Andrew Lloyd Webber wanted his dog to be recognised as a therapy animal to help him after the ‘trauma’ of the ‘terrible’ Cats movie.
The 76-year-old composer created the stage show Cats in 1981, which was then adapted into a big-screen musical movie in 2019 by Tom Hooper.
Starring Dame Judi Dench, Idris Elba, James Corden, and Jason Derulo, the film was panned and currently sits at just 19% on Rotten Tomatoes.
After the film, the composer’s friend Glenn Close suggested he adopt a canine companion to give him a boost – and airline staff didn’t even require medical evidence when he asked to take his pet on a plane with him.
‘I applied for Mojito to be my therapy dog so I could take him on American Airlines,’ he told the Sunday Times’ Culture magazine.
‘I said the reason for taking him on the plane was trauma due to the Cats movie, and they came back saying: “No doctor’s certificate required.”‘
Andrew admitted the movie was ‘terrible’ and claimed stars of the film were very ‘unhappy’ about it too.
‘It was terrible. Thank God I was not closely involved,’ he continued.
‘Most people who were found it the most unhappy experience. Taylor Swift, Judi Dench … All of them called me and said, “What are we going to do?”‘
In 2021, the famed writer spoke to Variety about acquiring his dog after Cats was released: ‘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. So the one good thing to come out of it is my little Havanese puppy.’
Whatcha Say hitmaker Derulo, who plays Rum Tum Tugger in the film, previously thought Cats would change the world.
He told The Telegraph: ‘For the longest time, I was trying to figure out what’s the perfect first role?
‘Cats checked all the boxes. You can’t get a more start-studded cast, you don’t get a more respected director than an Oscar winner, and Rum Tum Tugger is a legacy role, a standout character in a classic musical.
‘Even when I saw the trailer, I got chills down my spine! I thought it was gonna change the world.’
And he wasn’t entirely wrong, with the film spawning countless memes online as well as the legendary ‘butthole cut’ rumours alluding to an NSFW edit of the film.
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