Nitpickers’ Guide to the Cats Video

Act II

Moments of Happiness

Here's how some of the cats come on for the second act: Jemima emerges through the pipe, Admetus on top of it, Plato between it and the tire, and Teazer on the other side. And Munk enters onto the car.
Pounce appears on the old chair atop a tower of junk. He jumps down from it to the car, but loses his footing and tumbles head over heels to the floor. Munk sees this and puts out a paw, but he isn't close enough to be of any assistance. Once on the floor Pounce sits up and looks like my cats usually do after they have done something uncharacteristically clumsy, i.e., "I didn't do that; I'm a cat!"
While that is happening, we can see that C&T are sitting together in the middle of the stage greeting Cassandra. The next shot shows them coming onstage again from the left of the screen.
Etc and Electra can be seen fighting, Etc sitting in the oven and Electra on top.
As Etc is doing that cute little stretch and yawn, Plato can be seen right behind her and his face is very close to her rear end. Perhaps it was accidental, but it looks an awful lot like he might have been sniffing her butt (which cats do from time to time).
When Gus comes out, several cats notice and sniff at him, but Munkustrap is sitting at attention next to Old D and doesn't see him. It's not until Jenny comes to get the can from next to the tire that Munk notices him and kind of stiffens with excitement.
Watch the lower right corner of the screen as Gus sits. Alonzo is there and as Victoria crawls past him, he rubs his head and shoulder against her. Adorable! And it is suggested that this is how Victoria initially got that smudgy spot on the hip of her costume. Alonzo does have a black patch on his face just where he rubbed her; I bet the costume lady loved that.
As Munk rubs his head against Gus (try to tear your eyes away from him for just a second, girls) watch Jemima (the guys shouldn't have any trouble) as she reaches up a paw to scratch her ear.
Have you noticed that Gus is looking at all the Jellicles as if they are the weirdest things he's ever seen?
As the twins assume that strange position for Jemima's solo, Cori's paw twitches until Tant puts her paw in his.
As Jemima finishes her solo she does that graceful little collapse which is somewhat spoiled because she is too close to Etc and accidentally kicks her leg. Etc just moves it out of the way instead of reacting.
The singers' lips are out of synch with the recording on the line "let your memory lead you."
For some reason this gives me a giggle every time I see it. Just before Gus' song as Munk is moving to assist Old D back to the tire, watch the bottom of the screen. Pounce is crawling stage right so that he can sit with Old D. I don't know why, but it just strikes me as funny.

Gus: the Theatre Cat

To start with, I would really have preferred to hear Tony Timberlake as Gus instead of John Mills. I notice that he is not present for this song.
There are a lot of disappearing cats in this song. In some shots Pounce is on the tire next to Old D and in others he's on the car trunk. In some shots Victoria is sitting on the fender with Mistoff beside her and Plato on the floor with his leg stretched back along the fender and in others she is by herself. There are others, which I will mention as I come to them.
Speaking of Pounce, if you watch him next to Old D after the line "he has acted with Tree" you will see that, not only does he look supremely bored, but he also looks like he's sucking on a humongous gobstopper. (That would be jawbreaker in America, but since this was taped in London, I guess it's gobstopper.)
And while we're on the subject of mouths, Admetus keeps smacking his lips during this song.
Jumping back to the beginning, just as Jelly sings, "Gus is the cat," you see a single long strand of hair hanging from her wig. In the next shot it is gone.
I'm guessing that Skimble sneaked out when the cats were getting situated for Gus' song. He first comes out onto the car trunk wearing his vest just as Gus is about to start singing. And incidentally, whenever Vic is alone on the car, Skimble is gone too.
Okay, I have to mention this as it's my favorite moment in the whole show: Just after Gus sings, "I knew how to let the cat out of the bag," the shot switches to Old D with Admetus (and others) beside him. Admetus looks up at Old D and makes a cute little face, Old D smiles and squeezes his paw, and Admetus rubs his head against the old cat's arm. That is just so sweet!
Okay, here's a three-parter: When Gus sings, "I say that these kittens…" watch Admetus and Plato. They are hard to see because Admetus is directly behind Gus and Plato is just behind Jellylorum, but on the word "kittens," they both jerk their heads up as if to say, "Hey, you talkin' 'bout me?" Then as Gus says, "they do not get trained," Victoria sits up looking affronted (and she is alone btw). And when Gus says, "when Victoria reigned," Mistoff is stroking her and she looks very smug.
Also Skimble scratches his chest and nods at Pounce as if to say, "That's right, my boy."
By the time Firefrorefiddle appears for the second time, Skimble has fallen asleep on the car trunk.
When Firefrorefiddle bows to Gus, we can see Demeter through him sitting on the pipe and there is no one else visible. But just a little later when they show her again, M&R are sitting in the pipe with Tumble nearby.
During this whole song Tantomile has been sitting by herself on top of the car with Coricopat nowhere in sight. But after Firefrorefiddle leaves they show a shot of Gus and behind him you can see two pairs of identical legs on the car. In the next shot it's just Tantomile there.
Just as Gus is about to start singing in his sniffly voice, you can see that Plato has disappeared from his spot in front of the car. I assumed that he had slipped off to change into Macavity, but in the next shot that shows the car he is there again, albeit he is starting to get fidgety. He almost looks as if he just woke up. He's gone when Skimble's song starts.

