Line #4 WesternAnimation/TheCatintheHatKnowsALotAboutThat


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Cat_in_the_Hat_Knows_a_Lot_About_That_5944.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"He knows a lot about, he knows a lot about, he knows a lot about that!"]]
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4	An EdutainmentShow on Creator/PBSKids starring Literature/TheCatInTheHat (voiced by Creator/MartinShort), Sally, her new best friend Nick and Fish, plus cameos from Thing One and Thing Two.
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6	Each episode is composed of two twelve-minute stories, in which the Cat helps solve the children's problems by whisking them off in his helicopter-esque Thingamajigger to experience a relevant aspect of the natural world. This usually involves meeting and learning from an exotic animal, bird or insect.
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8	The series is based loosely on a franchise of books called ''The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library'', which was later retitled to match the name of this television series. It was produced by Creator/CollingwoodAndCo and Creator/PortfolioEntertainment.
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10	----
11	!!This show contains examples of:
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13	* AdaptedOut: Sally's brother (or Conrad as he was called in the 2003 film) is completely absent from the show, with his role instead being taken by Sally's best friend Nick.
14	* AreWeThereYet: In "Itty Bitty Water," the Cat repeatedly moans this after the group has traveled across a long desert to reach a stream. Fortunately, the third time around, the answer is yes.
15	* BagOfHolding: The Cat's hat, as per the original, turns out to contain ''whatever'' might be needed for that day's adventure. The similarly-stuffed hatch at the back of the Thingamajigger probably qualifies too, given the Things apparently live there.
16	* CharacterCatchphrase: When suggesting each new adventure, the Cat tells the kids "Your mother will not mind at all if you do..." [[CallBack referencing a similar repeated line from the books]]. Nick's constant variations on "That's ''so cool!''" may also count.
17	* ChristmasSpecial: ''The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas!''
18	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Thanks to his role as responsible guardian to the kids, the Cat is actually quite a bit saner and more organized here than in the original... but he's still a Dr. Seuss character (as interpreted by Martin Short, to boot) and still prone to all it implies.
19	* ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre: Barry the barracuda sings a rap song that includes this phrase while he's hunting for his prey.
20	* CountingSong: A Season 3 music video, "Count Your Senses", has the Cat lead a song-and-dance number about the five senses and how to count and use each one.
21	* DisappearedDad: The kids' mothers are seen in most episodes, but their fathers are nowhere to be found. Subverted in Season 3's "Making Waves", where Nick's father appears. All four parents appear in ''The Cat in the Hat knows a Lot About Christmas!''
22	%%ZCE * DisembodiedEyebrows: Fish.
23	* DontTryThisAtHome: Before giving the kids bubble gum to help them stick to rocks like limpets, the Cat makes them promise never to try the same thing back home. "Your mother will most ''certainly'' mind if you do!"
24	* EdutainmentShow: Unlike a lot of the more recent offerings of this type, {{Aesop}}s or pro-social values aren't the primary goal. Instead, the show merely has some very interesting things to teach about science and nature, and particularly various types of animals. Even PeripheryDemographic watchers may learn something they didn't know before, such as the properties of the blue-footed booby's feet, or the various ways in which a wolf can find their pack.
25	* EvolvingCredits: Later episodes would credit the episode's writers in the opening sequence [[note]]normally, the executive producers, producers, (episode's) director(s), and Creator/MartinShort are credited[[/note]], as well as replacing the word "that" with the episode's subject.
26	* ExcitedKidsShowHost: The Cat in the Hat, being the BigFun he is, who tends to get overexcited and zany about many things and the simplest of situations.
27	* ExpositoryThemeTune: The theme song explains that The Cat in the Hat takes the kids on many adventures, as well as in his Thinga-ma-jigger.
28	* FantasyHelmetEnforcement: Part of the ritual preflight checklist before each adventure, as they settle into the Thingamajigger: "Buckle up! Flick the jiggermawhizzer!"
29	* ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself: Just before the final song in ''The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Halloween'', the Cat is shown putting on a costume that is a complete full-body replica of himself.
