“I know some new tricks,” said the Cat in the Hat. Sixty-eight years ago, American author Theodor Seuss Geisel, AKA Dr. Seuss, used only 236 different words to give birth to one of the most iconic characters to ever spring from the pages of children’s literature.
Geisel picked the first two rhyming words he could see from a supplied word list, and the Cat in the Hat was born, going on to become the face of Dr. Seuss’ enduring legacy. And now, the Cat is back, ready to bring his special brand of mayhem and mischief back to the big screen in an all-new animated outing.
Serving as the first official feature film from the freshly rebranded Warner Bros. Pictures Animation (previously Warner Animation Group), this latest cinematic incarnation of Dr. Seuss’ fickle feline is voiced by It: Chapter Two star and Saturday Night Live veteran Bill Hader, a character he also coincidentally played in a 2014 SNL skit.
The film also stars What We Do In The Shadows’ Matt Berry, Abbot Elementary’s Quinta Brunson, Wicked’s Bowen Yang, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness’ Xochitl Gomez and more.
But how does one transform a 60-page illustrated preparatory reader into a full-length feature film, without repeating the same beats previously seen in Mike Myers’ live-action version from 2003?
Director Alessandro Carloni, whose impressive list of animation credits also include classic films like The Croods and the How To Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda franchises, reveals that Seuss’ Cat is not Seussville’s only rhyming mischief maker, and the film’s new trailer also jokingly introduces audiences to the likes of the Bug in the Mug and the far more intimidating Rat with a Bat, who he quips you don’t want to meet in a dark alley.
Breaking News brought to you by Bill Hader. The new trailer for #TheCatInTheHat arrives tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/UeM4svVANg
— Warner Bros. (@warnerbros) June 30, 2025
The new trailer also introduced Seuss fans to a few more Things than what they might expect, with the infamous Thing One also joined by the likes of Thing Three and a dozen other Things who are bound to be the next fixation of young cinemagoers.
But keep a close eye out, however, Thing Two is conspicuously absent from the new trailer, and Carloni, along with screenwriter Erica Rivinoja, promise that his whereabouts will eventually be revealed when the movie arrives in cinemas in early 2026.
Packed with eye-popping visuals imbued with the trademark Seussian quirkiness, and buoyed by a talented comedic voice-cast, 2026’s The Cat In The Hat is set to introduce a whole new generation of movie-goers to one of the greatest and most identifiable literary characters of the 20th century.
So, if you wish, you can pack up your dish, with the bowl and the fish, and feast your eyes on a Cat in disguise via the brand-new trailer below.
And that is that, said the Cat with a tip of his hat.
