why is cats

Had a similar round of Twitter bullshit about five years ago. It was immediately clear that the ratio of genuine concern to bullshit was about 1 to 99. Politically I'm on the line between prog and libn and extremely vocal on politics. But it seems to me that the primary interest of progressive twitter is simply attacking liberals - and then bitching about people not being good allies. It's a totalitarian instinct and yes, it's mostly just bullying for the rush. I've doubled my Patreon to $20.

Pretty

Lexi Aniston

nice

I already hated the musical. But the movie gives me uncanny valley heeby-jeebies. It's awful. Your critique is brilliant. But the movie goes beyond awful and no critique can do it justice...

I rented the Cats movie a week or so ago, and it never ceases to flummox me how boring Hooper made the film. I at least thought it would be entertainingly awful.

Bobby Pettit

Kind of surprised how good it is!

Jenna Twerk - NSFW

Hi Lindsay have been a fan for so many years and am finally and happily becoming a patron! Thank you for your cats video essay and all the others. Always look forward to your content.

Raven

So i went off patreon as my old credit card expired and was too lazy to update it... This video made me come back!

lovely performance

Help! Now YouTube thinks I'm into Cats hot takes. ;) Enjoyed this as I do everything you put out! You have a very entertaining perspective.

Jack Atherton

Also topical because another early 80s Andrew Lloyd Weber "why does this exist, and don't just say "the 80s"" monstrosity, Starlight Express was supposed to be a Thomas the Tank Engine vehicle.

Aimee Thorne

great stuff

So will Patrons be able to view that secondary Les Mis video you posted on watchnebula? Or will we be required to subscribe to a paid video platform none of us want to use? If the latter, that's...really lame.

Hank Kleinberg

So funny and well edited. Great stuff.

VW

I think India is still keeping film musicals alive. I saw Bollywood and Tollywood movies in US theatres recently and I live in the middle of the country. IIRC, Baz Luhrman was inspired by Bollywood to make Moulin Rouge. I have absolutely zero interest in the Oscars, especially post-weinstein. They should just end them and come up with something else ........ so i guess i just realize..... film musical is not the same as film adaptation of stage musical.... very interesting....

Don Bright

Years ago when I was studying for my BFA, one of the things we had to do for Music Appreciation class was to attend some stage productions, including an opera, and write about the experience. At the time, I hated opera (all those sopranos singing in a foreign language!) but didn’t really know anything about it and had never been to one in person. Unfortunately, the one my husband and I went to was Eugene Onegin, which, IMHO, had an awful plot - and since I was a creative writing major at the time, the fact that it had no story really irritated the hell out of me. The music (Tchaikovsky) was beautiful, but the plot was dumb. That’s what I wrote about in my essay about my night at the opera. The feedback from my teacher pointed out that opera-goers don’t really care about the plot - they are ALL about the music. In the end, I did develop an appreciation of opera as an art form. Seeing modern stage productions opened my eye to what is possible on the stage in general and I learned a lot. On the other hand, for the longest time, I didn’t understand why anyone would see a story enacted in any form and not care that the plot doesn’t hang together in the least. I’ve always loved music and I’ve always loved musicals. The musicals I grew up loving (in my culturally-deprived Arkansas childhood) were edited for TV versions of Disney animations, The Wizard of Oz and other Judy Garland movies, West Side Story, and such. After I was an adult (circa the mid-1980s onward), I learned about Jesus Christ Superstar, Sweeney Todd, Cats, Grease, Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, Chicago, and many more. It wasn’t until in the mid-90s that I began seeing musicals on stage again (regional productions, though... never on Broadway). But over the years, and especially with Cats, I’ve learned to appreciate the music (and the dancing) as at least of equal importance to me than the story alone. I fell in love with the song “Memory” before I ever knew anything about Cats, and after hearing all the wonderful music to Cats (and later seeing the fun dancing), it doesn’t bother me in the least that the story is so flimsy. (Also, I’m a sucker for redemption stories, so the fact that the despised Grizabella gets sent to ‘heaven’ really gets me every time.) I say all this as a means of explaining why I like Cats. For me, it’s mostly about the fun and beautiful music. I don’t mind the silliness or faux-sensual dancing of the stage musical or the even the bad CGI of the movie. I don’t much care that the movie reinterpreted the (barely-there) story in such an unnecessary way. I thought Rebel Wilson was (mostly) funny. (What bothered me was how Rebel Wilson and James Cordon - both overweight actors - were used in the comedic roles… fat people can only do comedy? Still?) It’s not about the story (although I love a good redemption). More than the story, for me, musicals are mostly about the music, how the music stirs the emotions, the clever turns of phrases in the lyrics, etc. I’d LOVE it if real life could turn into a musical at the drop of a hat, and we’d all suddenly break out into song… like that one episode of Buffy, or Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, or Glee, etc. Anyway, while I understand everything you say in this video and agreed with much of it, as I was watching it I kept thinking to myself, “yeah…BUT…” it’s about the beautiful music and the clever lyrics and fun dancing. All that other stuff… I guess it bothers some people to the point they can’t enjoy the good parts. But it doesn’t bother me. I see it. Yeah, it’s a shame that it can’t be perfect, but what is? Perfection doesn’t exist and you can never please everyone. There are things to criticize in every piece of art or writing or anything else. To me, musicals are about the music. The story (I never thought I’d say this!) is secondary. I listen to musical soundtracks often and never think about the underlying story they tell. If the music is good, clever, emotional… the whole thing is redeemed. And I love a good redemption.

