#lorax musical analysis

[greenbirdtrash]

Finally put together some pics with different lighting to use them as a reference.

Seems like his main color scheme is a combination of "dollar bill" and the "mint mix".

[emj4yart]

Calling all Oncelings! I need your help!

Greetings, Onceler fandom! Tis I, MJ, just a little guy who wants your help on a big project I'm planning!

Here's the rundown: I want to do a deep-dive video on the Lorax, from its origins to its adaptations, to the cultural phenomenon that it has become, including a HUGE dedicated section to the fandom and its history! And I need your help with it! Keep reading if this interests you :D Rough outline of topics that I'm plannning on addressing:

THE CONTENT:

The Original 1971 Book

The 1972 Short

The 2012 Illumination Movie (And what went WRONG, the cut content, analysis)

The 2015 Musical

THE IMPACT:

The Onceler Fandom's Beginnings and Early Years (2012)

Shipping (Oncest, Normaler, the like)

Onceler OCs and aus! (Possibly an OC feature from those in the fandom!)

The Lorax in Meme Culture

The Resurgances of the Fandom (2015, 2021, 2023 Tiktok Boom)

Where's the fandom at now?

It's a huge project and that's why I want you all to help me with it! What do I want your help with? At the moment this is my list!

Research and Fact Checking on the "Content" Section, especially on lesser known topics like the musical or the cut content! (Pspspsps calling the five of you who actually know what the musical is)

RESEARCH AND FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCES OF THE ONCELER FANDOM'S EARLY DAYS!! I joined this place in 2023 so I don't know much about the early days of the fandom, and I want to know SO much more than I do! I want to know the scope, everything from the in-jokes to the aus to the deoncelerization. If you've been in this fandom since 2012 I would LOVE to hear from you!

Last but not least, I want the end of this video to be a love letter to this community, sharing firsthand experiences of what the Onceler as a character and the fandom means to you! I want to conduct interviews with people over discord (which is going to be a lot less fancy than it sounds so dw, it's not going to be an interrogation LMAO)

Specifics are subject to change but one thing will stay, I want to end the video to be made out of raw Love and Appreciation for this fandom, showcasing the side of this little corner of the internet that people who brush it off as mindless cringe don't see. All I've seen from this community is love and support and I want to be the video essayist who shows it for what it is!

At the moment I don't really have much of a plan (I'm not a very good planner lol), but if enough interets garners I know it'll help me streamline my motivation and come up with a game plan!

Feel free to leave me suggestions for where to go from here, maybe give out my discord? Make a Discord Server? Maybe there's something I can do solely on tumblr? I don't know! I don't know at all how Tumblr works! Help Me! Am just a little guy!

Alright that's all from me for now gamers, if this project interests you all in any capacity or you want to help out, please reblog/reply/message/ask/howeveranythingworksonthissite to let me know! Feel free to ask me questions or whatever as well! Peace out for now ✌️

[somepoetwannabe]

Anyway guys, here are some list of cool things I like that none of u asked for

Aspen trees

Weevils

Sea glass

Mushrooms

Venus flytraps

Moths

Jon the Archivist

Crystals and gems

Apatite

Sea slugs

Psychological horror analysis videos

Moss

Origami

Plushies n stuffed animals

Jane Prentiss

Birds

Fish

Snakes

Mice

Aventurine

Weird looking freak-sewn teddies or messed up toys

Marceline

My duck nightlight who is named Benson :]

Funky sunglasses

Colourful or fun scented candles

Glow in the dark things

Crochet Lorax

Stupid looking cups

Orchid mantis

Antibears

Music

Clay dinosaurs

Snails

Cherry bakewells yum

Polaroid pictures

The buzz an electric guitars notes give off

Harmonica :]

Cryptids

Paranormal stuff

Photos taken during golden hour

That feeling when it's finally sunday and I wake up excited because my favourite webtoon updates on sundays

Hunting down Minecraft skins on skindex

Rewatching BBC Sherlock Holmes for the 100th time

The smell of new books

Waking up at dawn and feeling all cozy and snug in bed, falling back asleep happily

Strawberry milkshakes

Ice-cream Each of these are so small, but together they make a reason to live. Because I know if I don't wake up tomorrow, I'll never get to appreciate these things again.

