Cats is a 2019 musical fantasy film based on the 1981 West End musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which in turn was based on the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot, another inspiration for the film. The film was directed by Tom Hooper, in his second feature musical following Les Misérables (2012), from a screenplay by Lee Hall and Hooper. It stars an ensemble cast including James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo in his feature film debut, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, and Francesca Hayward in her feature film debut.
Filming took place from December 2018 to April 2019. It premiered at Alice Tully Hall in New York City on 16 December 2019 and went into general release in the United Kingdom and the United States on 20 December. Cats grossed $78.4 million worldwide against a production budget of $80–100 million, resulting in an estimated loss of $71 million after ancillary costs, becoming a box office failure. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and audiences, who were unsettled by the humanoid cats created through visual effects, and is considered to be one of the worst films ever made.
Plot
Victoria, a young white cat, is abandoned by her owner in the streets of pre-war London in the middle of the night. Witnessing this, a group of alley cats introduce themselves to her as the "Jellicles". Mr. Mistoffelees, Munkustrap, Cassandra, and Demeter take Victoria under their wing and show her the world of the Jellicles as they prepare for the Jellicle Ball, an annual ceremony where cats must compete to be chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer and be granted a new life.
Most of the Jellicle Ball competitors are introduced and sing about themselves: Jennyanydots, a domestic tabby who sleeps during the day and boosts the productivity of mice and roaches by night; the Rum Tum Tugger, an extravagant yet indecisive cat who riles up the others; Bustopher Jones, a bourgeois cat who boasts about his weight, and takes food scraps from the garbage; Skimbleshanks, a tidy ginger cat who tap dances and is a train conductor; as well as Gus, an old cat who is a very successful actor.
Victoria also happens to meet the mischievous twins, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, who enjoy causing trouble and messing with things in the house of their human family. They convince Victoria to join in the fun, but leave her tangled up in some necklaces when the family dog is alerted to their presence. Mr. Mistoffelees comes to rescue Victoria, distracting the dog and escaping with her. They return to the group just in time for the arrival of the tribe's wise and beloved matriarch, Old Deuteronomy. The Jellicle Ball commences inside the abandoned Egyptian Theatre. Victoria dances a ballet solo in the moonlight but is distracted by Cassandra harassing Grizabella, a former glamour cat who was banished from the tribe for, among other things, her past allegiance with Macavity, a notorious criminal and con artist capable of teleportation. Victoria relates to Grizabella's feelings of abandonment. As Grizabella slinks away into the streets, Old Deuteronomy witnesses their quiet camaraderie and assures Victoria that she can become a Jellicle herself in time.
A seductive femme fatale named Bombalurina interrupts the ball, distracting the Jellicles present with a song and dance number praising Macavity and simultaneously incapacitating them with catnip. When Macavity arrives and demands to be made the Jellicle Choice, Old Deuteronomy deems him unworthy and is subsequently kidnapped and placed with most of the other contestants that he has kidnapped. As the Jellicles recuperate, distraught over their leader's disappearance, Victoria suggests that Mr. Mistoffelees use his powers to conjure Old Deuteronomy back. He tries several times, eventually making Old Deuteronomy reappear. The cats rejoice and praise Mr. Mistoffelees, and he and Victoria dance together. Meanwhile, a thwarted Macavity and Bombalurina teleport away from his victims, who begin to free themselves via Jennyanydots' costume change. Macavity leaves his lackey, Growltiger, to walk the plank defenseless against the emancipated cats.
Grizabella returns to the Egyptian Theatre. Victoria vouches for her and urges her to sing her true feelings. Grizabella sings a passionate ballad about her mistakes, her former glory, and her beauty, sentiments that touch the hearts of the Jellicles. Old Deuteronomy names Grizabella the Jellicle Choice and sends her off to the Heaviside Layer in a chandelier (repaired by Mr. Mistoffelees' magic to float like a hot air balloon). Macavity, in one last attempt to reach the Heaviside Layer, leaps onto a rope from the chandelier, but falls onto Nelson's Column. The Jellicles, reunited with their kidnapped brethren, and perched on a lion statue, watch Grizabella ascend as the morning sun appears above the horizon. After the congregation disperses, Old Deuteronomy welcomes Victoria to the tribe.
Cast
Production Development An animated film adaptation based on the musical was initially planned by Amblimation in the 1990s, but was abandoned with the studio's closure. In December 2013, Andrew Lloyd Webber, creator and composer of the musical stage production Cats, teased that Universal Pictures, which had purchased the film rights to Cats many years earlier, was putting the project into active development.
In February 2016, it was reported that Tom Hooper was in negotiations to direct the film, and was considering actresses, including Suki Waterhouse, to star. In May 2016, Hooper was confirmed as director.
