Bill Hader's Cat in the Hat Is a Very Different Cat From His SNL One
Bill Hader has played the Cat in the Hat before, but he says the animated version is a very different creature. In a 2014 Saturday Night Live sketch, Hader played a more adult take on the character. At the film's Los Angeles premiere, he told The Hollywood Reporter that his sketch was "a much different version" than the family-friendly film.
The new movie, The Cat in the Hat, is the first full-length feature from Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. It is based on Dr. Seuss's 1957 children's book, and Warner Bros. describes its Cat as spreading joy to kids in a hilarious, irreverent way. Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni wrote and directed the film.
The book's story fills only the first few minutes of the movie, according to Rivinoja. The rest of the film follows where the Cat goes next. That gives the filmmakers room to build a longer story around a character who, in the book, mostly turns up for one rainy afternoon.
Hader also said he did not draw on Mike Myers's 2003 live-action version of the character. He said he had never seen it. Hader's performance, then, grew from the animated script rather than from any earlier Cat.
The voice cast also includes Quinta Brunson, America Ferrera, Matt Berry, Bowen Yang, Xochitl Gomez, Giancarlo Esposito and Tituss Burgess. Hader said recording was tiring work. He needed a nap after every session.
The release date has moved before. The Hollywood Reporter reported in 2024 that the film was first set for March 2026. The studio's official film site now lists a release in theatres and IMAX across North America on November 6, 2026, which is eleven days after this article was published.
For families planning a weekend out, that makes the film one of the first big animated titles of the late autumn season. Anyone looking for a trailer can find one that Hader presents, which Warner Bros. released earlier in the campaign.