30	* FunWithSubtitles: A snarky variant: as if to criticize Cat hamming up his thanks to the viewers at the end of the funding credits, the on-screen words "Viewers Like You" dissolve and are replaced by a plainer, clearer "Thank You!"
31	* {{Gesundheit}}: Sally and Nick say it in unison in ''The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Halloween'' when the Cat describes Bubbles as a "great haberdasher."
32	* GroupHug: Happens sometimes in a few episodes with the Cat, Nick, and Sally.
33	* GrowlingGut: The episode "Rumbly Tumbly" is actually ''dedicated'' to stomach growling and why they make sounds.
34	* HalloweenEpisode: ''The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Halloween'', a nearly hour-long special featuring the group journeying so that Sally and Nick can find the perfect Halloween costumes.
35	* HurtFootHop: In "Bounce", the Cat picks up a rock and tries to squeeze it, but it is not made of rubber; then he drops it and it lands on his foot, causing him to hop and clutch the hurt foot in pain.
36	* LargeHam: Martin Short as the Cat. ''Good heavens'', Martin Short as the Cat.
37	* {{Leaning on the Fourth Wall}}: After they get permission from their moms to go on each adventure, the kids yell to the Cat "We can go! We can go!" and he ecstatically jumps into the air and bellows back "I know, I know!!". In one episode, they perform this ritual [[ItMakesSenseInContext in a small tent they've just finished putting up]]... leading the Cat to add a ''very'' calm "...and let's never do that in a tent again, OK?"
38	* LimitedWardrobe: Sally is normally outfitted in a pink jumper dress, white blouse and a pink hairband, Nick in an orange sweatshirt and blue jeans. Cat, of course, always wears his signature red-and-white striped hat and red bowtie.
39	* MadLibsCatchPhrase: Used to set up the adventure in each episode:
40	-->'''Cat''': ...Your mother will not mind at all if you do!
41	-->'''Sally and/or Nick''': ''(running towards the back door)'' Mom! Can we go to [wacky place name] to meet/learn [specific skill] from [exotic creature]?!
42	-->''(Mom laughs and gives permission, with a quip that clearly indicates she thinks they're just kidding)''
43	* MobileFishbowl: Fish -- in this series apparently the Cat's companion rather than the children's pet -- travels with the group in a bowl that sits in a special cradle on the back of the Thingamajigger.
44	* OdeToFood: One music video has the cat sing about various fruits and how eating them is very good for you.
45	* OncePerEpisode: Whenever the gang is in a situation, the Cat tells a rhyme mentioning the Things and calls them by whistling.
46	* OnlySaneMan: As per the original, Fish sees himself in this role in relation to the Cat's unbridled whimsy ("''Some''body's gotta take care of you!"). Sally also gets shades of it from time-to-time.
47	* PhraseCatcher: In most episodes, whenever the Cat makes his entrance, Nick and Sally exchange: "It's the Cat! The Cat in the Hat!"
48	* PrimalChestPound: Gordon the gorilla makes his appearance doing this, explaining that he only does it to scare intruders. Like real gorillas, he does it with open hands rather than clenched fists.
49	* PlutoIsExpendable: In "The Planet Name Game," the Cat, Nick and Sally travel into space and name the eight planets. Neither Pluto nor the controversy surrounding it are mentioned. Incidentally, this may be the first series of its type to touch the subject of naming the planets since the 2006 decision.
50	* RaceLift: In the books, the male child character was white, but the one in the TV series is black (and is a different kid, as evidenced by the fact that he's now Sally's neighbor instead of brother). Additionally, the new books being released under the banner of ''The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That'' feature the the black youngster.
51	* ReflectiveEyes: A Season 1 music video, "Eyes in Different Places", has the Cat sing about the multipurpose eyes of specific animals and how each works; when he mentions those of a fly's, an ExtremeCloseUp of the fly's bug eyes shows the Cat's face reflected in them.
52	* RefugeInAudacity: In every episode, the Cat tells the kids to get a parent's permission before they can go on the day's adventure to meet [insert outlandish animal] in [insert wacky place name]. The parent always allows it, thinking they're just pretending.
53	* RhymesOnADime: The Cat, regularly and obviously, in the Seussian tradition.
54	* RhymingTitle: The ''Cat'' in the ''Hat'' Knows a Lot About ''That''.
