Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat is a 2003 American family comedy film directed by Bo Welch. It is based on the 1957 Dr. Seuss book of the same name. The film stars Mike Myers in the title role of the Cat in the Hat, and Dakota Fanning as Sally. Sally's brother (who is unnamed in the book and the 1971 TV special), Conrad, is portrayed by Spencer Breslin. The film is the second feature-length Dr. Seuss adaptation after the 2000 holiday film How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
The idea was originally conceived in 2001, with Tim Allen initially cast as the Cat, but he dropped his role due to work on The Santa Clause 2, and the role was later given to Myers. Filming took place in California for three months. While the basic plot parallels that of the book, the film filled out its 82 minutes by adding new subplots and characters significantly different from the original story, similar to the feature film adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Released on November 21, 2003, in the United States, the film grossed $134 million worldwide. After the film's release, Seuss' widow, Audrey Geisel, decided not to allow any further live-action adaptations of Seuss' works to be produced, and as a result, a planned sequel based on The Cat in the Hat Comes Back was cancelled.
Plot
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Conrad and Sally Walden live in the city of Anville with their mother, Joan. Joan works for neat-freak Hank Humberfloob, and is hosting an office party at her house. One day, she is called back to the office, leaving the kids with Mrs. Kwan, a tired babysitter, and forbidding them to enter the living room, which is being kept pristine for the upcoming party. Joan is also dating their next-door neighbor, Larry Quinn, much to Conrad's dismay. Larry is constantly on the lookout for any mischief Conrad may be up to, as he wants nothing more than to send him away to military school, as Conrad has earned the reputation of "hot-headed trouble-maker", while his sister is characterized as "perfect and well-behaved".
Once their mother leaves, Sally and Conrad meet a humanoid, oversized talking cat in a hat in their house. The Cat reveals he wants them to learn to have fun, but the children's pet fish doesn't want the Cat around when Joan is away. The Cat then leaves a trail of destruction across the house, including dancing on a fake stage. In the process, he releases two trouble-making things, Thing 1 and Thing 2, from a crate that he explains is actually a portal to another world. The Cat tells Conrad that he only has one rule: never open the crate, then allows the Things to have fun, but they make a mess out of the house. Despite the Cat's warning, Conrad picks the lock on the crate. When the crate's lock attaches itself to the collar of the family dog, Nevins, Cat and the kids must go find him and the lock. They drive a super-powered car in search of Nevins and use Cat's magic hat. Conrad realizes that the Things always do the opposite to what they are told, and that this can be used to their advantage and has them stall Joan.
Meanwhile, Larry is revealed to be an overweight, unemployed slob with dentures, and is in financial debt, though claiming that he is a successful businessman in the hopes of marrying to Joan for her money. Larry sees Nevins running across the street and tracks down Joan to tell her, but Things 1 and 2 have stalled her on the road, posing as police officers. Larry goes back to the house, telling Joan to meet him there.
By the time the kids and the Cat (and Larry) return to the house with the lock, a huge mess spills from the unlocked crate and enters the house, seemingly killing Larry in the process. They navigate their way through the oversized house and find the crate while cleaning up. The house is returned to its normal proportions but then immediately falls apart. The Cat tells the kids that he planned the whole day, including making not opening the crate his one rule, as he knew Conrad could not resist. The kids angrily tell the Cat to leave the house. Conrad prepares to face the consequences when Joan comes home, but Sally says she will share the blame. The Cat, having overheard this, happily returns to clean up the mess with a great cleaning contraption. Afterwards The Cat says goodbye and departs as Joan is arriving. Larry returns, revealing he didn't get killed when all is restored, thinking he has busted the kids, but when Joan sees the clean house (and a messy Larry), she does not believe Larry and dumps him. After the successful party, Joan spends time with her children and the Cat finishes narrating. The film ends as he and his things decide to go on a vacation.
Cast
- Mike Myers as the Cat in the Hat, a tall, anthropomorphic, wise-cracking cat with a Brooklyn accent who wears a special hat which reveals many magical abilities.
- Spencer Breslin as Conrad Walden, Joan's destructive and misbehaved son.
- Dakota Fanning as Sally Walden, Joan's dull, well-behaved, and rule-obeying daughter.
- Kelly Preston as Joan Walden, Conrad and Sally's mother, and a workaholic real-estate agent.
- Alec Baldwin as Larry Quinn, the Waldens' pompous, lazy, unemployed next-door neighbor. He is revealed to be allergic to cats, steals food from the Waldens and gets away with it, and is determined to both marry Joan for her wealth and send Conrad to military school to straighten up his behavior.
