MOVIE MUSIC UK

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton

The Cat in the Hat is a new animated fantasy comedy film based on the beloved 1957 children’s book by Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. Directed by Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni, the film features Bill Hader as the voice of the mischievous feline, alongside Xochitl Gomez, Tiago Martinez, Matt Berry, Quinta Brunson, Giancarlo Esposito, and America Ferrera. The story expands considerably on Seuss’s original premise, imagining the Cat as an employee of the Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration, an organization dedicated to bringing happiness to children. When he is assigned to cheer up two siblings, Gabby and Sebastian, who are struggling to adjust to life in a new town, his typically chaotic methods threaten to get him fired – and possibly cost him his magical hat – especially after he loses an object called a Go-Backer, a stopwatch that can reverse time. The search for the Go-Backer takes the Cat, Gabby, and Sebastian through a series of magical pocket universes containing the creative memories of different people, but also brings them into conflict with a fearsome dragon-like creature called the Something…

The film has had a lengthy development history. An animated adaptation was initially proposed by Illumination in 2012, before Warner Bros. acquired the rights in 2018. Rivinoja became involved in 2020, with Carloni, whose previous credits include Kung Fu Panda 3, joining the production in 2023. The resulting film is the first theatrical feature from the newly rebranded Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, and represents a deliberate attempt to restore some cinematic credibility to the character following the much-maligned 2003 live-action version starring Mike Myers.

Of course, Dr. Seuss’s wonderfully eccentric literary universe has inspired a number of cinematic adaptations over the years, with varying degrees of success, but one consistent factor has been the quality of their music. Ron Howard’s live-action How the Grinch Stole Christmas from 2000 featured a typically lavish and emotionally rich score by James Horner, while the disastrous Mike Myers version of The Cat in the Hat was accompanied by an energetic and frequently entertaining score by David Newman, which was considerably better than the film deserved. The transition to computer animation brought with it two scores by the brilliant John Powell, Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and The Lorax (2012), both of which showcased his extraordinary gift for colorful orchestration, rhythmic invention, and exuberant musical comedy. More recently, Danny Elfman contributed his unmistakably quirky gothic-fantasy sensibilities to a second version of The Grinch in 2018, giving the familiar story another distinctive musical personality. These scores collectively established a rather impressive musical legacy for Dr. Seuss on the big screen, one which demands a combination of mischievous energy, orchestral sophistication, and genuine heart. It is a tradition which Lorne Balfe now enthusiastically continues.

Balfe has enjoyed an extraordinarily prolific career over the years. He initially established himself working alongside Hans Zimmer at Remote Control Productions, and for many years his music was frequently associated with the muscular, electronically enhanced action sound that dominated Hollywood during the 2000s and 2010s. Regular readers of mine will know that my relationship with Balfe’s music has been somewhat complicated. Early in his career, I was often frustrated by his tendency towards repetitive ostinatos, overpowering percussion, and thematic anonymity, criticisms I made particularly strongly in my review of Mission: Impossible – Fallout in 2018. However, in recent years something rather wonderful has happened: scores like The Tomorrow War, Black Widow, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, and Argylle have revealed an increasingly sophisticated composer, one more comfortable with memorable themes, imaginative orchestration, and genuine emotional expression – in short, he’s having a ton of fun, and that comes through in the music. I have previously referred to this welcome development as the ‘Lornaissance,’ and The Cat in the Hat continues that upward trajectory in tremendously entertaining fashion.

Balfe described his intention as capturing the character’s “wonderfully anarchic spirit” while remaining faithful to Seuss’s imagination and wit. To achieve this, he embraced a combination of lavish orchestral writing, traditional big-band jazz, and marching-band music, with recording sessions involving an astonishing 124 musicians at Abbey Road. Featured musicians include Alessandro Carloni on guitar, Erica Rivinoja on trombone, Ethan Gillespie on trumpet, Jeremy Earnest on piano, and Balfe himself on synths, plus “body percussion choreography” by Beat Goes On, a UK-based ensemble founded by a former member of STOMP. The massive orchestra employs an unusually large brass section featuring seven saxophones, while the big-band arrangements are by Chris Egan. The result is an exuberant, gloriously old-fashioned animated score that blends the classic cartoon-scoring traditions of Carl Stalling and Scott Bradley with the more contemporary sensibilities of John Powell.

The most immediately appealing aspect of the score is its infectious sense of fun. “Cat Time” establishes a wonderfully rambunctious atmosphere built around a memorable swinging main theme and brassy, jazzy arrangements; this theme for the Cat is present in a number of cues thereafter: prominently in “Welcome Back Cat,” “The Go-Backer,” and the anarchic “The Thing About Things,” more subtly in many others, and then boldly in the superb finale, “The Cat’s Pajamas,” which is a terrific showcase for Balfe’s stylistic approach, combining contemporary energy with a delightfully nostalgic sensibility. There is a genuine theatricality to the Cat’s music, with an emphasis on instrumental interplay and rhythmic unpredictability that makes it considerably more interesting than the generic cartoon comedy scoring one might have expected.

