Cats (Reboot)

Cats is a musical fantasy film based on the stage musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which in turn was based on the poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939) by T. S. Eliot. The film is a reboot of the 2019 film adaption which failed to appeal to audiences.

Plot summary
A young man was unfortunate to have to spend the night guard the local junkyard. But during his round, he stumbles upon a tribe of magical, singing cats calling themselves "Jellicles". They openly welcome him to take part in a celebration they call "The Jellicle Ball".

Plot
Elliot Possum is a security guard who agreed to take his friend Hank's graveyard shift in the junkyard outside of London. He started to get bored around midnight, until he found that the junkyard was being overrun with cats. He tried insulting the cats to make them go away, until he heard a voice come from somewhere. He was in complete surprise to watch the cats stand on their hind legs, talk, sing, and dance. They introduce themselves as the "Jellicle tribe" ("Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats"). When the confused Elliot asks what a Jellicle Cat is, the cats were stunned. They gathered around and proceed to explain to him that each cat have three different names: by the human family, by themselves, and a secret name ("The Naming of Cats"). Muskustrap, a silver LaPerm cat has revealed to him that they are a magical tribe of cats who have taken part in many cat-related myths and folktales; such as Egyptian gods, pets for witches, and hexes for bad luck. It was then the white kitten Victoria started her ballet solo, with the moon projecting some type of spotlight on her. Then she conjured up a flash of light which signals their festivities to begin. Elliot could see that a space in the junkyard has been decorated for a party the cats call the "Jellicle Ball" ("The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball"). Muskustrap continued explaining that Jellicle Cats gather once a year to throw a ball when the "Jellicle Moon" comes out. For just before dawn, their leader will make what is called the "Jellicle Choice", and chooses one cat to go to the "Heaviside Layer" and be reborn into a new life. The cats sense that the Jellicle Moon has chosen the junkyard for the Jellicle Choice to be made that year. As being the only human present, the cats welcome Elliot to take part in the ball, much to his contempt.

Muskustrap then introduces Elliot to Jennyanydots the Old Gumbie Cat, a big lazy tabby cat who prefers to sleep all day ("The Old Gumbie Cat"). But at night, she spend most of her time training mice and cockroaches. The party was then crashed by Muskustrap's younger brother, Rum Tug Tugger, a carefree rebellious cat ("The Rum Tum Tugger"). He gets the younger cats in a bit of a frenzy. But the excitement died out with the arrival of Grizabella the Glamour Cat, an old grey cat who abandoned the tribe a long time ago ("Grizabella: The Glamour Cat"). The other cats try to avoid her in disgust as this outcast passes through. After Grizabella left, an elite fat cat named Bustopher Jones have arrived and shared stories of the gentlemen's clubs he's been to and the many meals he had ("Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town"). Meanwhile, Elliot and Munkustrap were checking up on Demeter, a wary cat who sense something bad is going to happen. She believes that it might be someone named "Macavity". As Elliot was about to ask who that is, a loud crashing sound can be heard from his work station. Demeter shout out "Macavity!" and the already-startled cats all quickly ran off hiding, leaving Elliot alone. At his feet, he picks up a wanted poster of Macavity one of the kittens were drawing, which it says at the bottom "Wanted for: EVERYTHING".

When Elliot got to his work station, he found that one of the windows was broken. He went inside to find the whole place being ransacked by Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, twin trouble-making Bengal Jellicle cats ("Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer"). Elliot chased all around the office trying to catch them, while they brag about their reputation as petty burglars and causing mischief for the humans in their neighborhood.

Cast

 * Tom Felton as Elliot Possum, a security guard watching over a local junkyard with a dislike for cats before taking part in the Jellicle Ball
 * Adam Driver as Hank, a friend and co-worker of Elliot's, whom took up his graveyard shift for him
 * Lee Arenberg as the wino who threw his shoe during "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats"

Cats

 * Patrick Wilson as as Munkustrap, the Silver LaPerm guardian of the Jellicle Cats and host of the Jellicle Ball
 * Don Cheadle as Rum Tum Tugger, Munkustrap's rebellious rock star brother
 * Chi McBride as Old Deuteronomy, the wise old Maine Coon leader of the Jellicles; and Macavity, Muskustrap, and Rum Tum Tugger's father
 * Zoe Saldana as Grizabella the Glamour Cat, a sad messy old Ragamuffin cat who lost her beauty after becoming an outcast from leaving the tribe a long time ago
 * Kevin Bacon as Macavity the Mystery Cat, a deranged ginger cat who has been known to be a nefarious criminal
 * Chloe Bennet as Demeter
 * Corbin Bleu as Alonzo, Munkustrap's "second-in-command"
 * Rebecca Ferguson as Cassandra, a lovely brown and cream Abyssinian cat
 * David McCallum as Gus the Theatre Cat, an elderly Oriental Longhair that was once a famous stage actor
 * John De Lancie as Asparagus, Gus's Sphinx cat son
 * Sally Field as Jellylorum, a Himalayan cat who acts as a caretaker for the kittens and Gus
 * Melissa McCarthy as Jennyanydots the Old Gumbie Cat, a fat tabby who
 * Laurence R. Harvey as Bustopher Jones, a gentlemanly, fat, bi-colored, black Persian
 * Andrew Scott as Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
 * Tom Holland as Quaxo/Mr. Mistoffelees, a young tuxedo cat who is also a clever magician
 * Anne Hathaway as Bombalurina, a flirtatious Arabian Mau and Demeter's best friend
 * David Mazouz as Plato
 * Femi Taylor as Exotica, a black cat who attends the Jellicle Ball
 * Halle Berry as Griddlebone, a Siamese cat that is officiated with Macavity
 * Austyn Johnson as Sillabub/Jemima, Munkustrap and Demeter's daughter and the youngest kitten in the tribe

Production
In the 2019 film, the cast simply wear CGI suits while filming so that they can appear to possess catlike bodies. But in the reboot, the design of the cats are done very differently, inspired by the animation that created the animals from live-action Disney films, the Na'vi of Avatar, the chipmunks from Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Rocket Raccoon from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The characters are modeled after real-life cats, based on their fur texture and motions. The performers would dance and act in a green screen, wearing CGI suits and facial markers to capture their expression and movements for their animated counterparts. While filming, Tom Felton would be on the junkyard set alone with animation marker all around him and interact with the digital models on cue.

The idea of having a human in the film came from lyrics in the "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats":


 * There's a man over there with a look of surprise,
 * As much as to say, "Well now how about that!"
 * Do I actually see with my own very eyes
 * A man who's not heard of a Jellicle cat?
 * What's a Jellicle cat? What's a Jellicle cat?

As versions of Cats shows the characters breaking the fourth wall, adding a human to the production would give a better focus on who the songs are intended.