Honestly if Garrick doesn’t get a podcast talking about animation soon I’m gonna be upset. I love animation of all types and it makes me so happy to see another full grown adult love it as much as me lol
Seconding this, I would listen to that in a heartbeat. Garrick is passionate, knowledgeable, and fucking funny and it's hard to find that combo in anyone, let alone a podcast host specifically, so like. Please, Garrick. Tell us more about animation
I was at the premiere in New York of the movie, which was after they had to cancel the original premiere, and let me tell you, it was wild. It was mainly Taylor Swift fans who did not know what they were getting themselves into and as a Taylor and musical theatre fan, I had some preparation, but surely not enough for whatever the hell it was. Tom Hooper came to introduce the film and he looked absolutely exhausted and beaten down as he explained that he had finished the movie six hours before in London, before hopping on a plane and heading to New York for the premiere and honestly? It shows in the finished product
The name "Jellicle" comes from an unpublished poem by Eliot entitled "Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats", where "Pollicle dogs" is a corruption of "poor little dogs" and "Jellicle cats" of "dear little cats"
We need a part 2! I need Zach's reaction to the 1998 version. It is LIT Also: I need everyone to know the play is entirely based on T.S. Eliot poems about neighborhood cats.
It is a shame to be constrained by the shackles of physical reality, because boy oh BOY did I want to jump through my computer screen, grab a mic, and voice the many many MANY opinions I have about Cats.
Ian sounds a LOT like Miles. Editing to give the warning that hamster sex is violent AF. People have killed hamsters thinking they’ve gone crazy/rabid…nope just getting it on. Also Kelsey I love you…now get your shoes off the couch. Lol
I was in Cats the musical for a community theatre like 6ish years back and I didn't know what I was getting myself into. It is one those experiences that I get flashbacks to every once in a while and question everything. Plus it was supposed to be a 2 month process and it got extended to 6 months. 6 months of rehearsing... For Cats.
Your Cats in theater reminds me of seeing “Snakes on a Plane”. We went opening night. There were MAYBE 25 people in the theater. When Samuel L Jackson said his iconic line, the theater erupted in cheers and applause. Three people had those toy cans of snakes and popped them open. So. Much. Fun. Fast forward to when it came to video. My mom calls me to tell me she genuinely enjoyed it 😂.
The biggest pleasure of the movie Cats is reading reviews of the movie Cats. I have cried laughing reading people explain their experiences watching this film
I've recently watched a youtube video dissecting the mistakes of this movie in terms of musicality, and even though I have not seen Cats the musical yet (as I do find the premise a little confusing with the sheer number of characters), that review was so thorough that I was furious at how this movie butchered the musical intent. Highly recommend watching that video from Sideways channel (after watching this Guilty Pleasures episode, ofc!)
Fun fact. Cats is basically Andrew Lloyd Weber using TS Eliot's book of poems about cats. Basically every poem in that book is a song in the musical word for word. The names of the cats and the concept of jellicles is Eliot's creation.
If they haven’t seen the show, that means y’all don’t even know about the intense audience participation/harassment where cats crawl all over audience members in their seats 😰
@@KelseyDarragh YES. I went to a small town dinner theater performance as a child and it was unimaginably wild in that tiny 50 person room! Actors would pop over your shoulder, roam around and brush against you - a "cat" ate from someone's plate!! 🙃
16:20 Garrick I think about that Adventure Time throw away joke anytime I'm sad, that's the perfect way to describe this movie and hilarious that someone else finds this quote as great as I do.
I am begging you all to do a follow up episode about the film version of the London stage performance of Cats, which is the best the musical can ever possibly be (though still quite chaotic and quirky)
The first time I saw this movie, it was Opening Night, and there was absolute confusion which morphed into joy. The second time I saw this movie, it was the Night After Opening Night, and I went around to every other person in the (nearly empty) theater and asked, "What vibe are you going for? Because I'm about to BE LOUD." Everyone was completely into it and we all screamed the whole time. I'm so thankful for these particular theater experiences.
I am a trained dancer btw, and the only reason I’d want to be in this musical would be for the choreography, the choreography is one of the only redeeming qualities of this show.
