The Cat in the Hat (film) film one star, stating, ""Cat", another overblown Hollywood raid on Dr. Seuss, has a draw on Mike Myers, who inexplicably plays the Cat by mimicking Bert Lahr in "The Wizard of Oz"." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 2 out of 4 stars. Although he praised the production design, he considered the film to be "all effects and stunts and CGI and prosthetics, with no room for lightness and joy". Ebert and co-host Richard Roeper gave the film "Two Thumbs Down". Roeper said of Myers' performance that "Maybe a part of him was realizing as the movie
The Cat in the Hat directly to the creation of Beginner Books, a publishing house centered on producing books like "The Cat in the Hat" for beginning readers. According to Judith and Neil Morgan, when the book caught the attention of Phyllis Cerf, the wife of Geisel's publisher, Bennett Cerf, she arranged for a meeting with Geisel, where the two agreed to create Beginner Books. Geisel became the president and editor, and the Cat in the Hat served as their mascot. Geisel's wife, Helen, was made third partner. Random House served as distributor until 1960, when Random House purchased Beginner Books. Geisel wrote multiple books