Growltiger's Last Stand

This song is conspicuous in its absence. It happens to be my favourite part of the whole musical and I really resent RUG's cutting it out for time or whatever the reason is.

Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat

Coricopat is back on top of the car with Tantomile at the beginning of this song.
Just before Skimble starts to sing, Munkustrap fixes Old D's tail so that he can sit down.
Watch C&T on top of the car as Skimble sings, "would be searching high and low." In synch with the words they look up then down. And as Skimble continues to sing, they slowly bring their heads back up and smile at each other.
Starting with the line, "And the passengers are frantic to a man," you can see Munk stroking Old D's arm. Keep watching him and you'll see him scratch his nose. (Yes, I know, pick, pick, pick!)
While that is going on, Tugger suddenly comes on and goes up behind Munk to Cassandra and makes as if to escort her down to the stage. He disappears as suddenly as he came, though (typical), and Cass apparently makes it down on her own because she is soon shown dancing with the kittens.
After this Tugger can be seen reclining on the pile of wood next to the car. He disappears after the "train" collapses.
On the line, "He gave one flash," Skimble steps on Asparagus' foot. Poor guy! He's really getting abused in this show.
As the kittens rise from their reclining positions, Cass rises twice.
On the line, "he'd know at once if anything occurred," Electra grabs Cass by the tail to switch places with her, but in the next shot they are back the way they were.
On the line, "It's certain that he doesn't approve," Cass shoots a glare at Electra.
On the line "He's a cat who cannot be ignored," Skimble turns to find the kittens right behind him. Rumpelteazer has a look on her face that seems to say, "Caught! Rats."
When the cats lie on their tummies on the floor, Cass reaches back to pull her tail from between her legs, which unfortunately looks like she's fixing a wedgie.
When Skimble sings the line, "Oh, it was very pleasant when they found their little den," he is pantomiming walking down the corridor carrying two suitcases and looking at all the doors to see which one is his. It took me a while to figure this out.
Yet another time when I wish I could know what Admetus was thinking. After the first "Whoo whoo!" Old D leans back against Admetus and Munk, and Admetus gives him a look similar to the one he gave Tugger during the Jellicle Ball.
And while we're looking at Admetus (something that I love to do!), watch his legs while he's sitting on the tire. In some shots he's sitting on one leg while the other hangs over the edge of the tire, and in others he's sitting in modified Indian style with one knee to his chest.
When Skimble talks about not a speck of dust, Etc wipes the floor and shows Victoria that indeed, there is no dust.
And incidentally, I just love Victoria's reaction to Teazer's sneeze.
After Skimble says, "only stopping here and there to catch a flea," Cass picks a flea (or something) off of Tumble's ear.
Watch Pounce during the "train's" collapse. He is playing with the umbrella and then he falls over backwards the way he did at the end of Bustopher's song, legs spread apart and butt in the air. In the next shot he is on his knees looking up at Skimble.
Cori has an uncustomary look of panic as he tries to catch his train wheel which has gotten away from him.
When the cats carry off their train props, the following males don't come back: Admetus, Tumble, and Cori.
Watching Jenny and Bomb shoving the red canopy back into the car trunk reminds me of someone putting a couch bed back together.
Finally we come to the pyramid: Skimble takes Munk's hand and steps onto Mungo's back, then onto Alonzo's back. The shot closes in on Skimble's face, but he appears to take another step up, presumably onto Munk's shoulder. The shot changes and Skimble has one foot on Alonzo's back and the other on the floor; Mungo is not there, but Asparagus is straightening up as if he had been where Mungo was. Shot pulls back and Skimble has one foot on Alonzo's back and the other on Munk's shoulder. Then the crash of glass and Skimble is suddenly back on the stage without appearing to have fallen. I don't care if RUG had a low budget or not enough time or what. That was really atrocious editing and should have been fixed before the video was released.
As a side note, during that whole bit Alonzo's face seems to convey the message, "Hurry up, Geoff, you ain't gettin' any lighter!"

