUSE OF ME!
Mr. O'Hare: You've got a beautiful town here, Ted! I can't think of any reason you'd want to leave town... ever again.
The Lorax: You have been warned!
Ted: The last seed?
Once-ler: It's not about what it is. It's about what it can become. Just like... you're not just a boy.
Once-ler: Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, things aren't going to get better. They're not.
Ted: You do know that you are talking in rhyme, don't you?
Once-ler: Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not.
Once-ler: Why are you so interested in trees, anyway? Why aren't you like other kids? Breakdancing and wearing bellbottoms and playing the Donkey Kongs?
Ted: [laughs] Yeah. Right, right. I don't know. Uh, I just thought it might be kinda cool to have one.
Once-ler: [knowingly] Uh-huh. It's a girl, isn't it?
Ted: [scoffs] What? No!
Once-ler: Really? Because when a guy does something stupid once, well that's because he's a guy. But if he does the same stupid thing twice, that's usually to impress some girl.
Ted: Hey, she is not just some girl! She's a woman. In high school. And she loves trees. And I'm gonna get her one.
Once-ler: Awww. How nice to see someone so undeterred by things like reality.
Ted: Thank you.
Audrey: [to Ted] I could just kiss you right now!
[Ted and Audrey lean in to kiss, only to be stopped by Ted's mother]
Ted's Mom: We don't have time for that!
Ted: I dunno, we have a little time.
Once-ler: [admiring his first thneed] Now that's a thneed! Nothing unmanly about knitting. No sir!
Once-ler: Whoa, whoa, whoa! You wouldn't hit a woman.
The Lorax: Hoo! That's a woman?
The Lorax: [after seeing Pipsqueak take and eat a truffula fruit] Ugh, barbaloots.
Ted's Mom: Why do you need a tree? It just... sticks out of the ground and it does what? I don't even know what it does. Look! We've GOT a tree! It's the Oak-a-matic! Three modes! Summer, Fall, Winter, and... Disco!
[starts dancing]
Ted's Mom: Come on, honey, dance with the tree.
Ted: Oh, it hurts, mom. Please stop.
Once-ler: It's a girl, isn't it?
Ted: What? No!
Once-ler: Really. Because when a guy does something stupid once, well, that's because he's guy. But he does the same stupid thing twice, that's usually to impress some girl.
The Lorax: Which way does a tree fall?
Once-ler: Uhhhh... down?
The Lorax: A tree falls the way it leans. be careful which way you lean.
Once-ler: It all started a long time ago.
Ted: Can we start not so long ago, maybe?
Once-ler: Do you want a tree?
Ted: Yes, yes.
Once-ler: Then it all started a long, long time ago.
The Lorax: [quietly to the barbaloots] Who taught you guys how to steal a bed?
Once-ler: [whispers] Thank you, Ted.
quote
The Lorax
Audrey
The Once-ler
Aloysius O'Hare
Dialogue
Ted: So, anyway, let's just say, I need a tree. Where would I go? What do I do?
Grammy Norma: Oh, then you know what? You'd need to find the Once-ler.
Ted: Th-th-the what?
Mrs. Wiggins: Mom, it's not really the time for one of your, you know, magical fables, okay?
Grammy Norma: [laughs] That's right, I forgot. I'm old, and can't even remember to put my teeth in!
Mrs. Wiggins: Stand down. That's not what I meant.
Grammy Norma: No, really, I forgot my teeth. Would you be a dear and go get them for me?
Mrs. Wiggins: [sighs] Sure, mom.
The Once-ler: You wanna know about trees? About what happened to them? Why they're all gone? (softly) It's because of me.
Ted: Wait, what?
[A Whisper-ma-Phone chutes down to Ted. Ted leans in to hear.]
The Once-ler: (shouts) IT'S BECAUSE OF ME!
The Once-ler: (starting to explain what happened to the trees) It all started a long time ago.
Ted: Can we start not so long ago, maybe?
The Once-ler: Do you want a tree?
Ted: Yes, yes.
The Once-ler: Then it all started a long, LONG, time ago.
The Lorax: Did you chop down this tree?
The Once-ler: Uhh... No. Who did it? [gasps] What's that? [the Lorax looks back and Once-ler drops his ax on Pipsqueak the Bar-ba-loot] I think he did it.
The Lorax: [growls] Leave! Vacate the premises! Take your ax and get out!
The Once-ler: And who are you? [pokes the Lorax]
The Lorax: Hey, hey! I-I'm the Lorax! Guardian of the forest. I speak for the trees. [The Once-ler stares at him] So you're telling me, that you didn't see me magically appear out of that stump. With all the lightning and thunder and stuff. You didn't see any of that?
The Once-ler: No, but that sounds amazing. Can I see some of that?
The Once-ler: Why are you so interested in trees, anyway? Why aren't you like other kids? Break-dancing and wearing bell-bottoms and playing the Donkey Kongs?
Ted: [laughs] Yeah. Right, right. I don't know. Uh, I just thought it might be kinda cool to have one, you know.
The Once-ler: [knowingly] Huh? It's a girl, isn't it?
Ted: [scoffs] What?! No!
The Once-ler: Really? 'Cause when a guy does something stupid once, well, that's because he's a guy, but if he does the same stupid thing twice, that's usually to impress some girl.
Ted: Hey, she is not some girl! She's a woman. In high school. And she loves trees. And I'm gonna get her one.
The Once-ler: Aww. How nice to see someone so undeterred by things like reality.
Ted: (sincerely) Thank you.
The Once-ler: (Has just been revived by the Lorax) I-I was heading into the light, and you pulled me right back, and here I am! [hugs the Lorax] You saved my life!
The Lorax: Yeah, I did, but, you know, it's not that big a deal.
The Once-ler: It is a big deal! Look, I almost went over that waterfall! [realizes] Wait... On my bed. How did my bed get in the river?
The Lorax: Uh, about that, uh...actually, um... (mumbles) I-put-your-bed-in-the-water. [The Once-ler drops him in shock]
Aunt Grizelda: (referring to the Lorax) So who invited the giant furry peanut?
The Lorax: You callin' me a peanut, huh? I'll go right up your nose!
Aunt Grizelda: Ha!
The Once-ler: Whoa, whoa, whoa! You wouldn't hit a woman.
The Lorax: [gasps] That's a woman?
Audrey: (to Ted) I could just kiss you right now!
[Ted and Audrey lean in to kiss, only to be stopped by Ted's mother]
Mrs. Wiggins: We don't have time for that!
Ted: I dunno, we have a little time. [Audrey and his mom stare at him] You know what? Let's just go. Let's go. Forget about it.