- Amy Hill as Mrs. Kwan, an elderly Taiwanese woman who gets hired to watch the kids, though she sleeps through her job. Her weight and sleep serves as a running gag.
- Sean Hayes as Mr. Hank Humberfloob, Joan's boss. Hayes is also the voice of the family fish.
- Danielle Chuchran and Taylor Rice as Thing One, and Brittany Oaks and Talia-Lynn Prairie as Thing Two; two gibbering trouble-making creatures that the Cat brings in with him. Dan Castellaneta provided the voices for both Things.
- Steven Anthony Lawrence as Dumb Schweitzer
- Paris Hilton as a female club-goer
- Bugsy as Nevins, the Waldens' pet dog. Frank Welker provided his voice.
- Candace Dean Brown as a secretary who works for the Humberfloob Real Estate.
- Daran Norris as the Astounding Products Announcer
- Clint Howard as Kate the Caterer
- Paige Hurd as Denise, who doesn't speak to Sally anymore, not long after she talked back to her. She never invited Sally to her birthday party either since Sally earlier stated that she told Denise not to speak to her anymore.
- Stephen Hibbert as Jim McFinnigan
- Roger Morrisey as Mr. Vompatatat
- Victor Brandt as the Narrator, who tells the story; he is revealed to be the Cat using a voice-changer at the end.
Production
Development
DreamWorks acquired rights to the original book in 1997. However, production did not originally start until after the 2000 Christmas/comedy film How the Grinch Stole Christmas, based on another Dr. Seuss book of the same name, became a commercial success. Brian Grazer, who was the producer of The Grinch, stated, "Because we grew up with these books, and because they have such universal themes and the illustrations ignite such fantasy in your mind as a child â€" the aggregation of all those feelings â€" it leaves an indelible, positive memory. And so when I realized I had a chance to convert first The Grinch and then, The Cat in the Hat, into movies, I was willing to do anything to bring them to the screen." Grazer contacted Bo Welch over the phone with the offer to direct the film, and he accepted. When production began, songs written by Randy Newman were dropped because they were deemed inferior. Newman's cousin, David Newman, composed the score for the film. Although Welch and a publicist for Myers denied it, several people said Myers had considerable input into the film's direction, telling some of the cast (co-stars Baldwin and Preston) how to perform their scenes.
Casting
Tim Allen was originally planned to play the role of the Cat. The script would be originally based on a story conceived by Allen, who admitted that as a child he was afraid of Seuss' "mischievous feline" babysitter. Allen stated, "My dream is to give it the edge that scared me." However, producers did not commission a screenplay until late February 2001, when Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, and Dave Mandel (who were also writers on Seinfeld) were hired to write the script (replacing the original draft of the film that was written a few years before), so the film would not be ready to shoot before the deadline. Allen was also committed to shooting Disney's The Santa Clause 2, which was also delayed because Allen wanted a script rewrite. Due to a scheduling conflict with The Santa Clause 2, he dropped out his role. In March 2002, the role of the Cat was given to Mike Myers, even though he had an argument with Grazer about starring in a cancelled Saturday Night Live skit named Dieter. Myers stated in an interview that he was a long-time fan of the original Dr. Seuss book, and that it was the first book he ever read.
Makeup and visual effects
Makeup for the character was designed by Steve Johnson. The Cat costume was made of angora and human hair and was fitted with a cooling system. To keep Myers cool during the outdoor shoots, a portable air conditioner was available that connected a hose to the suit between shots. The tail and ears were battery operated. The Fish was considered somewhat of a unique character for Rhythm & Hues (responsible for some of the effects and animation in such films as Cats & Dogs, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Scooby-Doo), in that the character had no shoulders, hips or legs, so all of the physical performance had to emit from the eyes, head and fin motion. Sean Hayes, who provided the voice for the Fish, found the role significantly different from his usual on-camera jobs; he did not know how the final animation would look, and all of his work took place alone in a sound booth.
Filming
Prior to filming, giant props for the film were stolen from the set. Local police found the props vandalized in a mall car park in Pomona, California. The props were covered with graffiti. No arrests had been made, and filming was to start the next week. Principal photography took place mostly in California from October 2002 until January 2003. The neighborhood and the town centre was filmed in a rural valley near Simi Valley, where 24 houses (each 26-feet square and 52-feet tall) were constructed. The downtown area outdoor shots were filmed along a Pomona street where a number of antique and gift shops are located. The community decided not to redecorate after filming ended, so the surreal paint scheme and some of the signage could still be seen as it appears in the film. Because of so much smog in the area, the sky had to be digitally replaced with the cartoon-like sky and colours of the background had to be digitally fixed.
