Cats (1998 Film)

Cats is a 1998 direct-to-video musical film based on the stage musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber, itself based on the novel Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T S Eliot.

Production Information
The Cats film was directed by David Mallet and shot at the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1997. The soundtrack for the film was recorded with a seventy-piece orchestra to create a full digital sound. In the film, the license plate on the car that can be seen at the back of the stage reads “TSE 1″ for T S Eliot.

The film was essentially a condensed production of the contemporary London version of the show, with elements such as the re-written version of "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer", and where there was a discrepancy between the London and Broadway versions, the London version was used. However to retain an international flavour to the film, the Broadway names for "Plato" (Admetus), "Tumblebrutus" (Bill Bailey) and "Pouncival" (Carbucketty) were used. For more details on the differences between the film and the musical, see here.

Cats was initially released on VHS and DVD in 1998 by PolyGram Video/Universal Pictures, with a bonus 30-minute "Making of..." featurette. It has also been broadcast on television by PBS, BBC, Ovation TV, and Sky UK, among others. A Blu-ray "Ultimate Edition" was released in 2012 that included an additional featurette ("Character Make-up with Karen Dawson Harding") and interviews with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cameron Mackintosh, Trevor Nunn, Gillian Lynne, John Napier, and Gerry Schoenfield (chairman of the Shubert Organization).

Development
Andrew Lloyd Webber had been considering making a film of the musical since at least the early 1990s. Originally the plan was to make an Animated Film with Amblimation studios, however when plans to animate the show fell through, the live action staged film was made instead.

Filming
The music and vocals were pre-recorded first, and the film was then shot over a course of 18 days, from August to September 1997. The cast initially ran through the musical three times to film the group shots, then the rest of the time involved shooting individual numbers to film close-ups. Filming of the "Gus: The Theatre Cat" section ran over-time, which resulted in "Growltiger's Last Stand" being cut from the final film, as there wasn't time to film the complex dream sequence.

Costumes and Make Up
The film features the costume designs used in the London production, which are notably different from their Broadway counterparts. The makeup designs were softened, with the strongest lines removed, as stage makeup would be over-powering in closeup.

Cast
The cast of the film mostly consisted of former and contemporary Broadway and West End Cats actors reprising their roles for the film, including original London cast members Elaine Paige, Susan Jane Tanner, and Femi Taylor, as well as original Broadway cast member Ken Page.

Several actors in the recording were credited as being dubbed; this was done for a variety of reasons.

Jemima's voice was dubbed by young opera singer Helen Massey, as the production team were afraid Veerle Casteleyn would have a noticeable Flemish accent. Similarly, Geoffrey Garratt as Skimbleshanks was dubbed over by David Arniel in order to give the character a particular Scottish accent.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are also credited as being dubbed; however, those familiar with Drew Varley and Jo Gibb and/or Paul Baker and Vikki Coote (who are credited with the dubbed voices), will recognise that the voices in the recording are indeed Drew Varley and Jo Gibb themselves. One possible explanation for this is that dubbed vocals were recorded, but ultimately discarded, or possibly the *giggle* "shush" at the beginning of the number was kept from the dubbing.

Gallery




Transcripts

 * 1998 Film (links to external Google doc - credit to notmanmaybeboy)
 * DVD extras

Trivia

 * Although the soundtrack of the film was never released, the songs "Jellicle Ball" and "Gus: The Theatre Cat" were released in the 2001 compilation album Andrew Lloyd Webber: Now & Forever. The film version of the "Jellicle Ball" was re-released in the 2018 compilation album Andrew Lloyd Webber Unmasked: The Platinum Collection.