DR.SEUSS THE CAT IN THE HAT 1971 CARTOON

During my first year of being a critic, I reviewed "The Cat In The Hat" starring Mike Myers and while I panned the film, I did enjoy the special effects, set designs and Mike Myers as the Cat despite not being child friendly. However, as you get older some things don't hold up as well as you remember them. There are indeed a few films that I watched as a kid that don't hold up and "The Cat In The Hat" starring Mike Myers is one of them.



One of the things that opened my eyes was Doug Walker's review of the film as the "Nostalgia Critic", which did make me think more differently of the film than I ever did. That speech he makes; his defenses and examples on how Dr. Seuss' work is being torn apart; and his characters Peter Soulless the greedy Hollywood Executive and the devil's innocent daughter (Who reminded me of me when I was a kid watching it); really helped show how horrible, mean and disrespectful the film truly is. It's also one of his best reviews!



I also looked deep within myself and looked back at the many things that were wrong with the film as well as taking a closer look at the things I praised to see if they alone really hold up. First off, my parents disliked this film even when it first came out, and growing up and even when writing the review of the film, I can understand why. When I read my criticisms and thoughts about the film, I found plenty to hate from the film. It was mean, it was gross, it was scary, it was perverted, it was offensive, it was forced, it was corny and had everything that can go wrong with a kids film and most of it had to do with the Cat. Yeah, I laughed at Mike Myers's adult humor despite knowing that his portrayal of the Cat is out of place and completely not kid oriented; in fact, as a kid, I was quoting a lot of lines from his performance in this film, which I actually feel ashamed of now when I think about it and look at the film now. Comparing Mike Myers to his SNL performances, some of his films and most of all his voice acting in the kids films "Shrek" where he perfectly balanced out the humor for kids and adults and made the character more likable, fun and innocent than a total spazz; this is actually nowhere near as good as any of those performances. It's not all Myer's fault either, it's the writing and dialogue they gave him. How can you picture the Cat cursing; how can you picture a Dr. Seuss film with more sexual innuendos and perverted humor than "The Grinch" with Jim Carrey; how do you expect to laugh at most of the gross jokes being thrown at you; it honestly doesn't hold up!



Oh yeah, I did praise the special effects and set designs by the director Bo Welch, but that doesn't hold up either, when you think about it, it actually feels like an expensive set that the writers of the "Movie" films can afford as well as looking like the Seuss theme park attraction at Universal Studios. It's not groundbreaking, it's not jaw dropping, and comparing it to Welch's other works and Dr. Seuss's works in literature and film, it's not all that creative. I also praised the kid actors in the film and they don't hold up either, in fact, they're actually pretty dull, which is sad since they're played by decent kid actors.

The numero ono reason why the film doesn't hold up is because I ran into what I like to call the REAL film adaptation of this classic and iconic Seuss story that I haven't seen since childhood which is the 1971 cartoon...



As you may have guessed, it follows the classic story more closely than the Myers film. Two kids are left home alone by their Mother (Not really good parenting if you ask me, but it follows the story, it's a fantasy, and plus it's better than having a stereotypical offensive Asian babysitter) during a rainy day with nothing to do. However, the Cat In The Hat walks in and shows them how to have fun by breaking a few rules and mess up the house, while a talking fish tries to stop their fun. That's pretty much your plot; no outside activities, no mother of all messes, no forced conflict between Mother and messy son with a control freak sister, and NO ALEC BALDWIN NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR!