[redtail-lol]

Just curious does anyone want to see my full dark tragic lyrical analysis of one of my dad's songs because damn it's good lyrics but damn that song is a rollercoaster of emotions as it goes from bad to worse

Also my dad has heard the analysis and while it's so far from what he had in mind he really likes it

Unrelated tangent about song lyrics under the cut

On the call when I told my dad about my analysis, the thing that sparked it was when we were discussing music and he said lyrics were secondary to a song. I disagreed. Yes, in some circumstances, it is true; a song with poor tune and good lyrics will suck and you can enjoy songs with "eh" lyrics if it sounds good enough, even if you don't speak the language the song is in you can enjoy it. But a truly poorly written song is hard to enjoy, and songs with really good lyrics are what make favorites. I'll demonstrate my point with How Bad Can I Be and it's objectively better counterpart, Biggering. (it is my opinion that the latter is better but my opinion is the correct one, people who disagree with me are wrong.) Both share a similar lyric:

HBCIB: Well there's a principle of nature (principle of nature) that almost every creature knows. It's called "survival of the fittest" (survival of the fittest) and check it, this is how it goes: the animale that wins has got to scratch and fight and claw and bite and punch. And the animal that doesn't, well the animal that doesn't winds up someone else's la-la-la-la-lunch. (munch munch munch munch munch.)

Biggering: There is a principle of nature that most every creature knows. It's called "survival of the fittest," and this is how it goes: the animal that wins has got to claw and bite and kick and punch. The animal that doesn't winds up someone else's lunch!

This line works in biggering and not in HBCIB because of how they're followed up.

HBCIB, after the chorus: Well there's a principle of business (principle of business) that everybody knows is sound. It says "the people with the money (people with the money) make this ever-loving world go round." So I'm biggering my company, I'm biggering my factory, I'm biggering my corporate size! Everybody out there take care of yours; I'll take care of mine, mine, mine, mine, mine!

Biggering, with nothing in between it and the original line: A company's an animal that's trying to survive. (survival!) It's struggling and fighting just to keep itself alive!

Biggering is an example of good lyric writing because it connects the survival of the fittest line to his point. He makes it make sense. It's useless in How Bad Can I Be but actually matters in Biggering.

Songs like Biggering that have good lyrics make for favorite songs because good lyrics achieve a few things

They tell a story - A well written song tells you a story. Sometimes it's just a surface level story and sometimes it's a deeper meaning, but a song that has good lyrics always tells a story. Not every song that tells a story is automatically well written (case in point, girls is players too) but every song that both has no explicit story nor an implicit, up to interpretation story that can be derived from the lyrics will ever be well written

All or almost all of the lyrics feel purposeful - We see this in my prior example where the survival of the fittest line is part of the Onceler's rebuttal to the Lorax, where he's arguing that his uncontrollable Biggering isn't a product of pride or greed, but rather just survival of the fittest running its course. If his company doesn't claw and bite and kick and punch then it will become another company's lunch, which will do the same as he is. The line is purposeful. It contributes to the story told by Biggering. It's essential to telling that story. In the song I made my analysis for, Where You're Going, Where You Been, every line is extremely purposeful, advancing the story. The only line that isn't necessary and an important part of that song's story, although a wonderful line on its own, is "believe me I'm an honest man and trust me I'm a liar." In Jaina, each line is simply recounting what happened to Jaina's father, and cutting out a single line would distort the story. In Be Prepared, Scar uses each line to hype up himself and the hyenas for the glorious future. While they may not all be absolutely necessary to make sense of the song, they all contribute to what Scar is getting at during any part of the song (the beginning where he's saying "I know you're dumb but listen up, the first chorus where he's hyping shit up, the second verse where he's still being a hype man, and the last chorus where he's a more intimidating and powerful hype man.) And perhaps this is a controversial take, but Let it Go is filled with lines about Elsa finally feeling free after being trapped for so long.

They're cohesive. Sometimes what it takes to enjoy something on a deep enough level to call it your favorite is to understand it. This doesn't apply to songs with hidden meanings, which have their own charm of eventually getting it even if that's just an interpretation.

They make you feel something. Line delivery and accompanying music aren't the only ways to make a listener feel something. The lyrics themselves should also be making you feel something (sad, happy, amused, scared, powerful, etc.)

