Media Essays: What If Cats Was An Animated Film?

Written by Jacob Coad

It’s no secret. The 2019 film adaptation of Cats SUCKED. While I personally find the movie to be a guilty pleasure of mine, I still cannot deny how much this movie misunderstands the source material, from its lame casting choices, to misrepresenting certain characters, and even some songs had to be cut from the picture. Even Andrew Lloyd Webber straight up disowned the movie saying he’d much rather get a therapy dog. The interesting thing is, this wasn’t the first attempt to make Cats as a movie.

In the late 90’s, Steven Spielberg’s animation company Amblimation started working on pre-production on an animated version of Cats. Unfortunately, due to the box-office failure of their movie Balto, Amblimation shut down, along with their future projects, which is a real shame because the concept art that was posted online of this scrapped movie is actually kinda cool. It looked like they were going for an atmospheric feel to it, and supposedly this was going to be set in World War II, so that would make it an intersting setting. Funny I say that cause there was a non-replica production with a World War II vibe to it.

What I’m gonna do for this blog post, I’m gonna write down how I would adapt this timeless, wonderful musical, and turn it into the animated film it truly deserves. I might draw in some ideas from the 2019 film in there, but that’s only because there are some that are pretty valid. Other than that, I will be talking about the setting, the plot, the characters, and how it’s presented. With that said, let’s take a look into how I would adapt Cats, animated…

THE TITLE AND THE SETTING

I thought for this animated version, I wanna extend the title a bit. I wanna call this movie, “Cats: A Jellicle Journey.” The reason for this is because the musical puts a lot of emphasis on the tribe name, and I figured it would only make sense to give it a spot in the title. I even think the name Jellicle adds that whimsical touch and even adds to the worldbuilding.

For the setting, I am gonna go with the classic junkyard from the musical, and it will be set in London. The songs make references to places like Victoria Grove, and Scotland Yard, so I’m sticking with Big Ben. I always want to make this intentionally ambiguous on when in time the events of this film happened.

THE CHARACTERS

For this adaptation, I will be going with Victoria the White Cat as our protagonist. Yeah, she was also the same for the 2019 film, but I’m sticking with her because she stands out from the rest of the other cats. She’s the oldest of the kittens, she plays a big part in the musical’s climax and she’s only cat who is pure white, so in a similar manner to Belle at the beginning of Beauty and the Beast, this will make Victoria stand out and easy to spot in a crowd of felines. She will also act as a bit of an audience surrogate. She is new to the Jellicle Ball and is fascinated by this tribe of Cats as much as the audience is.

This adaptation will have two deuteragonists. First is Munkustrap. The musical portrays him as the narrator of the story as well as the respected protector of the Jellicles. He helps keep the tribe in line and here will also act as a kind of guide to Victoria. He will also play some big parts as in one scene he fights with the villain, whom I will get to later.

The other deuteragonist will be Plato. In the musical, he is only a chorus cat with no solo singing lines, but during a ten minute dance number, he is seen dancing with Victoria, so I’m going to greatly expand his role by making him Victoria’s first friend she makes during the Jellicle Ball, and overtime her love interest. The other kittens like Jemima, and Etcetera (Yes that’s actually her name), will provide some further support for both Victoria and Plato to further help them become a couple.

Next is a comic relief, and that is Rum Tum Tugger, Munkustrap’s younger brother. The musical portrays him as a rock star who is stubborn and fickle, and whom a lot of cats see in different eyes. The Queens want him, the Toms want to be him, the kittens fangirl for him (and that includes Victoria), and the older cats can’t stand him most of the time. He’s goofy, and loves getting a rise from the older cats. Munkustrap tries his best to keep his brother in line, though Tugger is able to play a big part being a calm and collected presence, he is able to rub elbows with him when Old Deuteronomy makes his first appearance, and also calm down the Jellicles when the villain kidnaps Old D.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about Old Deuteronomy. He’s the leader of the Jellicles as well as the father of Munkustrap and Tugger. He’s an important character as he is the one who will choose which cat who will go to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a new life. He is elderly, but very wise and kind to his fellow cats, and is welcoming towards Victoria.

Next is our tritagonist, Grizabella, a tragic character who for the longest time has been ostracised by the tribe. She has been neglected for years, and this resulted in her looking dirty on top of being old and decrepit. She tries her best to relive the old glamor days but her body is too old and infirm for her to do so.

Now we get to our main antagonist, Macavity the Mystery Cat. The musical builds him up like this urban legend, a criminal in the first act, we only hear his evil laugh and he makes his move in the second act as he kidnaps Old Deuteronomy. The musical doesn’t go into detail about why he does what he does, so I’m gonna go a little deeper for this one. Macavity is the eldest brother of Munkustrap and Rum Tum Tugger, and the first son of Old Deuteronomy. Because of his father’s status, he had hoped to be the Jellicle Choice one day, but once he turned to a life of crime, the Jellicles disowned him, so it’s revenge filled with jealousy that motivates Macavity to hopefully get him to the Heaviside Layer.

The rest of the characters will range from having a song that highlights them no matter how significant or insignificant, to having a small part in the background for that extra worldbuilding. The 1998 film version has a lot going on with characters in the background, so even if a cat doesn’t having a solo singing part, they will show some kind of personality.

THE CHARACTER DESIGN

Since the scrapped animated version was going to made by Amblimation, we’re going with the characters in a very Don Bluth-esque design. The designs themselves will pay tribute to the costumes of the stage musical, but in a way that looks like they’re part of them.

THE PLOT AND PRESENTATION

The plot will follow the musical very closely, but will have some character development as it goes on. The songs will be presented to flow naturally in a similar manner to Moulin Rouge, and will be told mostly through the eyes of Victoria. With that said, let’s get to the plot:

The credits roll as we get a view of London in a flying camera shot and the Cats overture plays. As the overture ends, we see a white stray kitten, Victoria find herself in a junkyard. She’s greeted by a black and white cat named Alonzo and soon by a number of Jellicles who ask her in song about the qualities of a Jellicle Cat (Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats). After that, Munkustrap approaches Victoria and explains to her about how a Jellicle Cat must have three different names (The Naming of Cats). Victoria meets Plato and the other kittens, who tell her this is the night of the Jellicle Ball when the leader Old Deuteronomy will choose a cat who will go to the Heaviside Layer and return to a new life, hence why cats have nine lives, and that these songs tell these cats’ stories (The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball). Victoria meets some of the more famous Jellicles with their songs including Jennyanydots, Munkustrap’s brother Rum Tum Tugger, and Bustopher Jones, with their fellow cats singing in support of them.

Victoria sees an elderly cat named Grizabella, and an older cat, Jellylorum tells Victoria how she left the tribe in pursuit of a glamorous life outside their community—one that ultimately left her broken and alone, so the Jellicles see this as betrayal, but Victoria rightfully feels sorry for her.

Victoria soon meets Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, two cats who like to cause trouble for their humans in Victoria Grove. Victoria gets pretty caught up in their mischief, but when a Ming vase breaks, she books it with the help of Plato and being warned by Munkustrap.. They return to the junkyard just in time for the arrival of Munkustrap and Tugger’s father, Old Deuteronomy, and the start of the Jellicle Ball. During a big dance number, Victoria shares a dance with Plato, and the two fall in love. Grizabella returns and Victoria, wanting to comfort her, unfortunately gets pulled away by Munkustrap’s mate Demeter.

The Jellicles then gather to see one of the tribe’s oldest cats, Gus, who looks to be as old as Grizabella, but Victoria wonders why they treat him nicely instead of her (Gus the Theater Cat). As the railway cat Skimbleshanks finishes his song, a crash is heard, and Macavity and his henchrats appear to kidnap Old Deuteronomy. Victoria is confused and Demeter, along with her best friend Bombalurina explain to her about the criminal Macavity is (Macavity the Mystery Cat). Munkustrap further explains how he’s he oldest of him and Rum Tum Tugger, and of his jealousy, just as “Old Deuteronomy” appears. Demeter is not fooled as she tackles him, and it turns out to be Macavity in disguise. A fight breaks out between the two brothers, with Macavity hurting Munkustrap and escaping.

The Jellicles, worried for the well-being of their leader, is calmed down by Rum Tum Tugger as he tells them of his friend, the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees. He appears and does an impressive dance number and magic show as with his magic, and the help of the Queen Cassandra as his lovely assistant, he makes Old Deuteronomy appear out of a patchwork blanket. The Jellicles celebrate as Old Deuteronomy is embraced by Munkustrap and Tugger.

Grizabella returns one last time, and Victoria stands up for her to let the elderly cat sing. Grizabella in song, pleads the Jellicles to touch her, to be accepted into the tribe (Memory). With the blessing of Munkustrap, Victoria touches Grizabella’s paw, and Old Deuteronomy chooses her to be the cat to go to the Heaviside Layer. Using an old tire like a flying saucer, Grizabella begins her trip to a new life.

After Old Deuteronomy closes with one last song about the addressing of cats, he welcomes Victoria into the tribe, she gets adopted by Munkustrap as his own kitten, and she and Plato become an official couple as the end credits roll.

CONCLUSION

And there you have it, my own take on Cats as if it were animated. Again, I took some notes from the 2019 version, but I wanted to be true to the stage musical as much as I can. Do you like this idea, do you think this can use some work? Let’s talk in the comments. Thanks for reading folks. ^^

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