In January 2018, Hooper and Working Title began officially casting for the film, while looking into the technical aspect of whether the film would be entirely live-action or computer generated, with Lloyd Webber announcing he would be writing a new song for the film adaptation. On 24 October 2019, it was announced that the new song was titled "Beautiful Ghosts", written by Lloyd Webber and Taylor Swift. The song was sung by Francesca Hayward, followed later in a reprise by Judi Dench, with a credits version sung by Swift. The version sung by Swift was released on 15 November 2019.
Casting In June 2018, there were reports that Anne Hathaway was considered for a role in the film, but she declined due to a scheduling conflict. Hugh Jackman was also offered a role by Hooper but turned it down. In July 2018, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, James Corden, and Ian McKellen joined the cast. Swift had previously tested for the role of Éponine in Tom Hooper's Les Misérables but was given the part of Bombalurina without an audition.
In September 2018, Laurie Davidson and Mette Towley were cast, with Steven Spielberg announced to be executive producing. In October 2018, Idris Elba and Judi Dench joined the cast of the film. Dench was cast in the original stage musical, but had been forced to pull out due to a torn Achilles tendon; Lloyd Webber and Hooper made Old Deuteronomy a female cat and offered her the role.
In November 2018, ballet dancers Francesca Hayward and Steven McRae, and Rebel Wilson, Jason Derulo and Robert Fairchild joined the cast of the film, with rehearsals commencing at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England. Andy Blankenbuehler choreographed the film, after Wayne McGregor was forced to back out due to scheduling conflicts. Blankenbuehler also choreographed the stage musical's 2016 Broadway revival. In December 2018, Les Twins and Eric Underwood joined the cast.
Filming Principal photography began on 12 December 2018 and wrapped on 2 April 2019. Swift said that the cast attended "cat school", in which "We would literally do hours on end of barefoot crawling on the floor, hissing at each other. We learned about cat instincts and the way they carry themselves and the way that they process information, the way they see the world, the way they move."
Music
Music for the film was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber with contributions from producer Greg Wells, who was initially brought in after production in mid-2019. The recordings were created partly at Abbey Road Studios with contributions from the London Symphony Orchestra. Wells also played a number of instruments on the music himself, including the drums, pipe organ, bass guitar and Abbey Road's fabled Mrs Mills piano, used in Beatles songs such as "Penny Lane" and "With a Little Help from My Friends".
A "highlights" edition of the soundtrack with a running time of 59 minutes was released on 20 December 2019 by Polydor Records and in the US by Republic Records. The song "Beautiful Ghosts" by Taylor Swift, a single from the soundtrack album, was released on 15 November 2019.
Less than two months before the film was scheduled to be released in theatres, production was still ongoing for its music.
Musical numbers
"Overture"/"Prologue: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" – Orchestra/Company "The Naming of Cats"/"The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball"† – Munkustrap, Mr. Mistoffelees & Company "Jennyanydots: The Old Gumbie Cat" – Jennyanydots, Munkustrap & Company "The Rum Tum Tugger" – Rum Tum Tugger, Jennyanydots & Company "Grizabella: The Glamour Cat"† – Grizabella, Cassandra, Demeter & Company "Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town" – Bustopher, Rum Tum Tugger, Maitre D' & Company "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" – Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer & Victoria "Growltiger's Last Stand"† – Growltiger "Old Deuteronomy" – Munkustrap, Old Deuteronomy & Company "The Jellicle Ball"† – Company "Memory (Prelude)"/"Beautiful Ghosts" – Grizabella & Victoria "The Moments of Happiness"† – Old Deuteronomy "Gus: The Theatre Cat" – Gus "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat" – Skimbleshanks, Munkustrap & Company "Macavity: The Mystery Cat" – Bombalurina, Macavity, Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, Griddlebone & Company "Mr. Mistoffelees" – Mistoffelees, Munkustrap & Company "Memory" – Grizabella & Victoria "Beautiful Ghosts (Reprise)"† – Victoria & Old Deuteronomy "The Journey to the Heaviside Layer"† – Company "Finale: The Ad-Dressing of Cats" – Old Deuteronomy & Company
† denotes songs absent from the soundtrack.
Visual effects Cats uses extensive visual effects (VFX) throughout to convert the live-action actors into anthropomorphic cats via computer-generated imagery (CGI). However, the production originally intended to use makeup and costumes with fur for the characters. Hooper experimented with using prosthetics to create the look of the cats due to the then-prohibitive costs of VFX, but he was dissatisfied, feeling that "[Y]ou ended up with full-faced prosthetics where you lost so much emotion. ... So all the paths seemed to lead me back to visual effects." When production moved to digital options, companies like Technicolor SA subsidiaries Mill Film and MPC joined in for the visual effects. To aid this, the actors performed in motion capture suits with tracking dots on their costumes and faces. The bodies of the cat characters were rendered using CGI with digital fur blended with the actors' actual faces.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, a VFX editor who worked on the movie confirmed that an early, half-finished iteration of Cats featured visible anuses. Another crew member is quoted as saying that the appearance was not intentional. Rather, it was the result of the film's "unique visual effects". Ultimately, one crew member was assigned the task of editing out anything that appeared to be an anus.