The Cat in the Hat (film)
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The Cat in the Hat is a 2003 film based on the iconic Dr. Seuss book of the same name. It didn't do well at the box office and reviews due to the surprisingly raunchy humor courtesy of David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer and Alec Berg, who also have written episodes of Seinfeld and the 2004 R-rated comedy Eurotrip. It had Mike Myers as the Cat with Spencer Breslin as Conrad, Dakota Fanning as Sally, Alec Baldwin as Lawrence "Larry" Quinn and Sean Hayes as Hank Humberfloob and the Fish.
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Tropes used in The Cat in the Hat (film) include:
- Actor Allusion: It won't be the first (or the last) time that Mike Myers's character was hit in the groin by someone.
- Adaptation Expansion: Well, there's a dog, Mom's boss demanding that her house be spotlessly clean for a party that night, an evil neighbor (Alec Baldwin) trying to woo Mom and get the boy shipped off to military school, the Cat's universe intruding on this one, etc.
- Annoying Laugh: The Cat has one.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: "Thing 2 will also accept 'Thing A', 'Super Thing', 'Thing King', 'Chocolate Thun-da', or 'Ben'."
- Big Bad: Larry Quinn is the main villain in the film.
- Butt Monkey: Mrs. Kwan, the hopelessly narcoleptic babysitter, is constantly abused by the Cat, the children and Thing One and Thing Two to levels that are just plain psychopathic. It doesn't help that she's the only non-white member of the cast.
- Double Entendre: The film was packed with them. One of the most prominent being The Cat saying "Dirty ho!" as he throws away a garden hoe.
- And then there was the photo of Mom that somehow turned into a centerfold...
- Everybody Owns a Ford: A Ford Focus hatchback in Egg Yolk Yellow or a decidedly non-stock lime green, with equally non-stock wheel spats that spoil the car's lines.
- Four-Fingered Hands: The Cat has four-fingered hands. Lampshaded when, after the kids sign the contract, he holds up a hand and says "Gimme five!" -- before glancing at his hand and correcting himself.
- Fun with Acronyms: The Cat's vehicle is called the Super Luxurious Omnidirectional Whatchamajigger or S.L.O.W. He thought it was better than the prototype's name, which is the Super Hydraulic Instantaneous Transporter or S.H.I.T., which Conrad was about to say but "Oh! Quick, to the S.L.O.W.!"
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: There is so much adult-oriented material that it felt like it should have been rated PG-13 or even R.
- Groin Attack: The Cat disguises himself as a pinata at a birthday party, kids hit him with plastic bats, and then a bigger kid with a big wooden bat orders them to move out of his way.
- Conrad predicts that it can't end well and Cat frantically raises a white flag but the boy stands behind him and slams the bat directly into Cat's right groin. The Cat screams for 10 seconds, then he goes into a mental state imagining himself as a woman swinging on a swing while wearing a milk maid outfit. It cuts back to him screaming with his eyes widened and he howls and whoops.
- Also, the titular Cat is Austin Powers. That probably explains most of his behavior in the movie.
- Logo Joke: The Universal, DreamWorks and Imagine logos are animated in Seussian form.
- Mickey Mousing: At the backyard scene, Conrad and Sally move with the music done at the exact moment. It happens to be the Cat playing with his whiskers.
- Named by the Adaptation: The boy is given the name Conrad in the film. The Cat lampshades it by misnaming him.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Fish's mannerisms are based on Don Knotts.
- Playing with Syringes: Conversed. One of the suggested treatments for Conrad being a "rule-breaker" and Sally being a "control freak" on the Cat's Phunometer is "a series of painful injections all over your abdomen and kneecaps."
- Retro Universe: The story is set in the present day, with a few 1950s references such as the way Sally and Joan dress, the way Mr. Humblefloob's employees carry themselves and even a few other aesthetics like the kitchen.
- Something Else Also Rises: Happens with the Cat's hat when the picture of Conrad and Sally's mom falls open, revealing that she has something of a... dirty past.
- Spiritual Successor: This was co-produced by Universal and Imagine Entertainment, which had mounted the live-action version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Comedy star Mike Myers being cast as the Cat is a clear analogue to Jim Carrey as the Grinch.
- Take a Third Option: The Cat joked that the dog should be killed as a third option.[context?]