Andrew Lloyd Webber bought therapy dog after ‘appalling’ Cats movie
Andrew Lloyd Webber is not a fan of the Cats movie (Image: Instagram/andrewlloydwebber | Universal)
Andrew Lloyd Webber has joked that the backlash to the 2019 Cats film was so “appalling” he ended up buying a Havanese puppy as a therapy dog.
In a CBS Sunday Morning TikTok clip, the composer discussed the movie adaptation of his stage musical and said: “After the appalling Cats movie, I went out and bought myself a little Havanese puppy,” before explaining how the dog now accompanies him when he travels.
“It’s my therapy dog on planes. I just write a note to the airline saying, you know, reason for dog on plane and put ‘Cats movie’. And they always come back saying, ‘No doctor’s certificate required,’” he added.
The clip also shows Lloyd Webber being asked what he did not like about the film, to which he replies it could be “a very, very long list”.
Cats movie backlash
The 2019 Cats film was directed by Tom Hooper and starred Jennifer Hudson, James Corden and Taylor Swift. It became notorious for its CGI-heavy “digital fur” look.
This isn’t the first time Andrew Lloyd Webber has discussed the backlash, either.
In 2021, he told Variety: “Cats was off-the-scale all wrong. There wasn’t really any understanding of why the music ticked at all.
“I saw it and I just thought: ‘Oh God, no.’ It was the first time in my 70-odd years on this planet that I went out and bought a dog.”
Cats on stage
Lloyd Webber is the English composer and impresario behind mega-musicals including The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar and Cats.
The stage version of Cats became one of the longest-running and most commercially successful musicals in history.
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