'The Cat in the Hat' review: Colorful animated reboot lacks the magic of Dr. Seuss
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
For the first twenty minutes of the newly animated revamp of Dr. Seuss’ “The Cat in the Hat,” there’s a palpable energy to the proceedings as we’re introduced to our feline hero and all his foolish antics. There’s an entire Seussian metropolis, not unlike the bustling world of “Monsters, Inc.,” populated by colorful characters like a Pig in a Wig and a Giraffe with a Graph, among other wonderfully absurd creations. It’s a promising start that suggests the filmmakers understand the peculiar charm of the source material and the limitless possibilities that animation can bring to it. Unfortunately, that initial burst of creativity quickly devolves into a slapstick escapade that mistakes noise and constant movement for imagination, overstuffing an otherwise simple story with convoluted plot mechanics, unnecessary world-building, and approximately a hundred different Things. Apparently, Things 1 and 2 just aren’t enough anymore.
It’s harmless, sure, and younger audiences might be perfectly content with the barrage of colorful distractions, but there’s something disappointing about watching one of children’s literature’s most imaginative creations reduced to such a routine animated adventure. For all its visual flamboyance, “The Cat in the Hat” has surprisingly little of the spontaneous creativity or mischievous spirit that made Dr. Seuss’ work so beloved in the first place.
In fact, “The Cat in the Hat” often feels less like an adaptation of a treasured children’s book and more like the kickoff to some sprawling kiddie cinematic universe. There are even quips about potential spin-offs and sequels, as though the studio is already mapping out the next several installments before giving us a compelling reason to care about this one. It’s an approach that feels almost antithetical to the playful simplicity of Seuss’ storytelling, where imagination was never something that needed an elaborate mythology or a corporate infrastructure to justify its existence. Of course, his estate signed off on the whole endeavor, so I suppose money talks.
Directed by Eric Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni, who also penned the screenplay, “The Cat in the Hat” has the unmistakable feel of a studio looking to reinvigorate its animation division with a recognizable piece of intellectual property. It’s certainly a more family-friendly detour from the notoriously bizarre 2003 live-action adaptation starring Mike Myers, (a movie that, I’m sorry, loyal readers, I still find very, very funny despite how horrible of an adaptation it is). The biggest stroke of genius this time around is casting Bill Hader, whose elastic vocal inflections, impeccable comedic timing, and boisterous, big-kid energy make him an inspired choice for the title character. He understands the Cat’s manic personality and the delicate balance between being an absolute nuisance and an endearing troublemaker. If only the screenplay had enough confidence in his abilities to let him run wild without constantly saddling him with another plot complication.
Anywho, in this particular universe, the Cat works for a corporate conglomerate that dispatches its employees to cheer up unhappy children. There’s an entire organizational hierarchy, complete with a CEO, human resources department, and a system for measuring employee performance. Success is determined by two metrics: the happiness of the client and something called the “Mess-O-Meter,” which calculates the amount of destruction left behind after each visit. Naturally, the Cat excels at making children happy but fails miserably at keeping things tidy, and after one too many disastrous assignments, he’s given a final opportunity to save his career.
His latest clients are Gabby and Sebastian, two mopey siblings struggling to adjust after their single mother (voiced by America Ferrera) relocates the family from their childhood home. The Cat’s arrival is initially met with pepper spray, as the children understandably mistake his sudden appearance for a home invasion. He assures them otherwise, and his mission is relatively straightforward: help the kids rediscover their happiness and embrace the possibilities of their new surroundings.
That should be more than enough material for a lively adventure, particularly with a character whose entire appeal comes from his ability to turn an ordinary afternoon into something wonderfully unpredictable. Instead, the filmmakers introduce a giant Seussian MacGuffin called the “Go-Backer,” a device capable of tearing a hole in the space-time continuum and potentially shredding the very fabric of the universe. What follows is an increasingly elaborate quest to retrieve it, complete with lengthy expositional dumps about its origins, the rules governing its existence, and a creepy, oversized monster determined to track it down.
It’s around this point that the movie begins to lose sight of what made its opening so appealing. Rather than allowing the Cat’s mischievous personality to generate the comedy organically, the screenplay becomes preoccupied with explaining the mechanics of a fantastical universe that never needed to be this complicated. There’s nothing inherently wrong with expanding upon Seuss’ original story, which is admittedly far too brief to sustain a feature-length movie on its own, but the additions should complement its playful sensibilities rather than bury them beneath an avalanche of exposition.
All the while, Gabby and Sebastian are still trying to make peace with their new living situation, a potentially touching emotional thread that gets shuffled between the various detours. There’s also an obnoxious landlord with an exceedingly strict set of rules, including a prohibition on pets, which presents a problem for the family’s goldfish, Waffles, voiced with wonderfully dry exasperation by a game Matt Berry. These smaller domestic conflicts are considerably more interesting than the impending destruction of the universe, particularly because they offer an opportunity to explore the anxieties of childhood through the Cat’s peculiar brand of mischief.
Whatever happened to “I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny?”
Visually, there’s certainly plenty to admire. The animation is top-notch, with an appealing elasticity to the character designs and a vibrant assortment of environments that embrace the exaggerated shapes and peculiar architecture associated with Seuss’ illustrations. Each new world the Cat and his companions visit has its own distinctive flair, and there’s no shortage of craftsmanship on display. Yet for all the imagination poured into their appearances, these environments rarely feel particularly meaningful to the story. They’re colorful places to visit, but the movie seems more interested in showing off how many different things it can animate than finding something genuinely inventive to do with them.
That’s ultimately the frustrating contradiction at the center of “The Cat in the Hat.” The filmmakers have all the resources necessary to bring Seuss’ imagination to life on an enormous scale, but somewhere along the way, they’ve confused bigger with better. By the time the film arrives at an almost “Avengers: Endgame”-sized battle sequence, the whole enterprise has become so preoccupied with spectacle that the gentle absurdity of its literary inspiration feels like a distant memory. Not that Seuss’ stories were ever entirely calm or serene, but there was an effortless silliness to them, a sense that the unexpected could happen at any moment without requiring an elaborate explanation for why.
There is a worthwhile message buried beneath all the commotion about the messiness of childhood, the inevitability of making mistakes, and the importance of allowing kids the freedom to figure things out for themselves. It’s a sentiment that fits the character beautifully, and there’s even a catchy Hilary Duff song waiting in the closing credits. Unfortunately, the movie spends so much time manufacturing chaos that it rarely allows that message to resonate. Hader gives it his all, and the animators certainly earn their keep, but neither can compensate for a screenplay that stretches a wonderfully simple premise into something needlessly cumbersome.
For a story about a mischievous cat who arrives to show two unhappy children how much fun they can have on an otherwise dreary day, “The Cat in the Hat” sure goes to extraordinary lengths to complicate the fun. Sometimes all you really need is a Cat, a Hat, and a couple of Things.
Grade: C-
THE CAT IN THE HAT is now playing in theaters.
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