Concept Art for Spielberg's Abandoned Cats Animated Film

[Kad]

Posted: 7/3/14 at 12:35pm

Amblimation studios was working on a Cats film adaptation in the 90s, which ultimately wsa abandoned when the studio went under. A concept artist working on the project revealed the work done on the film. I have to say, if this concept art is any indication, it would've been a beautiful animated film.
Stunning Concept Art For Spielberg's Animated Cats Movie That Never Was

[Showface]

Posted: 7/3/14 at 12:53pm

This would have been interesting to see. Aren't they planning another "Cats" movie?

[Gorlois]

Posted: 7/3/14 at 2:22pm

Never mind

Updated On: 7/3/14 at 02:22 PM

[Wildcard]

Posted: 7/3/14 at 2:28pm

Those are quite beautiful. It looks very much more like an art film than a commercial one.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/3/14 at 6:43pm

"But Spielberg wanted the Jellicle Ball to be set in London after the blitz"

I think we dodged a bullet on this one. While the artwork is exquisite, the background should not be among ruins. If set among ruins, it dilutes the effectiveness of Grizabella, who is supposed to be glamor gone to seed. I always thought that an animated version should look like Gay Puree or Lady & The Tramp, which I think the first set of drawings resembles.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 7/3/14 at 6:51pm

But how would a blitzed city be different than a junkyard, with regard to Grizabella? Not sure what you mean.

Some of the art reminds me of "Gay Purr-ee."

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/3/14 at 7:14pm

I think dance is such an integral part of "Cats," and I can't see that working in an animated film.

That said, I think these images are great. It might have worked on its own level without the dance.

And before someone says it, dancing animated cats isn't the same as physical human beings. Dance is as much about physical prowess as it is about physical expression in motion. There is no prowess in an animated ensemble of dancing cats.

[Showface]

Posted: 7/3/14 at 8:49pm

^ And with that said, maybe a "Cats" film was never meant to be. Maybe it's just best that "Cats" stays on stage. I say the same for Pippin. Both are very theatrical and stage-built. Now, unlike Pippin "Cats" could possibly work on film, while Pippin just can't.

Updated On: 7/3/14 at 08:49 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/4/14 at 12:00am

Prior to the creation of the musical, T.S. Eliot turned down Disney when approached about the rights because he didn't want them turned into cartoon cats. I don't think it's right to go against an author's wishes and do exactly what they didn't want when they were alive, but I get that others would argue that he has no objections anymore. Personally, I enjoy the artwork but I don't think I would enjoy an animated Cats film.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/4/14 at 12:37pm

I think an animated Cats would be terrible. The story has 0 plot. So without the stage spectacle, it's just going to be crazy boring. It would need some serious rewrites and trimming to make it into a 90min cartoon. And I think a cartoon would only add to the cheesiness of it.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/4/14 at 12:45pm

But would Ouisa and Flan still have parts in an animated version?

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/4/14 at 6:03pm

This is fascinating - thanks for pointing this out Kad.

I do think the concept designs are impressive but that they may have been aiming for a Watership Down type of cartoon rather than Disney. Either way it would have exposed the show's lack of a plot unless some major development work was done.

The blitz concept isn't a problem for me as I always imagined the no-man's land to be a bomb site, even though the walk from the Rising Sun to the Friend at Hand doesn't suggest there was much war damage there.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/4/14 at 6:57pm

But I don't see anything in the material that points to the destruction of London. I think if that's what T.S. Eliot had intended, something in the material would point to it. I think these cats meet in the junkyard just to hang out, but they all have their different haunts in London.

Skimbleshanks lets us know that the trains were running on time.

"Up, up, up past the Russell Hotel" doesn't indicate any damage

Bustopher Jones seems to indicate that the upperclass men were going to their clubs

Gus the Theatre Cat tells us that the theatre was continuing

"The postman sighed as he scratched his head" so the mail wasn't disrupted

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/4/14 at 7:55pm

Pretty drawrings.

I imagine Spielberg thought it would be an amazing project until he heard the music.

[BobbyBubbi]

Posted: 7/4/14 at 9:54pm

Umm, those look amazing. Too bad it never happened.

Cats was the first show I saw on Broadway. I was young, I didn't know anything about it besides the song Memory, my parents aren't theatre goers.

A quick check of my playbill shows that I saw Linda Balgord as Grizabella, and the insert doesn't show that she was out that evening, so I must have seen her. I don't remember anything about her performance, all I remember is a lot of mist and that damn tire.

Even at a young age I remember being disappointed that the show didn't have a plot, but was rather a narrative strung together by a series of vignettes and songs.

I dismissed it, until later on I actually did Cats regionally and we had an original B'way cast member for our choreographer. The anecdotes our choreographer shared about working on the show, as well as about what New York was like in the 1980s during the British Invasion, helped me understand the show more.

So no its not my favorite show, but I can respect and understand it now for what it is. If anyone ever does Cats, I'll bet you'll be hard pressed to not have fun working on it. Once you can embrace it for all its 80s schmaltzy spectacle goodness, its a blast.

Updated On: 7/4/14 at 09:54 PM

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 11:02pm

One of the things that I love about Cats is how unique each character looks. Every cat has very different fur colors and patterns, and when they all dance around the stage together I see an explosion of color that is one of my favorite aspects of the show. In this concept art, however, that seems to be completely ignored, which could definitely take some of the spectacle from this show (which without the spectacle, this show is almost nothing). I want to see the tattered glamour of Grizabella, the weary yet joyful look of Old Deuteronomy, the edgy sexiness of Rum Tum Tugger, the up-scale, sophistacted fanciness of Bustopher Jones, and the gracefulness of Victoria. That all seems to be lost here. Of course, this is only concept art and this all could have very well been a planned part of the movie, though this shows no evidence of anything of the sort.

On another note, the scenery is beautiful.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 11:28pm

I think the movie would be worth it just to see how Steven Spielberg would get Grizabella to the Heavyside Layer.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 7/7/14 at 9:48am

"I think if that's what T.S. Eliot had intended, something in the material would point to it. I think these cats meet in the junkyard just to hang out, but they all have their different haunts in London."

That's not what Eliot intended, either. The poems aren't linked in the original collection, and there is no setting. The junkyard was Trevor Nunn's idea.

[GlitterandBeGay2]

Posted: 7/8/14 at 2:51pm

I can definitely imagine the non-dialogue moments playing out like scenes from "Fantasia 2000."

[StageManager2]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 2:02am

I think dance is such an integral part of "Cats," and I can't see that working in an animated film... And before someone says it, dancing animated cats isn't the same as physical human beings. Dance is as much about physical prowess as it is about physical expression in motion. There is no prowess in an animated ensemble of dancing cats.

Updated On: 7/9/14 at 02:02 AM

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 2:25pm

I would have loved to have seen this! I love the art of "An American Tail" "The Secret of NIMH" and "All Dogs go to Heaven"!