History Film / Cats

** Rum Tum Tugger is much more prominent in the show, where he sings both "Old Deuteronomy" and "Mr. Mistoffelees" respectively. He doesn't take part in either song in the film, and his buddy-buddy relationship with Mistoffelees is noticeably absent.

** In the show, Mr. Mistoffelees did show nerves about using his power and made some mistakes while trying, but he was much more willing from the outset to try and bring Deuteronomy back with his magical powers. In the film, however, he's far more worried about not being up the job and is too nervous to even try at first. While he only needed brief moments of encouragement and support from Rum Tum Tugger in the show, in the film he has to be pepped up by all the other Jellicles working together before he can pull off the trick.

* AdaptationalBadass: Jennyanydots proves her mettle when [[spoiler:she frees herself from Macavity's traps, rescues the other imprisoned cats and leads them in battle against his minions]].

** Dench was going to be in the show's original cast as both Jennyanydots and Grizabella, which would have been a major piece of PlayingGertrude for the 47 year old actress, until she suffered a severe hamstring injury and had to be replaced by her understudy, Elaine Paige. Now she's playing the other elderly character almost 40 years later when she actually is the proper age for it.

Distributed by Creator/{{Universal}} and released on December 20, 2019, the film received generally negative reviews and was a {{box office bomb}}.

''Cats'' is a 2019 [[TheMusical musical]] {{fantasy film|s}} based on the [[Theatre/{{Cats}} famous musical]] by Creator/AndrewLloydWebber, which in turn is based on Creator/TSEliot's poem book, ''Literature/OldPossumsBookOfPracticalCats''. Directed by Creator/TomHooper (the [[Film/LesMiserables2012 film adaptation]] of ''Theatre/LesMiserables''), it stars an {{ensemble cast}} of Music/JenniferHudson (Grizabella), Creator/JudiDench (Old Deuteronomy), Creator/JamesCorden (Bustopher Jones), Creator/IanMcKellen (Gus the Theatre Cat), Creator/RebelWilson (Jennyanydots), Jason Derulo (Rum Tum Tugger), Music/TaylorSwift (Bombalurina) and Creator/IdrisElba (Macavity), and introducing Francesca Hayward (Victoria).

When a young kitten named Victoria is abandoned on the streets of London, she suddenly finds herself being taken in by a mysterious tribe of street cats called "the Jellicle Cats". They invite her to their domain just in time for the yearly ceremony where a lucky cat is chosen by the tribe matriarch, Old Deuteronomy, to ascend to the skies and reach the Heaviside Layer, where they will be reborn as a new cat with a "different Jellicle life". Over the course of her stay, she meets several of the night's worthy candidates, along with a shy magician named Mr. Mistoffelees, a notorious criminal named Macavity, and a worn out, outcast glamour cat by the name of Grizabella.

''Cats'' is a 2019 [[TheMusical musical]]-fantasy film based on the [[Theatre/{{Cats}} famous musical]] by Creator/AndrewLloydWebber, which in turn is based on Creator/TSEliot's poem book, ''Literature/OldPossumsBookOfPracticalCats''. Directed by Creator/TomHooper (who had previously helmed the [[Film/LesMiserables2012 film adaptation]] of ''Theatre/LesMiserables''), it stars Music/JenniferHudson (Grizabella), Creator/JudiDench (Old Deuteronomy), Creator/JamesCorden (Bustopher Jones), Creator/IanMcKellen (Gus the Theatre Cat), Creator/RebelWilson (Jennyanydots), Jason Derulo (Rum Tum Tugger), Music/TaylorSwift (Bombalurina), Creator/IdrisElba (Macavity) and Francesca Hayward (Victoria).

When a young kitten named Victoria is abandoned on the streets of London, she suddenly finds herself being taken in by a mysterious tribe of street cats called "the Jellicle Cats". They invite her to their domain just in time for the yearly ceremony where a lucky cat is chosen by the tribe matriarch, Old Deuteronomy, to ascend to the skies and reach the Heaviside Layer, where they will be reborn as a new cat with a "different Jellicle life". Over the course of her stay, she meets several of the night's worthy candidates, along with a shy magician named Mr. Mistoffelees, a notorious criminal named Macavity, and a lonely, worn out glamour cat by the name of Grizabella.

Distributed by Creator/{{Universal}} and released on December 20, 2019, the film received largely negative reviews and was a {{box office bomb}}.

** Elba's fedora-clad Macavity is not as wild and scary-looking as his [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/51/11/18/511118e7161568b6ed77e97c2daa31e1.jpg stage counterpart,]] who is usually depicted with fiery, disheveled fur and no clothes.