Here is where I've lost direction so bye bye

[cornfieldsrambles]

I am begging LITERALLY EVERYONE WHO HAS TIME ON THEIR HANDS to read this outline. it’s long. you don’t have to read it all at once. But for the love of everything pure do yourself a favour and read it. it is so unbelievably good I’m losing my marbles here

GESTURES WILDLY

PLEASE OH MY GODDD this needs to become a Thing this needs fanart this needs analysis posts this needs!! to get some kind of attention!! AT THE VERY LEAST IT NEEDS LIKE A SMALL CULT FOLLOWING I CANNOT BE THE SOLE MEMBER OF THE LORAX MUSICAL FANCLUB

…okay im normal again

This is. really well written and I love it and I am going to shove it in everyone’s faces and yell at them to read it until the end of time probably

The Lorax: The Musical Idea

This is my rough outline of a stage musical based on The Lorax, the book, special and movie. It’s heavily inspired by and will include these demo songs on the film soundtrack that were cut from the final product, so please listen to them before reading.

I think the 1972 animated special is a pretty perfect adaptation of the book on its own. Here I aim to preserve its strengths and redeem the elements with potential that the painfully shallow, mediocre film added, fumbled and wasted, because my obsessive, autistic brain couldn’t pose the question “But what if The Lorax (2012) was good?” without attempting to answer it.

Comments and questions about the outline and my creative process are incredibly welcome!

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis is a series that looks at villains across various media in the hopes of coming to something of a consensus on the overall quality of the character. Are they performed well? Do they enrich the narrative? Are their motives fleshed out? Are they voiced by Tim Curry and thus a sex icon? 

There are a lot of important questions that I look into, but ultimately, Psycho Analysis boils down to asking one simple little question: How bad can a character be?

Thankfully, there’s one villain who decided to answer that question for me... in song form.

Psycho Analysis: The Once-ler

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Yeah, I’m finally talking about everyone’s favorite greedy bastard who, back in some of the darkest days of Tumblr history, ended up being the premier sexyman on the website. People were thirsting over this twiggy weirdo, acting as if he were God’s gift to women and shipping him with alternate versions of himself. Much like the movie he’s from, he is now incredibly hard to take seriously.

But hey, speaking of alternate versions of himself, I’m going to be covering him from the original book and the animated short film as well. Might as well just knock it all out of the park at once, right? Now let’s see how ba-a-a-ad this guy can be.

Motivation/Goals: The Once-ler is all about biggering. He’s making thneeds (things that everyone needs) and he is gonna stop at nothing to craft these things. Not even the power of the Lorax, Danny DeVito or otherwise, is going to stay his hand from getting that sweet, soft Truffula fluff to make his wares. This is ultimately a little unrealistic, at least for the Illumination version; if Danny DeVito asked me not to do something, I’d listen, no questions asked.

Performance: In the animated special, Bob Holt does double duty, as he is portraying both Once-ler and the title character. It works really well for what they’re going for, and the double casting is interesting because it highlights the ultimate role of the Lorax as the Once-ler’s conscience given form.

In the film, Ed Helms portrays the Once-ler, and he’s fine. He’s certainly better casting than Audrey, but that’s not particularly saying much considering that’s a non-singing Taylor Swift (when Cats is able to utilize Taylor Swift better than your musical, you know there’s trouble). I don’t know, Ed Helms is fun and all, but I’m just not sure his take on the Once-ler is all too compelling overall.

Final Fate: In the original book and the special, the Once-ler wins… but even he realizes it’s a terrible, pointless victory, and all he has achieved is ruin, his family leaving him, his business ultimately collapsing, and the environment permanently damaged. He’s left as a miserable, jaded hermit, broken by the bleak consequences his greedy actions have sown upon the world and only able to tell his story and pass on the last Truffula seed in the hopes that maybe, maybe someday the trees can regrow and the Lorax will return. The Illumination version follows this but then tacks on a happy ending  where the Lorax and Once-ler reunite because as we know ambiguity and bittersweet endings cannot exist in children’s films.

Best Scene: Obviously it’s the scene where he shakes his ass to seduce Jack Frost, in one of the greatest gay romances ever put to film.

Joking aside, it is undoubtedly his villain song. It has become such a meme, but real talk? “How Bad Can I Be” slaps. This is a really good song, probably too good for the movie but you know what, I’ll take it.

Best Quote: HOW BA-A-A-AD CAN I BE? Yes, I’m using a line from his villain song. Sue me.

