<P> Over Ted's various visits, the Once - ler recounts the story that when he was a young man, he departed his family to find good material for his Thneed invention and make a business . The Once - ler meets the guardian of the forest, the Lorax, after cutting down a Truffula tree in a lush Truffula tree forest valley . The Lorax urges the Once - ler to leave the forest, but the Once - ler refuses . Eventually, the Once - ler promises not to chop another tree down, and the two seem to begin a friendship of sorts . Then, the young businessman's Thneed invention becomes a major success and the Once - ler's family arrives to participate in the business . At first keeping his promise, the Once - ler continues Thneed production by harvesting the Truffula tree tufts in a slow, but sustainable manner . However, his greedy and lazy relatives soon convince him to resume chopping down the trees . Over time, the Once - ler's deforestation spirals into a mass overproduction . Flushed with wealth, the Once - ler rationalizes his short - sighted needs into arrogant self - righteousness, and the Lorax's helpless protests do not stop him . The Once - ler pollutes the sky, river, and landscape, until the very last Truffula tree falls . With no further chance of business, he is left broken and his money - broke mother disowns him . With the region uninhabitable because of the pollution and deforestation from the Once - ler's business, the Lorax sends the animals off to find a new place to live before the Once - ler sees him depart into the sky, leaving only a stone - cut word: "Unless". Distraught and ruined, the Once - ler becomes a recluse . </P> <P> After he finishes telling his story, the Once - ler finally understands the meaning behind the Lorax's last message, and gives Ted the last Truffula seed in hopes that he can use it to regrow the forest and make others care about real trees once more . Ted's desire to impress Audrey therefore becomes a personal mission to remind his town of the importance of nature . O'Hare, still determined not to have trees undercut his business, takes heavy - handed steps such as covering Audrey's nature paintings, closing off the door that Ted uses to see the Once - ler, and forcibly searching Ted's room for the seed, which has begun to grow after coming into contact with some water from Ted's falling bottle . Ted enlists his family and Audrey to help plant the seed . O'Hare and his two henchmen pursue the dissidents until they manage to elude him and reach the town center . When Ted finally attempts to plant the seed, he is interrupted by O'Hare, who rallies the population to stop them by telling the people that trees are extremely dangerous and filthy . To convince them otherwise, Ted takes an earthmover and rams down a section of the city wall to reveal the environmental destruction outside, thereby showing them what happened to the trees and what O'Hare is encouraging . Horrified at the sight and inspired by Ted's conviction (as though a part of the Lorax is within him), the crowd turns against O'Hare when they discover his true nature, with his own henchmen expelling him from the town with his jet pack - like helmet, and the seed is finally planted . Time passes and the land starts to recover; new trees sprout, the animals begin to return, and the redeemed, now - mustached Once - ler happily reunites with the Lorax . </P> <Ul> <Li> Danny DeVito as The Lorax </Li> <Li> Ed Helms as The Once - ler . Neither the book nor the TV special reveal the Once - ler's face, but instead throughout the book, the Once - ler is pictured by what appears to be green arms and yellow eyes . The filmmakers used that as the basis for the Once - ler's character design . They interpreted the Once - ler as a human, and also featured his green gloves and showed his face for the first time in this film . </Li> <Li> Zac Efron as Ted Wiggins, an idealistic 12 - year - old boy . He is named after the author of the book, Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel). </Li> <Li> Taylor Swift as Audrey, Ted's love interest . She is named after Audrey Geisel, Dr. Seuss' wife . </Li> <Li> Betty White as Grammy Norma, Ted's wise - cracking grandmother . </Li> <Li> Rob Riggle as Aloysius O'Hare, the greedy mayor of Thneedville and head of the "O'Hare Air" company that supplies fresh air to Thneedville residents . </Li> <Li> Jenny Slate as Mrs. Wiggins, Ted's neurotic mother . </Li> <Li> Nasim Pedrad as The Once - ler's Mother . </Li> <Li> Stephen Tobolowsky as Uncle Ubb, the Once - ler's uncle . </Li> <Li> Elmarie Wendel as Aunt Grizelda, the Once - ler's aunt . </Li> <Li> Danny Cooksey as Brett and Chet, the Once - ler's twin brothers . </Li> <Li> Fletcher Sheridan (uncredited) as Cy, the O'Hare Air delivery guy </Li> <Li> Chris Renaud as Assorted forest animals </Li> </Ul> <Li> Danny DeVito as The Lorax </Li>

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