Animated ‘Cat in the Hat’ Set for Production

With The Lorax enjoying somewhat unexpected success at the box office, the team at Illumination Entertainment announced that they’ve optioned the rights to Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat and intend on bringing it to the screen as an animated, 3D family film.

Deadline reports that the animation firm – a subsidiary of Universal Studios – will begin work on the adaptation with Chris Meledandri on board to produce and Dr. Seuss’s widow, Audrey Geisel listed as executive producer.

This will be the second attempt to turn what is arguably Dr. Seuss’s most well known story into a film property. Back in 2003, Universal put The Cat in the Hat on the big screen as a live-action Mike Myers vehicle. The film was a commercial and critical disappointment but Geisel believes that the story deserves another chance at the cinema.

Meledandri first worked with Geisel back at Fox, when he helmed the well-received adaptation of Horton Hears a Who, and has continued their relationship since setting up Universal’s family film division.
Work on The Cat in the Hat will commence after the studio has completed Despicable Me 2, which is currently in production.

Meledandri and Geisel are also teaming up for a Dr. Seuss biopic, also under the Illumication Entertainment banner. The film will be a live-action production, but will have animated sequences interspersed. Johnny Depp is on board in the title role.