Western Animation / Horton! (2025)

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Horton! is a preschool show based on Horton Hears a Who! that came out on Netflix on October 6, 2025. The series is developed by Dustin Ferrer and Becky Friedman, and produced by Brown Bag Films. Horton follows the exciting and whimsical adventures of a young Horton and his best bud Samson as they go on adventures to help the citizens of the Jungle of Nool.

Here's a short teaser trailer from this video. You can watch the official trailer here.

Tropes Associated With The Show:

• Absurd Phobia: In "Hiccup Trip", the only thing that scares Leni are the the horrifying creatures of the Cave of Kazoom. When she arrives at the cave with Horton and Samson, the horrifying creatures are revealed to be harmless butterflies.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Although still an antagonist, Jane is a small child like Horton in this show and so is more a Spoiled Brat instead of a fear monger who leads the jungle of Nool on a witch hunt for Horton and almost committing genocide on The Who population. In the episode adapting the story, she isn’t the main villain and is a literal obstacle the heroes need to get past due to their small size.
• Age Lift: Horton is a young boy in this series and Jane is a young Joey rather than a mother of her own.
• All-CGI Cartoon: The teaser trailer shows how this series is done with CGI animation.
• The Big Race: "The Amazing Race" involves the animals of the Jungle of Nool racing to retrieve a flag at the top of Mt. McBoom so they can win a medal.
• Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: In "The Twinkleberry Tree", Twinkleberry Forest is inhabited by a yeti. The animals are too afraid to go into the forest to get a Twinkleberry tree for the Twinkleberry festival because they think the yeti is an evil monster. It turns out the yeti, Betty, is actually very nice and wants to share her cookies with visitors, but no visitors ever come to Twinkleberry Forest. When Horton invites Betty to the Twinkleberry festival, she is more than happy to attend and even puts the star on top of the tree.
• Birthday Episode:
  • The first episode, "Birthday Cake Catastrophe", takes place on Willow's birthday. Horton goes to the Birthday Cake Tree to get a new cake for Willow when a chipmunk eats her last one.
  • "Happy Birthday" takes place on the birthdays of Bailey's many cousins. Horton and Samson help Bailey bring her presents to the party.
• Cartoon Juggling: In "Runaway Stuffie", Cindy the Chipmunk does the shower variant when she juggles Horton, Samson, and Willow to get them across a gorge.
• Chekhov's Volcano: In "The Amazing Race", Mt. McBoom has a volcano at the top, and Jane sets it off when she kicks a pebble into it. Horton races down the mountain, making sure none of the racers lose their lives to the lava.
• Christmas Episode: “The Twinkleberry Tree”.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: The teaser trailer shows Horton going out of his way to help people even when it's not easy.
• Companion Cube:
  • Because Jane Kangaroo is a young girl in this series, she keeps a stuffed joey called Lindy Laroo in her pouch.
  • In "Runaway Stuffie", Willow the Panda has a stuffed bird named Mr. Fluffles. Jane takes him for herself, thinking that someone abandoned him, and Horton and Samson's mission in the episode is to track him down by following the trail of feathers.
• Cool Shades: The trailer shows Samson wearing star shaped sunglasses.
• Deliberately Jumping the Gun: In "The Amazing Race", Jane races off before Mckenna Monkey can say "Go". Mckenna then says "Go!" so the other racers can catch up with her. This ends up being one of the things that disqualifies Jane from winnning the McBoom medal at the end.
• Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat:
  • In "The Amazing Race", Jane pulls a few dirty tricks to ensure that she stays ahead of the other racers, such as spreading beezlenuts onto the track for them to slip on, and taking the ladder that is used to climb up the cliff wall. This ultimately results in her getting disqualified from winning a medal when she crosses the finish line.
  • In "The Nool Grand Prix", Jane hits the lever to a drawbridge to raise it and prevent the other racers from crossing it. This gets her disqualified from winning a trophy.
