Genre: Animated/Musical.
Studio:
Unknown.
Production Company:
Unknown.
Project Phase: In Limbo.
Who's In It: Unknown.
Who's Making It: Tom Stoppard (Screenwriter); Andrew Lloyd Webber (Executive Producer); based on T.S. Eliot's work Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
Premise: The world according to singing, dancing cats.
Release Date: Unknown.
Comments: An animated version of the extremely popular Broadway hit from the 1980s.
Rumors: Unknown.
Scoop Feedback:
November 4, 1996... Pixar, the makers of Toy Story may be involved with the development of the Cats animated project, according to this scooper who read a recent E!Online article. Lloyd Webber also wrote a new song for the film. [Scoop sent in by 'Speedy.]
September 1, 1997... The Universal Cats project is dead. According to someone in the Animation union, the Powers-That-Be at Amblimation tried to create the worst presentation they could to kill the project; the reason cited was that Steve Spielberg wanted to fold Ambilmation into Dreamworks.The plot backfired though, and Universal loved what they saw. But Amblimation was folded into Dreamworks anyway, leaving directors Nick Zondagg and Phil Nebblink with a skeleton crew as the project went back into development. The last the scooper heard was that Nebblink and Zondagg were back creating a new studio specifically for the project. [Sent in by 'ELurioe'.]
"This is not a rumor. Cats has been dumped by Universal. This is according to one of the former directors who devoted some of the last half dozen years to the project. The people from Pixar were writers who tried to punch up Tom Stoppard's script." [Scoop sent anonymously.]
Then this puzzling scoop arrived: "This is not going to be an animated film. Imagine a ground breaking live action film a la The Dark Crystal, the Star Wars prequels, and Evita. As for the performers look for very famous American and British stars." Either the scooper knows something we all don't know about or...riiight! [Thanks to Christine DeChangy.]
September 2, 1997... When Cats became the longest-running Broadway musical of all time last June, USA Today did an interview with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Webber mentioned that in Eliot's will there were specific instructions that Disney would never, ever purchase the film rights for his book. [Interesting piece courtesy of 'widgett'.]