2003’s Cat in the Hat should it stay a hated film or a misunderstood masterpiece like many other films after it?

There is always a high percentage of films that come off as misunderstood “out in the wrong era”. Screenwriter Diablo Cody’s film “Jennifer’s Body” and Harmony Korine’s film “Spring Breakers” are both films that fall into those categories. One film that should join that category is the actor Mike Myers comedy “The Cat in the Hat.” The film is based on a popular children’s author Dr. Seuss’s book of the same title, and the screenplay was written by three writers who wrote for the Emmy award-winning series “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Its November 2003 release was bombarded with disdain from critics and viewers. Popular entertainment critic Robert Ebert said in his review of the film “all effects and stunts and CGI and prosthetics, with no room for lightness and joy.” Rewatching the film more than twenty years later, “The Cat in the Hat” is really a misunderstood piece of art that does have lightness and joy.

The year 2003 teen actress Lindsay Lohan became the Disney idol of that year, reality competition shows were being popped out by every television network, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger became the governor of California, and low-rise jeans were the biggest item in fashion. The film was released during a time when the majority of people couldn’t handle all the insaneness going on not only that the film premiered way before the rise of raunchy comedies.

“The Cat in the Hat” follows an English talking cat (acted by Mike Myers) trying to change two siblings Sally and Conrad (played by Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin) personalities on a rainy boring day in their fictional town Anville while their mom (played by the late Kelly Preston) is out working and their babysitter falls asleep. Following the success of his Academy Award animated film “Shrek” and his box office hit films the“Austin Power” trilogy. Mike Myers does a brilliant job, of making the character his own with keeping with the positive energy, and never losing it. Everyone else in the film stands out on their own in a film where the starting title is a cat.

The acting isn’t the only part of the film that is enjoyable. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki makes the audience not want to take their eyes off the screen with rainbow colors being used throughout the film. Every color of the rainbow is spotted on the character’s clothing and the settings; Lubezki does a masterful job setting the film apart from previous live-action children’s films. The colors made the production company “A24” noticed and delightful when they started making films in 2012. The success of the production company’s films could be one of the reasons the audience had a change of heart about the Universal Dreamworks 2003 picture (more on that later).

The dialogue and style are used in flashy ways as well in “The Cat in the Hat” viewers can tell the characters apart from their style before they even speak. In particular the siblings Sally and Conrad. Conrad wears orange throughout the film to show the audience he is the vibrant one out of him and his sister. Sally wears purple and green to show she is always calm and doesn’t accept change. The dialogue matches the style of the film with 90% of adult humor being used. One of the scenes is the cat hiding in his fur a framed picture of the children’s mom while romantic instrumental music plays. Letting the adult audience know he’s going to masturbate to the photo later. The dialogue coordinates with the insanity of everything else in the film such as the style design and cinematography. Everything in the film being unexpected, laughable, and ahead of his time with rainbow cinematography makes it an enjoyable piece of art.

The film is another score “Rotten Tomatoes” (a critic website) got wrong, it doesn’t deserve a score of nine out of a hundred. Reading people’s tweets on the social media site “X” (which used to be called “Twitter”) about the film and the film being most watched on the streaming movies and TV app “Netflix” in 2020 and 2021. Many people like me have agreed the film is an underrated classic that should be seen as a comfort film. @miscamiski an “X” user tweeted in 2018 that the film “The Cat in The Hat is a cinematic masterpiece. Michael Myers portrayal of the cat has shaped a generation’s sense of humor. There’s moral lessons, problem-solving, and dark humor. Is it in my top ten movies? Most definitely. If you disagree?” @Evalunartt another “X” tweeted about the film as well in 2020 saying “I know no one asked but my comfort movie is The Cat in the Hat it’s just full of nostalgia and color I love it so much.”

The 2003 classic premiered when most people weren’t ready for bold and outlandish when it came to anything. One sign of that is the mistreatment of pop singer Britney Spears in the early 2000s for embracing being unique and not caring about being a role model for children. In 2003 (the year the film was hated and released) former first lady of Maryland said in an audio getting asked about the singer being a role model for children she said “Really if I had an opportunity to shoot Britney Spears, I think I would.” The majority wanted to shut down and turn their eyes off to new and daring.

“The Cat in the Hat” is ahead of its time by showing how every color tells a story and being a little rebellious isn’t a terrible thing. The Universal Picture was courageous when at a time it wasn’t accepted. As another “X” user (who goes by the username @ChromeHeartsHat) tweeted about the film in 2020 “Before A24, we had Cat in the Hat (2003).” Looking back on the live-action picture it made people give being unique another chance and show the difference in filmmaking. Growing up in the early 2000s watching it as a kid and now being twenty-one today, my opinion about the film has never changed. The Mike Myers classic is a misunderstood piece of art. The director of the “A24” Oscar-winning picture “Moonlight” said about movies “Yeah, they don’t need to know what it’s about. They just need to know how it feels.” (found in the article from Frame.io Insider called “A24’s Not-So-Secret Recipe for Success”) That’s the way people should about the 2003 Universal film.

behind the scenes of the 2003 film “The Cat in the Hat” from https://amblin.com/