• Disqualification-Induced Victory: In "The Amazing Race", everyone crosses the finish line at once thanks to Horton. Rex the Rhino disqualifies Jane for cheating, but Horton, Samson, and Bailey all get medals for playing fairly.
• Don't Wake the Sleeper:
  • In "Baby on Board", Zooey wanders into a cave filled with sleeping lions. Horton, Samson, and Jane have to get Zooey out without waking the lions up, so they use bandages as Sticky Shoes to walk on the ceiling.
  • In "Hiccup Trip", Leni chases a bee past a pack of sleeping lions. Because she's green during that time, she blends in with the grass and the lions don't notice her. Horton and Samson disguise themselves as a bush to get past the lions. Unfortunately, Leni compromises the plan when she hiccups and turns red and ruins Horton and Samson's disguise.
• Dudley Do-Right Stops to Help: In "The Nool Grand Prix", after Horton gets across the drawbridge by using a slingshot made from a vine, he hits the lever to lower the drawbridge so the other racers can cross it.
• Family Theme Naming: "Hiding Hedgehogs" features a trio of baby hedgehogs named Scout, Sunny, and Sofia.
• Fear of Thunder: The baby hedgehogs from "Hiding Hedgehogs" are afraid of thunder. Their fear causes them to scatter and separate from Horton, Samson, and Leni.
• Feed by Example: In "Baby on Board", to get Zooey to eat her lunch, Samson gets Horton to feed him.
• Floating in a Bubble: In "Horton Helps a Caterpillar", this happens to Samson when he applies soap to his feathers. This gives Horton the idea to make bubbles that they can bounce through a sandstorm in.
• Friendly Neighborhood Spider: In "Hiccup Trip", a spider makes webs for Horton, Samson, and Leni to bounce on so they can safely cross a canyon.
• Gesundheit: Jane says this when Samson tells her that Zooey is a Tufted Magoot.
• Good Feels Good: Both Horton and Samson feel good simply by helping others.
• Grows on Trees: In "Birthday Cake Catastrophe", it is revealed that birthday cakes grow on trees. Horton goes on a quest to get a new cake from it for Willow for her birthday after her last one gets eaten by a chipmunk.
• Hiccup Hijinks: In "Hiccup Trip", Leni the Lemur gets the hiccups, which causes her to change color, and the only cure is to scare her. Since the only thing that can scare her is the horrifying creatures of the Cave of Kazoom, Horton and Samson's mission in the episode is to take Leni to the Cave of Kazoom.
• Kangaroo Pouch Ride: In "Baby On Board", Zooey, a baby Tufted Magoot, thinks Jane is her mother and rides in her pouch. Jane is annoyed by this, since the only baby she wants to carry in her pouch is Lindy Laroo, her stuffed joey.
• Lily-Pad Platform:
  • In "Runaway Stuffie", Jane gets across a river by jumping on lily pads, but her weight causes them to sink. Horton, Samson, and Willow have to use a zipline to cross the river.
  • In "Baby on Board", Jane hops across lily pads when she tries to get away from Zooey. Horton follows behind her, tossing a lily pad under her to keep her from falling into the water.
• Mistaken for Flatulence:
  • In "The Amazing Race", Horton pulls a whoopee cushion out of his backpack, which he uses to bounce over the beezlenuts that Jane spreads onto the track. Two birds fly over the whoopee cushion, and one mistakes the other for passing gas, while the other says it wasn't her.
  • In "Horton Helps a Caterpillar", Samson mistakes a toot for Horton passing gas, but it is soon revealed that the toot came from a tuba the other animals were playing.
• Mobile Shrubbery: In "Hiccup Trip", Horton and Samson disguise themselves as a bush so they can get past a pack of sleeping lions without waking them up. Unfortunately for them, Leni ruins their disguise when she hiccups and turns red.
• Mole Miner: In "Star Search", Gabe the Gopher is seen leaving the Crystal Cave in a mine cart, and he also is seen wearing a miner's helmet.
• Mythology Gag: One episode is titled "Horton Helps a Who", and its plot involves Horton and Samson helping Levi the Who find his way back home to his clover patch, since his clover floated across the Jungle of Nool.
