... What with the live action “Thunderbirds” about to hit cinema screens, the latest instalment of live action Scooby Doo and now a real time follow up to the Brian Grazer produced “The Grinch” in the shape of “The Cat in the Hat”, it seems evident that Hollywood hasd re-discovered the virtues ... Read review
The Cat in the Hatis a marketing ploy disguised as a wildly designed movie for hyperactive ... more
kids, and it could use a dose of Ritalin. It hardly matters, though, because kids will surely enjoy the rampant romp that occurs when the top-hatted feline convi...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The Cat in the Hatis a marketing ploy disguised as a wildly designed movie for hyperactive ... more
kids, and it could use a dose of Ritalin. It hardly matters, though, because kids will surely enjoy the rampant romp that occurs when the top-hatted feline convi...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks...
Grab a place on the couch, or go find a seat for you're in for a wonderful Dr. Seuss ... more
treat! The Cat in the Hat who goes by the name Is played by Mike Myers of comedy fame! It starts with two kids on a cold, cold, wet day there mum is at work, and they'...
Grab a place on the couch, or go find a seat For you're in for a wonderful Dr. Seuss ... more
treat!The Cat in the Hat who goes by that name Is played by Mike Myers of comedy fame!It starts with two kids on a cold, cold, wet day Their mum is at work, and they'v...
We looked! Then we saw himStep in on the mat!We looked! And we saw him!The Cat in the ... more
Hat!The Cat in the Hat is known for his messy nature; everywhere he goes he can't help but turn everything upside down and cause havoc! If you're going to a fancy dress party in this full-body Cat in the Hat suit, make sure the hosts are unfamiliar with the outcome of the famous Dr. Seuss story, or they might not let you in!Made up of a comfortable one-piece jumpsuit, this hilarious fancy dress costume features the Cat in the Hat's tail and over-sized bow-tie, and even has a head-piece featuring the Cat's cheeky, smiley face.
Postage & Packaging:free Super Saver Delivery Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
This Leapfrog Cat in the Hat software encourages children to develop a love of reading by ... more
engaging them with interesting and appealing stories. This software is ideal for building upon children's learning skills, including reading, comprehension, vocabulary, word building, phonics skills and more. Each book encourages children to develop a love of reading with a wide range of well-loved characters along with modern classics. Suitable for ages 4+.
Postage & Packaging:from £4.85 Availability:refer to website
For the first time ever, the Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat video game will allow gamers to ... more
step into the role of the mischievous Cat and interact with characters from the film like Thing 1, Thing 2 and the Fish, as well as encounter opponents created specifically for the game. Unique gameplay abilities, including the Umbrella Glide, the Hat-Shield Bounce and the Bubble Goo Gadget, help players to navigate through thirteen wild levels in a wacky Seussian world.Inspired by the film, the video game tells the story of Conrad, a young boy tricked by his neighbor, Mr. Quinn, into opening the Cat's big red box of Seussian magic, allowing it to escape into the real world. The Cat must help Conrad and his sister, Sally, return the Seussian magic to the box and retrieve all three pieces of the "Crab Lock" in order to lock the box for good. Players will also get the unique chance to explore a world beyond the film, as they navigate through rooms of the house that are not seen in the movie.
Production Year: 1993 - Family - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Michael Caine, The Muppets, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, David Rudman, Steve Whitmire
Advantages: Kids will like it Disadvantages: It's not really aimed at the little ones as such
...it so good. What with the live action “Thunderbirds” about to hit cinema screens, the latest instalment of live action Scooby Doo and now a real time follow up to the Brian Grazer produced “The Grinch” in the shape of “The Cat in the Hat”, it seems evident that Hollywood hasd re-discovered the virtues of pester power.
I must admit, it was with a certain trepidation that I took the wee ones to see this particular movie. Savaged in ... ...the Philadelphia Enquirer whilst The NewYork Times suggested an untimely fate involving a tied sack and some water for the cat involved in the big screen attempt to circumnavigate another Dr Seuss book.
“The Cat in the Hat” is based on the 1957 Dr Seuss (real name Theodore Giesel) story. Much loved among Americans, it is an essential part of the growing up process among millions of children in North America. It’s this sensitivity that ... more
Children’s movies have never had it so good. What with the live action “Thunderbirds” about to hit cinema screens, the latest instalment of live action Scooby Doo and now a real time follow up to the Brian Grazer produced “The Grinch” in the shape of “The Cat in the Hat”, it seems evident that Hollywood hasd re-discovered the virtues of pester power.