Mary Thompson

Loved this video, and I’m now watching the Cinderella with Whitney Houston and Brandy (the best Cinderella IMO) and I am DYING to hear your opinion on it given your thoughts on film adaptations of musicals!

Oh my GOD, had forgotten about the anti-smoking PSA until this very moment, it was EVERYWHERE when I was a kid.

Lindsay Nelson

I had no idea how much I needed this today.

Camille R

Thank you for bringing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKtJobLOVYQ to the worlds attention This is the music video we all needed right now

OMG I can't even. This is amazing and the commercials at the end?!?! Someone approved that?! The eighties...so obvious that a lot of coke was involved. Also, I've seen the butthole cut and it's amazing.

Kait Hatch

doubling my sub because of this video

https://archive.org/details/TheAmazingAlexandersnlSpoof I'm surprised this wasn't referenced

"The point of no retUTUUuuhhHhHUUUrrRrRrrRRn" had me in tears laughing while slapping my knee like an old person. Aaahhh I so needed that. Honestly wouldn't mind more musical films regardless of how bad they turn out just because I prefer the medium much more than actual live musicals. Shoutout to Kaveh for voicing my exact thoughts on Cats (and musicals in general) in your podcast. And thank you for taking the time to educate me! This quarantine thing is turning into a great opportunity to relisten to your video essays. Good times.

Lexie Lou

You guys clearly worked way too hard and had waaaaaaaay too much fun on this.

Is there a way to get captions on this or do we have to wait for the youtube version? :(

Elizabeth Patitsas

Such a great, great essay! What a wonderful world it would be without hyper-realistic musical adaptations...

Vladimir Barash

Thank you for this quarantine treat

Woolfonmynoggin

Everytime Lindsay briefly talks about animation I want more. On another note I've found the overlap between theatre, and especially musical people with animation people to be wider than I thought.

LL

good GOD these PSAs at the end. beautiful. fuck.

Shiny Skunk

Great work, as always. The editing and effects were particularly dense & fun for this one.

Jeremy Owens

Getting my name in the Cats video was worth the $10 patreon sub. Only disappointed that Starlight Express didn't sneak in here somehow ;)

Rebecca Richards

This video has been set to "private" instead of "unlisted". I cannot watch it.

Scott Greene

I kept looking for a place to put a clip of that in and I just couldn't find one

Lindsay Ellis

Honestly, my hopes for a good oscar-bait movie musical adaptation died with "Into the Woods" (which really would have been much better off being animated), so I'm fine with Cats being the nail in the coffin

Brady Thomas

Is a cat a dog? Did they leave this unanswered on purpose so we'd be debating it for years to come like, "Is Dekkard a replicant?" Damn them.