So I have to mention here that the ballerina playing a white cat was a deliberate rollover choice from the musical. She's supposed to be the best dancer and her union with another cat is the focus of the Jellicle Ball festivities, and she is all-white because the cat in the musical is.
Had it not been for Garrick I might have been convinced it was worth watching. Thank you Garrick for watching this atrocity of a movie so we don’t have to.
I'm wondering right now why you havent watched RENT yet! It would be so perfect for this podcast. Would someone please make an amazing argument for me on why they should do an episode on RENT. I would but I'm risking getting fired to send this.
I very much relate to Garrick's last air bender movie moment. My cousins from a different city drove over and I skipped school just to gather and watch this movie in theater only to walk out in grief 😭😩
The closest thing to midnight screenings we got for Cats were the Rowdy Screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse complete with Cats themed drinks served in saucers....and they were glorious
I was a manager at a theatre when this came out and we definitely had the butthole cut before the big re-edit came out. When had people walking out angry every single showing.
I'm sorry but Kelsey, how are you gonna call yourself a Thespian but you'd never heard of the 80s coked out fever dream that is, Starlight Express??? 🤣🤣
Greatest movie ever made. My friends and I bought all the tickets at a theater in DC and we wore cat ears. I snuck in lo mein and some people were definitely crossfaded. Putting the Sonic trailer before it was a genius idea! We hooted and hollered the whole movie. The scene on the barge was what broke me.
I lived in New York when I was a little kid so we saw broadway shows advertised on tv. I wanted to see Cats more than anything. My mom eventually got my brother and I the 1998 vhs recording of the musical and we watched that tape a million times lmfao I was so obsessed. Cut to 2019, I'm horrified by the trailer and I can't wait to see this abomination. My brother, for some reason, is hopeful. Somehow he got us advanced screening tickets and WE. GOT. ZOOTED. Smoked at home and drinks at the theater 😅 I was losing my mind laughing so hard but also fangirling hard enough to be pointing out everything "wrong"(as if it's not just everything). A family in the theater left like 20 minutes in and that honestly made it even funnier
The thing about music is honestly, they're not broadway performers. Any time they put A-List actors in a movie musical it just doesn't sound good cause that's not what they're trained to do
Them talking about the TS cat having boobs reminded me of when Desus & Mero were on Fallon and said she had a very long back (which means flat butt) to win a guessing game vs Charlize Theron and the Swift fans got really mad about it and got the video deleted.
The thing about Cats it's really a show to see really good dancing and hear good singing. It's meant to be on stage or even animated because it would be a showcase of the medium. If they wanted live action but they needed to wear practical makeup like in the stage production. The production I have seen had a black actor for Misstoflees and you could tell his race because the makeup was the color white Also, not all of them are feral strays. Most of them have owners, and the jellicle ball is the family reunion. I saw the stage recording as a kid and went hyperfixation on it.
Ok normally I love Zach, but I got a bone to pick. Andrew Lloyd Webber the greatest Broadway composer of all time?? Three words my friend, Stephen fucking Sondheim. And four more words for my old school Broadway folk, Rodgers and fucking Hammerstein. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
I still haven’t watched this movie but a key part of my childhood was constantly seeing commercials on tv for the Broadway show throughout the 90s. I distinctly remember that coloring the background of my adolescence
I watched this musical live with no context off Broadway. I had to Google the plot during intermission. Turns out its based on a series of poems and the "plot" ties them together. I should have been on mushrooms.
I watched the musical, at least in the musical I still get stage production values and people performing things live (the mungojerrie and rumpleteazer part was so demanding I was like WOAH) so it was still cat's pajamas (pun intended) in that sense to me. But the movie is just... something. And impishly I brought my Mom along because I don't wanna be traumatized by myself. My mom enjoyed it thankfully (?). She said everyone who becomes the cat are attractive 😂 and I said, "Yeah, the actors are very attractive. Especially Idris Elba." and she was like "He's attractive as a cat too." 😂😂😂 I do love the original poem book however. There's a certain childhood like comfort to it, especially if you're a cat person. But I think it's best to disengage from the musical and the movie altogether and just read it as a standalone book.