Macavity: the Mystery Cat

I don't think Bryn Walters was doing Macavity's laugh because it sounds just like the laugh I hear on my copy of the London cast recording.
Kudos to Bryn for his agility. He is the only cat who didn't put his hands down when coming down from the car. He couldn't. He was holding out his hands in front of him to mesmerize the Jellicles, so he had to slide down off of the car upright, which he did quite well.
Macavity's rats: I think it is well established that one is Mistoff and one is Tugger. I believe the third is Admetus. I have slo-moed the rats (did I mention that I'm a card-carrying member of the Nitpickers' Guild?), and I think one of them has Admetus' rather distinctive mouth.
Okay, here's something for the guys to watch for. At the very beginning as Bomb rises from her squat, watch her right leg (that would be on the left of the screen). The spandex really is skin-tight because you can see one of her thigh muscles shift as she straightens up.
The cameramen, the director, and the editors were probably all men. Why else would they have so many shots of Bomb settling herself on the tire when we should be watching Demeter sing?
During Bomb's verse look carefully at the white part of her tummy. When the light hits it right you can see a very large sweat stain. At least, I assume it's sweat. (No draining board!)
After the line "There's the wonder of the thing, Macavity's not there!" the girls chorus get to their feet and join in the dance. Victoria actually pushes herself up off her feet on that move.
At the very end, they all shout, "Macavity!", put their paws over their ears, and do two high kicks. On the second kick Demeter casts a sidelong glance at Bomb. Seconds later she makes a strange grimace. Another "what was going through her head?" moment.

The Fight

When the other cats are returning, Asparagus and Skimble don't come back with the others, and Admetus, Cori, and Tumble are still missing from the end of Skimble's song. That leaves the Jellicles with four males to protect them, i.e. Munkustrap, Alonzo, Mungojerrie, and Pouncival. That doesn't make much sense to me. Where are the rest of the guys?
As Jenny and Jelly are running back onto the stage, Jelly falls on her butt and Jenny runs back to help her up.
Watch Old D as the rats bring him back on. In the first shot it is Macavity in disguise. Then the shot changes to show Old D greeting his kittens and you can see that it's actually Ken Page. Not until after Demeter hisses the first time does it become and stay Macavity.
Just before Demeter jumps on the fake Old D you can see him bracing himself for it.
When Munk throws Mac off then does that spectacular leap over him, you'll notice a rather large clump of reddish fuzz on the stage near Macavity. The Hidden Paw would appear to be doing some big time shedding.
As Munk and Mac are clawing at each other, you can see Alonzo pacing in the background, ready to jump in should Munkustrap fall.
As Macavity retreats, I can't help but notice that he has an orange streak across his butt. Not a good place for it IMO.
As the train's headlamp sweeps the stage, the cats whisper, "Macavity's not there!"
You probably already knew this, but the two nuzzling cats are Demeter and Munkustrap. And Pounce is holding the headlamp this time.