Final Thoughts & Score: What can one really say about the movie version of the Once-ler that hasn’t already been run into the ground? Well, how about… He’s not too bad, honestly? Like, yes, he has next to nothing to do with his book counterpart and they really go way too far into trying to make a capitalist pig sympathetic… but the animated special from the 70s did that too. I think the Once-ler honestly works better when there is a dash of complexity to him and he isn’t just a simple-minded Captain Planet villain.

Of course, the issue here is that the 70s version took a simpler approach, kind of less is more. The 70s Once-ler brings up some valid points to the Lorax about his work, and the Lorax can’t help but agree that there’s no easy answer while also stressing that the environmental devastation is still really, really bad. It works, it feels complex, and it arguably helps the ultimate point that we need to protect the environment better than even the book did (and I love the book, don’t get me wrong, but its take on the Once-ler is a bit too simple for its own good; it almost runs into the Femme Fatale problem by being a bit too much of a strawman). The movie version has a bit too much going on, especially with his family. His family are much more blatantly evil, greedy, and manipulative, but they’re relegated to the background for much of the film and don’t effect things all that much. The whole narrative would have been infinitely stronger if they were the greater scope villains behind Once-ler and were who needed to be defeated and maybe taught a lesson, but instead they are ignored in favor of someone I’ll address very shortly.

All of this leaves movie Once-ler feeling extremely disjointed, but not irredeemably so. As I said before, his villain song is unironically awesome, and as lame as it is compared to the more haunting, contemplative ending of the book and the special, I’m not so much of a curmudgeon that I didn’t at least smile when he finally reconciled with the Lorax. Ultimately though, him being memed to death really didn’t help his case, but it means I’m not giving the movie version anything less than a 3/10. He might in fact be the best “so bad it’s good” villain ever, or at least up there. He’s just so undeniably enjoyable even if the narrative isn’t making him as complex as it thinks it is. The animated special version gets a 9/10, the book version is a 7/10, and the Once-ler’s family gets a 5/10 for being an interesting concept they sadly do little with, which will now be elaborated on as I follow up on the foreshadowing from the last paragraph...

Psycho Analysis: Aloysius O’Hare

Remember how I said the Once-ler’s family gets ignored in favor of someone else? Here he is, Aloysius O’Hare, one of the absolute lamest villains ever put to screen.

Motivation/Goals: He’s greedy. That’s it. I’m not kidding. He’s just a cartoonish caricature of a rich person, which still makes him a realistic portayal but also makes him boring as sin compared to the wacky dude with a big musical number about how bad he can be.

Performance: Rob Riggle does a decent job, but there’s really not much for him to work with here. This character is a cardboard cutout who exists to be as cartoonishly greedy and evil as possible with no nuance so the kids know who to root against and so that Once-ler doesn’t look bad in comparison.

Final Fate: Look, he’s a blatantly evil corporate villain in a kid’s movie about the environment. Of course he gets defeated and everyone turns on him. What’s especially funny though is that, on the brink of learning his lesson, he rejects any form of redemption and just goes whole hog on being a villain.

Best Scene: I will absolutely give him this: in the face of his ultimate defeat, after having the virtues of trees sung to him and the entire town turning on him, he for a moment contemplates turning over a new leaf… and then absolutely rejects the thought and instead decides being evil is just too much fun, at which point he tries to get everyone back on his side by seeing a funny little song about death while wavedashing. If more shitty villains did this, I don’t think there would be shitty villains.

Best Quote: LET IT DIE, LET IT DIE, LET IT SHRIVEL UP AND DIE! Yes I’m quoting a song again.

Final Thoughts & Score: Look, I’m not gonna mine words here: O’Hare sucks. Big time. He is a prime example of why The Lorax failed as an adaptation. In a story that is dealing with a moral grayness with no easy answers, O’Hare is just a big, blatant target, a dark shade of black in terms of black-and-white morality. He’s like a reject Captain Planet villain with Edna Mode’s haircut.

The movie would have been infinitely better if, instead of him, the Once-ler’s family were in control of the town, and they needed to learn the lesson about saving the trees instead of simply vanishing from the story. They were shown to be overbearing, manipulative, and greedy, and they had a much more personal connection with Once-ler being, you know, his actual family. The fact they abandon him and never really get any sort of comeuppance despite being perhaps the most evil people in the move, egging on Once-ler and taking full advantage of him, makes O’Hare all the more egregious, because there could have been some strong thematic elements that would have tied the film together and made it come off as much less preachy and more nuanced.