I love this podcast on the trypod. its actually one of my favorites. Cats was just so....shockingly.....bad...so bad. Really Bad...bad bad... I never understood the premise of cats either lmao
I'm surprised that no one's "fun fact" search led them to the source material for Cats! The entire musical is based on T.S. Eliot's collection of poems Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. That's where "jellicle" comes from, that's were all the weird names come from, that's where the idea of 3 names comes from. I wouldn't be surprised at all if ALW was on drugs when he wrote the musical, but shockingly the lyrics to most of the songs were not a result of that!
Cats is my favorite musical, but I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea. Most people watch musicals for the storyline only. With some musicals I do this, but I don't watch Cats for the story plot. I am a dancer, so I watch it for the dancing, singing, and costuming, a lot like the way you would watch a ballet. With an emphasis on the dancing . The show has some of the most technical choreography compared to other shows. In order for the show to be successful the actors need to be technical dancers and singers. The movie lacked that. The choices for actors limited their ability to do different choreography and caused them to have to change characteristics of the cats. Example, Rebel Wilson's character has the tap number in the musical but because Rebel can't tap they gave that to Skimbleshanks (Steven McRae) who is a principal dancer in the Royal ballet. In doing so, we lost the prop use in Skimbleshanks' song and Rebel's song loses it's unique quality. Also, the CGI just straight up ruined it.
I signed in just to write this, however I grew up watching the Cats VHS, DVD, and I've seen it live twice (I agree with Alex the movie was heinous, inaccurate and a waste of a chance for a film adaptation). In the title number (Jellicle songs for Jellicle Cats) it is explained what makes a Jellicle cat in specific. (Being around for the creation of historical moments like the sphynx, certain traits like moonlit eyes, etc.) In the same number they explain their code of ethics in a chorus and Munkustrap (the grey cat and assistant to the leader) explains the premise of the Jellicle ball and the naming of cats. Old Deuteronomy is the leader of the Jellicle cats simply because he(musical)/she(movie) is the third oldest of the group and has made a certain amount of achievement regarded by the group. He is also the oldest one who still has their wits about them (Gus requires an aide named Jellylorum to help him move about and explain his tale) or who isn't cast out due to misdeed or vanity (Grizabella). After the title song we get the invitation to join the cats at the Jellicle ball which occurs once a year on the Jellicle moon (mostly full, partly cloudy). In this, we see Mr. Mistoffelees and Victoria the white cat dance an intricate ballet number. In the show, Victoria is named Victoria the white cat and is usually played by a white actress. She is a background character in the musical however the director wanted a better and more cohesive storyline so he decided to cast a wonderful dancer and performer and beefed up the role. I think they should've just added a new cat specifically for her and just cast someone else in the background for Victoria. In regards to the "cat orgy" there is only one (arguably) that occurs near the END of the Jellicle ball. While I respect the theory that the musical numbers are interpreted as such, it is established in the first number when they reach the choral parts that its akin to back alley cats meowing in unison and running around (they even get a proportionately sized shoe thrown at them). Getting back to the Jellicle ball, there is one point right before my favorite bit of the orchestration where the lights turn blue and the music slows. As this occurs, the cats crawl and all join in one giant clump almost cuddling onstage. Directly after, Skimbleshanks gets curious and is the first one to leave the clump prompting all other cats to follow suit and then commence the highest energy point in the show (and my favorite) to round out the end of the "celebration" part of the ball. The end number that turned Zach's brain to goo is actually one of the more accurate parts of the film. After Grizabella ascends to the Heaviside Layer, Deuteronomy addresses the audience to explain after seeing them exist for two hours, how you should properly treat a cat (as if they were a sophisticated being). With rules like don't speak unless spoken to, call the cat by their chosen name, present a gift before attempting friendship it's all pretty basic but it is supposed to be the big finale of the show with glorious fog and lighting and chorus but the movie just doesn't deliver. Also, whereas the movie has the cats introduce to Victoria and Deuteronomy breaks 4th wall at the end, it's much less jarring when the cats introduce to us and the 4th wall break is continued throughout the show. In the show, Macavity (the villain cat) has NO magical powers and only exists to be a criminal. He cannot disappear anyone and the only one he kidnaps is Old Deuteronomy (in a disguise as Deuteronomy) which is returned by Mistoffelees as part of a magic trick with Electra. He does not want to win the Jellicle choice, he has no accomplices, and just wants to wreak havoc. The naming of cats as mentioned earlier is fairly simple. The first name is human given, the second is a unique name specifically for the group, and the third name is the name that only the individual cat knows spiritually and will never confess to ANYONE. It's run for so long because it's so simple and makes far more sense in it's original form.