Mr. Mistoffelees

As in Gus, the cats do a lot of moving around during this song. For starters, they show Bomb, Dem, and Munk sitting on the tire when they sing doo-wop, but when they show Tugger singing, no one is up there.
And while we're on the subject, I am seeing doo-wop and hearing doo-wah or ah-hah, besides the fact that I don't hear any male voices on that at all. Somebody screwed up, but I'm not sure who it was.
I think maybe you can only see this on the DVD, which I don't own. Talis has a still of it in her book corner, see the link below. So what is it, anyway? When Mistoff turns and says presto, you can see on the extreme right side of the screen that a cameraman got included in the shot. Oops!

http://tscnet.com/pages/trachier/cool.htm

Due to RUG's wonderful editing, we don't get to see what happens to Mistoff's beaded jacket. In the stage show I saw, Tugger takes it off him and puts it around Bomb, who slinks offstage then comes back without it.
As he sings, "I've known the family to call," Tugger mimes a telephone.
And have you noticed during this song that Tugger is mimicking Mistoff's moves just as Pounce was mimicking Tugger's moves during his song? How sweetly ironic.
During Mistoff's solo dance Etc and Electra are standing with Tugger (and loving every minute of it!). When the solo ends, they scoot forward on the floor. When Tugger says, "Magical!" they are standing with him again, then the next shot shows them back on the floor.
Here's another continuity problem that really bugs me: Mistoff goes to pull the red cloth out of the car, points to Cassandra (who is on the car when she had been on the tire), and she jumps down off the car and does her little thing, and btw, Pounce is sitting on a box next to the car. The shot pulls back with Mistoff unfurling the cloth. Pounce is on the floor and Cassandra is back on the tire and Mistoff picks her again!
As this is going on the car's taillights are blinking, but they stop briefly as Cass comes down from the car.
Just before the shot where Cass comes down from the car, there is a close shot of Mistoff, and if you really look at the car, you will see Pounce there, not Cassandra.
Just before Mistoff picks Cass the second time, Pounce is on the floor (behind Tugger) standing on his head and clicking his heels.
Tugger approves of Mistoff's choice.
The magic trick is not very convincing I'm afraid, even without this comment from my brother: "Now, watch me magically produce someone from this pipe that goes backstage!" The problem is Old D is already coming out before Cass is gone, and he is, of course, so much bigger than she is. The stage show got around this by holding the cloth out more so that the movement under it wasn't as obvious.
As Old D crawls out, Pounce is suddenly up on the car.
Watch Etc as Mistoff makes magical passes over the shrouded figure. Have you ever seen a startled kitten? They will often quickly spread their legs out preparatory to fleeing. This is what Etc does now.
Plato has more time than Admetus did to change. He doesn't reappear until Tugger starts singing, "was there ever a cat so clever," after Old D has returned. Then again, he does have a makeup and wig change. In the Making of Cats they show a shot of some wig heads with cat wigs on them, all labeled. Only one is labeled incorrectly. The head says "Tony (Asparagus)", but the mane-like red and black wig is obviously Macavity's. I suspect it was tossed there after a hasty costume change.
As Mistoff brings out Cass, you can see Etc and Electra bumping butts in the background.
As the magician and his lovely assistant prepare to take their bow, Munkustrap is getting a big bear hug from Old D, and Jellylorum is caressing and stroking the old cat's tail.

The Rest:

I'm afraid there aren't many other things of note, so I'll just clump them together.

During Jemima's sunflower solo, you can just see her ear under her wig.
Old D and Grizabella climb onto the tire twice.
Just before they sing, "Up, up, up past the Jellicle moon," Tugger starts to point upward, but in the next shot his arms are at his sides.
Listen for church bells when they sing, "Round the cathedral rang vivat!" You have to really turn the volume up, though. Don't do it if someone's trying to sleep.
I can't remember the exact line where this happens, but watch Tumble at the beginning of Addressing before the cats turn to face the audience. A shadow passes across his back; it almost looks as if someone put his or her arm around his shoulders.
As Old D sings, "resents familiarity," Cass raises her head while in that squatting position and you can clearly see the seams on her shoulders where the unitard unfastens.
During the Addressing of Cats, note how the cats each assume a pose that reflects his or her character, e.g. Cassandra takes an Egyptian pose.