Animated 'The Cat in the Hat' Opens Friday, 6 November, With Bill Hader as the Cat
The animated The Cat in the Hat opens in cinemas this Friday, 6 November, and critics have already had their first look. The Hollywood Reporter published its review on Tuesday, 3 November, and lists the film as rated PG with a running time of 1 hour 47 minutes. Deadline published its own review the same day.
Bill Hader voices the title character, the Cat. He is also an executive producer on the film. The voice cast is built around a group of recognisable names. Matt Berry voices the Cat's pet goldfish, Waffles. Quinta Brunson plays Sherri, the Cat's friend who works as an HR director, and Giancarlo Esposito voices Mr. Hoogeboom, the Cat's boss. Bowen Yang voices an intern named Gary, and Paula Pell voices a strict landlady called Patty, according to Deadline.
The story also follows a family. Xochitl Gomez and Tiago Martinez voice siblings Gabby and Sebastian. America Ferrera voices their mother, Carmen, a nurse. In the film, the Cat works for a workplace called the Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration. Warner Bros. describes the Cat as a character who spreads joy to kids in its own irreverent way, in its official movie page.
Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Corloni are credited as the directors and screenwriters. Ryan Gaffney, who was head of story on the film, voices a character called Pig In A Wig. Deadline reports that The Cat in the Hat is the first feature from Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, a newly created division run by Bill Damaschke.
The film comes from a long-running book. Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat was first published in 1957. The only earlier cinematic version was a 2003 live-action film starring Mike Myers, which received 10 Razzie nominations, the awards that single out the year's worst films. Deadline notes that history in its review.
The release has already moved once. The Hollywood Reporter first reported in March 2024 that the animated film was set for March 6, 2026. It now opens on 6 November, which puts it in the autumn stretch of the calendar, when families look for films to see before the holiday season.
Hader has also talked about the character outside the film. In late October, The Hollywood Reporter reported that he said his earlier version of the Cat, from his time on Saturday Night Live, was a much different take from this family-friendly film.
For parents weighing a trip to the cinema, Common Sense Media lists action, some peril, mild language and rude humour among the content it flags.