I always thought it was an allegory of pergatory where you win and go up , you have to hang around for a while or your snuck out the back door to the barge to hell
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Honestly if Garrick doesn’t get a podcast talking about animation soon I’m gonna be upset. I love animation of all types and it makes me so happy to see another full grown adult love it as much as me lol
Seconding this, I would listen to that in a heartbeat. Garrick is passionate, knowledgeable, and fucking funny and it's hard to find that combo in anyone, let alone a podcast host specifically, so like. Please, Garrick. Tell us more about animation
Garrick and Eugene could have a animation pod for sure!
yes, we need this!!
I would for sure tune in for that podcast
zach was the reason i started watching the podcast, but garrick is the reason i stay! i think we all would love to see him in another podcast
I literally laughed out loud when Ian said "Imagine Cats but they're trains."
Ian is such a good match to this group. I hope he comes back.
agreed
Just wanted to drop some Garrick appreciation. The shirt and the stache are doing it for me.
He's just a gorgeous man.
And the tattoos!
I was at the premiere in New York of the movie, which was after they had to cancel the original premiere, and let me tell you, it was wild. It was mainly Taylor Swift fans who did not know what they were getting themselves into and as a Taylor and musical theatre fan, I had some preparation, but surely not enough for whatever the hell it was. Tom Hooper came to introduce the film and he looked absolutely exhausted and beaten down as he explained that he had finished the movie six hours before in London, before hopping on a plane and heading to New York for the premiere and honestly? It shows in the finished product
Love that this was posted on Zach's story hahah
He didn't finish the movie in six hours he just arrived after. Your conclusion doesn't stand.
The name "Jellicle" comes from an unpublished poem by Eliot entitled "Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats", where "Pollicle dogs" is a corruption of "poor little dogs" and "Jellicle cats" of "dear little cats"
We need a part 2! I need Zach's reaction to the 1998 version. It is LIT
Also: I need everyone to know the play is entirely based on T.S. Eliot poems about neighborhood cats.
Garrick is an entire mood this episode and I am HERE FOR IT
If you’re doing movies that are so bad, they’re good, you HAVE to do “The Room”. Absolutely brilliant.
kinda the point of this podcast, no? 😂
It's so iconic, it's gotta be saved for a special episode like the 100th ...or the 69th 😅
This podcast has grown on me to where I cant miss an episode. This helps me get through my mondays. Thanks Guilty Pleasure!!!
I love everything about Garrick!! His presence, his laughs, his mind! such a treat to watch him every week!!
I love that Kelsey seems to think her name is Judy Dame Dench. Perfect.
It is a shame to be constrained by the shackles of physical reality, because boy oh BOY did I want to jump through my computer screen, grab a mic, and voice the many many MANY opinions I have about Cats.
Same 😂 I was OBSSESED as a kid and had a tape from pbs when they had a live taping of cats the musical.
Ian sounds a LOT like Miles. Editing to give the warning that hamster sex is violent AF. People have killed hamsters thinking they’ve gone crazy/rabid…nope just getting it on. Also Kelsey I love you…now get your shoes off the couch. Lol
I was watching this while washing dishes and only looking now and then and I kept getting very confused by that lol
@@TM.BECK14 so did i hahahaha
I kept thinking it was miles
I saw Ian's face in the thumbnail and clicked so fast
I was in Cats the musical for a community theatre like 6ish years back and I didn't know what I was getting myself into. It is one those experiences that I get flashbacks to every once in a while and question everything. Plus it was supposed to be a 2 month process and it got extended to 6 months. 6 months of rehearsing... For Cats.