I must admit, it was with a certain trepidation that I took the wee ones to see this particular movie. Savaged in the US, examples of critics reactions included “Kitty litter” from the Philadelphia Enquirer whilst The NewYork Times suggested an untimely fate involving a tied sack and some water for the cat involved in the big screen attempt to circumnavigate another Dr Seuss book.
“The Cat in the Hat” is based on the 1957 Dr Seuss (real name Theodore Giesel) story. Much loved among Americans, it is an essential part of the growing up process among millions of children in North America. It’s this sensitivity that will have affected the reviews the movie received, notwithstanding a further chance to shine on its recent UK release.
The movie is set in a Southern Californian suburbia made up of pastel colours together with atypical small cars and twee detached houses with picket fences. Kelly Preston (aka John Travolta’s gorgeous wife) is a single mother bringing up her two children, Sally (Dakota Fanning) and Conrad (Spencer Breslin). She works at the town estate agents office, often called upon to put her job first by the antiseptic Mr Humberfloob (Sean Hayes). When a phone call demands her attendance at the office, Preston arranges for the bottle rimmed glasses wearing, myopic Mrs Kwan (Amy Hill) to baby-sit whilst she’s out. The subtext to this is that she is holding an office cocktail party at her house later that day and is paranoid that her children will trash the place before her Howard Hughes-like boss turns up, thus sacking her for wanton uncleanliness.
Mrs Kwan is something of a narcoleptic, falling asleep on the job allowing the arrival of the surreal 6 foot cat in a white and red hooped magic hat through the upstairs closet. The cat’s purpose appears to be to put the kids back into kilter via a contraption at the end of his stethoscope. Conrad is diagnosed as a rule breaker whilst Sally is a control freak. If you’ve read the book, you’d expect nothing less than an ensuing anarchic agenda surrounding a central theme of fun whilst the tension in the plot is found in the form of Quinn (Alec Baldwin), the scheming next door neighbour who wants to send Conrad to military school (inspired by "Bill and Ted’s Excellent adventure"?) whilst bagging the hand in marriage of Conrad’s mom.
It is totally understandable why this movie was made. A $500 million taking at the box office following the Ron Howard directed “The Grinch” indicated a big market from kindergarten to nostalgic adults for just this kind of thing. This time, the director is Bo Welch who worked on Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands as production designer. It’s no coincidence, then, that the sets look like they do when you bear in mind the middle class, suburban town featured in the fantasy adventure featuring Johnny Depp. There is a further twist in that Depp will be starring in the forthcoming re-make of the Gene Wilder centric “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and the surreal aspects of that particular movie make a passing resemblance to certain facets of this one (note the significance of the contract that the children sign and the way it resurfaces at the finale).
Mike Myers certainly went through the pain barrier in making “Cat in the Hat”. With 3 hours in costume every day as well as being struck in a particularly sensitive male area whilst filming the scene involving him as a feline pinade, he can’t be faulted for lack of effort. Where he appears mis-cast is the fact that every sound and gesture appears to be a straight rendition of either Austin Powers or Dr Evil. Don’t get me wrong, I really like Mike Myers. I loved the Wayne’s World movies and never tire of the Austin Powers trilogy but here he just looks out of place when Jim Carrey would have almost certainly carried the day in a latex mask genre that he has made his own over the years. I kept expecting Myers to slip his hooked little finger in the corner of his mouth or shout “Yeah baby” rather than coughing up fur balls and bouncing on settees.
Kelly Preston (“What a Girl Wants, Jack Frost) looks fabulous as the blonde, vulnerable mom. A marriage to John Travolta along with a motherhood in real life has done nothing to wither her looks although I did find her a little pensive in the role of matriarch with things happening to her rather her being mistress of her own fate. Needless to say, she's about the only one that can't see straight through the shifty Quinn but there's no need to worry as things never look too daunting.
Alec Baldwin (Pearl Harbour, Mercury Rising) is a fine actor and for some strange reason I remember him best for his part in “Beetlejuice”. Again, there are passing similarities to yet another Tim Burton affair but the role of ineffective villain, Quinn replete with ill fitting string vest and false teeth at one point is played out well enough with the audience somehow knowing that he won’t get the girl.
Spencer Beslin has form in the guise of “The Santa Clause: 2” whilst Dakota Fanning has credits for Hansel and Gretal amongst other screen appearances. As children at opposite ends of the behavioural spectrum, they are reasonably convincing although any conflict never really amounts to much and, again, you just know that they will end up the happiest of brothers and sisters when the dust has settled.