But we don’t live in a world where that happened, we live in a world where we got O’Hare. Aside from some genuine hilarity from him at the end, O’Hare really adds very little to the film. I gotta give him a 2/10, but I will say he’s a lot closer to a 3 than he is to a 1; there’s no denying his absolute rejection of learning a moral is absolutely hilarious. I love when villains do that. It’s just a shame those funny moments are wrapped up in something monumentally unimpressive.

[gamercock]

I hate to bring up the onceler in the year of our lord 2020 but now that I’m a flaming communist the lyrics to “How Bad Can I Be” hit a little different. I guess what I’m trying to say is . . .

Un-Ironic Lyrical Analysis of “How Bad Can I Be”

Now, at first glance both the song "How Bad Can I Be", and the book The Lorax, seem to be discussing man-made climate change. When I first read the book, and when I first saw the movie, this was the only thing I picked up on. People destroyed ecosystems and polluted the world for their own gain, and suffered the consequences for it.

Then, when one squints a little, they seem very anti-consumerism. People kept buying more and more thneeds, so the Once-ler "biggered" his factory and supplied more and more. No one thought about the consequences of their actions. Then, the last truffula tree is chopped down, they run out of thneeds, and the Once-ler is left with a great expanse of empty blackness and nothing more.

But when one looks deeper still, especially at the lyrics of the song "How Bad Can I Be", a very strong anti-capitalist message is revealed. This doesn't happen very often, but the movie actually seems to have more political themes than the book. Without further ado, let's put the lyrics of "How Bad Can I Be" under a microscope.

It starts off tame enough, with the Once-ler explaining that he's just doing what comes naturally. He even says that it's his destiny. A common argument for capitalism is that it's natural, that it's humanity's base state. This is patently untrue, as humans have the desire for both competition and cooperation. You could also make an argument that someone saying "just following my destiny" and then driving the native ecosystem out and destroying the natural flora could be a reference to the 19th century belief of Manifest Destiny.

Now let's skip all the way down to the line "I'm just building the economy". This is where the message really shifts from "capitalism can be bad sometimes" to "modern capitalism is a nightmare we need to fight".

"I'm just building the economy" here, the Once-ler justifies his immoral actions by implying that he's creating jobs and spreading money. This is an argument often used by large corporations and billionaires, and it's untrue. There's no excuse for leaving the poor to die in the streets when you could pay for them all to have homes and healthcare a dozen times over.

"Just look at me petting this puppy," here, he attempts to justify it by saying "I'm not that bad! Look, I think cute things are cute! I'm relatable!" Note how in the music video, the puppy is placed on a pedestal. It's clear he doesn't actually care about the puppy, he's faking care and empathy while the cameras are on him to appear more palatable to the general public. And even if he did care, it wouldn't make up for the crimes against humanity and nature that he's committed.

"A portion of proceeds go to charity!" in the music video, this portion of proceeds is a single coin. A billionaire donating a few thousand dollars to charity is the equivalent of you donating a penny or two, and the music video clearly shows it. Not to mention, it also shows that the homeless man featured is an actor, and the whole thing is a PR stunt.

And here things get intense. This is the part of the song that honestly gives me chills. The backing track suddenly acquires a dark tone with powerful, severe beats, and a ghostly choir chanting "Bad!" The lyrics are genuinely terrifying. The truth in them is haunting.

"All the money's multiplying!" here, he counts his bills and shoves the Lorax aside. He cares more for his money than he does anything else. He'll commit all kinds of atrocities for the tiniest increase in profit, much like modern billionaires.

"And the PR people are lying! And the lawyers are denying!" these two lines share almost the exact same message. Megacorporations have powerful PR teams that can make even the most openly horrifying actions seem justified and understandable. Their lawyers are the same, manipulating the judicial system with ease, and occasionally just straight-up paying judges/juries to do what they want. These two lyrics could also be referencing the McDonald's coffee debacle, in which a woman was served coffee so hot that when she spilled it she ended up with third degree burns. Her name was Stella Liebeck, and when McDonald's ran a smear campaign against her everyone ate it up. Even now, most people think she was some entitled customer deserving of ridicule.

"Who cares if a few trees are dying?" here, the Once-ler has stopped lying to both himself and the public. He doesn't care about the consequences of his actions, and he never has. He's selfish and greedy, and he believes his profit to be more important than the very world around him. This behavior can also be observed in modern billionaires.