Ian and Zach singing at the end gets me everytime hahahaha along with Kelsey and Garrick's reaction hahahha 1:07:41
So excited for "The Holiday" review. One of my all time favorite comfort and Christmas movies! ❤️
I love how this whole episode is basically Garrick, Ian, and Zach constantly correcting Kelsey on how to solve any math problem.
To clarify starling express is not only a musical about trains on roller skates. It also takes place in space. I feel like that needed to be known.
You guys should invite Dylan is in trouble! He also does movie reviews :D I'd love to see you all discuss movies together.
Omg Ian doing the cat sex scream at 26.56 is so fkn accurate...I have a lot of cats living around my house and it sounds exactly like that!!!!
Your Cats in theater reminds me of seeing “Snakes on a Plane”. We went opening night. There were MAYBE 25 people in the theater. When Samuel L Jackson said his iconic line, the theater erupted in cheers and applause. Three people had those toy cans of snakes and popped them open. So. Much. Fun.
Fast forward to when it came to video. My mom calls me to tell me she genuinely enjoyed it 😂.
The biggest pleasure of the movie Cats is reading reviews of the movie Cats. I have cried laughing reading people explain their experiences watching this film
I've recently watched a youtube video dissecting the mistakes of this movie in terms of musicality, and even though I have not seen Cats the musical yet (as I do find the premise a little confusing with the sheer number of characters), that review was so thorough that I was furious at how this movie butchered the musical intent. Highly recommend watching that video from Sideways channel (after watching this Guilty Pleasures episode, ofc!)
they also have a really good one on how they fkd up les mis
Was it a Sideways video? I love that channel!
@@Mariasantacruz2005 yea!
@@Mariasantacruz2005 sideways rocks! love that guy
Watch the 1998 movie. It's incredible. Also it's confusing because it's based on a collection of cat poems by T.S. Eliot. Embrace the chaos 😄
Garrick's voice during the "Better Help" ad was like honey! He could be an ASMRtist
Fun fact. Cats is basically Andrew Lloyd Weber using TS Eliot's book of poems about cats. Basically every poem in that book is a song in the musical word for word. The names of the cats and the concept of jellicles is Eliot's creation.
If they haven’t seen the show, that means y’all don’t even know about the intense audience participation/harassment where cats crawl all over audience members in their seats 😰
WHAT
@@KelseyDarragh YES. I went to a small town dinner theater performance as a child and it was unimaginably wild in that tiny 50 person room! Actors would pop over your shoulder, roam around and brush against you - a "cat" ate from someone's plate!! 🙃
@@KelseyDarragh My partner was traumatized by having a man in a cat unitard climb over him in his seat as a child
After this episode all I can think of is how much I want Zach’s dad to be on and defend Rent
Jellicle cats: T.S. Eliot uses it in poetry.
Also where the cat namea come from as well as an unpublished draft for a follow up to Old Possums book of Practical cats
16:20
Garrick I think about that Adventure Time throw away joke anytime I'm sad, that's the perfect way to describe this movie and hilarious that someone else finds this quote as great as I do.
love Ian with this group
The musical was inspired by a book of poems by T.S. Elliot called The Naming of Cats
The original musical is based on poems by TS Elliot.
The way ian and miles could of said they were related and ide believe them…
I listened to the audio-version, but had to come and re-watch the video to figure out if it was Ian or Miles speaking
I am begging you all to do a follow up episode about the film version of the London stage performance of Cats, which is the best the musical can ever possibly be (though still quite chaotic and quirky)
Zach: "..there's a lot of 'R-word' in nature.."
Me: "that doesn't make sense.. (pause) OH"
“Everything comes back to cocaine” OMG FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT OMG
The first time I saw this movie, it was Opening Night, and there was absolute confusion which morphed into joy. The second time I saw this movie, it was the Night After Opening Night, and I went around to every other person in the (nearly empty) theater and asked, "What vibe are you going for? Because I'm about to BE LOUD." Everyone was completely into it and we all screamed the whole time. I'm so thankful for these particular theater experiences.
