The Cat and the Hatchet Turns a Childhood Classic Into a Viral Horror Nightmare

Every childhood icon is apparently one bad day away from a body count. Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, and Peter Pan have all received their own horror makeovers, with public domain versions of familiar characters helping fuel the trend. Dr. Seuss’s striped troublemaker is a different proposition, which is why the team behind The Cat and the Hatchet describes its project as an unauthorized parody.

That parody is no longer coming soon. The completed short premiered on YouTube on Halloween, and the filmmakers are already trying to make it bigger.

Scratches Comes to Visit

Directed by Cameron Dodd, The Cat and the Hatchet follows siblings Connor (William Brandt Baker) and Ellie (Lilah Hewson), stuck at home on a deeply uneventful day until Scratches the Cat (Mark Ricci) turns up at the door. What happens after that is the short’s business, and I’ll leave it there.

Stephen Baldwin voices the narrator, a casting choice Bloody Disgusting pointed out doubles as a nod to his brother Alec, who starred in the 2003 live action The Cat in the Hat. Kaleb Carmichael and Ricci produced, with Six Side Studios and Prime Capitol behind the production.

People were clearly curious before the full short arrived. The teaser has drawn more than 2.2 million views on YouTube. That number belongs to the teaser alone, not the finished short, but it was enough of an audience for the filmmakers to take the next swing.

From Short to Feature

The team has launched a Kickstarter campaign to expand Scratches into a feature length horror movie. According to the filmmakers, the feature screenplay is already written. The campaign runs through November 30, 2026.

For now, the feature remains a proposal rather than a financed production. The filmmakers have a completed screenplay and a proof of concept that’s already attracting attention. Whether that enthusiasm turns into enough funding for a full length movie is the open question for the rest of the month.

What’s already here is the short itself. You can watch The Cat and the Hatchet free on YouTube right now.