The Cat in the Hat Finds Its Many Worlds Through Colour and Performance

The Cat in the Hat starts with a familiar visitor and then travels far beyond the house from Dr. Seuss' book. A newly published production feature shows some of the design and animation decisions behind that expanded world.

Autodesk's November 5 behind-the-scenes feature brings together the filmmakers and artists behind Warner Bros. Pictures Animation's film, animated by DNEG Animation. The film opens in North American cinemas on November 6.

A palette for every world

The directors Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni describe an adventure that moves between an everyday world, a Seuss-inspired world and three box worlds associated with different characters. Each calls for a different visual language.

Production designer Aidan Sugano drew characters and settings for those spaces. The colour script brings many moments together in strips of contrasting light and colour, making the changes in mood visible across the story.

DNEG visual effects supervisor Matt Waters says the team used Maya to translate designs into models and reviewed work remotely with Sugano. The objective was to carry the drawings' character into the finished 3D film.

Explore Autodesk's production feature

Keeping the Cat in character

Animator Marek Kochout filmed himself acting out a shot as a reference before building the Cat's movement in Maya. In the Graph Editor, the animator could adjust the curves that control the character's performance.

The team also saved poses and expressions that captured the Cat's personality in a shared library. Carloni says those references gave animators a common guide to his movement while allowing them to refine individual shots.

DNEG Animation confirmed its role on the film ahead of its November 6 theatrical release. The extended video follows the artists, directors and production team through more of that process.

Read DNEG Animation's premiere update