I am a trained dancer btw, and the only reason I’d want to be in this musical would be for the choreography, the choreography is one of the only redeeming qualities of this show.
My dad, a fan of the original musical, absolutely loved this movie unironically and I can't make sense of it
How has it taken them THIS long to talk about CATS???
I literally screamed when i saw the thumbnail!
So I have to mention here that the ballerina playing a white cat was a deliberate rollover choice from the musical. She's supposed to be the best dancer and her union with another cat is the focus of the Jellicle Ball festivities, and she is all-white because the cat in the musical is.
Early, AND a collab with Ian? Good start to the week :)
Had it not been for Garrick I might have been convinced it was worth watching. Thank you Garrick for watching this atrocity of a movie so we don’t have to.
I'm wondering right now why you havent watched RENT yet! It would be so perfect for this podcast. Would someone please make an amazing argument for me on why they should do an episode on RENT. I would but I'm risking getting fired to send this.
The cats wanting to unalive themselves by the end of the movie is very in line with the audience experience
HES FINALLY DOING IT!!!!
Thank you Zach for admitting the truth of Hamilton vs Cats
Never seen the movie but I do enjoy the musical. I get Magical Mr. Mistoffelees and Memory stuck in my head all the time.
This musical was based on T S Eliot's book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats so if you want to understand it you need read the book .
I very much relate to Garrick's last air bender movie moment. My cousins from a different city drove over and I skipped school just to gather and watch this movie in theater only to walk out in grief 😭😩
I am shocked they didn't call out how they straight washed Rum Tum Tugger and Mr Mistofolees.
YESSS THE EPISODE IVE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!!!
Lyrics/ Words we think we know
Dear little cats = Jellico cats
In the garden of Eden baby= De la gotta la vida baby
It's a America = It's a Miracle
The closest thing to midnight screenings we got for Cats were the Rowdy Screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse complete with Cats themed drinks served in saucers....and they were glorious
I was a manager at a theatre when this came out and we definitely had the butthole cut before the big re-edit came out. When had people walking out angry every single showing.
I'm sorry but Kelsey, how are you gonna call yourself a Thespian but you'd never heard of the 80s coked out fever dream that is, Starlight Express??? 🤣🤣
Y'all picked the wrong week to fuck with Taylor Swift lol
Greatest movie ever made. My friends and I bought all the tickets at a theater in DC and we wore cat ears. I snuck in lo mein and some people were definitely crossfaded. Putting the Sonic trailer before it was a genius idea! We hooted and hollered the whole movie. The scene on the barge was what broke me.
I genuinely liked the Cats on Broadway, a COMPLETELY different experience. Weird musical but at least the talent makes up for it
I lived in New York when I was a little kid so we saw broadway shows advertised on tv. I wanted to see Cats more than anything. My mom eventually got my brother and I the 1998 vhs recording of the musical and we watched that tape a million times lmfao I was so obsessed. Cut to 2019, I'm horrified by the trailer and I can't wait to see this abomination. My brother, for some reason, is hopeful. Somehow he got us advanced screening tickets and WE. GOT. ZOOTED. Smoked at home and drinks at the theater 😅 I was losing my mind laughing so hard but also fangirling hard enough to be pointing out everything "wrong"(as if it's not just everything). A family in the theater left like 20 minutes in and that honestly made it even funnier
I HAD THAT TAPE TOO! I still have it and plugged in my vhs player to watch it again after watching the current movie 😂
Is the musical you’re thinking of called “Fun Home” ?
The thing about music is honestly, they're not broadway performers. Any time they put A-List actors in a movie musical it just doesn't sound good cause that's not what they're trained to do
Them talking about the TS cat having boobs reminded me of when Desus & Mero were on Fallon and said she had a very long back (which means flat butt) to win a guessing game vs Charlize Theron and the Swift fans got really mad about it and got the video deleted.
This podcast was made for me. 🥳 love the show
I've been waiting for this video.
Favorite musical for me will always be The Producers. Hands down hilarious and dark.
