so like
When I see this movie, my plan is to judge this movie based on the strength of its plot, how it stays true to the characters and the message of the original story, and the careful thought behind any deviations.
... but before I see it, I’m finding it very hard to think about good story-telling with this man’s pretty face on my dash all the time. I mean would you LOOK at him, he should never not be smiling, it is RIDICULOUS
curse you, sato takeru, for making a fan gurll out of me!!!!
IN OTHER RANDOM, BUT NO LESS SILLY NEWS:
I adore the musical Cats! (and I don't care what anyone says about it, believe me, I've heard it all from theater friends, but I like what I like because I like it!) and am going to make every effort possible to see it in Yokohama (I'm fairly sure it'll still be running there for a while, I checked the website recently... It would be just my luck if it closes soon after I get to Japan, though. I missed the American national tour by mere days, because the closest they ever came to me was six hours away and that was during graduation/finals week so I couldn't get away). In the meantime, I thought I would search for Cats fan art on pixiv, thinking "well, why not, there's probably not much but I might find a few gems. There are even a few on DA even though this is not a particularly popular show right now (shows that are no longer running and/or don't have [good] movie versions rarely are)." But, but THEN. It turns out this show is really popular in Japan. I guess I should have expected that. It's about Cats and whimsy and the Japanese totally embraced the whole "dude, we totally have an excuse to put actors in spiked collars and have them wag their butts at the audience now" thing which really come now who goes to see this for any other reason? Looool just kiddng ;) (sort of)
So pixiv is actually swimming in Cats fan art. A lot of it sprang up after a festival that happened a year or two ago, I suppose it was a celebration (it might have been for the 30th anniversary of the show, but I think it might have been just for one year on stage in Yokohama... I've had numerous chances to translate but I'm lazy). And there was a Christmas special too. Japan likes to make things into big events, and they definitely draw crowds. I have some video of it. Maybe I'll post it eventually. There is one adorably silly moment during one of the events where Mistoffelees comes out and does some magic that makes sparkles and neon lights in the theater. After he leaves, Tugger comes out and makes fun of his magic by parodying it XD I thought it was hysterical. In the art on pixiv, a lot of people reference either or both of those festivals. It was probably advertised so much that a lot of people who never saw the show before came to see it. But even besides that, it seems popular in general. The Growltiger number especially - he's even got his own merch XD It's interesting because it seems pretty regular that Growltiger and Pekes & Pollicles are both performed, but in the U.S. and I think in the UK also, they usually choose one or the other (and usually they pick Growltiger). Breaks my heart because I love both numbers sooo much. I can only assume, at least when it comes to Broadway, that it's because we're cheap.
Anyway, the art on pixiv is fantastic. It's so cute and funny. They really get into the spirit of the show. And there's general love for all the characters. The Japanese cast is significantly different from anything I've seen before, though. Every country that does this show does it with its own flair, which almost always means changing the names and often costumes, but Japan's extreme. For instance, Alonzo's general costume is used for Rumpus Cat, but since there's no Alonzo, Rumpus is a regular character instead of a myth. There's a character Gilbert who was invented to play Ghengis rather than have another actor double. Growltiger's crew is composed of Munkustrap, Mistoffelees, Rum Tum Tugger, Skimbleshanks and Mungojerrie (instead of Alonzo or George). The character of Sillabub was originally invented as a Broadway replacement for the English Jemima for fear that "Jemima" could come across as racist. Japan uses both Sillabub and Jemima. It seems like there may be no Electra, though, so Jemima might be a combo with her (Sillabub's costume is very different from Jemima's so it's not like you can mix them up). Coricopat looks incredibly different, and seems to fill the role of Tumblebrutus, whereas the Japanese Tumblebrutus acts as Coricopat and has a costume similar to Tantomile's. There doesn't appear to be a Plato either: instead, the actor who doubles as Macavity is called "Macavity" by fans even when he's just being a regular cat. Skimbleshanks is ridiculously popular (he seems popular in general - his song is lots of fun and he often pretty rascally: Pouncival's antics during the Gumbie Cat number in the movie version are often Skimble's in live productions), but most interestingly, he seems to rival Tugger as an "idol." For those who don't know, "idol" is a word used in Japan commonly to mean very popular, often young, actors and singers. Companies like Johnny's Entertainment, Hello Project, and whoever the heck runs AKB48 basically mass produce "idols" who become popular pretty much as soon as they debut. There are certain attributes that people associate with idols, so for example, while UK and American Rum Tum Tugger is usually lewd, rascally, and a dope or a narcissist, the Japanese Tugger is tempered a little. He's still got some of all those qualities, but it's balanced by also being cuter and his main antagonistic point seems to be his contrariness, which again is made out to be cute. He doesn't come across with the same level of vanity as other Tuggers; he seems like a "yanki" lol. (Japanese Tuggers in older versions keep closer to the way we do it here, but at the expense of his costume: original Japanese Tugger wore a white Elvis costume and was very obviously doing an Elvis impression, much like we end up with Jagger/Bowie on this side of the Pacific.) To return to Skimble, for some reason he's also apparently got this idol association like Tugger, but in a different way. While Tugger is the rebellious, mischievous idol, Skimble is the role model idol. He works hard, is a bit clumsy, and is always kind. I dunno why this happened exactly (the idol association, that is) but this cat is so popular. Although Munkustrap, Tugger, and Mistoffelees are generally seen as ごさんけ, Skimble and Rumpus Cat really give them a run for their money. Sillabub, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are also very popular.
