Why Cats (2019) Failed So Hard
I think it only fair to make the disclaimer that I played Jemima in the musical stage production of CATS, so when the movie came out in 2019 (not the 1998 film- that is another post), I was stoked to go live vicariously through the beautiful little tortoiseshell calico kitten, only to be shocked and highly disappointed. The musical that was so dear to me and many others was butchered, the cats were creepy and the story just fell so flat it was akin to a train wreck in slow motion.
So what happened? Why did the movie fail so hard when the source material had the potential to be spectacular? After all, Phantom of the Opera, while not the best cast, was still decent in its presentation, and it came out in 2004. Clearly, they could have followed up with a decent retelling of T.S. Elliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” set to music, which is what Webber did in the stage play. Where do I begin to tear this movie apart? How about with what Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber said of the movie:
Cats was off-the-scale all wrong.
There wasn’t really any understanding of why the music ticked at all.
I saw it and I just thought, ‘Oh, God, no.’
It was the first time in my 70-odd years on this planet that I went out and bought a dog.
So the one good thing to come out of it is my little Havanese puppy.
You read that right. The creator of the musical the film was based on hated Cats so much that he went and bought a dog as an emotional support animal to help with the trauma that this movie is.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Good
While the film lost a lot of admiration from me, there are some good things about it, and I think it’s only fair to acknowledge the good as well as the bad. It isn’t a complete disaster, although finding a penny in the wake of an atomic bomb is more apt to describe this section.
I loved playing Jemima in the stage presentation of Cats. She was a very sweet, playful and affectionate cat who seen the good in life because she had yet to experience the negativity of it all. She grew up surrounded by a tribe of cats that took care of her and each, in their own way, taught her something.
So, in the stage show, during the song “Memory” when Grizzabella sings about the jaded, cynical world she lives in and how her life was so much better way back when, Jemima counterpoints that with a look at the beauty of the world and of life, to show Grizzabella that there is another way to see the experiences you go through. It was very poignant, and cut out completely during the film, which frustrated me. That said, tapping into Jemima’s grace and love and kindness, there are a few things that are good that should be acknowledged.
The first thing I want to actually acknowledge is Jennifer Hudson’s rendition of “Memory”. Despite lacking Syllabub (Jemima)’s counterpoint response, her vocals did the depressive and rueful song justice. It was emotional, as it should be, and I feel that it was a rare moment in the film that actually actively honored the original stage play.
Another thing that helped Cats, from a performer’s perspective, since I was in the stage show, was the fact that Growltiger and Griddlebone had a segment in the live show. In the 1998 stage to film adaptation, that segment was cut out and merely hinted at during Gus: The Theater Cat’s solo song. However, in the 2019 version, you actually get to see a rendition of that operetta. So, it felt like an Easter egg in that most people were never exposed to it, but if you knew, it was that much more special. I loved the fact that they got the screen time the 1998 movie denied them.
And finally, Francesca Hayword’s grace as a ballerina helped her tremendously as Victoria. Victoria was always portrayed as a strong dancer with elements of ballet, so to cast someone with an active ballet background went far in doing her character credit. Her poise and her expressive dancing brought Victoria’s essence to stage and it translated well, even on the big screen.
The Bad
I am going to stay off the Jemima pedestal and talking about how they cut the only solo she had out of the film and set it aside for another rant. Maybe someday, you will get to read my deep dive into Jemima and see who I ship her with.
Instead, I want to talk about Mr. Mistoffelees and how they killed the play with him. Mr. Mistoffeless was the black and white conjuring cat, full of magic and adorably fun chaos energy. He did stuff just to do it and then said “LOOK AT ME!!!” He always had that quiet swagger of “I did that” about him. So, in the movie, I was expecting big, confident look at me energy and what they gave was this shy, reserved, anxious ball of self-doubt, which is the complete anti-thesis to who that cat is!
And while we are on the subject of characters being rewritten completely, there are two others that are worth digging my kitty claws into: Rum Tum Tugger and Macavity.
