Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

Filmmakers have been adapting the wonderfully zany world of Dr. Seuss to the big screen for many years. Horton Hears a Who, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and even The Lorax are some of the stories that have been given the silver screen treatment. Considering the overall success of the Seuss-adapted films, can Universal pull off another hit with a sequel to 2003's Cat in the Hat?

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

Distributed by Universal Pictures, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back brings back everyone's favorite black and white cat as he creates even more mischief. The synopsis (according to Movie Insider): "...the story will follow Sally and her brother, as they try to clean a stain on Mother's white dress left by the Cat, who snuck into the house to eat some cake. This time, he brings a bunch of smaller felines with him."

Mike Myers reprises his role as the titular Cat in the Hat. Kelly Preston, Spencer Breslin, Alec Baldwin, Dakota Fanning, and Sean Hayes also return to this sequel, which may just be a bad career move for all of them considering how horribly the original Cat in the Hat film fared (more on that later).

Currently the film is in the Concept stage, and no director or screenwriter has yet been hired. The release date is TBA, and I do not yet know if it will be available in 3D.


Do you think that The Cat in the Hat Comes Back will be Good, Bad, or Ugly? Did you like the original film?

I never saw the original Cat in the Hat, but from what I've read I don't really think I want to, either. Rotten Tomatoes (an online company that rates films based on critic reviews and audience reactions) gave The Cat in the Hat a very, very bad 11% Fresh rating. 149 reviews were compiled on the site, and the average rating was 3.2 out of 10 stars. Desson Thomson of the Washington Post called the film "About as creatively inspired as a giant hairball," while Rob Gonsalves of eFilmCritic.com asked, "Is Dr. Seuss rolling in his grave yet?" Probably the most harsh criticism came from Anton Bitel of Movie Gazette: "much of the film is padded out by the comic business of Mike Myers' cat, in a deeply flawed role falling somewhere between a stand-up dying on stage or an alcoholc clown harassing kids at a birthday party." Audiences didn't like the film much better. Only 41% of polled audiences liked it, giving it an average rating of 2.5 out of five stars.

If the original Cat in the Hat was that bad, I can't help but wonder what in the world Universal is thinking by wanting to make a sequel. Add to that, what in the world are stars like Dakota Fanning, Mike Myers, and Alec Baldwin doing by being part of the sequel of a very much hated earlier film?

Hollywood works in mysterious ways, but this is more baffling than anything. From my standpoint, I think The Cat in the Hat/The Cat in the Hat Comes Back is gonna be a family-film version of the Clash of the Titans/Wrath of the Titans flop.


In other film news...

...G.I. Joe: Retaliation will not be releasing June 29th as originally promised. The release has been pushed back to March 29, 2013, reportedly so Paramount can convert the film to 3D. Film critics think it's really because Paramount chickened out, thinking that their sequel would get lost among the other blockbusters releasing this summer.

...The Hunger Games will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray on August 18, 2012.

...Tickets for The Dark Knight Rises have been on sale since Monday. You can continue to pre-order your tickets for this last Christopher Nolan Batman film until the release on July 20, 2012




 - Edessa, signing off