AceShowbiz -

Universal Pictures has given the first sneak peek to its upcoming animated film "The Lorax", which is based on a children book by Dr. Seuss. Exposed in a photo released via USA Today is the title character, Lorax, who will be voiced by Danny DeVito.

Lorax is a stumpy little guy who speaks for the trees against the greedy Once-ler during plight of the environment. Producer Chris Meledandri tells the site that the movie will start the same way as the 1971 book with a boy named Ted, voiced by Zac Efron, visiting the aged Once-ler to find out how the world became so ugly.

In the book, Once-ler is incarnated only as a pair of long green arms. But in the movie, the character voiced by Ed Helms of "The Office" will appear in close-up look. "What he finds, just like in the book, is this wonderful set of arms emerging from this boarded-up window, with these yellow eyes," Meledandri says. "And then, at a pivotal moment, the character is revealed."

Betty White joins the voice cast as Ted's grandmother, who tells him of the colorful world that used to be. Moreover, Rob Riggle voices O'Hare, an industrialist who sells cans of fresh air to the polluted world the Once-ler creates and wants to keep it that way.

"The Lorax" is made by the team behind "Despicable Me" and "Horton Hears a Who!", with Chris Renaud, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio serving as helmers. Universal Pictures will release the movie in the U.S. on March 2, 2012.