Full Name: Elsinore Stone

Role: PR Executive

Age: 25 - 29 - early 70s

Blorbo: The Once-ler

Really: Yeah, unfortunately

Look, 2012 was a weird time for us all

I was very fond of this movie and thought the story would be better served with a stronger focus on the years of success at the Once-ler's company. To that end we have Elsie, a fix-it character to highlight more of that rise and fall.

Originally a struggling Greenville journalist, Elsie worked for the only paper in town. She had bills, an aging parent whose medical costs kept rising, and the earth-shattering story for her big break never came.

She noticed the guy who showed up occasionally selling the handmade doodads and dismissed it, until business began to take off. With rising fame, money pouring in, and trends being set at record speed, anyone with sense could spot the scandals brewing. She was kicked off the thneed factory premesis multiple times for trespassing while hunting the trail of secrets behind the world's fresh-faced business darling.

Her determination to infiltrate the company landed her in a meeting with an offer and a literal bag of money on the table. Elsie was tired of struggling, and finally bought in.

As the head of the company's PR, it was Elsie's idea to run ad campaigns, pose for photo shoots, get the Once-ler spotted 'accidentally' rescuing a cub from a ravine, and promote his image with all the media spin she'd worked her way up on the other side of. The role came with a full make-over to fit the company's brand, and a purple suit to catch attention. If you were hustling to the front of the crowd, mic outstretched, hoping for a comment from the man himself, Elsie was there, cutting you off, insisting by appointment only.

art by ineedathneed

Of course, the whole endeavor would come to an abrupt end. Elsie saw the writing on the wall and was overheard in an argument in the boss's office before storming out of the factory, and soon after that it would empty out completely. She remained haunted by her role in eagerly excusing the scars left on the world as people sealed themselves into Thneed Corp.'s luxury resort on the grounds of Greenville and collectively vowed to pretend the outside did not exist.

Decades later, she became known as an eccentric old hoarder whose home stored old newspapers in teetering piles - her way of preserving truth in history as O'Hare scrubbed out mentions of Thneedville's past. She believed the Once-ler to be long dead out in the ruins of his factory, but was proved wrong when the city walls were torn down and efforts to restore the natural world began.

It took a good 40 years to discover they both liked gardening.