Overall, both the lyrics and music video are a very, very clear metaphor for the corruption and destruction that modern capitalism spawns. By the end of it, the Once-ler is completely disconnected from reality. He's become so selfish, so greedy, that it has never occurred to him that he lives in the world he's destroying. Once again, there's a clear connection between his beliefs and actions and those of modern billionaires.

What really drives this billionaire/Once-ler connection home however, is the beginning of the book The Lorax. "He peeks, out of the shutters, and sometimes he speaks, and tells how the Lorax was lifted away. He'll tell you, perhaps... if you're willing to pay." And a few pages later, "Then he pulls up the pail, makes a most careful count, to see if you've paid him the proper amount."

You have to pay him for his information! He hasn't learned anything! After everything, after the Lorax's warnings, and running his company into the ground after chopping down the last truffula tree, and living alone in a bleak wasteland, he still cares more about money than anything else! The only person willing to partake in the unethical business practices required to become a billionaire is someone who was unethical to begin with. He's never cared about anything other than personal profit. We weren't watching absolute power corrupt absolutely, we were watching absolute power empower a really terrible person.

In conclusion, the book The Lorax, and the song "How Bad Can I Be" carry really strong anti-capitalist and anti-billionaire messages, and I honestly feel a little robbed that the song (and the entire movie, frankly) was turned into such a meme when it has such an obvious good message.

I speak for the trees, and they say eat the rich.

[tolstoys-nemesis]

I am the Admin and I speak for the St00pids

( did you catch that Lorax reference? did you???? )

Hi everyone my name’s Cass (she/her), I’m a voracious reader and I made this blog to bitch provide relevant and insightful criticism and analysis on Leo Tolstoy’s 1.2k page bitch book magnum opus, War and Peace. I am currently on my first read of W&P and boiiii, do I have a lot of feelings about it! I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a great book (there’s a reason why it’s one of the most praised works of literature in history ffs) but MAN, most of the time I feel like my lad Tolstoy had no idea where he was going with this thing (which,,, considering how War and Peace came to be, it adds up!). 

I will probably end up reading W&P several times in my life, possibly in various languages (oh, yeah, I should mention that I’m reading it in French on this first go #imsoquirkyandrelatable), and perhaps I will grow to regard it with as much fondness and less mockery, but for now, dis where we at! 

Oh And, I should mention that I’m not the most consistent person in the world (hmmmm, peep me that third-degree humour!), and as such, I will most likely end up going off about the other stuff going on in my life (other books, musicals, tv shows, films, that kind of jazz!). You can probably expect large amounts of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 content as well, and uh yeah I guess this is it! See y’all later!

[greenbirdtrash]

After a couple more hours of intense digging, i present you the jacket from 2021 version.

Actually, it's not just an ordinary jacket: that's a vintage navy&green striped boating blazer🙌

Interesting choice.

My dedication is so strong that at this point i know exactly what they wear in the stageplay - even without asking the costume designers or anyone else. I'm simply analysing photos and figuring the rest out. Hyperfixation is STRONG.

The more i know, the more interesting it gets: it seems that at certain stages, both the 2015 and 2021 versions share the same vibe of 1960-1970 clothing, which could be a hint to an actual timeline of their story and/or also, as suggested by Miru, a reference to OG book's first debut, which happened in 1971. That makes sense, isn't it?

But that's something i will talk about later..

[greenbirdtrash]

"It has been suggested that the pinstripe suit was the principal uniform of English bankers towards the end of the 19th century. Employees working within different banking institutions could be easily identified by the thickness of the pinstripes on their trousers."

"Favoured by both men and women, this detailed style creates a bold, self-assured aesthetic"

hey, look, this one even has the same paisley pattern tie!

Yes. They know exactly what they did and what kind of vibe they hoped to achieve with this one. Classic pinstripe suits are all about status and power, but at the same time, they are exceptionally formal yet dazzling and stylish. What a blend. And apparently, they were a big thing back in 1980 as well... If you think of that time period as of time when Once-lers empire were on its peak, it opens a whole list of theoretic possibilities.

Even tho i couldn't find the exact suit or even the matching fabric (for the second act of 2015 version they used a mint-green pinstripe suit, which has an unusual pattern with dark/light stripes, unlike the most common two-color ones.), It is still clear that's a "classic", double-breasted pinstripe suit, which suits him well. And he wears it in "traditional" way - with a vest, tie and pocket square.

[greenbirdtrash]

It's kinda funny how i have two VERY different parts of the same axehacker scene that can still be edited into a single sequence.

