The Cat in the Hat (2003)

Director:

Bo Welch

Writers (WGA):

Dr. Seuss (book)
Alec Berg (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 November 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

Don't mess with the hat.

Plot:

Sally and Conrad are two bored kids whose life is turned up-side-down when a talking cat comes to visit them.

Plot Keywords:

Cat | Imagination | Critically Bashed | Single Mother | Meat Cleaver

Awards:

3 wins & 13 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 22	8:30 PM	TBS
Sun. Nov. 22	10:15 PM	TBS

Cast

Mike Myers	...	The Cat
Alec Baldwin	...	Quinn
Kelly Preston	...	Mom
Dakota Fanning	...	Sally
Spencer Breslin	...	Conrad
Amy Hill	...	Mrs. Kwan
Sean Hayes	...	Mr. Humberfloob / Voice of the Fish
Danielle Chuchran	...	Thing One (as Danielle Ryan Chuchran)
Taylor Rice	...	Thing One
Brittany Oaks	...	Thing Two
Talia-Lynn Prairie	...	Thing Two (as Talia Prairie)
Dan Castellaneta	...	Thing One / Thing Two (voice)
Victor Brandt	...	Narrator (voice)
Daran Norris	...	Announcer
Bugsy	...	Nevins

Also Known As:

Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild crude humor and some double-entendres.

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Switzerland:6 (canton of Zurich) | France:U | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-3 | Australia:G | Ireland:PG | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:I | Japan:U | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | South Korea:All | Sweden:Btl | Taiwan:GP | UK:PG | USA:PG (certificate #39519) | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Mike Myers said that the Cat's personality is a composite of director/producer Bruce Paltrow, his "Saturday Night Live" character "Linda Richman", and actor Charles Nelson Reilly.

Goofs:

Continuity: At about 10:30am we see the babysitter is watching a "live" broadcast of an incident that happened during a Government meeting in Taiwan. When it is 10:30 am in Los Angeles, it would be 12:30am at night in Taiwan.

Quotes:

The Cat: [as the cook] Delicious cupcakes are just minutes away.
The Cat: [as a cooking show host] Did you just say "minutes away"? That's impossible!
The Cat: [as the cook] You're not just wrong, you're stupid.
The Cat: [as a cooking show host] Now, wait just a minute...
The Cat: [as the cook] And you're ugly, just like your mum.

Movie Connections:

References "Dragnet" (1951)

Soundtrack:

Rawhide

For People Who Don't Get Dr. Seuss

This movie was physically painful to sit through, maybe because (like many people my age, and younger) I grew up with Dr. Seuss and loved his books - funny, clever, whimsical and subversive at the same time. "The Cat in the Hat" sucks all of the interest and spark out of the story, and Mike Myer's performance as the Cat is mostly bewildering. Why the Borscht Belt accent, the unfunny patter, the inappropriate jokes, the charmless costume? I had to go back and re-read the books to see the real problem: the books are SIMPLE. This movie is OVERBLOWN and way, way too long.

You don't expect every kids' movie to be Toy Story or The Iron Giant, but this one set a new low. How could Mike Myers need the money?