Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats, And A Trailer For The Internet To Talk About
Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats, And A Trailer For The Internet To Talk About
People on social media are mesmerized by the preview for the movie that is based on the Broadway musical. And they just kept watching it again and again.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Fresh hell ignited social media this week, or was it heaven?
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: It took form with claws and whiskers and scampered across a dark London alley before...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CATS")
JAMES CORDEN: (As Bustopher Jones) Here we go, ha-ha.
SIMON: Oh, my great Bustopher Jones. It's the 2-minute-and-22-second trailer for the movie "Cats." "Cats," as in the long-running Broadway Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lithe dancers in cat suits. "Cats," the movie, uses a digital fur technology that makes a troupe of plummy actors look like - well, hear this reaction we found on YouTube.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: This is freaking me out.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I mean, this is probably scarier than the "It" trailer.
SIMON: To see the faces of Jennifer Hudson, James Corden, Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, Sir Ian McKellen, for goodness sakes, and even Dame Judi Dench for the love of Rum Tum Tugger - Dame Judi. They're famous faces only faintly recognizable when superimposed over the heads of human, feline hybrids like some Snapchat filter had a breakdown.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TAYLOR ROBINSON: It's horrific. This is what happens when you look at the technology we have and go, you didn't ask if we should. You just asked if we could.
JACOB BLUNDEN: (Laughter).
ROBINSON: And this is the result...
SIMON: That's Taylor Robinson and Jacob Blunden - he's the one laughing hysterically on YouTube. On Twitter, Dave Itzkoff mused, in a way, I'm glad Grumpy cat never had to see this.
Now there were people who suspended disbelief, like this Taylor Swift fan named Rachel (ph)...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RACHEL: Oh, my God. Taylor is a cat. Oh, my God. You can see it all in the eyes.
SIMON: Elaine Hendrix tweeted I watched the trailer and cried big kitten tears. Can't wait for the movie. And, of course, more than one person tweeted, I loved it. It was much better than "Cats." I'm going to see it again and again, now and forever.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MEMORY")
ELAINE PAIGE: (Singing) Memory, all alone in the moonlight. I can smile at the old days. I was beautiful then. I remember...
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.