‘The Cat and the Hatchet’ Goes Viral, and a Twisted ‘Cat in the Hat’ Horror Feature Is Now Crowdfunding

Childhood icons have been getting a bloody makeover for a few years now, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down. Winnie-the-Pooh, Peter Pan, Bambi, Mickey Mouse, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella have all been dragged into slasher territory, largely thanks to the public domain. The latest family-friendly figure to get twisted is Dr. Seuss’ mischievous feline, in a horror parody called ‘The Cat and the Hatchet’.

Timing is part of the fun. The unofficial horror short ‘The Cat and the Hatchet’ landed right as Warner Bros. rolled out its animated ‘The Cat in the Hat’, which opens in theaters this week. That means audiences are getting both the wholesome and the wicked versions of the same character at nearly the same time.

Now the horror version has a real-world milestone to celebrate. The fan-made short premiered on YouTube on Halloween Day and passed 1.6 million views in just 4 days, and its creators have launched a crowdfunding push to turn it into a full-length movie. Not bad for a project that began as a proof-of-concept.

The Cat in the Hat is getting a horror movie with the upcoming short THE CAT AND THE HATCHET. Ellie and Connor’s boring day takes a terrifying turn when Scratches the Cat shows up at their house. What begins as a strange and unexpected visit quickly becomes a nightmare. https://t.co/92UIO7kpJP

— Bloody Disgusting (@BDisgusting) September 19, 2026

Directed by Cameron Dodd, the short follows 2 siblings, Ellie and Connor, whose boring day takes a terrifying turn when Scratches the Cat shows up at their house. What begins as a fun visit turns sinister as the creature reveals a twisted sense of humor. In the teaser, the cat’s face is covered in blood, setting the tone.

Mark Ricci stars as Scratches, with William Brandt Baker as Connor and Lilah Hewson as Ellie. Bloody Disgusting exclusively revealed that Stephen Baldwin voices the narrator, a fun nod to his brother Alec starring in the 2003 live-action film.

The short is produced by Kaleb Carmichael and Ricci through Six Side Studios and Prime Capitol. Prime Capitol previously released the horror short ‘Simon Says’, which is now available on Tubi.

Dodd and his team are looking to raise $75,000 on Kickstarter to expand the story into a feature-length horror film. According to the filmmakers, the feature screenplay is already written, and the campaign runs through November 30. For now the feature remains a proposal rather than a financed production, so the outcome depends on whether the online enthusiasm turns into pledges.

There are signs the audience is there. The teaser alone drew more than 2.2 million views on YouTube before the finished short even arrived. That number belongs to the teaser alone, not the finished short, but it was enough of an audience for the filmmakers to take their next swing.

The casting call for the project described it as a proof-of-concept horror parody developed as a potential feature adaptation. That framing makes the viral response especially important, because the numbers can act as a pitch for the larger film.

Unlike Pooh or Mickey, the Cat is not in the public domain, which explains the careful language around the project. The short is described as a non-profit, unauthorized parody that is not affiliated with the official property. ‘The Cat in the Hat’ is still very much under copyright, so the filmmakers are leaning on the parody label.

That puts the project in a slightly different lane from the first wave of public domain horror, which was kicked off by 2023’s ‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey’. Paste Magazine argued that film showed how filmmakers could hope for a quick return on investment with nostalgia-baiting horror. Dr. Seuss has been through this before, too, since ‘The Mean One’, a low-budget horror parody of the Grinch story, arrived earlier.

The Cat has had an unusual run on film. The 2003 version starring Mike Myers was a fever dream that seemingly ended live-action adaptations of Seuss’ work, according to Nerdbot. Now Warner Bros. is trying again with an animated take led by Bill Hader, while an indie team is taking the opposite approach with a slasher twist.

Whether the horror version can raise enough money remains an open question, though the view counts suggest plenty of curiosity. If the Kickstarter succeeds, fans could eventually see Scratches’ nightmare stretched to feature length.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!