The Cat in the Hat (film) was also committed to shooting Disney's "The Santa Clause 2", which was also delayed because Allen wanted a script rewrite. Due to a scheduling conflict with "The Santa Clause 2", he dropped out his role. In March 2002, the role of the Cat was given to Mike Myers, even though he had an argument with Grazer about starring in a cancelled film based on his "Saturday Night Live" sketch "Dieter". Myers stated in an interview that he was a long-time fan of the original Dr. Seuss book, and that it was the first book he ever read. Makeup for the
The Cat in the Hat read, and Spaulding provided Geisel with a similar list. Geisel later told biographers Judith and Neil Morgan that Spaulding had supplied him with a list of 348 words that every six-year-old should know and insisted that the book's vocabulary be limited to 225 words. However, according to Philip Nel, Geisel gave varying numbers in interviews from 1964 to 1969. He variously claimed that he could use between 200 and 250 words from a list of between 300 and 400; the finished book contains 236 different words. Geisel gave varying accounts of how he conceived of "The Cat in the Hat".