Apart from that association with Edward Scissorhands, the director, Bo Welch is probably best known for his involvement with the Men in Black movies. Directing a movie like this is never straight forward with the vagaries of cinematic effects meant to blend with the live action on screen. Throughout the production, there is a feeling of kitsch that’s never far from the surface although I suspect that this was always the plan and the outrageous colour schemes clinch the comic book effect intended even if does assault the eyes at times.
So does it work? I can’t help thinking that this movie from the Dream Works team is big enough to shake off any criticism that comes it’s way. The main accusation seems to be that the film is intended to bypass the obvious smaller children market and hit the more affluent teen market with a higher disposable income. Sacrilege to many whom grew up with the Suess books. I’d have to agree to a point when you dissect the script. With a number of sexual undertones to the gags and an obvious draw for a teen audience in casting Myers in the lead role, the quiet was discernible in my particular theatre as numerous references went right above the heads of the mainly under 10 audience that was present (as well as adults, of course). There was some ingenuity in the guise of the Super Luxurious Omnidirectional Whatchamajigger (SLOW) i.e. the Cat’s cartoon car but even here there is a reference to an alternative vehicle that would have had the acronym S.H.I.T. (again, no reaction from the audience on what was meant as a punchline)
It was nice to see Sean Hayes get a bigger role as I do find him funny in the gay sitcom, Will and Grace whilst the CGI goldfish did give the movie that childlike feel at times even if it was a peripheral figure threatened constantly with being thrown in the toilet.
Ultimately, the problem with “The Cat in the Hat” is it doesn’t know what it is. It’s not a children’s film as such but it sucks as a teen draw. Faced with splinters from inadvertently sitting on a metaphorical fence, this movie will still succeed purely on the strength of it’s trailers and the association with a writer of such a huge magnitude. Whether it does or doesn’t deserve to seems to be a moot point. As such, I’d suggest that this film is average knowing full well that it will still sell in droves when released on video and DVD in future and most kids will still like it.
Thanks for reading
Marandina
The Cat in the Hat is on general release across the UK. Run time 82 mins, Cert PG.
Movie site trailer at: http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/thecatinthehat/
Advantages: Colorful production design Disadvantages: Everything else, especially the crude humor
...TITLE: Dr. Suess’ The Cat In The Hat >>>>>
<<<<< RATING: *½ >>>>>
<<<<< CAST: Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin, Kelly Preston, Spencer Breslin, Dakota Fanning, Sean Hayes, Danielle Chuchrun, Taylor Rice, Brittany Oaks, Talia Lynn-Prarie, Dan Castellaneta, Victor Brandt, Daran Norris, Bugsy, Frank Welker, Clint Howard, Paige Hurd, Steven Anthony Lawrence, Candace Brown, Stephen Hibbert, Peter Morrisey, Paris Hilton. >>>>>
<<<<< DIRECTOR: Bo Welch >>>>>
... ...A Disappointment From The Team Who Made THE GRINCH >>>>>
I know many of you have been anticipating and patiently waiting for another film review from me, so here is the first one after almost a month’s absence…not counting my last one on the Academy Awards of course. So, for tonight I will be reviewing a film that only can be labeled as a disappointment. I’m sure many people (most notably kids) will be wanting to see this film on April 2nd, its ...
eve6kicksass 17.03.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Cat In The Hat (DVD)
Advantages: Fun for the family Disadvantages: If you don't like Myers then.....
...ago when I first saw the trailer for this film. Little did I know then I would in fact venture out of my dark home to go and see it for my very small brother's 7th birthday party. So, at first I had no intentions of wanting to see it especially, and thought little of it, other than the fact that it looked quite funny as it had Mike Myers in it. Obviously you have to be a Mike Myers fan if you are ever to see this movie and generally you have to have ... ...a film that really fits the adult market too well, as it is one of those films that kids will adore and adults will grin and bear, but half way through this as I watched with grumpy eyes I began to think that this was actually quite funny.
I use the expression quite funny mainly because that is what I mean; there were a few moments where I laughed very quietly, and other times I was merely amused by what was happening on the screen. I noticed however ...
willboy12 04.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Cat In The Hat (DVD)
Advantages: For kids, pushes all the right buttons. Disadvantages: None of note
...when we watched it for the first time in 2004, perched on the edge of her chair. She did not stop talking about it for weeks after we saw it, and now both my kids have it on DVD and it makes a frequent trip to the DVD player... There are bits of adult humour here too, just so that us grown ups can find funny things as well. '''The Plot''' Sally and Conrad are at home, being looked after by an elderly babysitter (Mrs Kwan) who keeps falling asleep ... ...coat hangar and placed in the cupboard. There are under strict order from 'Mom' (Kelly Preston) to keep the place tidy because, as a real estate agent, their mother is using their home that night for a party and her boss is very strict on tidiness and obsessed with cleanliness (he will sack anyone who shakes his hand). Next door is Quinn, played brilliantly by Alec Baldwin: a general slob and liar, but only Conrad seems to notice this - hence the ...
