Directors: Erica Rivinoja, Alessandro Carloni
Writers: Erica Rivinoja, Alessandro Carloni
Stars: Bill Hader, Xochitl Gomez, Tiago Martinez, Matt Berry
Synopsis: Assigned his toughest mission yet, the Cat must cheer up siblings Gabby and Sebastian as they adjust to life in a new town.
In the year of 2026, one can’t help but groan at the prospect of yet another Dr. Seuss book being thrown into the Hollywood adaptation machine, much less when it’s material that’s already been adapted before. Any iota of hope that a new adaption will even capture a sliver of the timeless imagination that persists in the heart of these children’s stories, even today, is always dashed in weirdly sanitized and corporate ways. Past works have ranged from the near lifelessness of Illumination’s The Lorax and The Grinch (2018) or memorably distinctive absurdities (derogatory) of Jim Carrey’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas. So it’s safe to say, 2026’s The Cat in the Hat doesn’t exactly have a high bar to clear, especially with its last psychologically terrifying 2003 live-action adaptation with Mike Myers as the titular feline, but this new iteration has much more creativity than one would expect from the average children’s fare. Yes, plenty of eyerolling hallmarks exist, especially humor-wise, but the main reason why The Cat in The Hat succeeds at being an acceptable rendition of such acclaimed work is because its core never forgets the imaginative core that lies at heart of so many of Seuss’ stories. So despite being relatively predictable, in a world where so many Seuss adaptations seem blinded to what made the material so remotely captivating in the first place, it’s nice to at least have one with its creative heart in the right place.
This film follows The Cat in the Hat’s (Bill Hader) occupation as an employee for The Institute for the institution of Imagination and Inspiration (mouthful I know) where he works to cheer up gloomy children across the world with the magic supplies from his red and white striped hat. The only problem is, The Cat tends to make a real mess of things while on the clock and singing his theme song. While his numbers for making kids happy and seeing the light in a gloomy world are through the roof, so are the ones on the dreaded mess-o-meter since the cat seems to leave a mess wherever he goes, and his boss, Mr. Hoogeboom (Giancarlo Esposito) isn’t happy about it.
Just when The Cat about to get fired, The Cat’s co-worker, Sherrie from HR (Quinta Brunson), saves him by mentioning that the handbook states all employees must be given a second chance, so Hoogeboom gives The Cat a last chance, but it will prove to be his hardest job yet. The Cat is assigned to siblings Gabby (Xochitl Gomez) and Sebastian (Tiago Martinez) who are both adjusting to moving into a new town with their mother (America Ferrara), and Gabby in particular is having a hard time accepting her new life away from a town she’s called home for so long. With his job on the line and forbidden apply item, The Go-backer, thrown into the mix, The Cat must prove himself capable within his own wacky boundaries and teach Gabby and Sebastian some valuable lessons along the way.
The best thing The Cat in the Hat has going for it in terms of capturing the splendor portrayed so well in the books is the art styles it switches between in the real world and the world of imagination/The Cat’s world. Aspects of animation like cell shading or 2D and 3D blending seems to be a new norm of sorts with Sony Animation beginning the trend with Spider-Verse starting it up and nearly every other studio wanting to dip their toes into the technology, but writer/directors Erica Rivinoja, and Alessandro Carloni contrast the style well with the regular 3D in the real world.
Throughout the film, The Cat takes the kids through an imaginary world within their moving boxes where all their memories, prized possessions like colored drawings, hand turkey, and magical psychic narwhals take life of their own. In that way, the abstract worlds of imagination contrast the real world Gabby wants to escape from in cool ways especially as she starts to realize there’s more to her mom’s life than it seems on such a mundane surface. It’s like a mishmash of Toy Story with a dash of Inside Out in emotional catharsis as the film develops and obviously it doesn’t come close to reaching the heights of either but it’s a good example of adding your own flavor to an adaptation where still retaining some of the visual and thematic wonder of the material.
Where The Cat in the Hat falters is mainly where you’d expect: weirdly rushed aspects of its narrative and its overall humor being far more miss than hit so the question on if its quality aspects can outlast the toot fart jokes and “Shake it Off” needle drops is what resides. There are certain threads surrounding the film’s macguffin of the Go-backer and Mr. Hoogeboom reasoning for wanting The Cat to find it that feel particularly half-baked especially when it’s revealed that the use of the Go-backer has released a viscous creature known as The Something that adds destructive stakes to the mix. Luckily, neither that nor some of the more grating one liners completely topple the film because it still comes together to deliver a genuinely heartfelt message of embracing changes and opening yourself up to those closest to you no matter how many “and then the opposite happens!” or slapstick with The Things are implemented. Of course, it always helps when you have someone like Hader or the iconic booming voice of Matt Berry as Waffles The Fish to sell much of the comedic brunt.
Alas, 2026’s The Cat in the Hat isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel for family entertainment, and even with all its horrific faults the 2003 film will certainly be more memorable, but this version captures a genuine earnest nature to its connection to the timeless Seuss material in an era where so many other ones merely exist for corporate box checking instead. So the film is far from perfect and much of its humor falls flat, but it has its heart in the right place as a fine children’s film and there’s something to appreciate about that.