The Cat is voiced by Allan Sherman, who I like to call the original Weird Al of the time. His performance as the Cat is just how we know and love the Cat. He's fun, he's humble, he's lovable, he's smart, and above all he's not over the top or gets you to the point where you're so annoyed that you want him out of the house so the cartoon can end soon. He can also rhyme unlike the Myers Cat who can't. His humor is also fun too, and yes he doesn't play on the adult level, although there are a few jokes I did catch that I didn't pick up as a kid. For example, when the kids reluctantly tell him to leave, he's sad and says he's going to Siberia and as a small kid I didn't know what that place was. I also love how he fools the kids into playing games by making up a ruse about his missing "moss-covered three-handled family gradunza" which is revealed to be that vehicle he uses to clean the house at the end. As for the supporting characters, they're all perfect. The kids while not having any specific character to them (As if the Myers film succeeded with that) they're still fun, likable and innocent. His Two Things, my god are they more enjoyable and fun than creepy, annoying and obnoxious and plus one of them is voiced by the great Thurl Ravenscroft! And you finally have the talking Fish, voiced by Daws Butler, who is another great voice actor. He's so funny, and yet so strict, but yet so likable that you just have to enjoy this character from beginning to end, and the rivalry between him and the Cat is a lot of fun.



The songs surprisingly still hold up as well as it did when I was a kid. At times these songs don't really feel needed, but they're still catchy and a lot of fun. You have the opening song "Nothing To Be Done" that sets up the tone and feel of the cartoon while the fish looks around at the toys that they could play with. You have two of the Cats playfully sad and dramatic songs. One is him singing about his lost  "moss-covered three-handled family gradunza" which is sung beautifully; while the other one is him comically insulting himself. Then there's the lullaby he sings to fish which is a parody on "Beautiful Dreamer" which is both fun and very settling. There's also "Anything Under The Sun" sung by The Cat and his Things which is a really fun song that I find myself constantly enjoying from beginning to end. You'll also learn Dr.Seuss's method of process of elimination called "Calculatus Eliminatus" which by the way, Seuss wrote all the songs for this cartoon. The closing song as the Cat cleans the house called "Sweep Up All The Memories" is really beautiful and does indeed close the cartoon on a perfect note. My favorite song is "Cat, Hat" which is a fun song about learning "Cat In The Hat" in different languages. They sing "Cat In The Hat" in Russian wrong, but it's still funny as heck. As for the score, it's perfect and does bring an authentic Dr.Seuss feel.

 

The Animation is done by Chuck Jones (Who also did the animation for the classic Seuss cartoon "How The Grinch Stole Christmas") and just as you imagine, it's nice. It's colorful, it's creative, it's fun and looks like watching a Seuss book come to life before our very eyes. The film has plenty of funny moments for kids to enjoy; my personal favorite scene is when the fish tries to call, the FBI to report the Cat In The Hat. Just the idea of that moment is so funny and yet so odd that it actually works well in this cartoon. The moral about rule breaking being ok as long as not taking it to to far works just as well in the cartoon as it does in the story and is more focused on it here than it is in the Myers film; maybe if it didn't have all those forced in extra morals it wouldn't be that bad. I guess if there's one or two nitpicks I had with this cartoon is I did wish to see The Cat balance the fish with all the other objects he balances instead of using bubbles to balance the fish but in the context of the cartoon it's still funny. I also get confused on who's voicing the Things since they change the voice actors occasionally which I did indeed spot as a kid. With that aside, it's still a great adaptation to a timeless story.

You know when you spend time with a friend and you have so much fun that you don't want it to end, but when it does end you feel sad, but feel satisfied and happy that you had such a great time; well that's what I feel like when watching this cartoon. It feels like being a kid again and it does indeed hold up better than what Bo Welch tried to bring to the big screen. The moral is focused really well here, the characters are cute, the songs are catchy and the animation is great. Yeah, I guess at times you do feel some filler moments, but with that said, it still works within the context of the story and doesn't feel out of place. I'm glad I saw it again and watching this cartoon, seeing Doug's review, rereading my review, and thinking back to the Myers film makes me realize that the Myers film is complete CRAP!

RE-RATING FOR THE MYERS FILM

0/5

RATING FOR THE CARTOON

5/5

As for Mike Myers, don't worry, I'm planing on doing a favorite list of when he was in his prime.