You might never look at Mike Myers’ The Cat In The Hat movie the same way again, thanks to the disturbing Cat In the Hat trend going viral on TikTok.
This trend is all about taking innocent scenes from the 2003 film and reinterpreting them through the most disturbing, jarring lens possible by adding dark captions over top with an analog horror aesthetic.
But how did the Cat In the Hat trend start, and why is it going viral? Here’s what we know.
What Is The ‘Dark Cat In The Hat’ Meme?
The Cat In the Hat is a 2003 family comedy movie based on the Dr. Seuss book of the same name, and starring Mike Myers as The Cat. The movie didn’t get a lot of love from critics, but it has since become a cult classic for many.
At the end of June 2026, a TikToker known as Daletok, also known as @dannykelvin47, shared a meme that uses a scene of The Cat dancing under the disturbing caption, “How mfs be dancing at prom just to overdose 2 weeks later.”
The meme is set to the song “Gats” by Susumu Hirasawa, or “Guts’ Theme,” and has an eerie, almost cursed vibe that many commenters pointed out. It went on to gain over 4.4 million views in a week, inspiring the TikToker to make similar memes using other scenes from the movie.
Before long, other TikTokers began to share their own interpretations of the meme as it rapidly spread.
How Is ‘The Cat In The Hat’ Used In Memes?
TikTokers and Instagram Reels users are now taking scenes from The Cat In the Hat and attaching the darkest and most disturbing captions to them as possible. The point is to reinterpret the scenes in a new, horrific way.
Now, the trend has expanded to new avenues as users edit scenes from the movie to make it look like a horror movie, or the last known footage of someone.
Some of these memes use AI to make new scenes of The Cat acting like a horror movie monster, including videos that use a found footage horror movie style.
What Are Some More ‘Dark Cat In The Hat’ Memes?
For the full history of the Dark Cat In The Hat memes, be sure to check out Know Your Meme’s encyclopedia entry for more information.
Read the original article on Know Your Meme.
