Animated Film

Animated films of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats have been considered many times over the years, including adaptations of the musical. As yet, none have come to fruition.

Disney
T S Eliot specifically did not want his Jellicle Cats turned into cutesy cartoon cats and turned down a Disney animated feature of Old Possum's. Disney went on to make The Aristocats instead. According to Andrew Lloyd Webber, one of the first things Eliot's widow, Valerie, told him when he met her to get the rights to make the musical was "You, realise, don't you, that Tom turned down Disney?"

Amblimation 1991
In September 1995, the Really Useful Group's website stated: "Production has begun on the full-length, animated feature version of Cats. Based on a screenplay by Tony Award-winning playwright Tom Stoppard, the Amblimation production will be released by Universal Pictures in 1997 and will feature a new song written for the film."

- www.reallyuseful.com

The planned animated feature was under the direction of Steven Spielberg, who decided to set the film during the Blitz in London (1940-1941). By the mid-1990s, a studio in LA was working on the Cats project, but it was finally cancelled in 1997 and the 1998 Cats film as we know it went into production instead.

Amblin Entertainment and Steven Spielberg went on to be involved with the 2019 Cats movie, and elements of their early concept art for the animated feature are recognisable in the style of the finished movie.

Resources:
 * Information from Hans Bacher's blog.
 * Luc Desmarchelier also blogs about the development.

Gallery
Concept art by Hans Bacher and Luc Desmarchelier