Fish

The Fish’s Role in The Cat in the Hat

Loyal to a fault and deeply skeptical of anything that rhymes with mischief, the Fish serves as the moral anchor of the household, a grumpy voice of reason swimming against the current of the Cat’s unchecked antics. The character draws from his roots in Dr. Seuss’s original 1957 book, where the Fish famously protested every trick and stunt. This 2026 adaptation adds a new wrinkle: the film establishes that the Fish was originally a non-sentient goldfish, given the gift of speech by the Cat himself, which makes his running opposition to the Cat carry a certain irony. Grumpy but not without warmth, the Fish is equal parts curmudgeon and comic foil, and the trailers already show him getting chased off by the Things alongside Sebastian.

Who Voices the Fish in The Cat in the Hat?

Matt Berry gives the Fish his voice in the 2026 animated film, and the casting is almost too good to be accidental. Berry’s unmistakable baritone, deep, rounded, and carrying the permanent air of someone who finds the situation beneath them, turns every protest the Fish delivers into a deadpan comedy event. Known widely for playing the pompous Douglas Reynholm in The IT Crowd and the delightfully self-deluded Steven Toast in Toast of London, for which he won a BAFTA Award, Berry has long made a career out of characters who are absolutely convinced they are right. As Laszlo Cravensworth in What We Do in the Shadows, he brought that same signature gravitas to absurd situations, and the Fish appears to be a natural extension of that lineage.