The Cat in the Hat
After being put on notice by the Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration, LLC's (I.I.I.I.) Mr. Hoogeboom (voice of Giancarlo Esposito, TV's 'Breaking Bad'), a cat (voice of SNL's Bill Hader, TV's 'Barry') who leaves too many messes behind while bringing joy to kids is saved from being fired by his best friend Sherrie from HR (voice of 'Abbott Elementary's' Quinta Brunson), who says he is entitled to one last chance to prove himself. And so Gabby (voice of Xochitl Gomez, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness") and her younger brother Sebastian (voice of Tiago Martinez, "Michael"), unhappy about being moved to a new apartment by their mother Carmen (voice of America Ferrera, "Barbie"), are about to receive a revelatory visit from "The Cat in the Hat."
Laura's Review: B
Working with a story by Caroline Williams that opens up the world of the Dr. Seuss book, writer/directors Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni have created a surreal adventure that fleshes out the backgrounds of all the major players, switching up animation styles and color palettes along the way, the source material reflected in the film's black-and-white-and-red-all-over prologue.
After that traditional looking opening, the cat spirals through a red and white vortex back to I.I.I.I. where the animation flattens and the colors go neon haywire. The cat, given to break out into his theme song at any given moment, notices that a pig in a wig office drone has a birthday and suddenly sparks a massive celebration, but nepo hire Gary the Intern (SNL's Bowen Yang) isn't amused, instead pointing out the cat's Mess-O-Meter readings and the things missing that he's requisitioned from the supply closet (5 giraffes!). After Hoogeboom rakes him over, the only supply the cat gets for his trial case is a potato on a string.
Switching back to Pixar-style CGI and reality based colors, we witness tween Gabby, her brother Sebastian and their mom trudging up the stairs of their new apartment building, each carrying a box of their belongings. Noticing a 'cool girl' on the stairwell, Gabby tosses her trumpet, rejecting her identity as a band nerd much to her mom's dismay while Sebastian focuses on balancing his pet goldfish Waffles' (voice of Matt Berry, TV's 'What We Do in the Shadows') bowl. No sooner have they put down their things in their new space than
Landlady Patty (voice of SNL's Paula Pell) arrives to inform them of the rules - 'No loud noises, no parties and most of all, NO PETS!'
That, of course, will not stop the Cat in the Hat from breaking every one of them, the last as soon as he slips through his red and white cat door portal, surprising Gabby and Seb after their mother leaves and immediately turning their old beat-up couch into various modes of transportation. And they'll use that couch to transport themselves through Seb's box of things in search of a device called a Go-backer, something Gabby believes will take them all back to their prior lives.
Seb's box is full of bizzarro toys, including the Psychic Narwhal (voice of Titus Burgess, TV's 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'), part of a sea circus that sees Waffles swim through the hoop of doom in hilariously slow motion. They'll also learn someone else is looking for that Go-backer and it won't be good if they get to it first. Back in the apartment, Things 1 and 3 arrive, communicating with a series of finger pops and slaps and while everyone's wondering what happened to Thing 2, Things 4 through 17 arrive. Seb's left behind with Waffles as the Cat and Gabby go through her box, Gabby rediscovering her band nerd self with a rousing band rendition of Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Off' (performed by the USC Trojan Marching Band). But it will be going through their mom's box where the most will be revealed, Gabby and Seb finding new appreciation for their mom.
The film has some echoes of "Toy Story" with its life lessons and weird playthings, but its Seussian look and language predominate, the Things and Waffles particular highlights, the indispensable Matt Berry deserving of his own spin-off. Hader, though, brings a low key charm to the doctor's architect of chaos.
"The Cat in the Hat" is preceded by "Duck Season," a disappointing Looney Tunes short which uses some interesting camera perspectives, but botches most of its supporting characters, especially Elmer Fudd, all but Daffy looking far too artificially computer generated.
Warner Brothers releases "The Cat in the Hat" in theaters on 11/6/26.
