Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment have teamed up to bring Dr. Seuss’s environmental tale, The Lorax, to a big screen near you on Seuss’s birthday in 2012. The film will be animated (read: NOT starring Jim Carrey) and is slated to be written by the duo behind Horton Hears a Who.

According to Variety, Chris Meledandri, head of Illumination, feels (as many do) that the late Ted Geisel “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 the environment.”

If you’re unfamiliar with the story (for shame!) the story is told by a selfish entrepreneur who clear cuts the forest of all of its Truffala trees leaving no homes for the animals. It’s often referred to as a parable about industrialization, greed and obsolescence as embodied by the narrator, brilliantly named the “Once-ler”. There was also an animated version made in 1972.

It’ll be cool to see if Universal is able to make a broader environmental statment in their production and marketing instead of simply riding the “green” wave.

And remember…”You’re in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds. And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.”