I have a secret I must share.
I liked Cats. I had soundtracks (on cassette) of the original London and New York productions and went to see the original Toronto run. Someone bought me a Cats t-shirt and I wore it, unironically. I know, right? The Ramones, The Beatles, Mozart, and… Andrew Lloyd Webber. Even if it’s the Baron scoring T.S. Eliot’s whimsical book for the godchildren– a book referenced, mind you, in Logan’s Run— it remains a tad embarrassing.
So now there’s a movie, due out next Christmas. Leading actors, singers, and dancers have been CGI’d into Furry feline aliens.
And I’m not certain what to make of it:
Some viewers may think this is the cat’s meow. Others may find this quest into the Uncanny Valley haunts their memory for a long, long time.
Production values are high and, somehow, Idris Elba still looks cool.
I’ve never seen the musical, and I am only aware of it as it’s been the butt of pop culture jokes. In this trailers, it looks…. weird.
But, a few great names, seems like decent CGI. I’m in. (If only so I know what those Jokes were about.)
Most of the jokes focus on the fact that it’s a theatrical experience based on a book of poems written for children (and some other material taken from Eliot). Very little plot, just lots of people singing and dancing dressed as cats. People expecting a conventional musical or who just couldn’t get behind performers dressed as animals find it inherently ridiculous.