The Cat in the Hat (film)
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| The Cat in the Hat | |
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| Directed by | Bo Welch |
| Produced by | Brian Grazer |
| Written by | Dr. Seuss (book) Alec Berg (screenplay) David Mandel (screenplay) Jeff Schaffer (screenplay) |
| Narrated by | Victor Brandt |
| Starring | Mike Myers Alec Baldwin Kelly Preston Dakota Fanning Spencer Breslin Amy Hill Sean Hayes |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Cinematography | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| Editing by | Don Zimmerman |
| Distributed by | DreamWorks Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 21, 2003 |
| Running time | 82 mins |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $109 million |
| Gross revenue | $133,960,541 |
| IMDb profile | |
Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat is a 2003 live-action film, based on the 1957 book, produced by Universal Studios, DreamWorks Pictures, and Imagine Entertainment. It was produced by Brian Grazer and directed by Bo Welch; it starred Mike Myers in the title role of the Cat in the Hat, and Dakota Fanning as Sally. Sally's brother, who is not named in the book, is known in this version as "Conrad" and played by Spencer Breslin.
While the basic plot of the live-action adaptation of The Cat in the Hat rotates around that of the book, the film filled out its 82 minutes by adding new subplots and characters quite different from those of the original story.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Mike Myers as The Cat
- Kelly Preston as Joan Walden
- Alec Baldwin as Lawrence Quinn
- Spencer Breslin as Conrad Walden
- Dakota Fanning as Sally Walden
- Sean Hayes as Hank Humberfloob / The voice of the Fish (a.k.a Karlos K. Krinklebein)
- Amy Hill as Mrs. Kwan
- Dan Castellaneta as The voice of Thing One and Two
- Danielle Chuchran & Taylor Rice as Thing One
- Brittany Oaks & Talia-Lynn Prairie as Thing Two
- Frank Welker as The voice of Nevins the Dog
[edit] Cameos
- Paige Hurd as Denise
- Steven Anthony Lawrence as Dumb Schweitzer
- Paris Hilton as Female Club-Goer
- Candace Brown as Secretary
- Stephen Hibbert as Jim McFinnigan
- Daran Norris as Storyteller
- Roger W. Morrissey as Mr. Vompatatat
[edit] Mature themes
The film contains a number of adult themes, such as:
- The Cat begins to explain to the children where babies come from before being cut off by Conrad.
- The Cat sings a song about a cat back home where he was bred who never listened to his mother and was finally taken to a vet and was neutered. He sings the line as "...and they cut off his ba... ba... ba..." and cuts off by saying "Boy!". (In a deleted verse, which is included on the film's soundtrack, the Cat sang about a know-it-all cat who liked to be the "teacher's pet" and sings the line "...it took a ton of TNT to kill the bug up her a..." and cuts off by saying "Ask me...".)
- When the Cat spots the photo of Joan he unfurls it centerfold-style, gets excited saying "hubbata hubbata" and his hat extends. (It is revealed in a deleted scene that the photo of Joan featured her in her underwear.)
- When the Cat cuts his tail off he yells out "SON OF A BI..." before the broadcast is terminated.
- After the Cat unsuccessfully tries to capture Nevins he 'talks' to the hoe he is holding, calling it a "dirty hoe" and then apologizing with "I'm sorry baby, I love you" (Like Adam Sandler in "Happy Gilmore"), finally proceeding to lick it.
- The acronym of the Cat's car's former name is S.H.I.T. (Super Hydralic Instantaneous Transporter) which Conrad is about to say before the Cat cuts him off, saying "NO! Quick to the S.L.O.W.!"
[edit] Reception
The film was largely panned by critics, getting a 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As a result of the frequent mature themes, the widow of Theodor Geisel (who holds the rights to his work) declared that there are to be no more live-action movies based on the works of Dr. Seuss; arguing that the film has clearly deviated from her late husband's family-friendly work. The film received a "two thumbs down" rating from Ebert and Roeper.
[edit] Development
- Tim Allen was originally cast as the title role, but couldn't do it because he was filming The Santa Clause 2 which also starred Spencer Breslin as an elf.
[edit] TV airings
The first free-TV airing of Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat was on ABC on August 25, 2007. ABC's cable network, ABC Family, aired it as part of The 25 Days of Christmas. Another affiliated cable network, Disney Channel, aired it as well.
It was aired on BBC1 on 29th December 2007.
[edit] See also
- List of films based on poems
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
- Horton Hears a Who!
- Cat in the Hat
- The Cat in the Hat (TV special)
[edit] External links
- The Cat in the Hat at the Internet Movie Database
- The Cat in the Hat at Rotten Tomatoes
- Official Site
| Preceded by Elf |
Box office number-one films of 2003 (USA) November 23, 2003 – November 30, 2003 |
Succeeded by The Last Samurai |
