The Cat in the Hat (2026)

3D Movie Review

Written By: Jacob Scarberry

3D

It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a new Dr. Seuss film in theaters, with Illumination’s 2018 The Grinch being the last one. So, is this new Cat in the Hat 3D experience worth your while? For the most part, yes. The Cat in the Hat (2026) is a pretty good 3D presentation throughout.

The film’s stylized art direction does put some limitations on the 3D presentation. The character designs often have a flatter, almost 2D appearance, which makes some of the pop-out effects less impressive than they could have been. The titular character suffers the most from this flatter look. Fortunately, the environments are a different story, with plenty of depth and dimension to make the world feel more immersive.

There are plenty of scenes where pop-outs occur frequently, with body parts, water, and particles layered consistently. Even the occasional lens flare looks great in 3D, but the depth is the real star. Shots of sliding down tubes, scenes in the moving boxes, and the offices of the Institute of Institute and Imagination, LLC, feel fully realized in 3D.

I wish the film had more pop-outs, but other than that, The Cat in the Hat (2026) is a solid time in the third dimension.

Final 3D Score: 7/10

Movie

Dr. Seuss has given us some beloved children’s books over the years, along with a handful of memorable TV specials and some rather questionable big-screen adaptations. Most of the feature films have struggled to capture the magic of the original books. Now Warner Bros. is taking another swing at the franchise with yet another adaptation of The Cat in the Hat. Because apparently, we needed another one (now animated).

The plot of The Cat in the Hat (2026) revolves around the Institute and Imagination, LLC. The company wants to make children happy (how and why their business exists in the first place is never mentioned), and no one is as successful as The Cat in the Hat (Bill Hader). He makes even some of the unhappiest children happy with his silly exploits, using fireworks, crabs, and some good ol’ physical destruction, much to the detriment of the company’s CEO, Mr. Hoogeboom (Giancarlo Esposito).

Mr. Hoogeboom is only focused on the Mess-o-meter, not caring about The Cat’s success at making people happy. He immediately fires him after his latest mess. Sherrie from HR (Quinta Brunson), The Cat’s best friend, finds a clause in their company policy that gives The Cat one more chance to keep his job, or else he’s gone for good.

Mr. Hoogeboom finds the latest, and worst, case yet in a flurple (yes, flurple) folder. Inside is an extremely unhappy teenage girl named Gabby, who is depressed that she and her brother Sebastian were forced to move away to a new town, even though she was perfectly happy where she was. The Cat takes the job but is forbidden from taking any aides and mustn’t go over a 10 on the Mess-o-meter. However, the conniving boss tells The Cat about a secret tool he can use, The GoBacker, hoping he’ll take the bait, cause a mess, and get himself fired. (Why he hates The Cat beyond his messiness is also never explained.)

The brother-and-sister duo are left home alone on a rainy day, a perfect opportunity for The Cat to make them happy. Unfortunately, chaos reigns supreme, the GoBacker device gets lost in one of three moving boxes, and The Cat makes a deal with Gabby to team up and find the GoBacker so they can rewind time before the move and The Cat can save his job.

The gang, with the addition of Sebastian’s newly talking fish, Waffles (Matt Berry), manages to have a fun adventure and learns some life lessons along the way. Oh, and something about how using the GoBacker released an evil, dragon-esque creature called Something, which is also looking for it so he can go back in time. And, say it with me, it’s never explained. That’s a common issue with the movie, if you can’t tell by now. Trust me, I'm doing a better job explaining the chaotic incoherence of this movie than the movie itself does.

It really is a challenge to take an extremely short children’s story and turn it into a feature-length story, and I must ask the big question: Why do we need films based on the classic Dr. Seuss books? I mean, none of the films have been truly critically acclaimed, with Horton Hears a Who! being the most lauded, and rightfully so. But is the public really clamoring for them?

Each of the previous films has had varying degrees of financial success, but they’ve rarely stayed in the public consciousness, save for the two live-action efforts for wildly differing circumstances and some funny memes from Horton and, more notably, The Lorax.

So why do these studios think we’re clamoring for more? Money. Merchandising. And more money. This is obviously a cash grab disguised as a movie, and to claim otherwise would be too kind.

The film’s story is a completely and utterly cookie-cutter adventure story, with some of the most obvious and predictable story beats imaginable. However, it’s tied to some very nice and creative animated worlds that ultimately don’t help out the mediocre screenplay, written by co-directors Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni.

The voice work is largely fine, with Bill Hader having a blast as The Cat, but the rest just isn’t amazing. The usually terrific Esposito just seems like he’s in paycheck mode, never really being used to his absolutely menacing potential. Matt Berry is the MVP here, doing his Berry best to liven up the material, and doing so extremely well, as does Hader. And keep an ear out for Internet meme legend Hide the Pain Harold, who voices a role I’ll keep secret here.

The animation is very well done, often incorporating photorealistic elements. Real-life effects, such as water, look great. The characters also have a Seussical appearance when they’re in the Institute. That being said, the art style is nothing breathtaking or unique. It’s just another well-designed CGI film that looks pretty on the screen.

The musical score is your typical hijinks-laden affair that sounds like every other film of its ilk, which is a shame because Lorne Balfe is usually quite a good composer and just stuck to the basics.

And that’s the theme of the film: back to basics. The film is a CGI-animated family film handbook for dummies on how to make inoffensive, easy-to-consume, bland entertainment for families who want to relax after a long day of holiday shopping at their local mall.

With family films lacking anything new at the moment, I’m pretty sure this film will make some money and will have a follow-up (stick around for the mid- and post-credits scenes to catch the next film in the planned Seussiverse, no joke). But this film doesn’t feel like a universe-starting vehicle.

In closing, The Cat in the Hat just screams mediocrity in every inch of its DNA. Only a few bits of creativity and some funny line deliveries manage to get a chuckle or two. Hopefully, the next films in the Dr. Seuss-verse can do better than this forgettable, formulaic fizzle of an (un)Fun film.

Final Movie Score: 5/10

Bonus:

Daffy Season 3D Short Review

Presented before The Cat in the Hat (2026), Daffy Season delivers a fun dose of Looney Tunes comedy, even if its soccer-season premise could have used a little more substance. The real surprise is its outstanding 3D presentation, with impressive depth, frequent pop-outs, and some of the best 3D effects of the year. In many ways, this short manages to outshine the feature it’s attached to.

10/10 – Editor's Choice. Film: 8/10.

RIP to Eric Bauza (1979-2026), whose fantastic voice work brought Daffy Duck and so many other beloved Looney Tunes characters to life. He will be missed.

A full review of this short is available for our paid patrons on Patreon.

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