The Cat in the Hat script, with Chris Meledandri as producer, and Audrey Geisel as the executive producer. However, the project never came to fruition. On January 24, 2018, it was announced that Warner Animation Group was in development of a different animated "Cat in the Hat" film as part of a creative partnership with Seuss Enterprises. In 2009, the Royal National Theatre created a stage version of the book, adapted and directed by Katie Mitchell. "Seussical", a musical adaptation that incorporates aspects of many Dr. Seuss works, features the Cat in the Hat as narrator. The musical received weak reviews when it opened, in
The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat died a few months before this special had aired. Boris Karloff, the original voice of the Grinch, had died in 1969), while Mason Adams took over voicing the Cat in the Hat from the late Allan Sherman, who died in 1973. Since Friz Freleng was absent from production on "The Pink Panther" special "" due to his departure from DePatie–Freleng Enterprises to return to Warner Bros. Animation, this was the only other fully animated DFE production to be made by Marvel Productions and one of the last DFE cartoons Freleng was involved in. The special was first released on VHS