Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

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.

johnstonjames every time you bring up the Michael myers version of 'Cat in the Hat', Seuss fans scream, throw an indignant fit, and basically writhe around on the floor in disgust and outrage. they feel betrayed by it.i've never understood that attitude toward the film. i thought the mike Myers's film was a irreverent and hilariously funny adaptation. and in many ways it was more like the original Seuss classic book than Seuss's own television adaptation back in the seventies. not that the retro television classic with Alan Sherman as the "Cat" wasn't great, it was just a lot less like the book. even though Seuss wrote the cartoon himself.the mike Myers's version has always been unfairly slammed by Seuss critics as being too loose and unfaithful. i've never thought that fair, since the film included so many of the original story elements, mother's dress, the nets, even much of the same rhymes which were not included in the television cartoon.this is a great cartoon though and still stands the test of time when compared with recent hand drawn stuff on Nickolodeon or Cartoon network. and the best thing about this is it has music. timeless.

Woodyanders Two kids are left alone at home on a dismal rainy day when their mother goes out shopping for groceries. The mischievous, yet charismatic and interesting the Cat in the Hat (marvelously voiced with infectiously hearty gusto by jolly musical comedian Allan Sherman) pays the children a surprise visit. The Cat in the Hat turns the house topsy turvy searching for his missing moss-covered three-handled family gredunza. Based on the classic best-selling Dr. Seuss book, this lively and hilarious 25-minute television special possesses a cheerful sense of playful anarchy that's a true off-the-wall joy to watch as the impishly troublesome titular feline happily disrupts the drab tranquility of comfy suburbia. Moreover, Dr. Seuss' uncanny knack for extremely loopy wordplay is in typically fresh and inventive form here. The songs are very catchy and witty, with the merry and stirring "Calculatus Eliminatos" rating as the best and most enjoyable of the bunch. Of course, it certainly helps that Sherman belts out said songs with tremendous lip-smacking brio. Veteran voice actor Daws Butler is likewise in excellent form as the uptight and disapproving Mr. Krinklebein the fish. Pamelyn Ferdin and Tony Frazier are appealing as the kids. The Cat in the Hat's even more raucous and destructive partners Thing 1 and Thing 2 are memorably crazy little hell-raisers. The animation is bright, vibrant and colorful. But it's the deliciously devilish main character who makes this show such an absolute breath of uproariously rowdy and irreverent air; he's a blithely rash and impudent bundle of gloriously giddy id-run-amok kooky energy who's downright endearing in his exuberant zaniness. A complete riot.

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.