The Cat in the Hat Movie Review

“The Cat in the Hat” is based on the book, the book written by Dr. Seuss. That kid’s book may be dusty, now seems old and smells musty, but there is joy with ‘The Cat’ on the loose. This new animation shows the Good Doctor’s creation, in new ways that give it some juice!

Every work place has the one employee who maybe tries too hard and gets in trouble too much. Here, in a magical work world that is called Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration, that worker is named the Cat in the Hat (voiced by Bill Hader).

The job of everyone working there is to cheer up gloomy children. Cat in the Hat is perfect in doing that, because every case where he goes out to cheer up kids works out great. One small issue; while the result for the kids is wonderful, but the mess he leaves behind is atrocious.

Cat in the Hat always gets great scores on the ‘cheer up’ part. But he is a big fat zero in the ‘keeping it tidy’ side of things. His scores on the ‘Mess-o-Meter’ are outrageous. He gets called up to see the boss. This fellow is a grumpy, mean boss. He is ready to fire Cat in the Hat.

Mr. Hoogeboom (voiced by Giancarlo Esposito) is the bad boss. You might even say he is ‘breaking bad’. He fires Cat in the Hat after his latest case (and his biggest mess). But the nice lady, Sherri from HR (voiced by Quinta Brunson), is there to back up the Cat. The rules say Mr. Hoogeboom needs to give Cat in the Hat one more chance.

Cat in the Hat is sent out on one last case. This is going to be a breeze, he thinks. It will be two kids, and they have just moved to a new place. Gabby (voiced by Xochitl Gomez) is the young teenage daughter. Her younger brother is Sebastian (voiced by Tiago Martinez).

Gabby is very upset with her mom, Carmen (voiced by America Ferrera). They had to move a new strange place because of mom’s new job. Sebastian is not too upset, as long as he has his little pet goldfish. But they run into the landlady at the new apartment. Her name is Patty (voiced by Paula Pell).

Patty seems to be pleasant and nice, but she is super strict with the rules and regulations. Sebastian hides his fish and Gabby pouts even more. Carmen, the mom, needs to go to work and the kids are now all alone. But not alone for long. Soon they are greeted by Cat in the Hat.

After they get over the ‘stranger danger’ stage, the kids see that the Cat in the Hat has some magical powers. Now even the little fish can talk. Waffles (voiced by Matt Berry) is the goldfish, and he can see that the Cat in the Hat might promise joy – but could bring ruin upon them all.

The Cat in the Hat says not to worry. After all, he has a special magical tool. It is the ‘Go-Backer’, a little time piece that can turn back time to before the mess was ever created. So, let’s have fun and be happy and make a little minor mess.

The sofa uses the magic to turn into a wonderful little contraption that acts as a vehicle to transport the kids and the Cat to magical places. These places turn out to be the three ‘moving boxes’ that are left on the floor. The resulting adventures are loud and messy.

The Cat in the Hat is pleased that Gabby seems to be learning some positive things about her mom when she was growing up. Sebastian is shocked that maybe his mom was actually ‘cool’ when she was growing up. Waffles the goldfish is still talking about how the Cat in the Hat needs to calm things down.

Talking about things, the Cat reveals a big red box. Inside the box is some ‘Things’. It is first “Thing 1”, but then is “Thing 3”. Where is “Thing 2”? There are a whole bunch of other Things, maybe close to 100 or more. But “Thing 2” is missing.

Mr. Hoogeboom has played a nasty trick on Cat in the Hat. He hinted that the ‘Go-Backer’ will be a good tool to use in this case. But Sherri from HR finds out that this device could bring ruin upon them all. Waffles, of course, agrees.

A very scary and nasty something is after the Cat in the Hat. The name of this is “Something”, and it is a disturbing thing that wants one thing. It wants the ‘Go-Backer’. This ‘Something’ will destroy any thing, or anyone, who gets in its way.

Patty, the landlady, hears the commotion and sees the mess. This is all due to the Cat in the Hat. She sees the goldfish, and Patty is furious. These low-life hooligans must be evicted from the apartment!

She is ready to get rid of these tenants, but has a change of heart. The friendly and wise fish, Waffles, explains that Patty needs to live by the Golden Rule. He says that her code should be what she has decorated on her shower curtain: “Live, Laugh, Love”.

The Cat in the Hat is acting as if he doesn’t care, but he is getting Gabby to see that this move to a new place has some good aspects. She can be accepted into the new school. She finds that she can fun with her younger brother, Sebastian. Gabby now knows that her mom, Carmen, made this move to get Gabby and Sebastian into a better school.

This adventure goes on with the kids learning lessons, while that Cat in the Hat still does his thing making messes. Gabby grows wiser, and Sebastian gets smarter – all the while the “Things” make cleaning up harder. But the action never falls flat, because this Cat in the Hat – he thinks not having fun is a non-starter…

———————————————————————————————————————————————–

“The Cat in the Hat” is charming movie that gets a good handle on what kids want to see. It does not get bogged down into a complex story. It instead uses a tried-and-true version of the ‘kid afraid of a new situation’. Then it gets a big boost with a big Cat with a white-and-red striped Hat.

The animation is cartoonish, but in a pleasant way. The voices used are all really good for all the characters. Especially having Bill Hader voicing the Cat is superb, since he brings a childish joy to his crazy antics. Another standout is Matt Berry, doing the voice of Waffles the goldfish. His slightly British, upper-crust accent really is a twist to being a tiny little fish.

The idea to make a kid-friendly kid’s movie makes a lot of sense. Some animated movies lately have gotten into darker places, with more mature themes. But getting a pure goofy and silly movie is a refreshing change. Will the audience have more fun when attending a movie that will focus on fun?

“The Cat in the Hat” makes a statement that fun can be a goal to shoot for in a cute animated movie. Put aside all that heavy drama and go for some pleasant silliness.