But never fear — in just a few months, Seuss will meet the silver screen in another way: the film adaptation of his beloved book The Lorax! The animated movie will hit theaters in March 2012, and two — count ‘em, TWO — trailers have recently been released!

First, check out this official trailer:

Hmmm, seems a bit sweet and light-hearted when you consider that this is a tale about how greed can wreak great devastation on the environment. Oh, you couldn’t tell from the trailer that that’s what The Lorax is about? Well, that’s my point! Sure, it looks gorgeous, but what about the story?

Cue this trailer that was released more recently in Australia:

That’s better! You still don’t get the whole eco-angle, but it does seem closer to the set-up in the original book. After all, The Lorax the book starts this way:

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.

And that’s basically how the trailer starts too!

So, which trailer is a more accurate depiction of the final movie? Guess we’ll have to wait until March to find out! Nancy and I will definitely be in the audience. Will you? Leave a comment with your thoughts on the trailers and the film!

— Karen

Karen has to admit she’s really excited about this movie not just because it’s based on a Dr. Seuss book, but also because it stars Zac Efron. Well, his voice anyway. Too bad his face won’t be making an appearance!

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And there are only a few months left in 2011, so it should be hitting theaters any day now, right? Right?!

Unfortunately, I can’t find any info on a precise release date, but that’s okay — it gives everyone more time to read the book before seeing the movie!

(Btw, if you’re not familiar with the book, it’s about a mysterious wooden box that Jeremy receives in the mail with the words, “The Meaning of Life — for Jeremy Fink to open on his 13th birthday.” The only problem? Four locks and no keys! So Jeremy and his best friend, Lizzy, set out on a quest to find the keys and discover the meaning of life.)

Here’s the movie trailer:

And for some behind-the-scenes fun, check out Wendy Mass’ blog post about her day on the movie set!

So… what do you think? Leave a comment with your opinion on the trailer. How do you think the movie will compare to the book?

— Karen

Karen has no idea what the meaning of life is. When you find out, please let her know.

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Alright, maybe it’s a little early for Valentine’s Day poems. Definitely too early for a bad one. And I’m not sure why I even wrote the poem, since there’s no love between Greg Heffley and his older brother, Rodrick… which you know all about if you’ve already read Rodrick Rules, the second book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney.

If you’re not caught up on the series, you have two months to prepare! The movie version comes out on March 25, 2011, and it looks like a lot of laughs. Check out the newly-released trailer:

I’m excited to see Chirag, Rowley, Fregley, and the whole gang back together again! Perhaps this movie will inspire another Fregley impression. And it looks like Rodrick might not forever be a terrifying menace after all… *gasp!*

What do you guys think of the trailer?

— Nancy

Nancy’s excited to see what Karen thinks of the trailer, since Karen confessed that she thought Rodrick was kind of cute… Hee hee!

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Entitled Legend of the Guardians, the film is due out in September and will cover the first three books in Kathryn Lasky’s popular book series*. Of course, like every other movie these days, it will be in 3D. And while I’m not always the biggest fan of 3D, in this case I think it’s going to make a HUGE difference. Because I’m sorry to say that this online trailer isn’t nearly as breathtaking as what I saw in the theater. But check it out anyway, and leave a comment with your thoughts! What do you think — did they get it right?

— Karen

* If you’re not familiar with the books, check out these 5-star reviews from Ayra (age 10) and Milo (age 9).

So I’m just going to say it — I don’t care how dreamy you think Captain Jack Sparrow is, Johnny Depp looks… frightening to me. BTW, it looks like this movie (like many other Alice adaptations) is going to include characters from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland AND its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Did you guys know that Tweedledee and Tweedledum only appear in Through the Looking-Glass? I did¹, and now you do too!

Also, he (it?) isn’t in the trailer, but the Caterpillar is going to be played by actor Alan Rickman (AKA PROFESSOR SNAPE!), and his face was composited onto a digital caterpillar body. I hope the nickname “Snape-pillar” catches on.

In other Alice news, I read recently that somewhere on the Internets an Alice-themed virtual world is in the works. I’m not sure how I’d feel about encountering the Mad Hatter online, but they should make more virtual worlds based on books *cough*Harry Potter*cough* — what books would you want to see made into virtual worlds?

— Nancy

¹An online “hi!” to Mrs. Corwin, who gave me my first copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and also taught me English. If she hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have written this blog entry. Also Kidsmomo might not exist. Whoa, trippy…