The Cat In The Hat

Plot/Cast/Notes

Plot:

Discover a brand-new, lively, fully-animated, whimsical, and all-around-modern take on Dr. Seuss's iconic tale that's all about one familiar feline: The Cat In The Hat himself!

At The Organization Of Fun in Seussville, The Cat In The Hat is one of the star employees there. Beloved by his fellow coworkers Sam-I-Am, Guy-Am-I, Gluntz, and even The Grinch, they all love working with Cat, helping to spread fun and cheer kids up.

But one day, after many assignments have all gone off without a hitch, Mr. Spizzlefloof, Horton T. Elephant and Ms. Sour Kangaroo (the Cat's bosses) give Cat his biggest one yet: travel to New Smizzleton and cheer up a pair of "uncheerable" kids named Matt and Billie Cruxton, who are stuck at home on a rainy day.

The only downside? If he and his Things fail, they will all be fired and Cat will forever lose his magical hat!

Known for taking things a little too far, Cat accepts, and he heads to Smizzleton by way of his hat. But after missing the landing, a BUMP! hits the house. It isn't long until Cat's stepping in, ready to show the kids some tricks (as per the classic Dr. Seuss book)! But once a balancing act The Cat calls "Up, Up, Up With A Fish!" goes horribly wrong, Ned (Matt and Billie's talking pet fish) angrily wants the Cat out of the house!

But then it isn't until Cat gets out a big red wood box shut with a hook that things start to get interesting. Once Cat opens the box to reveal Thingly P. (Thing 1) and Miss Thang (Thing 2), they promise to Cat, the kids, and Ned that they won't mess anything up.

And thus, with the two flying kites, bouncing on the couch, and even throwing a movie night together, The Cat ensures Matt, Billie, and Ned that all this madness the Things are getting up to is exactly what he wants to happen...

But once the Things look out the window and discover what the world has in store, they rush out to explore it all! It's now up to The Cat, Matt, Billie, and Ned as they must go on a wild journey through town to find Thingly P. and Ms. Thang, and (hopefully) clean the house up—all before Gia (Matt and Billie's mom) gets home!

But as everyone explores New Smizzleton in pursuit of the Things, questions arise: Do the Things want to not be stuck in the Cat's box anymore and just be with him? Is The Cat really to be trusted? Will the kids let loose and become all cheered up again? And strangest of all, can The Cat at least learn SOMETHING from this whole adventure?

Only in theaters in RealD 3D, IMAX, Dolby Cinema, and 4DX February 27th!

Cast:
Tom Kane as The Cat In The Hat
Rhys Darby as Ned The Fish
Jacob Tremblay as Matt Cruxton
Amy Sedaris as Billie Cruxton
Tom Kenny as Thingly P. Thing (Thing 1)
Tara Strong as Ms. Thang (Thing 2)
Alex Winter as Mr. Spizzlefloof
Luke Combs as Sheriff Thing (Thing 3)
Maya Hawke as Shy Thing (Thing 4)
Richard Ayoade as Deadpan Thing (Thing 5)
Keith David as Horton The Elephant
Jane Lynch as Sour Kangroo
Adam Devine as Sam-I-Am
Michael Douglas as Guy-Am-I
Jillian Bell as Gluntz
Ving Rhames as The Grinch
Emily Blunt as Ms. Lorax
Gilbert Gottfried as Fox In Socks
Hynden Watch as Ms. Knox
Nika Futterman as Gia Cruxton, Matt and Billie's mom.
Kevan Brighting (the voice of the narrator from the hit game, The Stanley Parable) as Narrator

Notes:
The film expands on The Cat's story established by the book, and gives him a job, friends, and even a main goal for cheering the two kids up as opposed to the classic book in which he cheered them up just so they would have something fun to do on a rainy day.
The Cat's friends are basically Suess characters from the original books, with The Grinch and Max being from How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Fox In Socks and Ms. Knox from Fox In Socks, and The Lorax being from The Lorax.
The only half-exception to this is Sam-I-Am, Guy-Am-I, and Gluntz, with them all being from the animated Netflix series adaptation of the book Green Eggs And Ham.
The Things here are way more fleshed out than they are in the 2003 film or even in the book itself. The two have big personalities (fancy brother, Southern sister) that are larger than life, they're twins, and they love and care for each other in their own ways.
And although they do have fun and get up to a lot of chaos, they don't go too far to the point where it's borderline psychotic; they make sure to limit it down a notch.
Matt and Billie are basically Nick and Sally from the book, but (just like the Things) they too are more fleshed out. Both of them are very excitable kids with different interests: for Matt, it's living out life to the fullest (and funnest!); for Billie, it's constructing quirky homemade gadgets and gizmos that never really seem to do anything (unless she imagines they do!).
Once their mom Gia leaves for a business trip, these two twin siblings end up bored out of their minds and sit and laze around the house...that is, until the Cat comes to play.
The kids soon find a little of themselves in the Things once they meet them, and (at least before the Things head out the house) they really start to bond with them, becoming fast friends.
Despite The Cat reassuring Matt, Billie, and Ned that all that the Things are doing is supposed to happen, he's actually right. Because once they get home, The Cat's already prepared his cleaning machine for the job: the Super-Messy-Eraser-of-Anarchic-Resources (SMEAR for short).
This Cat In The Hat (compared to the other versions) doesn't just rely on his magical hat for things as he's very skilled in building wacky inventions like the SMEAR (Super-Messy-Eraser-of-Anarchic-Resources) when he cleans up the house, and the LOCK (Lazed-Out-Omnimoving-Couch-with-Kinks) for his new family to test-run with him at the end.
The film introduces three more Things: Sheriff, Shy, and Deadpan, who all are looking for Thingly P. and Ms. Thang.
The end of the story has the Things not go back in the box at all as The Cat finally views them not just as sidekicks, but as a real family to him.
The very end of the film takes us to just "a few months later", with New Smizzleton now fused with Seussville as a new status quo has been made.