The Cat in the Hat (2022 film)

The Cat in the Hat is an American animated comedy film distributed by Warner Animation Group. It is a animated adaptation to Dr. Seuss' book of the same name, also being a reboot to Bo Welch's 2003 infamous negative reviewed film. 
Directed by Todd Grimes, co-directed by Throup Van Orman and produced by J.J. Abrams, Joss Whedon, and Gareth Edwards, it stars the voices of Nat Faxon as the title character along with Elle Fanning and Ramone Hamilton. The film is also dedicated to Kelly Preston, who died in July 2020, who played the role of Conrad and Sally's mother in the 2003 film.
In 2018, Warner Animation Group confirmed that they would be rebooting the Cat in the Hat book under the working title It's the Cat in the Hat. Originally, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures were originally set to make the film. Danny McBride was set for the role as the Cat, but for unknown reasons, Nat Faxon was cast as him. The film released in Dolby Cinema on April 12, 2022 and it received positive reviews with an 8.4/10 on IMDb.
A sequel titled The Cat in the Hat Comes Back!, based on the the book of the same name also written by Dr. Seuss, released on August 18, 2024 and once again received positive reviews.
== Synopsis ==
Siblings Conrad and Sally are bored out of their skulls while it's raining and while their mother is out. Along with their fish, they have nothing better to do but stare at the window all day and do NOTHING; except, a cat comes to their house unexpectedly. But it's not a regular cat, but a strange one. A large cat with a hat. But their fish, who can - ta-da! - talk and doesn't accept the cat but doesn't want him to be here while Conrad and Sally's mother is out. But Conrad and Sally have no other choice but to accept him into their house to have fun. That is where all of the chaos begins!
== Plot ==
The film starts with two siblings Conrad and Sally, who are incredibly bored on a rainy day. Their mother leaves to go to work, leaving them both home alone along with their pet goldfish. With Conrad and Sally questioning how they should have fun, they hear a large bang at the door. They look and see a large cat. Not normal, but large. Conrad and Sally both question who he is, and he answers that he is Cat, the "god" of fun.
Their fish, who can talk and reveal his name as Carlos K. Crinklebine, demands the cat to leave because he sees the Cat as an threat. The Cat then plays with the fish by putting his bowl (with him inside) on the tip of his umbrella. Conrad and Sally then kick the Cat out because he is messing up the house, until the Cat barges in the house stating that someone stole his moss-covered three handled family gridenza and he must get it back because his father gave it to him. Conrad and Sally thinks that Crinklebine stole it, but Crinklebine says that he didn't steal it. The Cat, needing to look for it so badly, then looks all over the house.
The Cat later causes more chaos by getting a red box from the outside containing creatures called The Things, in which he calls them Thing One and Two. Thing One and Two cause destruction around the house, along with playing with Crinklebine's fish bowl and tossing it over and over again like a tennis ball. Conrad and Sally then get Crinklebine back from the Things and tell the Cat to put them back, in which the Cat listen to both of them and puts them back in the red box and takes it back outside with Crinklebine very, very dizzy.
With Conrad finding out that it's stopped raining, they go outside, but quickly go back in the house in just a second when they find out that it's windy. Conrad and Sally get a phone call from their mother, who tells them that she'll have to stay at work for a few more hours because of the wind before hanging up when her boss calls her. While the wind is causing destruction outside, Conrad, Sally, and the Cat try to go look for the Cat's moss-covered three handled family gridenza. Meanwhile outside, the Things escape the red box by cutting it open with a chainsaw and then go into town to cause chaos, including at Conrad and Sally's mother's workplace. 
The Cat witnesses the incident and he takes Conrad and Sally to get Thing One and Two back in the box, but leaving Carlos in his fishbowl. In town, Conrad and Sally are their normal selves while the Cat pretends to be a person and pretend to be Conrad and Sally's father and spot the Things (who are also dressed up as people) entering a club. While Conrad and Sally go in the club to find both of the Things, the Cat stands guard and spots Conrad and Sally's mom exiting the building and going in her car to go home. 
