The Cat in the Hat (2003 Film)
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40 free The Cat in the Hat (2003 Film) trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The 2003 live-action film of The Cat in the Hat took a slim picture book and stretched it into a feature, adding a scheming neighbor, a sleepy babysitter, a runaway dog and a great deal of slapstick. Critics hated it, yet it has since found a second life with viewers who grew up on it. This quiz covers the whole film: what the Cat, Thing 1 and Thing 2 get up to while Sally and Conrad are stuck at home, who played whom under all that makeup and fur, and how the production came together behind the scenes, from casting changes to the music. It also looks at how the film was received and what that meant for later Seuss adaptations. The questions start easy and get harder, so they suit anyone who remembers the film from childhood as well as fans who know its making inside out.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which Canadian-born Saturday Night Live alumnus plays the title role, under heavy makeup, in The Cat in the Hat (2003)?
Mike Myers
Mike Myers landed the part in March 2002 and said the Seuss original was the first book he ever read.
Q 02Crashing a birthday party Sally was not invited to in The Cat in the Hat (2003), the Cat disguises himself as what?
A piñata
A piñata is the Cat's disguise, and it backfires at once when a boy at the party swings a wooden bat at him.
Q 03After the poor reception of The Cat in the Hat (2003), who barred further live-action films of Seuss books?
His widow
His widow, Audrey Geisel, halted every further live-action adaptation, which also ended plans for a sequel to the film.
Q 04Production of The Cat in the Hat (2003) went ahead only after a hit 2000 film about which other Seuss character?
The Grinch
The Grinch came first: the Cat rights had been bought in 1996, but the project only moved once that Christmas film was a commercial success.
Q 05In The Cat in the Hat (2003), where does scheming neighbor Larry Quinn plan to send Conrad to be rid of him?
Military school
Military school is how Larry means to clear the way: he is secretly jobless and in debt, and wants to marry Joan for her money.
Q 06Which actor, later Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock, plays the scheming neighbor Larry Quinn in The Cat in the Hat (2003)?
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin defended the film on its DVD commentary, arguing that turning so singular a book into a feature meant taking liberties.
Q 07Which child star of I Am Sam plays Sally, the rule-following younger sister, in The Cat in the Hat (2003)?
Dakota Fanning
Dakota Fanning was cast in April 2002, having become at seven the youngest person ever nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Q 08In The Cat in the Hat (2003), which part of the house does Joan forbid her children to enter before her party?
The living room
The living room must stay pristine for the work gathering she hosts that night, and her boss fires people for the smallest slip.
Q 09Which band, known for All Star, covers the Beatles song Getting Better on the soundtrack of The Cat in the Hat (2003)?
Smash Mouth
Smash Mouth had already been all over Shrek two years earlier, with All Star and a cover of the Monkees' I'm a Believer.
Q 10What is the job of Joan, the workaholic mother of Sally and Conrad, in the 2003 film The Cat in the Hat?
Real estate agent
Real estate agent Joan works for Humberfloob's firm and is dating next-door neighbor Larry Quinn as the story opens.
Q 11Which family dog runs away with a magical lock clamped to his collar in The Cat in the Hat (2003)?
Nevins
Nevins bolts with the lock on his collar, which sends the Cat and both children out of the house to hunt for him.
Q 12In The Cat in the Hat (2003), Thing 1 and Thing 2 emerge from which container, a portal to the Cat's world?
A crate
A crate, painted red, holds the Things, and the Cat forbids the children to tamper with the fastening that keeps his world shut inside.
Q 13In The Cat in the Hat (2003), the lock Conrad picks on the Cat's container takes the form of which animal?
A crab
A crab is the shape of the lock, and once picked it clamps onto the dog's collar and gets carried away.
Q 21Which Imagine Entertainment co-founder, an Oscar winner for A Beautiful Mind, produced The Cat in the Hat (2003)?
