Product Details

• Actors: Mike Myers, Kelly Preston, Alec Baldwin, Dakota Fanning, Spencer Breslin
• Directors: Bo Welch
• Writers: Alec Berg, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer
• Producers: Brian Grazer
• Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Live, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: Spanish, French
• Dubbed: Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: March 16, 2004
• Run Time: 82 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (330 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005JM7T
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,393 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Dr. Seuss' The Cat In The Hat (Widescreen Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Cat in the Hat is a marketing ploy disguised as a wildly designed movie for hyperactive 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 convinces young Sally (Dakota Fanning) and Conrad (Spencer Breslin) to wreak havoc in the home their mother (Kelly Preston) has neatly prepared for an upcoming party. It's all in the name of fun, and while Seuss's classic rhymes are relegated to voice-over narration, director Bo Welch capitalizes on his background as one of Hollywood's most gifted production designers (with credits including Edward Scissorhands and Men in Black), turning the Seussian town of "Anville" into a playful pastiche of pastels. As played by Mike Myers under layers of fur and latex, Dr. Seuss's mischievous Cat is mayhem personified, and the movie suffers from his anything-goes approach to getting a laugh. And though Myers delivers a few laughs while channeling voices from his own comedic repertoire (including "Coffee Talk" maven Linda Richman), a little of this Cat goes a long way, and he nearly wears out his welcome. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

Dr. Seuss' mischievous cat is brought to life on the big screen. When two kids are stuck at home on a rainy, dreary day with nothing to do, they get an unexpected visitor. The cat in the hat breaks all the rules of the house and wreaks havoc everywhere he goes, but he shows the kids how to let loose and enjoy life.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 107 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars No, really, it's terrible. December 2, 2003

By Benjamin

Someone wrote a review previously that said parents who were bashing this thing that dares to call itself DR. SEUSS' THE CAT IN THE HAT had forgotten that the primary reason for its existence was to entertain children. They wrote that their children's laughter was the most important thing to remember when sitting through this horrible piece of dreck.

Visually, this film is interesting in the same way an acid dream would be. The actors are a group of talented people. But, in case you didn't notice it when you were watching the film or have had the good fortune not to see it yet, the jokes are lewd and inappropriate; the story was bloated unnecessarily. The movie exists for no reason except to make money. It was not done in the spirit of the original book. It was not done because someone found an appropriate or inspired approach to the material. (In fact, the film is boring, insipid, confusing and, for no reason at all, includes jokes about lawyers and insurance - jokes that I hope were lost on children.)

The book is simple, entertaining, brief and to-the-point. It makes reading fun, and it encourages children and beginning readers to embrace a practice that will enrich their minds. This film does none of that. It's not even funny.

Mike Myers would be better used in something else. Alec Baldwin really needs to find better projects than this. Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin are talented young actors who deserve better material, rather than having to create characters stuck in the middle of a mindless special-effects extravaganza.

THE CAT IN THE HAT, if there was any justice, should make no money in the theaters. (Unfortunately, though, it has.) But a lot of people who've seen it hate the film. Hate it. Hate hate hate hate hate it.

Take that as a warning.

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars A GIGANTIC HAIRBALL! February 19, 2004

By D. McAllister

Format:DVD

The sun's still not shining and it's too wet to play.
So don't think this movie will help save the day.
What a mess! What a shame that's it's come down to this,
A gigantic hairball! A huge movie miss!

I thought for a moment it was Powers in drag.
Though not in a dress. In a cat suitish bag!
Or maybe a remake of THE WIZARD OF OZ?
The Cowardly Lion in kitty cat paws?

No! No! It's just rubbish, the worst of the sort!
To take a great classic and its story abort.
And replace it with nonsense that just doesn't fly.
If Seuss were still here I am sure he would die.
His story, his concepts all blasted...oh well,
Into small smithereens. It won't work. It won't sell!

I guess that some think that they'll just tag the title
To a movie so bad that it's up in the nightle!
Oh, yes, they made money but in the end, it is true,
They just couldn't fool us, not me and not you!

Just read the book to the kiddies, indeed.
Just watch the cartoons that this movie exceed.
Just forget about this one and hope there won't be
More movies like this that we won't have to see.

THE HORSEMAN

48 of 57 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars This is not "The Cat in the Hat" December 4, 2003

By A Customer

I had heard some negative things about this movie but out of curiosity I decided to go see it. I figured that most of it was over blown. I am thankful that I didn't take any children to it. This movie is not appropriate for children. It is disrespectful to the spirit of "The Cat in the Hat" and all fine children's books. The humor is in the poorest taste. There is nothing funny about hepatitis. I now see why I was the only one in the theater.