The Cat then pops one of Conrad and Sally's mother's car tire before she could start the car, making her call in a tow truck, and making her walk four mikes back home since there are no taxis in town. Getting past a guard, Conrad and Sally chase the Things in a private room with nobody in them. After a 30-second chase montage, they finally catch the Things and exit the club, with the Cat putting both of them back in the red box. Seeing that there's no way to get home without Conrad and Sally's mom seeing them, the Cat puts them+him into the red box, which teleports Conrad and Sally, him, and the Things back to Conrad and Sally's home. 
Thanking the Cat for making them have fun, the Cat sees that Conrad and Sally's mother is one mile almost home, the Cat along with the Things exit the home, promising to come back next week. Conrad and Sally's mother comes back and tells them that she saw a large man dressed up as a "cat" and his two children dressed as Lemons (which is Cat and the Things), leaving Conrad, Sally, and Carlos suprised. And as the rain comes back after a windy day, Conrad and Sally then look out the window, hoping that the Cat will come back next week. 
At the end of the film, the narrator named Joel Schulo is reading the book of "The Cat in the Hat" to his two children, Charles and Tommy. 
== Voice cast ==
* Nat Faxon as The Cat in the Hat, a large unnormal cat who wants to have fun with people who are bored.
* Elle Fanning as Sally, a bored girl and the sibling of Conrad who gets a visit from the Cat in the Hat who wants to have fun with them.
* Ramone Hamilton as Conrad, a bored boy and the sibling of Sally who gets a visit from the Cat in the Hat who wants to have fun with them. Hamilton previously worked with Nat Faxon and Todd Grimes on The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants. 
*Steve Buscemi as Carlos K. Crinklebine, the pet goldfish of Conrad and Sally who doesn't like the Cat in the Hat. He also doesn't accept him when Conrad and Sally's mother is out.
*Mike Myers and Frank Welker as Thing One and Two, the things of the Cat who cause chaos around the house, also playing with Carlos K. Crinklebine's fishbowl. Myers originally played the Cat in the 2003 negative reviewed film, in which he regretted starring in. Both Welker and Myers are uncredited.
*Reese Witherspoon as Mom, the mother of Conrad and Sally. Kelly Preston was originally set to reprise her role, but died before she could be asked in July 2020. The film is dedicated to her.
*Neil Patrick Harris as Who, the narrator of the film who is given a name. At the end of the film, his name is later revealed to be Joel Schulo, reading a book of The Cat in the Hat to his children, who are twins.
*Asher Blinkoff as Charles, one of the children of Who (Joel Schulo) and the brother of Tommy who appears at the end of the film which is the book his father is reading.
*Jackson Robert Scott as Tommy, one of the children of Who (Joel Schulo) and the brother of Charles who appears at the end of film which is the book his father is reading.
== Production ==
=== Development ===
==== Illumination Entertainment ====
In 2012, following the financial success of The Lorax, an animated film adaptation of Dr. Seuss' book of the same name, Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment announced plans to produce a CGI adaptation of The Cat in the Hat. Rob Lieber was set to write the script, with Chris Meledandri as producer, and Audrey Geisel as the executive producer. However, the project never came to fruition.
==== Warner Animation Group ====
In 2018, after the film never came in fruition, Warner Animation Group announced plans for an animated The Cat in the Hat film with J.J. Abrams on set to direct. However, Abrams wasn't interested in directing the film, but instead served as an producer and storyboard artist. Todd Grimes who created The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants was onset to direct while the creator of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Throup van Orman was announced to co-direct.
Along with Abrams, Godzilla director Gareth Edwards was set to produce and Joss Whedon too. In addition, Zack Snyder also was set to direct, but was working on a DC project. 
=== Casting ===
Nat Faxon was cast for the role as the Cat in 2020. Before Faxon's casting, Danny McBride was originally set to voice the Cat. Kelly Preston was announced on Grimes' twitter account that Preston would reprise her role as Conrad and Sally's mother, but died in July 2020 before she could record her lines. Reese Witherspoon filled in the job for her and the film is dedicated to her. Elle Fanning, the sister of actress Dakota Fanning, voiced Sally in the film. While Ramone Hamilton voiced Conrad. Hamilton is also Faxon's co-star in The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, in which Hamilton voices George Beard.
