Two kids are left alone at home on a dismal rainy day when their mother goes out shopping for groceries. The mischievous, yet charismatic and interesting the Cat in the Hat (marvelously voiced with infectiously hearty gusto by jolly musical comedian Allan Sherman) pays the children a surprise visit. The Cat in the Hat turns the house topsy turvy searching for his missing moss-covered three-handled family gredunza. Based on the classic best-selling Dr. Seuss book, this lively and hilarious 25-minute television special possesses a cheerful sense of playful anarchy that's a true off-the-wall joy to watch as the impishly troublesome titular feline happily disrupts the drab tranquility of comfy suburbia. Moreover, Dr. Seuss' uncanny knack for extremely loopy wordplay is in typically fresh and inventive form here. The songs are very catchy and witty, with the merry and stirring "Calculatus Eliminatos" rating as the best and most enjoyable of the bunch. Of course, it certainly helps that Sherman belts out said songs with tremendous lip-smacking brio. Veteran voice actor Daws Butler is likewise in excellent form as the uptight and disapproving Mr. Krinklebein the fish. Pamelyn Ferdin and Tony Frazier are appealing as the kids. The Cat in the Hat's even more raucous and destructive partners Thing 1 and Thing 2 are memorably crazy little hell-raisers. The animation is bright, vibrant and colorful. But it's the deliciously devilish main character who makes this show such an absolute breath of uproariously rowdy and irreverent air; he's a blithely rash and impudent bundle of gloriously giddy id-run-amok kooky energy who's downright endearing in his exuberant zaniness. A complete riot.
Review of The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat
(1971 TV Movie)
A wonderfully wacky vintage 70's Dr. Seuss TV special
27 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers