Cats

Video
1998
Approved
2h

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

6.2K

YOUR RATING

Veerle Casteleyn, Phyllida Crowley Smith, Jason Gardiner, Geoffrey Garratt, Jo Gibb, Michael Gruber, Leah Sue Morland, and Drew Varley in Great Performances (1971)

Play trailer1:45

1 Video

99+ Photos

Musical

"Jellicle" cats join for a Jellicle ball where they rejoice with their leader, Old Deuteronomy. One cat will be chosen to go to the "Heavyside Layer" and be reborn. The cats introduce themse... Read all"Jellicle" cats join for a Jellicle ball where they rejoice with their leader, Old Deuteronomy. One cat will be chosen to go to the "Heavyside Layer" and be reborn. The cats introduce themselves."Jellicle" cats join for a Jellicle ball where they rejoice with their leader, Old Deuteronomy. One cat will be chosen to go to the "Heavyside Layer" and be reborn. The cats introduce themselves.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

6.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
The closing credits indicate that the characters of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were "dubbed" by other singers. Drew Varley and Jo Gibb sang the entire song themselves but they couldn't get the giggling and "Shh"-ing at the beginning of the song down.

Goofs
The poem/song "The Naming of Cats" states that a cat's "second name," such as those used by the characters in this show, is unique and not shared by any other cat. However, the song introducing Old Gus the Theatre Cat says that his full name is Asparagus, which is also the name of another cat in the show. This is because John Mills, who played Gus, was unable to do the rest of the singing and dancing the role required, so the character was split into two identically-named characters.

Quotes
Grizabella: Touch me! It's so easy to leave me all alone with the memory of my days in the sun. If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is. Look! A new day has begun.

Crazy credits
Credits show clips of each person in their characters costume from the video along with their name and character role.

Connections
Featured in The 100 Greatest Musicals (2003)

Soundtracks
Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by T.S. Eliot, Richard Stilgoe and Trevor Nunn
Performed by Michael Gruber, Rosemarie Ford, John Partridge,
Jacob Brent, Veerle Casteleyn, Ken Page and chorus

User reviews110

Review

Featured review

Perhaps the most entertaining of all stage musicals, now in its filmed version.

I have long enjoyed the musical 'Cats', both in several attendances at live productions and simply listening to the music on CD. 'Cats', the movie, was created in 1997, a full 16 years after its debut on stage. This isn't simply the taping of a stage performance. For the movie they assembled the best cast they could from among 'Cats' stage veterans. The set was designed especially for the movie, the makeup was toned down to look better in the closer perspective of the movie, especially the close-ups, a full orchestra was used, songs were recorded in a studio, and conventional movie techniques were used for the filming -- multiple angles, close-ups, cameras moving on tracks, etc. What we get is a movie that is does not have the realism of a stage production, and it is fairly obvious most times that singers are lip-syncing their own recordings, but a movie nonetheless that is a superb supplement to the live performances. The DVD has a very nice 'making-of' special, we see Andrew Lloyd Weber personally supervising the musical numbers, we see some of the makeup artistry at work, and a few before/after shots of actors and their characters.

Overall a fine DVD of a superb movie of perhaps the most entertaining stage musical of all.