Film Review: THE CAT IN THE HAT (2026): A Few Good “Things” Help Out This Entertaining Dr. Seuss Spinoff

The Cat in the Hat Review

The Cat in the Hat (2026) Film Review, a movie directed by Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja, writen by Alessandro Carloni, Erica Rivinoja and Caroline Williams and starring Bill Hader, Xochitl Gomez, Tiago Martinez, Mayabella Sage Mccrillis, Johnny Haemmerle, America Ferrera, Bowen Yang, Quinta Brunson, Giancarlo Esposito, Paula Pell, Matt Berry, Tituss Burgess, Eric Bauza, Robin Akerstrand, David Kaye and Jim Meskimen.

Filmmakers Alessandro Carlonin and Erica Rivinoja won’t save Warner Bros. from financial ruins with their new Dr. Seuss spin-off, The Cat in the Hat, but the film should put a smile on quite a few young kids’ faces this holiday season. Bill Hader voices the beloved talking feline in a movie that is typical of what we’ve come to expect from big studio animation, nothing more, nothing less.

This new picture does bear the Dr. Seuss name, but is closer to the Minions and the Despicable Me movies in spirit. There are, of course, the beloved “Things” that the movie showcases – little creatures who have blue hair and look like they’re dressed in red pajamas. They slap each other around, and make arm pumps with their hands underneath their arm pits, but they’re merely entertaining side characters here. Hader does the fancy footwork in The Cat in the Hat by giving his main character a winning and charming personality.

Hader does shoot himself in the foot, however, when his Cat in the Hat says that the “Things” in this movie will probably get their own movie as a loving joke. While the Minions have garnered their own films, they are a lot more charismatic in some ways than the cute “Things” in this new film. While the “Things” have fun in this movie, it feels like the Minions beat them to the cinematic punch in terms of getting a standalone franchise.

That being said, the new film, The Cat in the Hat, only gets its rhythm right in a way that doesn’t always do Seuss justice. This is more a re-imagining of Seuss’s beloved work than an actual faithful adaptation of the unique original book the film is based on. This film’s plot focuses on the search for a time device that the Cat lost, which could turn back time and potentially change the future for the kids he goes to help.

America Ferrera plays Carmen, a woman who has moved her two young kids into a new apartment building with a busybody landlady. Carmen’s daughter, Gabby (Xochitl Gomez), is the central character and she is the reason the Cat comes to visit the family. Gabby used to be on a marching band in her old town and school, and thinks that her new home cannot possibly live up to her past one. The Cat is enlisted to put a smile on Gabby’s face while teaching her some very important life lessons. One thing, though, is that the Cat cannot make a mess of things like he did the last time he went to cheer up some kids. If he does make a mess and steers off track, he’ll officially lose his job.

There are a number of humorous situations such as when the Cat makes a big splash over a character called Pig with a Wig’s birthday. There is a human resources rep that the Cat gets, Sherrie (Quinta Brunson), that is on the Cat’s side, and wants to see to it that the Cat gets one last chance before he is officially canned from his gig.

Unfortunately, most of this material fails to encapsulate the type of work that Seuss created through the original story on which this film is based. This is like a fast-track picking of some of Dr. Seuss’s greatest ideas, and only occasionally, does it get that Seuss vibe down pat.

There’s a goldfish named Waffles (Matt Berry), who two of the “Things” want to eat at one point, and the fish is actually very enjoyable to watch as voiced by the dry and witty Berry. Some of The Cat in the Hat meanders with its story of Gabby learning to appreciate her mom more for the sacrifices she has made to give Gabby a better life, which includes a mundane series of financial papers the mother keeps in order to help fulfill her goals of giving her kids more.

Bill Hader is certainly having fun here, whether this movie is actually based on the books of Seuss or simply inspired by the great author’s stories featuring the character, the Cat in the Hat. This new film will be an important picture for the kids who see it and are experiencing the source material for the first time ever. This is certainly better than the live-action Mike Myers version from the early 2000’s. It will hopefully help the new generation refer back to the beloved Dr. Seuss books.

The Cat in the Hat has so many memorable moments mixed in, but in the end, it’s just passable entertainment. There is a Daffy Duck short cartoon at the start of this new movie. Like the Seuss-based feature film itself, that short is just passable, but proves there could be life in Warner Bros. animation characters moving forward as new projects may or may not come into fruition after Coyote vs. Acme’s huge success.

As many of you may know,. The Cat in the Hat took a fairly long time to finally make it to the silver screen, evidenced by the delay of its theatrical release about a year or so from the studio’s original plans. The Cat in the Hat is ultimately harmless fun, but should be taken as a supplement to the source material rather than a replacement for it.

Rating: 7/10

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