The Cat in the Hat returns with new animated adventure

In 1957, American writer and illustrator Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, imagined a nearly two-metre-tall cat wearing an enormous red-and-white striped top hat, who turned the home of two bored children upside down on a rainy day with tongue twisters and surreal antics.

Nearly 70 years after the book was published, and more than 20 years after the film starring Mike Myers, The Cat in the Hat is making a comeback with a new animated feature directed by Erica Rivinoja and Italian filmmaker Alessandro Carloni for Warner Bros. The film will hit cinemas on November 5, CE Report quotes ANSA.

Mischievous and irreverent, the feline who has captured the imagination of generations of American children brings with him an idea that resonates everywhere: "Boredom is imagination's best ally."

America Ferrera, who voices the protagonists' mother in the original version, agrees. "We live in an era when nobody gets bored anymore," she told ANSA in Los Angeles.

"When I was little, those were precisely the moments when we got into the most trouble and became the most creative. We built forts, invented shows, learned dance routines... Our children, on the other hand, always have something to do or a screen in front of their eyes. I think it's important to give them those moments of emptiness again, so they can let themselves go and enjoy spontaneous fun, even if it gets a little mischievous."

Bill Hader, the original voice of the Cat, echoes her thoughts. Best known for Saturday Night Live and the award-winning dark comedy Barry, he shares a recent experience:

"The other day, my daughter started playing around with a piano we have in the house we're renting. Without an iPad or phones, she started making up funny things and having fun. I thought to myself: thank goodness! Of course, she's absolutely terrible at playing," he jokes.

Together with young co-star Xochitl Gomez, who voices the little girl in the film, he has a slogan: "Let 2026 be the year boredom makes a comeback!"

Like many Americans who grew up with the story, Hader considers The Cat in the Hat an old friend.

"It's the first book I remember owning. First, someone read it to me, then I learned to read it myself, and eventually I read it to my children."

He even played the character in a 2014 Saturday Night Live sketch, "in a version that was considerably less suitable for children," he laughs.

"I like having fun material to perform, and chaos is fun," he reflects, drawing a connection between Dr. Seuss's character and Barry, the unfortunate hitman from the HBO series he starred in between 2018 and 2023. After all, as one line in the film puts it, "Childhood is messy."

This idea forms the basis of the adventure, which transforms the book's 60 pages into a colourful 107-minute animated film filled with funny jokes (including plenty for adults) and lovable, mischievous characters.

Gabby and her younger brother Sebastian have just moved to a new city. While their mother is at work, they find themselves alone in an unfamiliar house, surrounded by unpacked boxes and longing for their old life.

That's when the Cat appears through a tiny hole in the wall. He works for an organisation dedicated to spreading imagination and happiness, and his mission is to lift the children's spirits. It is his last chance to save his job and, along with it, his magical hat.

"Even in the original book, he seems like an agent of chaos," Carloni explains. "But when he leaves, the children are more confident. What if he's not just an unpredictable clown, but someone who understands what every child needs?"

Gabby and Sebastian join him on a journey through the boxes containing fragments of their former lives. Along the way, they learn "to appreciate the present, the place and the moment they're living in," Rivinoja tells ANSA.

"Too many people are obsessed with the past or with what might happen in the future. It's an exhausting way to live. We felt it was particularly important, especially today, to encourage people to focus on what they have here and now: family, loved ones, their talents and everything around them.

"Living in the present is essential, and the Cat in the Hat helps us do that. He teaches us to find ways to have fun even when we're stuck at home, it's raining outside and we're bored."

Photo: Instagram/catinthehatmovie.net