Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for animated movies like The Cat in the Hat:
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
If Bill Hader’s swaggering feline is your speed, there is no better follow-up than another cat with an ego to match his hat. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish finds Antonio Banderas’ swashbuckler down to the last of his nine lives and hunted by a menacing wolf, and DreamWorks answers with a painterly, storybook style that makes every action scene pop. It is funny, surprisingly moving, and one of the best animated movies of the 2020s.
Flow
Gints Zilbalodis’ Flow is a very different kind of cat movie. There is no dialogue at all, just a small dark cat trying to survive a great flood alongside a mismatched crew of animals on a drifting boat. Made with the free software Blender, the Latvian film has a distinctive, almost dreamlike look, and it went on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
Incredibles 2
Few animated movies capture household chaos better than the stretch of Incredibles 2 where Bob Parr stays home with the kids while Helen goes back to hero work. Brad Bird stages baby Jack-Jack’s newly discovered powers like a slapstick horror movie, and the raccoon fight alone is worth the price of admission.
Shrek
Shrek took the storybooks kids grew up on and gleefully turned them inside out. Mike Myers’ grumpy ogre and Eddie Murphy’s motormouthed Donkey remain one of animation’s great comedy pairings, and the film’s irreverent energy is a natural match for a new take on Dr. Seuss’ most famous troublemaker.
The Wild Robot
Adapted from a beloved children’s book, Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot follows Roz, a robot voiced by Lupita Nyong’o, who washes up on a remote island and ends up raising an orphaned gosling. It is gorgeous to look at and genuinely emotional, a high point for DreamWorks that works just as well for parents as it does for kids.
Hoppers
Pixar’s Hoppers is the studio at its most rambunctious, following a young animal lover who uses new technology to “hop” her mind into a robotic beaver and ends up in the middle of a feud between animals and humans. It moves at a manic, cartoony pace that fans of Seuss-style mayhem should appreciate.
Inside Out
Pete Docter’s Inside Out turns the mind of 11-year-old Riley into a colorful, endlessly inventive world run by Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust. Like the best Seuss stories, it hides a thoughtful lesson for kids inside a burst of bright, imaginative fun, and it ranks among the best Pixar movies.
Ratatouille
A rat who dreams of being a chef in Paris is exactly the kind of absurd premise Dr. Seuss would have loved. Brad Bird’s Ratatouille takes Remy’s ambition completely seriously, and the result is one of the most unique and beautiful films Pixar has ever made, packed with kitchen chaos that rivals any cat-wrecked living room.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
For sheer visual invention, few animated movies match Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Miles Morales’ multiverse-hopping adventure changes art styles from world to world, and its restless, anything-goes energy is the blockbuster cousin of a story where a cat in a hat can turn an ordinary afternoon upside down.
Toy Story 4
Toy Story 4 brings Woody and Buzz back for a road trip adventure kicked off by Forky, a homemade toy who would very much prefer to be in the trash. It is another powerful chapter in Pixar’s flagship series, balancing big laughs with the bittersweet feelings that have defined the franchise from the start.
READ MORE: Animated Movies Like Shrek, Animated Movies Like Flow
