Well, there’s no point avoiding it since the movie is coming out. Let’s talk about the musical, Cats!

If you haven’t heard of it, either try to listen to the soundtrack wherever you choose to or watch the theater group, Team Starkid, try to explain it in this video.

It was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber of Phantom of the Opera fame who got the idea from watching these alley cats outside his apartment. He then took T.S. Elliot’s book, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, and used the poems from there for the songs.

The musical doesn’t have much of a story, but what some gather is that it’s about a group of cats called the Jellicle Cats deciding who should ascend to the Heavenside Layer. The audience also gets to learn about each cat.

It’s considered a classic in the musical theater world and is praised for the costumes and makeup (we’ll come back to this later). However, not many people remember much of it, except for the iconic song “Memory.”

Personally, I’ve never seen it despite liking Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals (mainly Phantom of the Opera), but we really, REALLY need to address the trailers for the movie coming out.

It looks beyond creepy and seems more like a horror movie instead of a musical. They also don’t play any of the songs (except in the first trailer) and to quote YouTube reviewer The Phantom Reviewer, “Don’t be afraid to be a musical!”

They went with a mix of CGI and motion capture, which made the actors look incredibly disturbing compared to the simple costumes and makeup on stage. It falls under the Uncanny Valley.

For those who don’t know, the Uncanny Valley is where something looks very human, but isn’t, so it tricks your brain and eyes and freaks you out. I have to say that we ALL owe an apology to the old Sonic design for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie because at least they fixed him!

Here, it’s beyond fixing sadly. Another thing I would like to bring up is that while yes, the cast can sing, the choices made with them aren’t that great at singing, even if some of them are considered good.

Finally, the fact that they’re trying to make the film out as a heartwarming whimsical box office breaker that will win all of the Oscars is kind of pretentious and egotistical.

If you’re interested in seeing it, good for you. If not, we can cower in fear at the creepy cat designs together.

What are your thoughts on the musical if you’ve seen it? Do you think the movie will be good or bad? Are you scared by the designs in the movie?