Matthew Green- Agree 100% on the Studio Ghibli films. Every one of them is a winner! My absolute favorite (and one of my top favorite movies of all time, for children or for adults) is "My Neighbor Totoro".
Regarding "The Cat in the Hat": Although I do think it's unfortunate that movie studios put such a large degree of sexual innuendo in films based on classic children's books, I think it's ultimately up to the parents to find out what's in the movie before taking their kids. Every single review I saw of "The Cat in the Hat" mentioned that it had humor/sexual references which parents might think were innapropriate for their children. Their are great websites about movies for parents, telling them exactly what the content is that might be inappropriate for children...
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/ is the first one that comes up during a google search, I don't know whether it in itself is very good but here's an example (from "The Cat in the Hat", since that's what we're talking about here
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This movie isn't for the kids who are reading the book -- in its quest for a commercially-rewarding PG rating it has aged itself out of the youngest audience. It's not right for your five-or six-year-old. There is surprisingly rude and crude humor including double entendres and almost-swearing, potty humor, and other bodily function jokes. The Cat picks up a muddy garden implement and refers to it as "a dirty hoe" and spells out the s-word. The Cat is hit in the crotch. There is a lot of comic peril that may be too intense for younger children. An adult character drinks beer.
Families who see this movie could talk about why Sally had a hard time with her friends and why Conrad had a hard time following rules."