Our long national Cat in the Hat-related nightmare is nearly over. For decades, the classic Dr. Seuss character from the 1957 picture book of the same name was a quaint, urbane charmer who created chaos and weathered it with equal aplomb. From the direct sequel book to the 1971 animated TV special and its spinoffs to the endless brand activation that followed, he was a pretty chill character — goofy and anarchic, but always a gentleman, to the degree that description can apply to a guy who walks around naked except for a hat and bow tie.
Then, in 2003, Saturday Night Live veteran and all-around comedic screamer Mike Myers turned the poor Cat into a live-action monstrosity, with a deeply weird Brooklyn/Jewish comic accent and a lot of mugging to the camera. For the past couple of decades, kids have been growing up on that version of The Cat in the Hat, who’s missing a lot of the odd whimsy of the original. Warner Bros. Pictures Animation — the recently rebranded studio previously known as Warner Animation Group — has a corrective coming in 2026, though, and the first teaser trailer points at a version of the character who looks, sounds, and feels a little more like Seuss’ version, give or take the inevitable fart jokes.
Warner Bros.’ animated movie is clearly expanding significantly on the Cat’s world and his background, while still retaining some of the framing from the original picture book, which has the Cat showing up to entertain a couple of kids on a rainy day when they’re home alone, to the horror of their persnickety pet fish.
In this reimagining, written and directed by Kung Fu Panda 3 director Alessandro Carloni and former South Park staff writer and producer Erica Rivinoja, the Cat is an agent of the IIII — the Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration — who takes the assignment to cheer up two siblings struggling with their move to a new town. After a series of botched assignments, the Cat has to prove himself or risk losing his position and his magical hat.
Bill Hader stars as the Cat, in a stunty bit of casting possibly inspired by his 2014 turn as the character in a Saturday Night Live sketch that puts a slightly more adult spin on the character’s drama and his arrival in the kids’ household. Also featured in the animated movie’s voice cast: What We Do In The Shadows’ Matt Berry, Paula Pell, Giancarlo Esposito, America Ferrera, SNL’s Bowen Yang, and Tituss Burgess.
The Cat in the Hat hits theaters on Feb. 27, 2026.
