ChikPapa Very disappointed :(

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

WatchAnything Is the worst thing, in your opinion, to be bored? I've heard for a lot of people it is. But, have you heard the old saying- if you're bored, then you're boring? I never much paid attention to it most of my life but when I hear people say certain movies are boring, and I decide to respond to that, this rings in my ears. I don't know whether or not I'm boring, but I am almost never bored. So, The Cat in the Hat is about 2 bored children who need entertainment on a rainy day because rainy weather just bums some people out. That lame starter is a good indication of how weak this made-for-television special will be. The problem could be the source material (the only thing I remember being an annoyance in the book was the entire Thing 1, Thing 2 sequence), but I wouldn't go that far. I mean, this adaptation may stick unbelievably close to the (very short) children's book. But this version of the story relies heavily on getting the cat to stay in the house which itself results in cartoon calamity- the reason these filmmakers see as being why you'll want to stick around.As he first begins to leave, he gets his foot in the door by angrily (then tearfully) claiming that one of the children or their pet fish have stolen a piece of his property in the 2 minutes he's been there. Now, I understand logic has very little to do with a Suess story, but it's nonetheless hard to accept this when we know there's no way the kids or fish could have taken anything from the cat. And despite the logic excuse, there is actually a little emotion in the characters as the cat annoyingly whines and the children actually react to this by suspecting the fish of foul play. The children really are great, aren't they? They're kind enough to go all out in helping the cat look for his missing item but not thoughtful enough of their mother as they begin running around the house writing all over everything with markers. Did they even stop to say "that's wrong"? No. But forget all that, this special really goes to hell when Thing 1 and Thing 2 show up. Even the cat busts a gasket and can only say "they can find anything, anything, anything under the sun" even though what they're doing has nothing to do with finding something. Instead they ignore the cat's dilemma and terrorize the fish.Since I'm not going to convince anyone of anything by trying to take logic apart, let's look at the artistic aspects of the movie. How's the music? Well scored. It's good music. But vocally and lyrically, the songs are not good (although the international language-learner "Cat Hat" comes close). Take out the words, sung by singers I wouldn't care to hear from again, and I'd love to hear the music in a better animated short. But the performers are entirely, well- underwhelming at best (except for Thurl Ravenscroft- the one voice you'll recognize from Disney's Haunted Mansion theme, the classic "Grim Grinning Ghosts"). Especially Allan Sherman as the cat, who rushes through most of his lines. However, Cat in the Hat is not all bad. In fact, the animation is pretty darn good at times. Especially during the Cat's song about how he's no good and the "Cat Hat" song.As of my writing this, I've seen all 9 of the DVD-released Dr. Suess specials and this is easily the weakest of all of them.

Lee Eisenberg On this, what would have been Dr. Seuss's 103rd birthday, I wanted to talk about the TV adaptation of one of his greatest books. It seems that "The Cat in the Hat" was actually a political allegory, as the hedonistic feline gets the kids to go all wild in the midst of the regimented suburban world of 1950s America.But even beyond that, it's still a masterpiece. Dr. Seuss always had wonderful ideas, and this one was no exception. I notice that it was directed by Hawley Pratt, formerly a Looney Tunes animator. He obviously had a good eye for many things. A true classic. I heard that the 2003 live action version was little more than a 90-minute commercial padded with jokes inappropriate for children.

Eric Endres Having read the Cat in the Hat book many nights to my little girls, I was interested to see this version and also the new Mike Myers film. I returned the DVD of the Mike Myers film the next day after watching it, and this animated version I sought out to buy a copy of after borrowing it from the library. That should say it all.This is only a half hour program, but it is packed with wit, character and a lot of very memorable songs with tremendous melody and sophistication. They've fleshed out the original story with a lot of new jokes and an added twist of the cat looking for his "moss-covered, three-handled family grudunza". All of the choices were inspired, as it captures the spirit of the book and also adds much spirit to it.This "Cat" has a great cast of voice actors, great music, and great fun! 10 out of 10.

Bartgirl05 Ok, so it's way different than the book. If you ask me, the cartoon is way better than the book. The Cat in the Hat comes to the two kids on a rainy day when their mother leaves them all alone. The Cat shows them how to have fun as they all search for his moss-covered three handled family grudunza. Mr. Krinklebein, the fish, constantly tries to get the Cat to go away. Thing I and Thing II make appearances. I have been watching this cartoon since I was two years old!!