Richard Moss

It was worth the hour to see the anti-smoking and car safety cats commercials

I might have to wait until this is on YouTube because my computer just hates Vimeo... I've been here for a few minutes just trying to get it to buffer past 50seconds...

August B Denys

This is fantastic.

Anne and the Apocalypse

semi related but this is also why i like the less realistic superhero movies better. i know everyone loves the nolan batman trilogy but i had such a hard time suspending disbelieve with those movies

having never seen les mis (the movie or the musical), i honestly thought the movie imageries all looked pretty cool...until they started singing. the hyper-realistic visual with the singing is just so jarring.

When my friends ask me if this is a movie they should watch for laughs, Ive told them to wait for Ian Mckellen supercut on youtube. Would you agree? Please someone make it!

Two thoughts: 1) Cats, to me, is very much about the dancing. It's the fusion of dance and music meant to deliver a very particular aesthetic. It's almost as if the musical was designed not to be a musical, but rather achieve the pinnacle of what the medium can achieve through the synthesis of auditory and visual engagement in a first-person setting. So when a live-action adaptation was announced, I was like, oh no, it's going to be dumpster juice 2) Memory is such a banger. I remember discovering the song just as I had adopted two kittens who were abandoned by their mother. Makes me tear up, man T~T

So happy to wake up to this. What a great video to start off the day!

Eric Mulder

Personally, I regret only a single thing about the failure of Cats - now we will never get Starlight Express the Movie. Because if there's anything that can top this in inappropriate weirdness, it's that.

Just here to mention that episode of Kimmy Schmidt where they discover that Cats doesn't actually exist, it has no audition, if you want to be in it you just get up on stage and make up a name and suddenly you're in cats 😂

Loved the Axioms End easter egg

James Anthony

Excellent! Those PSAs at the end were something special! Well done folks!

John D Ruddy

Anybody else getting Xanadu flashbacks from 38:45? :D

Matthew Dunne

I kind of feel like Dan should have quoted something from his own review of the movie. :p

Matthew Dunne

Those PSA’s at the end really got me. Had no idea they existed. Thanks Lindsay and team for that

Yay! We finally got that Jenny Nicholson crossover *spoilers* we've been waiting for! This has been another great video you've made Lindsay. I feel this video served as a bridge to a microcosm of all your musical-related videos beginning with your Phantom analysis to the beginnings of your new musical podcast (which I'll get on to it soon). Truly "one of a kind" internet darling!

An optional $2 a month to be able to watch the Cats video early: A small price to pay for salvation

Not sure if this is the final nail in the Oscar-bait-musical coffin, we'll have to see what happens with In the Heights and the West Side Story remake (whenever they actually come out).

Another great video. When the Thomas the Tank Engine theme started I knew what was coming and was so satisfied when it hit!

Chelsea Monk

I remember seeing Cats in the theater when I was a teenager in the 90s, and I went to see it for two reasons. First, because I liked literal cats, and secondly because it had been on tour for decades and everyone said it was great and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. So I saw it and came out of it thinking, "What was that even?" I guess I just didn't get it.

Colin Ferguson

So, why do they consistently cast non-singing actors for these big pre-awareness driven musicals?

Dean Hacker

When the reflection is the greater genius...

Murray Sutherland

ahahaha this is fantastic

Anthony

Thank you this video is amazing! I burst out laughing a couple times and I finally feel what judy Dench said I should feel-- I understand Cats now. I also want to thank you for acknowledging the unfair way the VFX artists on the film were treated, and for treating animated musicals with respect. And that concept art for the cancelled animated film is a real pity. I don't know if Cats could ever be given a plot that could work for a feature film, but I think it could've worked a series of animated shorts. Like the Silly Symphonies Disney used to make, but with Cats Songs instead of Classical Music! Yeah it's just like, artists could've had a lot of fun with Cats if the studios weren't so obsessed with Realism(tm).