* AdaptationalContextChange: "Macavity" is a TheVillainSucksSong in the show. However, since Bombalurina is allied with Macavity in the film, she is no longer warning the audience about his crimes, but crooning a VillainSong that ''[[IAmGreatSong glorifies them]]''.

** Mistoffelees has always had a goofy, mistake-prone aspect to his characterisation, but he was always the principle male dance role and designed to complement the principle female dance role (Victoria, the White Cat). The film removes the majority of the dance requirement and plays up the goofiness and mistakes for the first half. The decision was based on the actor having a terrible audition due to his lack of dance and singing background. Instead of failing to get the part, the director decided to hire him and transform Mistoffelees into a ButtMonkey.

** Jennyanydots, also a tabby cat, has a similar coat of faded orange, while in the show, she's more vibrantly-colored.

** Jennyanydots, while still portrayed as a hero, is much more unfriendly here. In the musical, she acted as a leader and friend to the cockroaches. Here, she '''eats''' them if they aren't performing well enough,

** In the stage version, Griddlebone was just a character in the ShowWithinAShow sequence, "Growltiger's Last Stand". The film's version of Griddlebone is a real cat, and one of Macavity's allies.

** As with most modern movie musicals, ''Cats'' includes a film-exclusive song in the form of "Beautiful Ghosts" (a solo for Victoria), which was written by Taylor Swift and composed by Webber himself.

** Macavity is a much more prominent BigBad here, and his EvilPlan unfolds throughout the film. In the show, he's referenced every so often, but his primary physical appearance doesn't occur until after his song.

* AwardBaitSong: “Beautiful Ghosts” the film’s only original song.

* CatUpATree: Macavity is stuck up a bronze statue after having tried to snag a ride to the Heaviside Layer on the same balloon Grizabella was on. He seems too scared to climb or jump down on his own, and is still stuck there as the film ends.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Macavity's whole evil plan is to kidnap the other candidates for the Jellicle Choice--Jennyanydots, Bustopher Jones, Skimbleshanks, and Gus--and thus leave himself as the only option, thereby guaranteeing his victory... without considering that such obvious, blatant cheating (done in ''full view'' of the other cats) might anger Old Deuteronomy and lead her to disqualify him. Sure enough, that's exactly what happens, and he's left looking the fool.

* InelegantBlubbering: In the same way that Tom Hooper previously directed Creator/AnneHathaway's performance of [[Film/LesMiserables2012 "I Dreamed a Dream"]], Jennifer Hudson sings "Memory" with tears and snot dripping down her face.

* KarmaHoudini: Macavity. Even after kidnapping a good number of the Jellicles and rendering the rest invalid with hypnosis and catnip, on top of 'breaking every human law' [[note]] which is possibly an exaggeration [[/note]], never gets comeuppance for his crimes apart from briefly embarrassing himself when he tries to follow Grizabella to the Heaviside Layer and fails; but even then, no one sees him do that but the audience. Though he does appear to have lost his powers after failing.
* MagiciansAreWizards: Mr. Mistoffelees wears a magician's hat, which he uses for conjuring. He also has a big pencil with a rubber on the top, which acts as his magician's wand; the rubber on the top creates a dulled-down version of the white tip to a classic magician's wand.

** Macavity's role in the stage production is to be the villain whose appearances and acts of villainy are announced with a deep, villainous laugh. He has no speaking role beyond the laugh. In the film, his role is vastly expanded to create an actual villainous plot. As a result, he gains dialogue and replaces Demeter to duet his own song with Bombalurina.

** Bustopher Jones and Jennyanydots have always been light-hearted comedy segments. However, the comedy was vastly dialled up for the film due to them both being played by [[Creator/JamesCorden comed]] [[Creator/RebelWilson ians]].

''Cats'' is a musical-fantasy film based on the [[Theatre/{{Cats}} famous musical]] by Creator/AndrewLloydWebber, which in turn is based on Creator/TSEliot's poem book, ''Literature/OldPossumsBookOfPracticalCats''. Directed by Creator/TomHooper (who had previously helmed the [[Film/LesMiserables2012 film adaptation]] of ''Theatre/LesMiserables''), it stars Music/JenniferHudson (Grizabella), Creator/JudiDench (Old Deuteronomy), Creator/JamesCorden (Bustopher Jones), Creator/IanMcKellen (Gus the Theatre Cat), Creator/RebelWilson (Jennyanydots), Jason Derulo (Rum Tum Tugger), Music/TaylorSwift (Bombalurina), Creator/IdrisElba (Macavity) and Francesca Hayward (Victoria).

