Dr. Seuss is an iconic author, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't heard that name, let alone who hasn't read at least a handful of his books. There's obviously 1957's The Cat in the Hat, 1960's Green Eggs and Ham, 1971's The Lorax, 1990's Oh, the Places You'll Go!, and so many more.
One could pretty easily argue that The Cat in the Hat is Dr. Seuss' most iconic book, having been made into other forms of media, including more than a handful of animated movies and shows. But in 2003 came the live-action adaptation with Mike Myers that really put The Cat in the spotlight. Unfortunately, the movie did not go over well, and the world hasn't seen a movie adaptation since—until now.
Now, Warner Bros. Animation is giving the world an absolutely delightful and joyful film, The Cat in the Hat, that truly does justice to the world and characters Dr. Seuss created. The Cat in the Hat stars Bill Hader as the titular character, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' Xochitl Gomez as Gabby, Quinta Brunson as Sherri from HR, America Ferrera as Carmen, Matt Berry as Waffles the Fish, and more.
The Direct sat down with The Cat in the Hat director and writers Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni to discuss why this movie was the perfect next step for the series after twenty-three years, and why, despite Dr. Seuss being known for his constant rhyming, they never let their movie get lost down that rabbit hole.
'The Cat In the Hat' Doesn't Get Lost in the Rhyming
They Wanted Improv, and "Rhyming's Hard to Write... And It's Not That Fun..."
- The Direct: "You mentioned rhyming, which is one thing I wanted to ask [about]. Obviously, rhyming is a big thing for Dr. Seuss. That's what he's known for. But this film doesn't have nearly as much rhyming as one might think. And I think it's a perfect balance, and it never gets carried away with the rhyming. Can you talk about that balance and why you chose to land where you did?"
Alessandro Carloni: Well, one of the reasons we wanted to make sure when you get to working with people like Paul Appel, Bill Hader, and other brilliant comedians like Quinta Brunson is that we wanted to encourage them to improvise. And so, if you choose to do something, everything through rhyming, you're cutting your legs off for that. You can't get that improvisation...
The solution they found was that "anything that comes from that institution [where the Cat works] is in rhyme," and then everything in the real world and real communication "reverts to regular spoken language."
Carolini:.. So, we came up with a solution where the Cat, you know, of course, we reveal that this is the cat-enhanced job. It works in a place with many colleagues who do this for a living, entertaining kids on rainy days. So anything that comes from that institution is in rhyme. So when the cat introduces himself to the kids, he does it in rhyming. When they look at old case files, it's all rhyming. But the moment you enter the real world and real communication, it reverts to regular spoken language.
Erica Rivinoia: Yeah, and rhyming is hard to write. I'm just gonna say it, and it's not that fun to write. So that was another reason.
Why This Animated Cat In the Hat Was the Answer 23 Years Later
"Cat in the Hat Is Perfect For What We Need Right Now..."
- The Direct: "The first Cat in the Hat movie that we've seen any time recently was a live-action 2003 film. So 23 years later, why is this movie in this animated form the right way to reintroduce the world to this character?"
Erica Rivinoia: Well, I think that Dr. Seuss, in general, really lends itself to animation because he was such an iconic artist and had such a specific style, and I think that the Cat in the Hat is perfect for what we need right now, which is sort of to remind us that, you know, there is fun to be had. Sometimes the world seems a little daunting right now, and he just reminds us that, okay, there's fun. Chaos is good. Mess is good. Let's just have a good time.
Our entire conversation with the directors and writers of The Cat in the Hat can be enjoyed below.
