Bill Hader Voices Cat In the Hat In First Trailer for New Animated Film

On Tuesday, Warner Bros. dropped the first teaser for the 2026 animated film based on the Dr. Seuss classic children's book, The Cat in the Hat, with Bill Hader voicing the beloved anthropomorphic cat.

The footage shows Hader's Cat, rocking the character's signature red-and-white striped top hat and red bowtie, and his adventures working at the I.I.I.I. (Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration, LLC), among his fellow creatures who entertain children, before he's given his latest assignment: bringing joy to two siblings, Gabby and Sebastian, who are voiced by Xochitl Gomez and Tiago Martinez, respectively.

In addition to teasing the many shenanigans to come, the trailer gives a taste of the film's new take on Thing 1 and Thing 2, revealing that there are many, many more Things -- at least 17, according to the trailer -- with each creature donning different versions of the character's red-and-white bodysuit and blue hair, or in this case, sometimes even facial hair. Cat brings the Things out of a red box, but Thing 2 is noticeably missing.

Other stars rounding up the voice cast include Quinta Brunson, who the directors revealed plays "Sherry from HR," and America Ferrera, Bowen Yang, Giancarlo Esposito, Tituss Burgess, Matt Berry, and Paula Pell.

During a virtual Q&A ahead of Tuesday's trailer release, The Cat in the Hat's writer-director duo, Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja, and Hader sat down to chat about the film, with Carloni and Rivinoja recalling how they brought the children's IP to life in a fun, modern way, and Hader opening up about voicing the beloved children's character.

As Saturday Night Live fans can recall, Hader has actually portrayed the Cat in the Hat before, playing the character during a sketch back in 2014. While the comedian said the writers didn't create the sketch because he's a fan of the anthropomorphic cat, he has loved the book since he was a child.

While speaking about "chasing down the role," Hader said, "Like everybody, I remember reading that book as a kid, and then reading it to my kids, and then, you know, I've worked with these guys before on different projects, and I've known them forever, so, you know, the combination of these two and the chance to play, you know, such an iconic character, was, you know, I was like, 'Yes.'"

"So yeah, I did chase it," he added, to which Rivinoja chimed in, "There was a mutual chasing."

Hader -- who was a cast member on SNL from 2005 to 2013 -- broke down how he tackled the Cat in the Hat, sharing that he brought his past improv skills for the role. While he praised the "insanely funny" script, he noted that Carloni and Rivinoja encouraged him to improvise, and of course, bring in his personality.

"Bill does play a lot of different characters, and gets to use a bunch of different voices," Rivinoja said, to which Hader shared, "I got to do some stuff that I just do in life, just like stupid weird things with my voice that I would just do in between takes and they would go 'Oh, could you do that in character?' And I was like, 'That thing? That just annoys people.'"

Carloni chimed in, "I don't want to give anything away, but there is one scene in which the character has to literally move backward in time and [we] usually use filters and digital techniques to rewind voices, but he's able to create the sound of a voice moving forward and warping and playing backward that we had to tell our animators, 'Just you know, that's actually Bill Hader.'"

"That's what I was referring to," Hader revealed. "I do that in life."

Hader also opened up about the physicality of portraying the Cat in the Hat, recalling the experience and challenge of performing in the booth.

He said that while he felt "very free," he said recording is "actually so exhausting."

"You're essentially just screaming for four hours," Hader recalled, joking that Carloni and Rivinoja "watched me have a full-on existential crisis in the booth."

Rivinoja shared that also they also shot Hader with a "lipstick cam," in which they record the actors' performances so animators could use their expressions.

Meanwhile, although the film doesn't hit theaters until next February, Hader revealed his 10-year-old daughter has already seen the movie, and watched it with their friends, sharing that they were "obsessed" with the Things.

Rivinoja teased that while the Cat in the Hat is "chaos," the Things are "extra chaos on top of that."

As for other creatures people will see in the movie, the group touched on how the trailer gave a glimpse into the world of rhyming animals and objects, with Carolini and Rivinoja revealing some the other creatures in the corporation for entertaining children, including Pig in a Wig, Ox in a Box, Owl in a Towel, Goat in a Coat, Bug in a Mug, Rat in a Bat, and ... Sherry from HR, played by Brunson.

Hader praised Brunson's role as Sherry from HR, noting that she's "really funny."

"She's hilarious, and the Cat in the Hat and Sherry from HR are best friends," Rivinoja shared. "And getting to see Bill and Quinta in the room together was just like, 'Oh, comedy icons together."

Hader also gave a shoutout to other members of the all-star cast, calling Matt Berry one of his "idols," and Paula Pell and Bowen Yang "unbelievable."

The Cat in the Hat hits theaters February 27, 2026.