THE CAT IN THE HAT (Animation)

THE CAT IN THE HAT (Animation)

The Cat in the Hat is a 2003 American comedy film based on the 1957 book of the same name by Dr. Seuss. Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991), was an American writer and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo. LeSieg (Geisel in reverse) and in one case, Rosetta Stone.

This is the second film Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and Imagine Entertainment worked on together. It stars Mike Myers in the title role of the Cat in the Hat.

Joan Walden has two children, Conrad and Sally. Conrad, a 12-year-old boy, is constantly doing the exact opposite of what he is supposed to do and causing trouble. Sally, Conrad's 7-year-old little sister, tries to stop his trouble making and is being rather bossy and perfect.

The story begins where it starts to rain outside and the children get bored. Then there is a thud somewhere in the house, and the Cat in the Hat appears. The Cat ignores the Fish and convinces Conrad and Sally to sign a contract, which will allow them to have all the fun they want, and will stop anything bad from happening.

From here, the Cat and the kids move around the meticulously clean and organized house creating havoc, spilling and stumbling over objects. The Cat then brings in a huge Red crate, and releases Thing 1 and Thing 2. Conrad is eager to open the crate and look inside, but the Cat explains that the crate is a Portal to his own world, and warns him not to open it. Conrad does the opposite and sneakily opens the crate.

Later the Cat and the kids accompanied by the two Things have a field trip around the town. The Town portrays a personality of self-telling its tale. Each shop shown in the movie holds a figure over its front, which represents the goods sold within. Examplating, An Ice Cream Cone represents an Ice Cream Parlor, An open Book represents a Library, and so on. The trio gets back home, and realizes that all terror has broken loose as the crate erupts.

Whereas the old, regular simple world is shown as clean and precise, a place where objects had sharp edges, the later world defies all perceptions of space and boundaries. The new house is shown as the interpretation of the world through Conrad’s perspective. The compactness of the house transforms into small islands, not connected by stairs but what Conrad perceives the stairs to be, an amusing Slide. The walls no longer stand straight and in monotone colors, but curve in and out at places with multi-toned colors. They either, curve within themselves or curve back behind giving the illusion of a boundless space, magnifying the mysticism of the Cat’s World.

The green toned walls, floating in a bright pinkish-red smoke further takes it away from reality and into a forest of smoke and shapeless space. The story takes the three of them through the various rooms in their transformed states, last one being the living room, where the Red Crate lay open. Eventually the crate is closed shut with a Crab lock over its hasp, and in that moment, the house bends, curls, and swirls back into its initial state. With the end of the contract, the Cat disappears with the Two Things and the Crate.

The ending scene captures through the living room window, Joan Walden, Conrad, and Sally jumping on the Sofa seat, and the scene blacks out with a hanging emotion of ‘Happily Ever After’.

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