It is distributed by Creator/{{Universal}}, and was released on December 20, 2019.

* TheThirties: The film's time period according to the creators, which matches the period when ''Literature/OldPossumsBookOfPracticalCats'' was published.

* AdaptationalBadass: Jennyanydots proves her mettle when [[spoiler: she frees herself from Macavity's traps, rescues the other imprisoned cats, and leads them in battle against his minions.]]

** Bustopher Jones and Jennyanydots have always been light-hearted comedy segments. However, the comedy was vastly dialled up for the film due to them both being played by [[Creator/JamesCorden comedy]] [[Creator/RebelWilson actors]].
** Mistoffelees has always had a goofy, mistake-prone aspect to his characterisation, but he was always the principle male dance role and designed to complement the principle female dance role (Victoria, the White Cat). The film removes the majority of the dance requirement and plays up the goofiness and mistakes for the first half of the film. The decision was based on the actor having a terrible audition due to his lack of dance and singing background. Instead of failing to get the part, the director decided to hire him and transform Mistoffelees into a ButtMonkey.

** Jennyanydots, while still portrayed as a hero, is much more unfriendly in the film. In the musical, she acted as a leader and friend to the cockroaches. Here, she '''eats''' them if they aren't performing well enough,

** The climactic fight between Munkustrap and Macavity is omitted, though the music from the fight sequence is reused for the guard dog scene. A battle does take place near the end of the film, but it's between [[spoiler:Growltiger and the cats that Macavity kidnapped]].

* CanonForeigner: The group of mice children who occasionally pop up in the film never appeared in the stage musical.

** The White Cat was originally going to be a role that required both exceptional dance and singing ability to portray a cat that was both elegent and innocent. The logistics of finding anyone who could do both equally well were too great, so the cat was split into two roles: the elegant, silent dancer, Victoria, and the innocent Jemima, who had the voice of an angel. In the film, the two roles are combined back into one, giving Victoria dialogue and Jemima's main singing roles. Jemima exists in the film only as a chorus cat, Syllabub, which is an alternative name for Jemima in some stage productions.

* TookALevelInBadass: Several cats end the film in a much better place than they started, allowing the villains to be defeated in unexpected ways. [[spoiler:Jennyanydots and Bustopher are initially played for comedy, while Gus is an ancient cat with little life left in him. They're all kidnapped by Mavcavity, but not seen as much of a threat. The only effective cat is Skimbleshanks, who is trussed up. However, all the performance skills which helped them during their songs become the key to them defeating Growltiger. Meanwhile, Mistoffelees spends most of the film as an extremely shy and nervous cat whose magic constantly fails. He has to be badgered into attempting to teleport Deuteronomy back after Macavity teleports her to an unknown location. When Mistoffelees eventually succeeds, his confidence is boosted so much that he stops being clumsy and his magic stops failing, finally revealing just how powerful he really is: he can create fire, conjure whatever objectis he desires from his hat and sleeves, levitate multiple objects, fly through the air, and teleport at will.]]

* PainfulRhyme: DiscussedTrope. When Growltiger sings "From Gravesend down to Oxford I pursue my evil aims / Rejoicing in my title of 'The Terror of the Thames'" -- forcing the rhyme by pronouncing Thames as "tames" -- Bustopher points out that that's not how "Thames" is supposed to be pronounced and criticises it as a terrible attempt to rhyme.

''Cats'' is a musical-fantasy film based on the [[Theatre/{{Cats}} famous musical]] by Creator/AndrewLloydWebber, which in turn is based on Creator/TSEliot's poem book, ''Literature/OldPossumsBookOfPracticalCats''. Directed by Tom Hooper (who had previously helmed the [[Film/LesMiserables2012 film adaptation]] of ''Theatre/LesMiserables''), it stars Music/JenniferHudson (Grizabella), Creator/JudiDench (Old Deuteronomy), Creator/JamesCorden (Bustopher Jones), Creator/IanMcKellen (Gus the Theatre Cat), Creator/RebelWilson (Jennyanydots), Jason Derulo (Rum Tum Tugger), Music/TaylorSwift (Bombalurina), Creator/IdrisElba (Macavity) and Francesca Hayward (Victoria).

* YourSizeMayVary: The cats can be anywhere between the size of an actual cat to the size of a small child. This is best seen during "The Old Gumble Cat" song number where Jennyanydots's mice and cockroaches are designed as being as small to the cats as they would be to a human.