(Scenario Seed) Adapting "The Cat in the Hat"

[grinch]

I'm sure we're all familiar with the 1957 story by Dr. Seuss which tells the tale of two bored children who finds themselves confronted by a strange talking cat wearing some rather fetching headwear. But why don't we try something different and see how we could adapt it for a Doctor Who adventure? 

The Nature of the Cat
Obviously, whatever the Cat in the Hat is would serve as the foundations for such an adventure. So, here's a few suggestions on my part. 

*An Alien: The Cat in the Hat could possibly be a CatKind or member of a Felinoid species who is planning a career as a child psychologist and as such, is using the two children as a case study. Unfortunately, his knowledge of human behaviour is very limited hence his strange methods. 
*A Cosmic Horror: Taking inspiration from Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart and to a lesser extent Alan Moore's The Black Dossier, perhaps the Cat in the Hat is some eldritch abomination or extra dimensional terror who the two children accidentally summoned by mucking around with some Strange Artefact. The presence of the Cat may even have some detrimental effect on reality causing it to warp hence the Fish suddenly being able to talk!
*A Teacher: Probably my favourite approach and it has a sort of link with the first idea. Maybe the two children are in fact unknowingly trapped within some virtual reality which is intended to serve as a means of education. Unfortunately, the reality is malfunctioning slightly and rogue programmes such as The Cat in the Hat and the destructive Thing One and Thing Two have manifested. The Fish and his advice not to heed the Cat's words may be in fact, a user from the outside trying to communicate with the children and help them escape this reality. That is, until your PCs find a way to enter the reality and save the two children before any harm comes to them. 

Any suggestions?


Note: Yes, it's a weird book to base an adventure seed on but consider it a passing fancy on my part. 

[soultaker666212]

I will be honest I have seen the film and not read the book so I am more familiar with that one. I honestly feel we should make it less creepy and such and keep it to the whimsical child-like nature, could be a benevolent cosmic entity for a change compared to the usual sort of cosmic entities you get. It may be a good idea to have the cat invade the TARDIS though (if we assume Time Lord with a TARDIS) and change it to the funhouse style you'd expect with the Cat in the Hat, having to chase Thing One and Two around the TARDIS corridors etc. Could be a fun sort of adventure after a depressing one, perhaps the entity posing as the Cat senses the depression and sadness int he characters and tries to cheer them up. Give it something actually light hearted for once and not constantly Turning something for children into horror.

[grinch]

Mar 18, 2023 20:38:13 GMT soultaker666212 said:

I will be honest I have seen the film and not read the book so I am more familiar with that one. I honestly feel we should make it less creepy and such and keep it to the whimsical child-like nature, could be a benevolent cosmic entity for a change compared to the usual sort of cosmic entities you get. It may be a good idea to have the cat invade the TARDIS though (if we assume Time Lord with a TARDIS) and change it to the funhouse style you'd expect with the Cat in the Hat, having to chase Thing One and Two around the TARDIS corridors etc. Could be a fun sort of adventure after a depressing one, perhaps the entity posing as the Cat senses the depression and sadness int he characters and tries to cheer them up. Give it something actually light hearted for once and not constantly Turning something for children into horror.

All good ideas.

I think you could still have a lighthearted adventure if you followed the VR idea. Perhaps after suffering a glitch, this rather dull educational programme has created a fun and eccentric character in the form of The Cat in the Hat to add some levity to this reality. With your PCs naturally assuming that due to the Cat's and the Things antics, he means the children harm when in fact he is nothing of the kind. 

I'd treat him akin to say how Professor Moriarty was depicted in Star Trek: The Next Generation. By no means hostile, but very much curious about his own sense of self. The Cat in the Hat may even volunteer to delete himself should he discover that his actions are causing the children harm or keeping them trapped within this flawed reality. Depending on the futuristic society this adventure is set in, such a digital and free thinking creation such as The Cat may not be permitted to exist which would hopefully give your PCs an excuse to try and "save" the Cat in some form.

Personally, I rather like the idea that The Cat is downloaded into the TARDIS Database. Free to explore the various files and worlds recorded within to its hearts content. 

[soultaker666212]

Mar 18, 2023 20:58:37 GMT grinch said:

Mar 18, 2023 20:38:13 GMT soultaker666212 said:

I will be honest I have seen the film and not read the book so I am more familiar with that one. I honestly feel we should make it less creepy and such and keep it to the whimsical child-like nature, could be a benevolent cosmic entity for a change compared to the usual sort of cosmic entities you get. It may be a good idea to have the cat invade the TARDIS though (if we assume Time Lord with a TARDIS) and change it to the funhouse style you'd expect with the Cat in the Hat, having to chase Thing One and Two around the TARDIS corridors etc. Could be a fun sort of adventure after a depressing one, perhaps the entity posing as the Cat senses the depression and sadness int he characters and tries to cheer them up. Give it something actually light hearted for once and not constantly Turning something for children into horror.

All good ideas.

I think you could still have a lighthearted adventure if you followed the VR idea. Perhaps after suffering a glitch, this rather dull educational programme has created a fun and eccentric character in the form of The Cat in the Hat to add some levity to this reality. With your PCs naturally assuming that due to the Cat's and the Things antics, he means the children harm when in fact he is nothing of the kind. 

I'd treat him akin to say how Professor Moriarty was depicted in Star Trek: The Next Generation. By no means hostile, but very much curious about his own sense of self. The Cat in the Hat may even volunteer to delete himself should he discover that his actions are causing the children harm or keeping them trapped within this flawed reality. Depending on the futuristic society this adventure is set in, such a digital and free thinking creation such as The Cat may not be permitted to exist which would hopefully give your PCs an excuse to try and "save" the Cat in some form.

Personally, I rather like the idea that The Cat is downloaded into the TARDIS Database. Free to explore the various files and worlds recorded within to its hearts content. 

That could in fact work. The VR idea might still work if like a recorded database of children's books have been uploaded into the virtual reality machine and Cat in the hat was selected, not realising how extreme it could get.