The Cat in the Hat: The Book & The Movie

The Cat in the Hat

Book By: Dr. Suess, 1957

Movie By: Universal Studios, 2003

When Universal Studios decided to take on a project like The Cat in the Hat I'm sure they were well aware of the danger they were facing at touching such a classic tale. I think that they did an excellent job. The movie equally matches the nonsense and humor that the book entails, plus much more.

The movie, like most remakes, introduced new characters and enhanced story lines that were not in the original book. In the version by Dr. Suess, the book tells about a young boy and his sister Sally who are left at home one rainy day while their mother goes out. Sally and her brother find themselves being entertained by an adventurous cat who single handed destroys their house and upsets their fish. Then the cat brings in two wild friends that cause more havoc by flying kites through the house which causes lots more mess.

In the movie, Sally and Conrad are total opposites. Sally is a strict rule follower and Conrad is a rule breaker. Joan, is their single mom, who is working in real-estate. In the movie, Joan is planning to host a real-estate event at her house in the evening and she has to leave Sally and Conrad at home while she is at work preparing for the event. Unlike the book, the movie version introduces a babysitter that stays with the kids to watch them; however, she sleeps the whole time. There is also the introduction of Lawrence who plays Joan's love interest. Lawrence does not care for the kids and plans to encourage Joan to send Conrad off to military school. Throughout the movie, the Cat in the Hat and the children find themselves in the same silly adventures such as juggling household items to playing with Thing 1 and Thing 2. In the movie, the crate in which Thing 1 and Thing 2 arrived in releases a magical world that takes over the house. The movie is a much wilder ride than the book, which leaves the audience worrying to the last minute that the Cat won't be able to get things back in order in time for Joan's big event.

Both the movie and the book are wonderful adventures. I have found that picture books that are remade tend to have more new things added to them, such as characters and events, than chapter books. I can understand that it would take a lot more to make a film though than it would a book, so it isn't any wonder that film companies have to add a lot of padding to shorter books like The Cat in the Hat. Either way, I was impressed at the key components that were carried over from the book to the film, and I felt that the added parts went well with the original storyline.