‘The Cat in the Hat’ Review: Bill Hader in Manic Dr. Seuss Adaptation

About midway through the new animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ classic children’s book The Cat in the Hat, there’s an extended silent, slow-motion gag consisting of little more than a fish slowly swimming from one end of the wide screen to the other. It lasts for around 40 seconds and gets funnier as it goes along, with the lack of sound only adding to the mirth.

Take it in, because the wonderfully subtle sequence offers a much-needed respite from the otherwise unrelenting visual and narrative mayhem of the film, which captures the antic silliness of Dr. Seuss without the charm. There are some funny moments along the way, to be sure, of the necessarily juvenile kind (a lengthy bit involves confusion over the expressions “too far” and “toot fart”).

But the film, while an improvement over the misbegotten 2003 live-action version starring Mike Myers, proves more taxing than enjoyable. It works well enough as a diverting animated effort geared to the youngest kids, and will eventually fulfill its role as streaming babysitter. But it could and should have been a whole lot more.

Bill Hader voices the title character and does as well as you would expect. But the true star of the voice cast turns out to be supporting player Matt Berry as pet goldfish Waffles, who observes the chaos around him with a hilariously droll, deadpan sophistication that produces the film’s biggest laughs even as he runs the risk of becoming a sushi meal.

More of a sequel to the original story than a true adaptation, the film, which begins with a frenetic musical number, presents the Cat not as an independent operator but rather a beleaguered employee of the “Institution of Imagination and Inspiration.” His latest assignment is to cheer up young siblings Gabby (Xochitl Gomez, The Baby-Sitters Club) and Sebastian (Tiago Martinez), whose single mother (an underused America Ferrera) has just moved the family to a new town, much to their dismay.

There’s a lot riding on the Cat, since his exasperated boss Mr. Hoogeboom (Giancarlo Esposito, having fun) threatens to fire him if he doesn’t get the job right. He does enjoy the support of his HR director friend Sherri (a warm Quinta Brunson), but is also forced to deal with a grumpy, self-important intern (a very funny Bowen Yang).

The Cat shows up in the children’s home and whisks them off for a series of chaotic adventures in which they wind up dealing with a variety of fantastical figures, including a marching band made up of musical instruments, several frightening monsters, and, of course, the Things, who have expanded from a duo to multitudes. Communicating entirely through percussive movements and sounds and enough slaps to make the Three Stooges envious, the wild-haired creatures mainly seem to be auditioning for their own big-screen spin-off to compete with the Minions.

Directors-screenwriters Erica Rivinoja (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, South Park) and Alessandro Carloni (the Kung Fu Panda films) throw a lot — indeed too much — into the mix, with the storyline lapsing into confusion and tonal muddiness. They also employ several different animation styles, including black-and-white imagery early on, to varying degrees of effectiveness. But it’s safe to say that none of it is as visually entrancing as the 1966 hand-drawn How the Grinch Stole Christmas! TV special.

Hader delivers a suitably manic comic performance, but his hard-working efforts aren’t enough to enliven the pedestrian storyline, which unsurprisingly delivers the sort of emotional, inspirational messages toward the end that seem designed to make up for all the preceding anarchy. It doesn’t help that some of the characters are more annoying than endearing, including the unhappy, whiny Gabby and a nastily stern landlady (a lively Paula Pell) who has a redemption arc before the conclusion.