Borg 14.04.2004 (18.06.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Cat In The Hat (DVD)
Advantages: Great fun for kids, funny in places Disadvantages: Weak story and inappropriate voices
...adored Dr. Seuss. I had the entire collection read them almost every day. When my sister brought home the DVD of the Cat in the Hat, which had always been one of my favourite characters I was sceptical. I was worried that it would spoil my childhood memories of the wonderful Dr. Seuss. Nevertheless I sat down and watched the movie from start to finish.
The rhyming at the beginning eases gently into the story while still remaining Dr. Seuss-esque. ... ...The mother working in real estate with a troublesome son, Conrad, and well behaved daughter, Sally. The apparently perfect boyfriend living next door. All seemed about right for a Dr. Seuss until the cat arrives on the scene. I felt the voice of the cat could have been selected better as Mike Myres is somehow overpowering and not really what I had expected. This was the first major disappointment that the film brought for me, from here in I found ...
Jennie-Jenn 21.08.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Cat In The Hat (DVD)
Advantages: It only lasts 82 minutes Disadvantages: suspect adult gags
...revolving on spin cycle at the thought of his work being mangled to the extent of this 'entertainment'.
The much loved cat of our youth being brought to 'life' in the form of Mike Myers giant furry suited prankster.
We are encouraged by the posters to give the kids a treat and bring them along to theatre, however a more suitable reward may be to send them to bed with no dinner and believe you me they will respect you more for the latter.
The Plot!
... ...and they are left in the irresponsible hands of ever tired emergency babysitter Mrs Kwan, their inquisitive natures get the better of them as they seek to unearth the cause of the noise in the cupboard!
There they meet the lifesize (if not lifelike) talking cat who will lead them into a host of (un)funny situations as they break every house rule possible.
In the quest to prove to the cat that they are fun, the children sign a contract to abide ...
REDF 04.04.2004 (06.04.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Cat In The Hat (DVD)
In this bright and happy film, set in a colourful make-believe world, Mike Myers (Austin Powers) plays the wily talking cat with plans to brighten up an otherwise very dull day for two lucky children. Sister and brother, Sally and Conrad, are forced to pass a rainy afternoon with their crotchety baby sitter Mrs. Kwan but the Cat In The Hat has other ideas.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK; UNIVERSAL MUSIC OPERATIONS, DREAMWORKS HOME ENTERTAINMENT; PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Release date
16/08/2004, 19/06/2006
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
830 074 9, DSL 1253
Barcode
5050583007496, 5051188125332
Screenwriter
David Newman
Composer
David Newman
Author
David Newman
Special Effects
Steve Johnson
Costume Designer
Rita Ryack
Languages
Main Language
English
Hearing Impaired Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Feature Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, The Cat, The Fish, The Music, Suessville USA, The Real Dr Suess, The SLOW, The Kids, The Cat Stacks, The Mother Of All Messes, Dance Along With The Cat
Aspect Ratio
1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital Surround
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital Surround English, Dolby Digital Surround English English
DVD Description
This adaptation of the classic children's book stars Mike Meyers (AUSTIN POWERS) as the wily talking cat with a tall striped hat and more than a few tricks up his sleeve. Set in a colourful make-believe world, the film tells the classic tale of a sister and brother, Sally (Dakota Fanning) and Conrad (Spencer Breslin), who pass a rainy afternoon with their grumpy babysitter Mrs. Kwan (Amy Hill), during which they receive a visit from the mysterious Cat in the Hat, who leads them on a series of colourful, illogical, silly misadventures. Meanwhile their mother (Kelly Preston), her paranoid boss (Sean Hayes), and her phony boyfriend (Alec Baldwin), present obstacles for the children as they become part of the Cat's chaotic world. With candy coloured sets that pop off the screen and zany special effects that give the story a decidedly 21st century spin, this movie presents a fast-paced and very non-traditional rendering of Dr. Seuss. The rhyming lines that usually characterise Dr. Seuss stories are referenced here, but modern jokes that riff on television advertisements and pop psychology are given more importance. Dakota Fanning is utterly adorable as little Sally, and Thing 1 and Thing 2 are delightful in their chittering and acrobatics. A bright and happy film packed with dazzling stunts, DR. SEUSS' THE CAT IN THE HAT is an entertaining treat.
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