Despite the fact that the OG song was probably changed at some point...i can't hear what exactly he saying in the first clip (if anyone could point it out, i'll be very grateful) before the "Super-Axe-Hacker!" part, and i can't remember any 100% matching script lines either

UPD: we figured it out.

1. So, forget you, old Lorax

I'm this town's backer

That's why I invented...

[ LOUD MECHANICAL ROAR ]

2. Hello, future! Forest, bye-bye!

The Super-Axe-Hacker!

We've got the kind of power that you can't deny

So keep the motor running on the Super-Axe-Hacker!

Both of these options feel "lowkey close" to what i can hear through the distracting stuff, but still...i'm not sure.

"We need to have supplies when demand goes up

UPD: it was this part:

We need to work faster, we need to expand

[ CAR TYRES SCREECH ]

We can't do it all with two bare hands"

[greenbirdtrash]

After all these months...I FOUND WHAT APPEARS TO BE THE SAME TAILCOAT AS IN THE 2015 VERSION

1960-1969, vintage silk&velvet😩

Sadly, the brand remains unknown. This thing is currently on sale for 350$, but let's say i gave it to you as a reference..for free

[greenbirdtrash]

It's actually really funny how we spent around half an hour trying to figure out the exact pattern on Once-ler's tie because my pal needed a reference (wink wink) and i was more than willing to look closely on all my pictures and gifs of his fame era just to realize that it's probably A FUCKING PAISLEY PATTERN-

I mean, look at it. Really. Isn't that the iconic blots?

And it has a dark/black background as well.

[greenbirdtrash]

Decided to post some of my clothing analysis of the musical Once-ler. Most of my takes here are outdated (since i didn't had a chance to get acquainted with the script back then, but now i've got a better understanding of some things and the exact timeline, so lots of updated info and the contexts will be added when needed), but some of the listed speculations here are still pretty interesting to think about. It's actually kinda crazy how i came to that, building my own imaginary character profile and the timeline without the chance to watch the entire show, but just from analysing the available photos and the reviews. And the fun thing is..some of my speculations actually fit the story quite well. So..

Part one: Introduction.

[July, 23]

"Again, my conclusions may be wrong because of the fact that I only saw the fragments and photos from this musical, I cannot be completely sure that the slight difference in some of details and elements is present due to a certain story arc or the fact that the "test show" was performed in a different place and with slightly different props, but it's hard not to notice that during the course of events, the clothes of our beloved problematic capitalist change, maybe not as drastically as in the 2012 movie, for example, but this undoubtedly plays an important role in his development as a character (especially considering that we are looking at a stage adaptation with its own nuances, but more on that later) and reflects a certain kind of changes that he goes through in the process. Why is this so important? I'll try to explain.

Working with perception through colors and shapes is one of the most basic things in design that always works, and even being in some cases comically exaggerated, it remains effective because a person somehow always builds a certain association based on the things they saw. Like, we look at the warm green color, and it immediately reminds us of leaves, etc, etc.. Long story short, the aspect of different clothing, colors and patterns on a character who's going through different phases will be very important here. I saw someone else pointing the same thing out in one of the reviews, can't remember which one tho. Anyway, my huge thanks to Rob Howell for giving us all these amazing designs.

What I always loved in stage performances of all kinds and the theater as a whole concept, is the fact that you won't find there such thing as "narrow cinematic frame" in which you can just remove or cut out everything that simply "does not fit" into it, oh no.

In stage performances and musicals, the whole color extravaganza of the stage and the carefully carved environment will talk to you (yes, talk!), and actors are required to do much more than just show a certain face at a certain moment. Nope, it's completely different here, and most of the theatre actors are just built different as well. Spent some of my best years near them, that was an amazing experience. Anyway-

Being able to play simply with with your voice and face is not enough to be a good actor here, especially considering that even if you're lucky to have the most magnificent facial expressions......they are not particularly visible even from the middle rows. Even though most projects and plays are recorded with professional equipment from the close range (mostly for archive purposes), and for some plays you can even get the binoculars with no problem, it is impossible to rely solely on facial expressions.

And here's where costumes and choreography come into play.

So, the costumes...

From what I saw and read, I would say, we are introduced to this Onceler in a pretty interesting way.