The character-based musical writing is equally appealing. “Gabby’s Theme” provides an attractive emotional anchor that clearly has its stylistic roots in Astrid’s theme from John Powell’s How to Train Your Dragon, and features a distinctive arrangement that reflects the character’s interest in marching-band music; when Balfe takes this theme and adds lush orchestral flourishes and choral accents, as he does in the subsequent “It’s Beautiful” and “Mom’s Box,” the whole thing soars with a sense of sparkling wonderment. Elsewhere, “Waffles’ Theme” and “Mr. Hoogeboom” illustrate Balfe’s willingness to indulge in distinctive musical personalities. The theme for Hoogeboom, the Institution’s CEO, is quirky and jazzy, with a sense of knockabout comedy, while the theme for Waffles, Gabby and Sebastian’s pet goldfish who is given the ability to talk and leave his fishbowl by the Cat, is especially fun, with its sinuous string theme, twinkling sampled harpsichords, and bubbly synths.

All this material is effortlessly charming, with playful woodwinds, cheeky brass interjections, and wonderfully energetic percussion giving the orchestra an almost cartoonishly elastic quality. I love the use of body percussion in the unexpectedly grandiose “A Couple of Things,” the upbeat whistles in the infectious “When Sherrie Met Patty”, and the surprisingly romantic, rhapsodic writing in “Live Laugh Love”. The score’s emotional range is also remarkable, with cues such as the aforementioned “Mom’s Box” demonstrating Balfe’s increasing willingness to allow melody and orchestral warmth to carry the drama without feeling compelled to undercut its impact. Earlier in his career, Balfe seemed to struggle to sustain this sort of expansive, heartfelt writing, and it’s wonderful to see him embracing that now.

However, for me, the most impressive aspect of the score is the action material, which is gradually introduced during the first half, beginning with the earnest and upbeat adventurousness of “The Gang’s All Here,” another piece that clearly takes inspiration from How to Train Your Dragon and stands as one of the score’s highlights. Parts of the aforementioned “It’s Beautiful” also incorporate action-oriented writing, but then it all kicks off in “Something’s Coming,” which accompanies the first appearance of the dragon-like creature known as the Something, emerging from Gabby’s box, and is wonderfully intense, intricate, and dramatic.

As the film and score build towards their finale, Balfe really increases the music’s scope and power through cues like “The Cat’s Out of the Bag,” “Gabby’s Plan,” “With Everything,” and “Final Battle,” which provide numerous opportunities for more muscular orchestral fireworks without sacrificing the score’s essential playfulness. There are clear references to the earlier musical material associated with the Something throughout this entire sequence, and Balfe regularly incorporates heroic variations on the Cat’s theme, Gabby’s theme, and even Waffles’s theme into the fabric of the action. Best of all, though, is how wonderfully musical this all is – all of those tired cello ostinatos and clichéd synth percussion patterns are gone, replaced by rich orchestrations, deft rhythmic ideas (including more body percussion), and a wholesome sense of daring fun that I just love.

The soundtrack also includes an entertaining original theme song written by Tim Minchin and performed by FITZ and Bill Hader, a new piece of bubblegum pop by Hilary Duff called “CATastrophe,” and a wonderfully incongruous marching-band arrangement of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” performed by the USC Trojan Marching Band.

The Cat in the Hat is another enormously satisfying chapter in Balfe’s continuing artistic development. It is colorful, melodic, rhythmically inventive, and unashamedly exuberant, embracing the possibilities of a large orchestra and never holding back from expressing a full range of emotions. Above all, it sounds like a composer having tremendous fun, and that enthusiasm is infectious. Whatever one thinks of the film itself, its music is a delight, and offers further evidence that the Lornaissance is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down.

Buy the Cat in the Hat soundtrack from the Movie Music UK Store

Track Listing:

• The Cat in the Hat Theme Song (written by Tim Minchin, performed by FITZ & Tim Minchin feat. Bill Hader) (1:52)
• CATastrophe (written by Hilary Duff, Matthew Koma, Madison Love and Brian Phillips, performed by Hilary Duff) (2:18)
• Cat Time (1:59)
• Gabby’s Theme (2:49)
• Mr. Hoogeboom (2:58)
• A Couple of Things (1:49)
• Waffles’ Theme (2:20)
• When Sherrie Met Patty (1:33)
• The Gang’s All Here (2:41)
• Welcome Back Cat (3:07)
• The Go-Backer (1:56)
• It’s Beautiful (4:06)
• Something’s Coming (2:58)
• The Thing About Things (1:59)
• Mom’s Box (4:45)
• Live Laugh Love (3:05)
• The Cat’s Out of the Bag (2:32)
• Gabby’s Plan (2:54)
• With Everything (5:16)
• Final Battle (2:44)
• Thank You (2:11)
• The Cat’s Pajamas (4:36)
• Shake It Off (written by Taylor Swift, Max Martin, and Karl Johan ‘Shellback’ Schuster, performed by Lorne Balfe & the USC Trojan Marching Band) (3:41)
• The Cat in the Hat Theme Song – End Credits Version (written by Tim Minchin, performed by FITZ & Tim Minchin feat. Bill Hader) (2:30)

Running Time: 68 minutes 43 seconds

Watertower Music (2026)

Music composed by Lorne Balfe. Conducted by James Brett and Jeremy Earnest. Orchestrations by Adam Price, Chris Egan, Max Guthrie, Niccolo Braghirol, Cameron Smith and Daniel Patteden. Additional music by Jeremy Earnest, Lukas Geppert and Jack Roberts. Featured musical soloists Lorne Balfe, Alessandro Carloni, Erica Rivinoja, Ethan Gillespie and Jeremy Earnest. Recorded and mixed by Peter Cobbin and Kirsty Whalley. Edited by Scott Hedrick. Album produced by Lorne Balfe, Scott Hedrick, Jeremy Earnest and Ethan Gillespie.