The Cat in the Hat

With Dr. Suess you're WAY better off with SHORT cartoons then live action. My favorite part is the language lesson very cool. The cartoon at least is more faithful to the book and the Dr. Suess spirit. I also hope it gets released on DVd soon. Along with The Grinch Grinches The Cat In The Hat.

Scary thought- What if those people who made the live action films do THAT story next???????????

I have seen The Cat in the Hat since the 70s and I think it's the best written cartoon on TV between the runs of Rocky and Bullwinkle and The Simpsons. The line I remember the most was the song that went "Hey! I'm a punk. A gratunculous shlunk." I also remember that the cat was messing up the house looking for his moss covered, three handled, three family gradunza. That would definitely be a Dr. Seuss line.

Allan Sherman, in one of his last TV roles before his death in 1974 was sensational as the voice of the cat. I would also like to add that Gloria Camacho was the voice of the kid's mother.

Dr. Seuss and his stories are not very familiar here in Holland and although the Jim Carrey version of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' was a pretty big hit it hasn't changed that very much. Still, I saw this animated version of 'The Cat in the Hat' and let me start by saying that it is so much better and funnier than the Mike Myers version.

When the mother (voice by Gloria Camacho) of a girl (voice by Pamelyn Ferdin) and a boy (voice by Tony Frazier) leaves on a rainy evening the kids are very bored. A cat in a hat (voice by Allan Sherman) enters the house to cheer them up. The fish (voice by Daws Butler) is not very fond of that because they are making a huge mess. Everything must be clean before mother comes home.

The first half with the arrival of the cat is not that great. It has some nice songs though. The second half, especially the part where the cat explains how he is called in other countries, is great and very funny. I understand why stories like this are very popular. Kids just have to like it and for adults it must be a nice memory from their childhood.

Dr. Seuss books just don't lend themselves well to live action movies. The live action version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas was awful, mostly because the padded scenes LOOKED like padding. There isn't enough of a story in Seuss's books to make a feature-length movie, and really not even enough to make a 25-minute TV show.

But add some good animation and the music of Allan Sherman, and you have a winner. I'll be watching THIS version for many years, not the dreadful Mike Meyers version.

This song-filled Dr. Seuss classic should be shown on network television at least twice a year! The musical numbers are pure fun; as a bonus, they managed to sneak in a quick foreign languages lesson. The newest home video release of this favorite has the words on the screen, which is even better. Listen during the song performed with Thing 2 and Thing 1. You'll hear the booming baritone of Thurl "Tony The Tiger" Ravenscroft. I have watched this special over 100 times on home video, and never want to stop.