The Cat in the Hat (TV special) The Cat in the Hat (TV special) The Cat in the Hat is an American animated musical television special first aired on CBS on July 4, 1971, based on the 1957 Dr. Seuss children's book of the same name, and produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises. With voices by Allan Sherman and prolific vocal performer Daws Butler, this half-hour special is a loose adaptation with added musical sequences. As the story opens, it is too rainy and cold to play outside, so Sally and Conrad sit bored and look out the window. Their mom announces her departure, tells them to have fun,
The Cat in the Hat "small, stooped woman wearing 'a leather half-glove and a secret smile'". Anita Silvey, recounting a similar story, described the woman as "a very elegant, very petite African-American woman named Annie Williams". Geisel told Silvey that, when he sketched the Cat in the Hat, he thought of Williams and gave the character Williams' white gloves and "sly, even foxy smile". Geisel gave two conflicting, partly fictionalized accounts of the book's creation in two articles, "How Orlo Got His Book" in "The New York Times Book Review" and "My Hassle with the First Grade Language" in the "Chicago Tribune", both published on