I had a coworker insist that they were making a sequel and that it was a box office smash.
The thing about Cats it's really a show to see really good dancing and hear good singing. It's meant to be on stage or even animated because it would be a showcase of the medium. If they wanted live action but they needed to wear practical makeup like in the stage production. The production I have seen had a black actor for Misstoflees and you could tell his race because the makeup was the color white
Also, not all of them are feral strays. Most of them have owners, and the jellicle ball is the family reunion. I saw the stage recording as a kid and went hyperfixation on it.
So cats the musical is based off of a book of poems by T.S. Elliot called “Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats” about feline psychology and sociology.
I fell asleep in a theater for the first time in my life while watching this movie. I don't know what that says about me.
Ok normally I love Zach, but I got a bone to pick. Andrew Lloyd Webber the greatest Broadway composer of all time?? Three words my friend, Stephen fucking Sondheim. And four more words for my old school Broadway folk, Rodgers and fucking Hammerstein. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
I still haven’t watched this movie but a key part of my childhood was constantly seeing commercials on tv for the Broadway show throughout the 90s. I distinctly remember that coloring the background of my adolescence
I watched this musical live with no context off Broadway. I had to Google the plot during intermission. Turns out its based on a series of poems and the "plot" ties them together. I should have been on mushrooms.
I ended up watching “over the garden wall” because of this pod cast and LOVED it so I thought… No. I am sorry. Cats was SO bad. Just so bad.
I've come to the realization that Garrick's opinions are always right (except about Spice World)
Garrick and quasi need to hang out together on camera. Tht is all
I watched the musical, at least in the musical I still get stage production values and people performing things live (the mungojerrie and rumpleteazer part was so demanding I was like WOAH) so it was still cat's pajamas (pun intended) in that sense to me. But the movie is just... something. And impishly I brought my Mom along because I don't wanna be traumatized by myself. My mom enjoyed it thankfully (?). She said everyone who becomes the cat are attractive 😂 and I said, "Yeah, the actors are very attractive. Especially Idris Elba." and she was like "He's attractive as a cat too." 😂😂😂
I do love the original poem book however. There's a certain childhood like comfort to it, especially if you're a cat person. But I think it's best to disengage from the musical and the movie altogether and just read it as a standalone book.
nothing is better than watching people describe Cats as a person who has not seen cats
I love this podcast on the trypod. its actually one of my favorites. Cats was just so....shockingly.....bad...so bad. Really Bad...bad bad... I never understood the premise of cats either lmao
missing the smoshcast right about now :(
Lmao Garrick work the eff up and said NOOOO the second they explained starlight express meanwhile I’m giggling bc I saw it coming a mile away 🤣
I'm surprised that no one's "fun fact" search led them to the source material for Cats! The entire musical is based on T.S. Eliot's collection of poems Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. That's where "jellicle" comes from, that's were all the weird names come from, that's where the idea of 3 names comes from. I wouldn't be surprised at all if ALW was on drugs when he wrote the musical, but shockingly the lyrics to most of the songs were not a result of that!
Cats is my favorite musical, but I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea. Most people watch musicals for the storyline only. With some musicals I do this, but I don't watch Cats for the story plot. I am a dancer, so I watch it for the dancing, singing, and costuming, a lot like the way you would watch a ballet. With an emphasis on the dancing . The show has some of the most technical choreography compared to other shows. In order for the show to be successful the actors need to be technical dancers and singers. The movie lacked that. The choices for actors limited their ability to do different choreography and caused them to have to change characteristics of the cats. Example, Rebel Wilson's character has the tap number in the musical but because Rebel can't tap they gave that to Skimbleshanks (Steven McRae) who is a principal dancer in the Royal ballet. In doing so, we lost the prop use in Skimbleshanks' song and Rebel's song loses it's unique quality. Also, the CGI just straight up ruined it.
Garrick killed me when he said "Demons in my eyes!"
