Cats 2019: Every Song Ranked From Least To Most Horrifying

6. Overture / Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats / The Invitation To The Jellicle Ball

Jennyanydots Cats
Monumental Pictures

These songs are technically separate, but will be placed together since they all flow into each other fairly quickly without much change. While one of the higher points of the film, being both impressive and entertaining, it's also the very first time you're exposed to the horrors you're in for for the rest of the movie, opening with an actual, large scale, human-sized woman throwing a bag into the trash, in which a smaller human-shaped cat emerges.

The cacophonous opening instrumental almost violently transports you into the strange world of Cats, with creepy cat people crawling all over the trash and then whisper-chanting at main character Victoria about what Jellicle Cats are (but never quite explaining it to a bewildered audience), their god (the moon), and how they're named. It's a fairly horrifying sequence, but to its credit, is well done and entertaining, and explains exactly nothing while also letting you know exactly what you're in for for the rest of the film.

It's a gorgeous, impressive sequence that shows off the stunning giant London set and the skill of the performers, but never stops feeling like a waking nightmare with how menacing it feels.

In this post: 
cats
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Writer, artist, professional animator. Indie comics and Hi Nay podcast creator. Queer Filipino storyteller || @MotzieD on Twitter || Originally from Quezon City, The Philippines. Currently based in Toronto, Canada || motziedapul.com || hinaypod.com