Rum Tum Tugger is the OG badboy of Cats. He is a mix of Bowie, Jagger and a walking contradiction of egotistical, rebellious anarchy who knows he is sexy and flirtatious enough to use it to his advantage to get what (or who) he wants. He is not a crooner. He does not care about behaving or adhering to societal rules let alone the rules of the Jellicle tribe. He does his own thing. As Harley Quinn once said in Suicide Squad “I sleep where I want, when I want, with who I want.” Rum Tum Tugger would purr in agreement. (Please note this quote is used under fair use for commentary purposes. All rights belong to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.)
Yet, instead of that rock and roll rebel, they turned Rum Tum Tugger into a lounge singer with a soft jacket and told him to behave. Derulo leaned into the crooner aesthetic, stripping away his edgy and unpolished personality. In his interactions with others, he also lost that flirty and fun edge, replacing it with a smooth R&B mellow vibe worthy of a coffee house performance instead of the Hollywood Bowl.
And then there is Macavity, who went from a feral combative tom to a smooth talking mafia don kind of vibe. And yes, while the sets were a throw back to those days, it isn’t a gangster movie, and Macavity was anything but gangster. Cats was never a noir film where Macavity has Bond-level monologues. He was never debonair and sauve. He was feral and raw, doing a smash and grab before vanishing from sight.
And while we are talking about sets in movies, the reason that the movie looked so horrific was not the quality of the sets or even the actors themselves, but the lighting. In stagecraft, one of the major things that need to be perfect is the lighting, because without good lights, you get washed out, dull, lifeless scenes. Instead of learning from that, and countless other movies where lighting was used on a set, the producers and riggers decided to put lighting in places that made no sense and then push through a movie with scenes that looked like a side scrolling video game from the 80s.
The Ugly
One of the major issues I have with the 2019 version of CATS is Tom Hooper, the director and co-writer of Cats, who cared little for the source material and even littler for his staff. In fact, in a few articles by Indie Wire a VFX artist talked about how they were pretty much forced to sleep in their offices for days on end to complete the project and how he was tasked with removing buttholes. Can you imagine frame by frame removal of that? And yet, despite having no animation background, Hooper still criticized their work harshly. In another article, also on Indie Wire he was said to have been basically a slave master.
Being the CEO of a small business, there is one thing I do know. If you treat your employees like garbage, they won’t be your employees for very long. Let’s hope that him being spoken out about this way leads to him learning that lesson.
And yet, as the co-writer and director of CATS, you would have thought there would have been some vision of what CATS should look like. 1998’s stage to screen presentation had them in what we would wear as actors during the stage show. It would have looked amazing if they had done that. But no… what we get is very badly rendered CGI fur that falls to creepy.
Like this:
Image Comparison:
Left: Michael Gruber as Munkustrap in Cats (1998)
© Really Useful Group Ltd. / Universal Pictures
Right: Robbie Fairchild as Munkustrap in Cats (2019)
© Universal Pictures
Or this:
Image Comparison:
Left: Veerle Casteleyn as Jemima in Cats (1998)
© Really Useful Group Ltd. / Universal Pictures
Right: Jonadette Carpio as Syllabub in Cats (2019)
© Universal Pictures
Director Tom Hooper rushed the VFX team so intensely that Dame Judi Dench’s human hand—complete with her wedding ring— was clearly visible in early theatrical releases. The error was quickly spotted by viewers and documented on sites like Movie Mistakes. In response, Universal Pictures quietly updated the film’s CGI, issuing a revised version shortly after its initial release.
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Yet, if you’re curious enough to subject yourself to witnessing the train wreck, it is available at Amazon
And if you want to see what it could have looked like, you can see the 1998 version of the stage to screen adaptation here
📌 Jellicle Release Dates – Explained
While commonly referred to as Cats (1998), the stage-to-screen adaptation starring Elaine Paige and John Mills was actually filmed in 1997.
It premiered in the UK in October 1998, marking its official debut.
The 1999 date often seen on DVDs, streaming platforms, and retailer listings refers to its broader international release, especially in the United States.
So yes—it’s both 1998 and 1999, depending on whether you’re thinking like a Jellicle in London or New York, because Jellicles are fickle and not even they can make up their mind about some things! 🐾 😺🐾 🐈🐾 😺 🐾