At the time of his departure from home in search of a better fate, we are looking at a very ambitious young dreamer who just.. let's say, he doesn't fit into his original environment, neither by his character traits, nor by his ideas about inventions, nor visually. The visual clearly emphasizes this, and I got the impression that among all the green riot of chaotic colorful prints that prevail in his family's clothes, in his tailcoat he kinda looks like a "black sheep" among them, even despite the fact that he shares the same green aesthetic, but his design is not "too much" or hard to look at. In fact, we are still able to spot him even when he's surrounded by his family. According to this adaptation's background, their family is VERY poor, and all they own is an old mill(?) on which they all work tirelessly. Not a particularly wide space for revelry and elements symbolizing prosperity or luxury (yk, tailcoats are quite expensive), so to speak. Things were not going great for them, so perhaps such an expensive thing as a tailcoat in their conditions is some kind of a reference to the guitar of the 2012 version (for which, according to some information available on the web, the 2012 Onceler has been saving up for a long time). Perhaps (and most likely this guess will be more correct) our hero slept and saw himself in a completely different society - with a much higher and richer status [UPD: This guess was partially confirmed after i saw the script, so I will take this as canon. After all, in the stageplay, the young Onceler literally devotes an entire scene to the song about his dream of getting rich on his great idea], and perhaps he also believed that "clothes make the man" and planned searching for glory in the same outfit, I can't tell you for sure, but the fact is that visually he does not fit into his environment at all, he's "an oddball" with his head hovering somewhere in the clouds, and his clothes, among other things, help us draw a imaginary line which separates him from his surroundings and giving us a subconscious signal that he is just different. Not like them. We all faced rejection in one way or another, and we know what not being able to fit feels like, and it also kinda helps us to put ourselves in his shoes, feel his ambitions, and to start sympathizing with him as a character. [UPD: It works really well within the canons of this adaptation, I couldn't remain indifferent to it, and David Greig turned him into exactly that kind of beautifully written tragic deep character that I wanted to see, and at the end of his story, it broke my heart..in a good way, of course.]

Also, there's something really silly about how he looks at the start, he spots the funky striped fingerless gloves (Not the canon long ones, but still..That's a nice touch, every Onceler needs his gloves, and also it looks like he also has a watch on his left arm? Interesting..), some kind of a vintage green fedora, very fluffy green hair, green shirt and green pants with a slightly different "cold" color, brown suspenders and even a bright green neckerchief for some reason, so his green aesthetic is pretty much complete. Idk, his whole look during this phase kinda gives me the countryside vibes, maybe it was actualy intended? Especially considering what his family does for life?[UPD: It kinda was.]

Actually, he leaves the house just because his room and his bed is suddenly rented out for some pennies [UPD: Everything turned out to be much worse and funnier at the same time, he was literally kicked out by his family (You can literally feel their low expectations for him) just for them to take in a random person with "more reasonable ideas", but despite this, all his interactions with the "Bed-stealer" during the first act made me smile and giggle a lot, Small Ed is a great character addition and a pure comedic relief], and this probably becomes his last reason in favor of collecting all of his not very vast possessions and go seek his fate in the hopes that somewhere in this world there will be a better place for him.."

[greenbirdtrash]

So their family was SO POOR they didn't even had matching buttons in their stash and probably had to use the "extra" leftover ones for his shirt, since they probably used the rest of same size&color ones for something else.. That's a neat little detail.

Look at how different they are

source

[greenbirdtrash]

Aaaand that's gonna be enough for me to assume he learned multiple languages (maybe only the bare minimum like formal greetings, questions and stuff, but still..it ain't that easy, i know what i'm saying) in his fame era to communicate with his business partners from different countries (France, Japan, Spain and Germany...i can't imagine how HUGE his empire was if they had that kind of partnerships with the biggest players out there) or maaaybe he learned 5-10 sentences just to look cool in people's eyes with everyone looking at him and saying something like "omg that once-ler is so smart", yk, to scratch his own ego.

The thing is, if we assume that he IS in fact somehow fluent in some of them it DOES make him pretty smart or at least very capable and analytical on top of the fact that he has a tech genius brain that allows him to invent and construct literally anything from scratch, from portable phones to huge machinery, and if he can do that, he probably can master languages as well, but how much free time did he actually had for that when he was busy with building the town and the entire infrastructure for it? It took him years to create an urban ecosystem that 100% depends on him and his business anyway, his factory is literally described as a huge beating heart of the city

Maybe he was multitasking, or maybe when the majority of things got stabilised he had some free time to learn languages in peace.

Who knows.