Though being uncredited, Mike Myers (voicing Shrek in the franchise of the same name and the Cat in 2003 film) and Frank Welker (Fred Jones and Scooby-Doo in the Scooby-Doo franchise) were announced to voice both Thing One and Two. Neil Patrick Harris voices the narrator in the film while Jackson Robert Scott and Asher Blinkoff voice the narrator's kids at the end of the film. Bill Farmer, who voices Goofy in the Mickey Mouse franchise, provided the voice of the club's guard, but is listed under additional voices.
Steve Buscemi is the voice of Carlos K. Crinklebine. Buscemi said that "I had a fun time voicing Carlos just like Daws Butler in the 1972 TV special."
=== Animation ===
Before Warner Animation Group was announced as the distributor of the film, Illumination Entertainment's animation company Illumination Mac Guff was set to do the animation. But then, when the project was never finished, Warner Animation Group announced that the film's animation company Warner Bros. Animation would do the animation for the film. It is a mixture of Chuck Jones' 1972 television special of the same name and The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!. The Cat's voice actor in the series Martin Short called the film, legendary then the 2003 film.
== Release ==
In 2019, J.J. Abrams confirmed the movie would be set for an release in 2024. However, Dr. Seuss and The Cat in the Hat kept on complaining that the release date was too long. That is when director Todd Grimes delayed the film to a 2022 release in April. And then, it released in Dolby Cinema on April 12, 2022.
=== Home media ===
The film released on Home media, 4K, and blu-ray on July 9, 2022. The home media included a short film called The Adventures of Thing One and Two.
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
Despite receiving positive reviews, the film was a bomb at the box office. In the US, it scored $1000,0000,000 in the same place in which it aired, Do,by Cinema. Though in Canada it got $400,0000,00.
=== Critical response ===
Unlike the 2003 film directed by Bo Welch, this film directed by Todd Grimes, it received a 8.4/10 on IMDb. Though on Rotten Tomatoes, it received a 3/10. The website says "As a reboot to 2003's disgusting film, this film clearly has some scenes that weren't featured in the original book, but some scenes from the 1971 television special by Chuck Jones and even the selfish, rude Carlos K. Crinklebine." But on Variety, the magazines reported that the film received a 94/100 on Google, with users saying that it's better then Raja Gosnell's films.
Glenn Kenny said that the film is one of his favorite 2022 films, giving him vibes from Looney Tunes: Back in Action directed by Joe Dante. Then, Leonard Maltin has stated that he watched the movie several times and says that the film wants children to have fun, which is true. The critics also praised Nat Faxon's performance as the Cat.
== Accolades ==
List of awards and nominations
Award 	Date of ceremony 	Category 	Recipients 	Result 	Ref.
Annie Awards 	February 14, 2023	Outstanding Achievement, Character Design in an Animated Feature Production	Eric Guillon 	Nominated	
Annie Awards 	February 14, 2023	Outstanding Achievement, Music in an Animated Feature Production 	Danny Elfman 	Nominated	
British Children's Academy Awards 	May 4, 2023 	BAFTA Kids' Vote 	Ramone Hamilton,Elle Fanning 	Nominated	
Best Acting for Protagonist and Antagonist	November 25, 2024	Outstanding Voiceover 	Reese Witherspoon, Nat Faxon, Steve Buscemi	Nominated	
Hollywood Music in Media 	March 1, 2025 	Best Original Score – Animated Film 	Danny Elfman 	Won 	
International Film Music Critics 	June 18, 2025 	Best Original Score for a Comedy Film 	Danny Elfman 	Nominated	
== Sequel ==
Main article: The Cat in the Hat Comes Back! (film)
One month after the release of the film, J.J. Abrams confirmed that a film based off of The Cat in the Hat Comes Back was in development at Warner Animation Group. It was announced that Nat Faxon, Elle Fanning, and Ramone Hamilton would reprise their roles along with Reese Witherspoon as Conrad and Sally's mother. On May 25, 2024, the film was released and once again received positive reviews, also premiering in Dolby Cinema.