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: Subverted. In "Birthday Cake Catastrophe", Jane, Horton, and Samson have to cross a river populated by hungry alligators. Jane makes it across by hopping across their backs, but Horton satisfies their hunger by feeding them sandwiches. The alligators return the favor to Horton by allowing him to ride their backs across the river.
• Piranha Problem: In "X Marks The Spot", Ship Nippers are hungry fish that inhabit the waters leading to the Island of Frip. Horton manages to toss meatballs into the water to distract them so he, Samson, and Captain Wiley can safely cross the water.
• Road-Sign Reversal: In "Star Trek", Jane turns the arrow on a sign leading to McKeckaliff cliff around to lead Horton, Samson, and Trudy away from the cliff so she can beat them to it. The birds sitting atop the sign call her out for this.
• Rod-and-Reel Repurposed: In "Hiding Hedgehogs", Horton gets Samson to use a fishing pole to lower him down and rescue Sunny, who is stranded on the edge of a cliff.
• Rollercoaster Mine: In "Star Search", the Crystal Cave that Jane, Horton, Samson, and Ellie travel through in minecarts has such things as vertical loops and steep inclines.
• Shout-Out:
  • One episode is titled "Star Trek".
  • "The Twinkleberry Tree" ends with a yeti putting a star on top of a tree.
• Shrink Ray: A variant; in "Horton Helps a Who", Horton and Samson use a shrinkweed to shrink themselves down to Levi the Who's size so they can help him find his way back home. The effects of the shrinkweed are temporary, so Horton and Samson return to their normal sizes at the end of the episode.
• Spin-Off Babies: This series takes place when Horton and Jane were kids.
• Treasure Hunt Episode: In "X Marks the Spot", Captain Wiley is looking for the Island of Frip so he can find his family's pirate treasure. Horton and Samson's mission is to get him to the island, but Jane overhears and is determined to get the treasure before them so she can keep it for herself.
• True Companions: The teaser trailer shows Horton and Samson sticking with each other no matter what.
• Two Girls and a Guy: The hedgehog triplets from "Hiding Hedgehogs" consist of Scout (female), Sofia (female), and Sunny (male).
• Unconventional Food Usage:
  • Several times, when Horton needs to climb up the side of a mountain, he puts food on his feet to use as Sticky Shoes. He does this with pancakes in "Catch that Kite", pineapples in "Horton Helps a Caterpillar", Gummi worms in "Runaway Stuffie", and caramel apples in "Hiccup Trip".
  • In "The Twinkleberry Tree", Horton uses a pair of candy canes as a pair of skis to ski down a mountain.
  • In "X Marks the Spot", Horton uses a spaghetti noodle as a rope to swing across a mud pit.
  • In "Message in a Bottle", Horton uses a cupcake to plug up the hole in a whirlpool.
  • In "The Nool Grand Prix", Jane tosses a variety of foods into the road to stop the other racers, including Swizzleberries, pies, and banana peels.
• Warm-Hearted Walrus: In "The Twinkleberry Tree", a pair of Walruses help Horton and Samson cross an icy lake so they can get to Twinkleberry Forest.
• Whoopee Cushion: In "The Amazing Race", Horton uses one to bounce over the beezlenuts that Jane spreads onto the track.
• Wolves Always Howl at the Moon: In "A Howl For Help", Horton helps Winston, a lonely wolf cub, reunite with his pack so he can howl at the moon with them. The episode ends with the pack howling at the moon, with Horton and Samson joining them.
• Yellow Is Cheerful: The official trailer shows Samson being a yellow bird who's quite enthusiastic.
• You Mean "Xmas": In "The Twinkleberry Tree", the animals of Nool celebrate the Twinkleberry festival. It plays out like Christmas, as it's snowing and the animals put up festive decorations like lights and ornaments. Horton and Samson's mission in the episode is to get a Twinkleberry tree from Twinkleberry Forest so the festival can proceed as planned.