The Cat in the Hat (film) with some critics, stating that it should have instead been rated PG-13 in relation to its high amount of adult content. Leonard Maltin in his Movie Guide gave it one and a half stars out of four saying that the "Brightly colored adaptation of the beloved rhyming book for young children is a betrayal of everything Dr. Seuss ever stood for, injecting potty humor and adult (wink-wink) jokes into a mixture of heavy-handed slapstick and silliness." Maltin also said that the film's official title which included "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat" was "an official insult". Conversely, "Variety" praised
The Cat in the Hat (TV special) house they visit has a pessimistic fish who "always tries to flatten the fun". Karlos becomes angry and accuses the Cat of not being a real cat, and his hat of not being a real hat. But the Cat indignantly asserts his legitimacy by singing his name in several languages. The tune becomes so catchy that everyone, even Karlos, joins in and contributes, telling the Cat that in Russian he is a "chapka in a shlyapa". (An interesting point to note is that in the Russian portion of the song, the Cat describes himself as a "chapka in a shlyapa",