The musical Garrick mentioned but forgot the name of might’ve been Fun Home
Zach WOULD. hahaha we had like 3 trypod episodes talking about this movie hahah
Kelsey is correct about the cat hormones from their cheeks. 🙂
I really wish they had gotten someone who was familiar with the musical/history behind the poems
I'M FROM SACRAMENTO!!!! I LITERALLY JUST SCREAMED!!! 916 🔥🔥🔥🔥
@ Garrick - was it Fun Home that you saw?
I signed in just to write this, however I grew up watching the Cats VHS, DVD, and I've seen it live twice (I agree with Alex the movie was heinous, inaccurate and a waste of a chance for a film adaptation). In the title number (Jellicle songs for Jellicle Cats) it is explained what makes a Jellicle cat in specific. (Being around for the creation of historical moments like the sphynx, certain traits like moonlit eyes, etc.) In the same number they explain their code of ethics in a chorus and Munkustrap (the grey cat and assistant to the leader) explains the premise of the Jellicle ball and the naming of cats. Old Deuteronomy is the leader of the Jellicle cats simply because he(musical)/she(movie) is the third oldest of the group and has made a certain amount of achievement regarded by the group. He is also the oldest one who still has their wits about them (Gus requires an aide named Jellylorum to help him move about and explain his tale) or who isn't cast out due to misdeed or vanity (Grizabella). After the title song we get the invitation to join the cats at the Jellicle ball which occurs once a year on the Jellicle moon (mostly full, partly cloudy). In this, we see Mr. Mistoffelees and Victoria the white cat dance an intricate ballet number. In the show, Victoria is named Victoria the white cat and is usually played by a white actress. She is a background character in the musical however the director wanted a better and more cohesive storyline so he decided to cast a wonderful dancer and performer and beefed up the role. I think they should've just added a new cat specifically for her and just cast someone else in the background for Victoria. In regards to the "cat orgy" there is only one (arguably) that occurs near the END of the Jellicle ball. While I respect the theory that the musical numbers are interpreted as such, it is established in the first number when they reach the choral parts that its akin to back alley cats meowing in unison and running around (they even get a proportionately sized shoe thrown at them). Getting back to the Jellicle ball, there is one point right before my favorite bit of the orchestration where the lights turn blue and the music slows. As this occurs, the cats crawl and all join in one giant clump almost cuddling onstage. Directly after, Skimbleshanks gets curious and is the first one to leave the clump prompting all other cats to follow suit and then commence the highest energy point in the show (and my favorite) to round out the end of the "celebration" part of the ball. The end number that turned Zach's brain to goo is actually one of the more accurate parts of the film. After Grizabella ascends to the Heaviside Layer, Deuteronomy addresses the audience to explain after seeing them exist for two hours, how you should properly treat a cat (as if they were a sophisticated being). With rules like don't speak unless spoken to, call the cat by their chosen name, present a gift before attempting friendship it's all pretty basic but it is supposed to be the big finale of the show with glorious fog and lighting and chorus but the movie just doesn't deliver. Also, whereas the movie has the cats introduce to Victoria and Deuteronomy breaks 4th wall at the end, it's much less jarring when the cats introduce to us and the 4th wall break is continued throughout the show. In the show, Macavity (the villain cat) has NO magical powers and only exists to be a criminal. He cannot disappear anyone and the only one he kidnaps is Old Deuteronomy (in a disguise as Deuteronomy) which is returned by Mistoffelees as part of a magic trick with Electra. He does not want to win the Jellicle choice, he has no accomplices, and just wants to wreak havoc. The naming of cats as mentioned earlier is fairly simple. The first name is human given, the second is a unique name specifically for the group, and the third name is the name that only the individual cat knows spiritually and will never confess to ANYONE. It's run for so long because it's so simple and makes far more sense in it's original form.
I absolutely loved the filmed version of Cats as a child, so I think it's just made for children.
I always thought it was an allegory of pergatory where you win and go up , you have to hang around for a while or your snuck out the back door to the barge to hell
For Christmas, you should look into Krampus!! My family’s traditional holiday guilty pleasure
In the beginning I was afraid Garrick wasn’t there! Lol
Was Garrick talking about Fun Home as the musical "something home" he likes?
I only found this podcast today but it feels like every episode Garrick looks and sounds like and entirely different person