Univeral Pictures and Illumination Entertainment team up to bring Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax” to 3-D animated splendor.

Chris Renaud, Cinco Paul, and Ken Daurio will be co-directing the feature. Paul and Daurio will be writing the script.  Audrey Geisel, Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)’s widow, will be executive producing the film.

Chris Meledandri of Illumination describes this project:

“Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was prescient in an uncanny way when he wrote the book and explored themes of greed and how that can lead to the destruction of environment.”

This is the second project between Meledandri and Dr. Seuss.  The first was “Horton Hears A Who” with Fox Animation before  Meledandri left to form Illumination as a division of Universal. Paul and Daurio also wrote the screenplay for “Horton Hears A Who”.

“The Lorax” has a strong environmental theme in which a greedy entrepreneur strips a forest of its Truffula trees to catastrophic results.

“Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” is due out March 2, 2012, on the birthday of Dr. Seuss himself, Theodor Geisel who passed away in 1991.

[Source] Variety