MAYOR
Well,
We're who's here.
We are Whos here.
Smaller than the eye can see.
It's true, sir.
We're who's who, sir.
I'm a Who and so is she.
MAYOR & MRS. MAYOR
We're tiny little people
Blowing by in the air,
Wondering how and why
We're on Who,
The ti-iniest
Planet in the sky!
(The entire WHO population is revealed.
HORTON listens intently and reacts throughout the entire song as the WHOS tell him their story)
WHOS
A-ladela-deladela who who
A-ladela-deladela who
TWO WHO SOPRANOS
Who!
WHOS
A-ladela-deladela who who
A-ladela-dela...
We're Whos here,
Win or lose here,
Struggling to stay alive.
Each gust pro-
Pels our dust. Oh,
How the heck
Do Whos survive?
At any given moment
We could crash or be drowned,
Hitting the ground, oh my!
Here on who,
The ti-iniest
Planet in the sky
(Calliope-like)
WHO MEN WHO WOMEN
Who! Who! Who! Who!
MAYOR
I'm the mayor.
WHO MEN WHO WOMEN
Who! Who! Who! Who!
MRS. MAYOR
I'm his wife.
WHO MEN WHO WOMEN
Who! Who! Who! Who!
MAYOR & MRS. MAYOR
Just imagine the Whos' unusual life!
WHO FAMILY #1
Picture the tiniest houses and grocery stores.
WHO WOMEN
Who...
WHO FAMILY #2
Tiny umbrellas that drip on the tiniest floors.
WHO MEN
Who...
WHO FAMILY #3
The tiniest tunnels and tiniest streets.
WHO FAMILY #4
Miniature buses with miniature seats.
WHO FAMILY #5
Miniature buildings with miniature windows and doors!
HORTON
No smaller town than yours
(The WHO MARCHING BAND enters.)
WHOS
We've got a marching band
That is small but grand
Oh, you ought to hear them wail!
(The BAND plays on strange instruments)
WHOS
Who! Who! Who!
Every Christmastime, without fail,
Mr. Grinch presents his Christmas tale!
(The GRINCH appears and the WHOS gather around him)
GRINCH
I re-enact my Christmas tale!
(He begins to declaim)
Every who down in Whoville
Liked Christmas a lot...
But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville
Did not!
(The WHOS applaud with delight)
MAYOR
Imagine a place that is tidy
And totally clean,
WHOS
Who...
GRINCH
Where even a Grinch wouldn't dare to be totally mean!
WHOS
Who...
MAYOR
You think that it's heaven on earth
Yes, you do!
But heaven on earth isn't heaven on Who!
WHOS
Troubles on Who
Are the biggest that you've ever seen.
MAYOR
We're on the brink of war, they say
ALL WHOS
We're going to war, and oh my!
MAYOR
'Cause if we do, then here on Who
WHOS
Well, you can kiss Whoville goodbye!
MAYOR
Our skies are unbearably dark
MRS. MAYOR
And war is unbearably near...
MAYOR
And that's not the end of our troubles
Here...
ALL WHOS
For on the other side of town
The Truffula trees were all cut down.
They once stood tall, in all their glory-
But that's another story...
So here on who
We live in fear.
We're drifting through space
And cannot steer!
A troubled and a tiny land ...
Our future's in your hand ...
(They move closer, appealing to the listening HORTON.)
It's up to
You, sir.
Please help Who, sir.
You're the only one who hears.
You must, sir! MAYOR & MRS. MAYOR
Save our dust, sir! Save our dust, sir!
Now that we have reached
Your ears!
We're tiny little people
Saying thanks in advance
Hoping perchance, you'll try!
Here on Who,
The ti-iniest
Planet in the sky...
(HORTON listens to the clover with great seriousness.)
HORTON
I won't let you down.
No, I won't let you fall.
A person's a person
No matter how small.
A person's a person
No matter how small.
WHOS
Whoooo!
(The WHOS begin to recede.)
WHOS (mysterious)
Who Who...
(Light comes up on the CAT.)
CAT
An invisible world. Amazing but true.
We'll leave Horton to listen, and we'll zoom in on Who.
But guess who enters the story now?
BOY
Who?
CAT
You!
MR. MAYOR
Meet a tiny Who family on a small rainy day.
MRS. MAYOR
Mom and Dad are just home from the Who PTA.
CAT
And here's their son JoJo!
(To THE BOY'S surprise, THE CAT pushes him into the scene,
and he becomes a character in the story.
From now on, we will call him JOJO.
He is now with his parents, MR. MAYOR and MRS. MAYOR.)
MRS. MAYOR
In trouble again!
MR. and MRS. MAYOR, CAT
'Cause his Thinks take him places where no one has been.
(JOJO's parents begin to scold him. THE CAT reacts with guilty amusement.
We can see he's the one who got JOJO into trouble!
JOJO can see THE CAT, but his parents can't.)
MR. MAYOR
I'm the mayor of Who. Why I've just been elected.
And upright behavior is thus forth expected.
MRS. MAYOR
But we've just had a talk with your teachers today
And they didn't have one single good thing to say
MR. MAYOR
You invented new Thinks which defy all description!
MRS. MAYOR
You gave Miss O'Dooley a nervous conniption!
MR. MAYOR
Your Thinks were so wild they disrupted your classes
And made Mrs. Mackel-Who drop her new glasses.
Which is why you're suspended! Yes, that's what they said!
Young man, what in Who has got into your head?!
JOJO
I...um...
(JOJO looks to the CAT for help, but the CAT makes it clear he's on his own)
MR. MAYOR
Now Horton has found us. We're safe on a clover.
But clearly our troubles are far, far from over.
MRS. MAYOR
We don't mean to scold you.
We love you, oh, yes, dear.
But couldn't you try thinking just a bit less, dear?
MR. MAYOR
Stop telling such outlandish tales.
MRS. MAYOR
Stop turning minnows into whales.
MR. MAYOR
Now take your bath and go to bed.
MR. & MRS. MAYOR
And think some normal thinks instead.
(PARENTS exit, leaving JOJO alone to take his bath. He turns accusingly to THE CAT.)
JOJO
You got me in trouble!
Get out! Go away!
CAT
All right, I'll be going.
But first, let me say: |
- Lyrics