Music
The soundtrack was released on November 18, 2003. It includes David Newman's score, plus a song by Smash Mouth ("Getting Better") and ("Hang On") that makes it the third film in a row playing a song in an film starring Mike Myers, after Shrek (2001) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). The soundtrack also includes a couple of songs performed by Mike Myers (the role of the Cat). Newman's score won a BMI Film Music Award.
Track listing
All music composed by David Newman, except as noted.
Release
Home media
The Cat in the Hat was released on VHS and DVD on March 16, 2004. It features 16 deleted scenes, 20 outtake scenes, almost a dozen featurettes, and a "Dance with the Cat" tutorial to teach kids a Cat in the Hat dance. On February 7, 2012, the film was released on Blu-ray.
Reception
Box office
The Cat in the Hat opened theatrically on November 21, 2003 and earned $38,329,160 in its opening weekend, ranking first in the North American box office. The film ended its theatrical run on March 18, 2004, having grossed $101,149,285 domestically and $32,811,256 overseas for a worldwide total of $133,960,541.
Critical response
Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 10% approval rating based on reviews from 158 critics. The website's consensus reads: "Filled with double entendres and potty humor, this Cat falls flat." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 19/100 based on 37 reviews, indicating "overwhelming dislike".
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film one star, stating, "Cat, another over-blown Hollywood raid on Dr. Seuss, has a draw on Mike Myers, who inexplicably plays the Cat by mimicking Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2 out of 4 stars. Although he praised the production design, he considered the film to be "all effects and stunts and CGI and prosthetics, with no room for lightness and joy". Ebert and co-host Richard Roeper gave the film "Two Thumbs Down". Roeper said of Myers' performance that "Maybe a part of him was realizing as the movie was being made that a live-action version of The Cat in the Hat just wasn't a great idea." Ebert had the same problem with the film that he had with How the Grinch Stole Christmas, in that "If there is one thing I've learned from these two movies is that we don't want to see Jim Carrey as a Grinch, and we don't want to see Mike Myers as a cat. These are talented comedians, let's see them do their stuff, don't bury them under a ton of technology."
Concerns were also raised over the PG rating of the film with some critics, stating that it should have instead been rated PG-13 in relation to its high amount of adult content.
Leonard Maltin in his Movie Guide gave it one and a half stars out of four saying that the "Brightly colored adaptation of the beloved rhyming book for young children is a betrayal of everything Dr. Seuss ever stood for, injecting potty humor and adult (wink-wink) jokes into a mixture of heavy-handed slapstick and silliness." Maltin also claimed that the film's official title which included Dr Seuss' The Cat in the Hat was "an official insult". However, Jeffrey Lyons from NBC-TV, enjoyed the film and considered it "enormously funny".
Baldwin addressed complaints the film received because of its dissimilarity to the source material. He expressed a belief that a film is "an idea about something" and that because Dr. Seuss' work is so unique, making a feature-length film out of one of his stories would entail taking liberties and making broad interpretations.
Awards and nominations
The film also received three nominations at the Hollywood Makeup & Hairstylists Guild Awards.
Cancelled sequel
On the day of the film's release, Mike Myers stated in an interview that he expected a sequel where the kids meet the Cat again, since there was a sequel to the book. A sequel based on The Cat in the Hat Comes Back was in development, a little more than a month before the film's release. In February 2004, Dr. Seuss' widow, Audrey Geisel, said she would never allow any further live action adaptations of her husband's works, and the sequel was eventually cancelled.
Animated version
On March 15, 2012, a computer animated Cat in the Hat adaptation was announced by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, following the success of The Lorax. On January 24, 2018, Warner Animation Group announced that they have picked up the rights for the animated Cat in the Hat reboot movie, along with many of Seuss' works.
Video game
The Cat in the Hat is a 2003 platformer video game released by Vivendi Universal Games and developed by Magenta Software and Digital Eclipse. It is based on the film of the same name. The game was released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance on November 5, 2003, and PC on November 9, 2003, shortly before the film's theatrical release. A version for the Nintendo GameCube was planned to be released, but it was later cancelled.
Video game reviews
The Cat in the Hat game received mixed reviews (except for the PC version, which received negative reviews).
See also
- List of films based on Dr. Seuss books
References
External links
- Official website
- The Cat in the Hat on IMDb
- The Cat in the Hat at Box Office Mojo
- The Cat in the Hat at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Cat in the Hat at Metacritic
- Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat at MobyGames