Seeing a child's death by car accident trail off to "Memories" elicited one of the first moments of true laughter in me for a while.

Daniel Haas

Our leftube aunty delivers.

Neither a captain nor a stingray

This was so great to watch! I grew up loving Cats and really wanted to believe that it could be beautiful inside, if not on the outside. But alas, it doesn't pull off the musical part well (great analysis!). I'll probably have to see it eventually... #releasethebuttholecut Also, I now know I'm not crazy for having faint childhood memories of cats telling me not to smoke... it actually happened!

Zalyn Schwartz

Perfect video. Just the right amount of time to finish dinner

1st Recon Lylith

Well done! Tom Hooper blows!!

Leslye Headland

Yes. He's a voice actor. you can hire him https://www.stimmgerecht.com/voice-actor/1082/Steve-Taylor.html

SkaveRat

Watch it. It's terrible, but I love it.

Reuben

Any particular reason for not mentioning the two major musical movies set to come out this year (maybe... if we all escape the current chaos relatively unscathed), In the Heights and Spielberg's West Side Story, during the "Will CATS be the end of musical movies?" segment? Because there does seem to be some positive hype for each of those and I'm expecting to enjoy one or both. Hell, the In the Heights trailer blew me away with how unashamed to be a musical it is. It was all "Look at this dancing! Listen to the title song!" and I find myself going back to that trailer occasionally when I need a mood lifter. Which isn't something I've done with any trailer in years, let alone one for an upcoming musical.

TS Elliot is a fascist hack, glad this movie was made, ruining his legacy

Adrian DeZendegui

Amazing essay Lindsay, class traitor Doug will never top this

Adrian DeZendegui

oh my god those PSAs

................at 3:30 in.... is... is that the Kurzgesagt guy? Man, video essayist crossovers are getting so widespread now :D

Orellien

Ho.ly. Crap. Those PSAs are solid gold. And the rest of this is... it makes up for the lack of cookies at the store today.

Kathryn

That PSA at the end was... wow. Huh.

Greg Willickers

Yes yes yes!! Excellent critique as usual. ❤️

Mary Kimball

welp, so much for my early bedtime

KT

That is a hilarious Elaine Stritch impression. Also, as someone who likes dance musicals (and therefore CATS the stage production), I'm glad you made this to follow up the musicalsplaining episode :) The biggest crime of the movie (for me) is how horribly they filmed the dancing, which is kind of the selling point of CATS. Plus, a total waste of a dancer of Francesca Hayward's caliber.

Alyc Helms

Holy crap is that the Kurzgesagt guy????

Zachery Gaskins

When I was a kid my parents went to see Cats and brought me the soundtrack, which I loved. My favorite song was Grizabella: the Glamour Cat. So for Halloween that year I asked my mom if I could be a glamour cat. She made me a regular cat costume. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was disappointed and I didn’t feel remotely glamorous. I went trick-or-treating and the lady across the street complimented me on my cow costume. That’s my barely relevant anecdote. I will finish watching now. 😌

Oh boy a fellow to Maggie essay on how TS Elliot was basically a fascist, nice cameo Lindsay

Adrian DeZendegui

I haven't seen cats. Should I watch it before this analysis so I witness it the first time unadulterated or could this review save me from 90 minutes of bad movie?

Adequately Sized Dog

Vimeo isn't working :/ guess I'll wait for the YouTube upload

GG

It goes to Youtube in 2 or 3 days.

Rodrigo Deodoro

One thing I discovered: If you LIKE a Vimeo video that doesn't have a watch later, or watcha little bit on the desktop, you can bring up your history and/or likes to watch it on your phone/whatever that way.

Matt Keeley

i want to watch this on my phone but you can't do "add later" on vimeo from your desktop and then pick it up on your phone and i am so sad and angry and upset and thirsty for this video Should we assume an eventual YouTube upload in a few days? Or does this need to stay on Vimeo for icky copyright snafu reasons?

Hank Kleinberg