"The Cat in the Hat" is a half-hour television special from 45 years ago and it was written by the famous Dr. Seuss and directed by Hawley Pratt who has been one of Warner Bros' most prolific filmmakers in earlier decades. Anyway, there is some fun during this movie. It makes totally sense that a fish (the voice of reason) is not too amused by a cat stranger entering the house, but all he really wants is spending a fun time with the children. After it looks like the cat is thrown out quickly, the cat returns equally quickly and stays for the rest of the movie. Lots of music, lots of jokes, lots of wordplays and lots of general weirdness. But all of this cannot make up for the lack of a story in this one. I found something pretty creepy about these two children actually. From Dr. Seuss' works (and Pratt's directions), I absolutely prefer the Lorax to this one here, because that one actually has a story and a great message. Pretty surprised that "The Cat in the Hat" is so famous. The two Things were actually two very bad characters that made me think that the filmmakers behind this just didn't know what to include anymore to achieve the runtime they had agreed on. I wouldn't recommend watching it. Don't know about the live action version with Mike Myers which got so terrible reviews all along, but somehow I cannot imagine it to be worse than this 1971 original.

I love Dr Seuss's stories, they are just so witty, fun and charming, and Cat in the Hat is quite possibly my favourite of them all. When I was a kid, this was the story I quoted most, and to this day I still find myself reciting the "green eggs and ham" bit. Anyway, being a huge fan of the 1966 animated Christmas classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, I looked forward to Cat in the Hat, and prayed it would be better than the live action film with Mike Myers, which I found absolutely awful.And guess what, it is infinitely better. Whereas the Mike Myers version replaced the wit and charm of the story with vulgar, unfunny and somewhat inappropriate toilet humour, this remained true to the playful spirit of the story, and it was fun and charming as a result. Plus it has everything going for it, whereas the Mike Myers film had only the colourful sets and Dakota Fanning as its sole saving graces. Anyway I am not going to compare anymore, in my eyes this is the only Cat in the Hat version, though I have yet to see The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat. Is there any comparisons to the 1966 version of the Grinch? Well, I can only say this, both of them are timeless classics so I cannot choose which is better; if I had a marginal preference probably the Grinch because I am more familiar with it.The rest of the review is going to detail why I loved this version of The Cat in the Hat so much. The animation is terrific, bright, vibrant and colourful, and all the characters are drawn really well. I also loved the music, the incidental music is delightful enough but the songs are surprisingly catchy, upbeat and memorable. The dialogue still maintains the wit and charm of the story, and is very funny, the jokes are really clever and sophisticated, and the Cat himself is a revelation of a title character, really mischievous and charismatic. The fish is a really funny character as well, his dialogue is hilarious, and the children weren't bratty but appealing, a major plus in my book.The story is still intact, and has many memorable scenes, especially the language lesson. I loved how faithful this was too, I am not a person who says a film/adaptation has to be word from word, as long as it keeps to the spirit of the book/story, something the live action version didn't but this version did. The special is quite short at 30 minutes or so, but it moves very quickly and doesn't in any way feel draggy or rushed. The voice work is spot on, Allan Sherman is perfect as the Cat, and Daws Butler is a riot as the fish. Overall, classic Dr Seuss, and just perfect. 10/10 Bethany Cox

The talent in this is Allan Sherman who did the kids song "Hello Mother, Hello Father, Here I am at Camp Grenada" besides this.To me, the book reads better than this animated effort. I do like some of the sequences here, but I found that reading this book to my kids was more satisfying than watching this animated special. Still, the story is so good that it makes this one very watchable.Dr Seuss is a great kids author who is ahead of his time. His stories really are imaginative and still hold up for the young kids. This special is yet another example of his talents. While I like the Grinch & The Lorax better, this one is almost as good.

Two kids are left alone at home on a dismal rainy day when their mother goes out shopping for groceries. The mischievous, yet charismatic and interesting the Cat in the Hat (marvelously voiced with infectiously hearty gusto by jolly musical comedian Allan Sherman) pays the children a surprise visit. The Cat in the Hat turns the house topsy turvy searching for his missing moss-covered three-handled family gredunza. Based on the classic best-selling Dr. Seuss book, this lively and hilarious 25-minute television special possesses a cheerful sense of playful anarchy that's a true off-the-wall joy to watch as the impishly troublesome titular feline happily disrupts the drab tranquility of comfy suburbia. Moreover, Dr. Seuss' uncanny knack for extremely loopy wordplay is in typically fresh and inventive form here. The songs are very catchy and witty, with the merry and stirring "Calculatus Eliminatos" rating as the best and most enjoyable of the bunch. Of course, it certainly helps that Sherman belts out said songs with tremendous lip-smacking brio. Veteran voice actor Daws Butler is likewise in excellent form as the uptight and disapproving Mr. Krinklebein the fish. Pamelyn Ferdin and Tony Frazier are appealing as the kids. The Cat in the Hat's even more raucous and destructive partners Thing 1 and Thing 2 are memorably crazy little hell-raisers. The animation is bright, vibrant and colorful. But it's the deliciously devilish main character who makes this show such an absolute breath of uproariously rowdy and irreverent air; he's a blithely rash and impudent bundle of gloriously giddy id-run-amok kooky energy who's downright endearing in his exuberant zaniness. A complete riot.