55	* RuleOfThree: Relies fairly heavily on it as per most children's edutainment programs.
56	* RunningGag: See RefugeInAudacity above. Additionally, each episode features an interlude wherein Thing One and Thing Two are called on to get the travelers out of some difficulty, usually by building some wildly complicated contraption.
57	* SettingOffSong: OncePerEpisode, the Cat and children sing the "Traveling Song" as they are flying in the Thingamajigger and heading for the random location of the day, with the third verse changing every episode based on whatever the children are going to do. The song was shortened in the final season and simply ends after Nick and Sally's verse.
58	* SmellySkunk: In the episode "Sniff and Seek", The Cat takes Sally and Nick to see Whiffy the skunk, who helps find Sally’s favorite smell and they discover how good Whiffy is at protecting himself with his very own special smell.
59	* StaringContest: In "Aye Aye!", when the Cat is creeped out by Aiya the Aye-Aye's large eyes and makes a wager he can out-stare him, this initiates a round of staring contests, with Thing 1 and Thing 2 as the judges. Sally loses the first round to the Cat, while Nick loses the second to Aiya. When the Cat faces Aiya for the deciding round, he finds it too difficult and immediately loses, giving Aiya the victory.
60	* StatusQuoIsGod: Nick rips his shirt in the center in "Cotton Patch" and get a diamond-shaped patch to cover it up. This is, of course, never seen again in any future installments.
61	* StockFootage: The Thingamajigger's launch sequence, as well as the "Traveling Song", use almost the same footage every episode, with the gang's clothes changing and sometimes joined by another visiting character to fit the occasion. The Cat's lip syncing in the third verse also changes accordingly to sing about whatever Nick and Sally are going to do.
62	* StrictlyFormula: Nick and Sally are doing something, then the Cat drops in for a visit. The children experience something they don't know about, so the Cat decides to take them to show them the answer, with them asking their parents if it's okay. After getting the approval, they hop in the Thingamajigger and set off as the "Traveling Song" is heard. They reach a random place and sometimes meet a friend of the Cat's; they then proceed to find the answer. At some point, the Cat summons Thing-1 and Thing-2 to help out. After the answer is found, the Cat recites a rhyme based on what they've learned, and the episode ends with the children doing whatever they did at the start, while using what they've learned to complete it properly.
63	* ThreeShorts: The show often follows an "ABAB" format, with the A section being the main stories, and the B section being the post-episode gags, such as music videos with the Cat, the Fish's quizzes, Nick and Sally's "Hat Chat" talk show, and Thing 1 and Thing 2 in a random situation.
64	* TitleThemeTune: "Wherever you're going, wherever you're at, ''The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About'' (he knows a lot about, he knows a lot about, he knows a lot about...) ''That!''"
65	* ThinkerPose: In "Bounce" as the Cat sits down to think over how to find Dr. Twiggles, he strikes the same pose as the Thinker statue.
66	* ViewersLikeYou: Creator/{{PBS}} shows mandate a "thank you" to viewers at the end of the funding credits. The Cat takes this as yet one more opportunity to be supremely hammy. "You and you and you and '''''you'''''! Thanks. So much. You're very kind."
67	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Originally, the main characters in ''Literature/TheCatInTheHat'' were the Cat, Sally, her brother (identified as Conrad in the live-action movie), and their pet Fish. In this series, it's the Cat, ''his'' pet Fish, Sally, and a new African-American boy who lives next door named Nick. What happened to Sally's brother? And when did Fish -- notoriously suspicious of the Cat in the original -- switch sides?
68	* WhosOnFirst: One of the quiz gags with Fish involves an owl that keeps hooting when Fish is trying to ask us his question about what sound an owl makes.
69	-->'''Fish''': You got it this time, but next time I'll stump you for sure.
70	-->'''Owl''': (''hooting'') Whooooo.
71	-->'''Fish''': Me, that's who!
72	* YouDidntAsk: In the Christmas special, this is Ralph the reindeer's explanation when Sally and Nick ask why he didn't tell them that he's one of Santa's reindeer.

Context WesternAnimation / TheCatintheHatKnowsALotAboutThat