Brian Grazer
Brian Grazer said he would do anything to film the Seuss stories he grew up with, having already brought one of them to the screen.
Q 22Which studio bought the film rights to The Cat in the Hat in 1996 and later released the 2003 film overseas?
DreamWorks
DreamWorks won the rights after Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Eric Roth made several trips to La Jolla to win over the Seuss family.
Q 23Which makeup artist, an Oscar winner for An American Werewolf in London, quit The Cat in the Hat (2003) early?
Rick Baker
Q 14In The Cat in the Hat (2003), Thing 1 and Thing 2 stall Joan and Larry by posing as what?
Police officers
Police officers is the disguise the Things adopt once Larry has told Joan what is going on, though he soon races after the others anyway.
Q 15In The Cat in the Hat (2003), Larry Quinn falls into a gooey abyss of which color inside the wrecked house?
Purple
Purple goo swallows Larry when the house turns into a surreal mess, yet he turns up again at the end, merely coated in it.
Q 16Hank Humberfloob, Joan's quick-to-fire boss in The Cat in the Hat (2003), has an extreme fear of what?
Germs
Germs terrify Humberfloob, and the same actor who plays him also speaks for the family's talking fish.
Q 17Which Will & Grace star both plays Joan's boss and voices the talking fish in The Cat in the Hat (2003)?
Sean Hayes
Sean Hayes recorded the fish alone in a sound booth, without knowing how the animated character would finally look.
Q 18Which Simpsons voice actor supplies the gibbering voices of Thing 1 and Thing 2 in The Cat in the Hat (2003)?
Dan Castellaneta
Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, speaks for both Things, who were played on set by child performers in prosthetic masks and wigs.
Q 19Which Home Improvement star was first in line to play the Cat but left The Cat in the Hat (2003)?
Tim Allen
Tim Allen pictured a man who turns into a cat like a werewolf, but filming The Santa Clause 2 forced him to drop out.
Q 20Which production designer of Edward Scissorhands made his directing debut with The Cat in the Hat (2003)?
Bo Welch
Bo Welch was offered the job in a phone call from the producer; reviews were harsh, though Roger Ebert praised the production design.
Rick Baker walked away after clashes with the studio and a star who came late to makeup tests, and one of his first apprentices took over.
Q 24On outdoor shoots for The Cat in the Hat (2003), what was connected by hose to the Cat suit between takes?
An air conditioner
An air conditioner fed cool air into the suit through a hose on hot outdoor shoots, while battery packs worked the Cat's ears and tail.
Q 25Co-star Amy Hill said an assistant on The Cat in the Hat (2003) carried a tub of what for the star?
Chocolates
Chocolates were handed over one piece at a time whenever he asked, said Hill, who called the whole shoot nightmarish.
Q 26The Cat in the Hat (2003) got its star through a settlement over a cancelled film of which sketch?
Sprockets
Sprockets was his television talk-show sketch; the film version, titled Dieter, was cancelled in 2000 because he was unhappy with his own script.
Q 27The three credited screenwriters of The Cat in the Hat (2003) had all written for which hit 1990s sitcom?
Seinfeld
Seinfeld was where all three writers had worked together; they were hired in 2001 to replace an earlier draft, and critics went on to complain of adult jokes.
Q 28The screenwriters of The Cat in the Hat (2003) pitched it as a child-friendly version of which teen comedy?
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Ferris Bueller's Day Off was the comparison writers David Mandel and Alec Berg used in their pitch, promising a version of it that was safe for children.
Q 29Songs by which Toy Story songwriter were dropped from The Cat in the Hat (2003) before his cousin scored it?
Randy Newman
Randy Newman's songs were judged not good enough, so his cousin David wrote the score and two other writers supplied new songs.
Q 30Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, songwriters for The Cat in the Hat (2003), wrote the score of which Broadway musical?
Hairspray
Hairspray had opened on Broadway only the year before, and one of the pair's songs for the Cat, Fun, Fun, Fun, earned a Worst Song nomination.