I love Dr Seuss's stories, they are just so witty, fun and charming, and Cat in the Hat is quite possibly my favourite of them all. When I was a kid, this was the story I quoted most, and to this day I still find myself reciting the "green eggs and ham" bit. Anyway, being a huge fan of the 1966 animated Christmas classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, I looked forward to Cat in the Hat, and prayed it would be better than the live action film with Mike Myers, which I found absolutely awful.
And guess what, it is infinitely better. Whereas the Mike Myers version replaced the wit and charm of the story with vulgar, unfunny and somewhat inappropriate toilet humour, this remained true to the playful spirit of the story, and it was fun and charming as a result. Plus it has everything going for it, whereas the Mike Myers film had only the colourful sets and Dakota Fanning as its sole saving graces. Anyway I am not going to compare anymore, in my eyes this is the only Cat in the Hat version, though I have yet to see The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat. Is there any comparisons to the 1966 version of the Grinch? Well, I can only say this, both of them are timeless classics so I cannot choose which is better; if I had a marginal preference probably the Grinch because I am more familiar with it.
The rest of the review is going to detail why I loved this version of The Cat in the Hat so much. The animation is terrific, bright, vibrant and colourful, and all the characters are drawn really well. I also loved the music, the incidental music is delightful enough but the songs are surprisingly catchy, upbeat and memorable. The dialogue still maintains the wit and charm of the story, and is very funny, the jokes are really clever and sophisticated, and the Cat himself is a revelation of a title character, really mischievous and charismatic. The fish is a really funny character as well, his dialogue is hilarious, and the children weren't bratty but appealing, a major plus in my book.
The story is still intact, and has many memorable scenes, especially the language lesson. I loved how faithful this was too, I am not a person who says a film/adaptation has to be word from word, as long as it keeps to the spirit of the book/story, something the live action version didn't but this version did. The special is quite short at 30 minutes or so, but it moves very quickly and doesn't in any way feel draggy or rushed. The voice work is spot on, Allan Sherman is perfect as the Cat, and Daws Butler is a riot as the fish. Overall, classic Dr Seuss, and just perfect. 10/10 Bethany Cox
And guess what, it is infinitely better. Whereas the Mike Myers version replaced the wit and charm of the story with vulgar, unfunny and somewhat inappropriate toilet humour, this remained true to the playful spirit of the story, and it was fun and charming as a result. Plus it has everything going for it, whereas the Mike Myers film had only the colourful sets and Dakota Fanning as its sole saving graces. Anyway I am not going to compare anymore, in my eyes this is the only Cat in the Hat version, though I have yet to see The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat. Is there any comparisons to the 1966 version of the Grinch? Well, I can only say this, both of them are timeless classics so I cannot choose which is better; if I had a marginal preference probably the Grinch because I am more familiar with it.
The rest of the review is going to detail why I loved this version of The Cat in the Hat so much. The animation is terrific, bright, vibrant and colourful, and all the characters are drawn really well. I also loved the music, the incidental music is delightful enough but the songs are surprisingly catchy, upbeat and memorable. The dialogue still maintains the wit and charm of the story, and is very funny, the jokes are really clever and sophisticated, and the Cat himself is a revelation of a title character, really mischievous and charismatic. The fish is a really funny character as well, his dialogue is hilarious, and the children weren't bratty but appealing, a major plus in my book.
The story is still intact, and has many memorable scenes, especially the language lesson. I loved how faithful this was too, I am not a person who says a film/adaptation has to be word from word, as long as it keeps to the spirit of the book/story, something the live action version didn't but this version did. The special is quite short at 30 minutes or so, but it moves very quickly and doesn't in any way feel draggy or rushed. The voice work is spot on, Allan Sherman is perfect as the Cat, and Daws Butler is a riot as the fish. Overall, classic Dr Seuss, and just perfect. 10/10 Bethany Cox