Cats (1998 film) Cats (1998 film) Cats is a 1998 direct-to-video musical film based on the stage musical "Cats" by Andrew Lloyd Webber, itself based on the novel "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by T. S. Eliot. Lloyd Webber himself personally oversaw orchestration for the film and called on Gillian Lynne, the original show's choreographer, to personally train the cast for the film. Trevor Nunn, the original director, did not serve as the director of this production. Andrew Lloyd Webber and others on the production team for the film wanted to keep the feeling that viewers watching the film could still get
Beauty and the Beast (musical) Ashman and Menken's music. Several critics noticed the film's live musical potential, among them prolific "New York Times" theatre critic Frank Rich. Lamenting the Broadway selection at the time, Rich famously praised the songwriting duo for having written "[t]he best Broadway musical score of 1991", while hailing the film as a "better [musical] ... than anything he had seen on Broadway" in 1991. Rich's review would ultimately provide Eisner and Katzenberg with the confidence needed to seriously consider the film as a potential Broadway project. Disney was also inspired by the successes of Broadway musicals such as "Cats", "Les Misérables"