It's been so funny to read the characters' Japanese nicknames too! (Abbreviations are super popular in Japan. Not just names, but everything. More often than not, if I don't understand a word and it's not showing up in the dictionary, it's because it's an abbreviation. Then I just have to think about it and consider context to figure it out. Sometimes that doesn't work either: I was trying to translate パない the other day and couldn't for the life of me figure out what it meant, so I asked Kanna and she was like, oh, it's an abbreviation for 半端ない, and that is already slang for ものすごく. LOL! I do so love linguistics. So I've made a list of the characters' common nicknames, with pronunciation and then the typical English nickname in parentheses, because that's how I roll (note: there are always other nicknames, for instance, I've seen English-speaking fans call Misto "Flees" and "Stoff," but I'm just listing the ones that have stood out to me as being very common)
Munkustrap: マンカス Mankasu (Munk, Munkus)
Rumpleteazer: ランプル/ランプ Ranpuru/Ranpu (Teazer, Rumple)
Coricopat: コリコ Koriko (Cori, Corico)
Rumpus Cat: ランパス Ranpasu (Rumpus)
Mistoffelees: (incidentally, I often see him only cited as "Magical Mister" hahahahaha) ミスト Misuto (Misto)
Rum Tum Tugger: タガー Taga (Tugger, Rum)
Tantomile: タント Tanto (Tanto)
Cassandra: カッサ Kassa
Carbucketty: カーバ Kaba
Skimbleshanks: スキンボ Sukinbo (Skimble)
Macavity: マキャ Makya
Mungojerrie: マンゴ Mango (Mungo)
Jellylorum: ジェリロ Jeriro (Jelly)
Jennyanydots: ジェニー Jeni (Jenny)
Sillabub: バブ Babu (Jemima = Jemi)
Tumblebrutus: タンブル Tanburu (Tumble)
Gilbert: ギル Giru [that is, Gil]
Asparagus: ガス Gasu (Gus)
Growltiger: グロール Guroru [that is, Growl]
Growltiger's crew: (yes, they use this as an actual nickname) クリュー Kuryu [that is, Crew]
Griddlebone: グリドル Guridoru
Demeter: ディミ Dimi (Demi)
Bombalurina: リナ Rina (Bomba, Rina)
Grizabella: グリザ Guriza
Victoria: ヴィック Vikku [that is, Vick] (Vicky)
Pouncival: パウンス Paunsu (Pounce)
Some characters I haven't found nicknames for (like Jemima and Old D), and while I did find a nickname for Etcetera, I can't remember what it was (and I'm not 100% sure if Etcetera is actually in the Japanese show or if the nickname was just for movie!Etcy).
Well, none of that is what I originally came here to write, though it was fun. It took forever to figure out who some of the characters were in the fan art, particularly because of their costumes, but also because of the popularity of their nicknames. (Some of them are just weird to me, like pronouncing "crew" as "kuryu," but I guess phonetically "kuruu" would sound more like "clue.") I'm totally stuck on Makya for Macavity though XD I also believe I've seen スキンブル for Skimble and タンボ for Tumble, but usually they seem to be called the ones I listed. There's certainly plenty more to write about the Japanese show, and about Cats in general... I should do that. It makes me happy. But I actually started talking about Cats all because I wanted to post this:
aha... ahahahahaha... I don't know what's wrong with me, honest I don't. These were made with this addictive program my friend reblogged on tumblr: Cat Maker NANI KORE KAWAII
ahahahaha they should probably lock me in a cave somewhere