Andrew Lloyd Webber got a therapy dog to help with ’emotional damage’ from Cats movie

Andrew Lloyd Webber says he got a therapy dog to cope with the Cats movie.

A film adaption of the iconic stage musical made its way to cinemas in December 2019 but was met with overwhelming negative reviews.

Now in a new interview, Lloyd Webber has described the movie as “off-the-scale all wrong”.

He told Variety: “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.”

The composer recalled: “I wrote off and said I needed him with me at all times because I’m emotionally damaged and I must have this therapy dog.

“The airline wrote back and said, ‘Can you prove that you really need him?’ And I said ‘Yes, just see what Hollywood did to my musical “Cats.”’ Then the approval came back with a note saying, ‘No doctor’s report required.’”

The Cats movie featured an all star cast including Taylor Swift as Bombalurina, Ian McKellen as Gus the Theatre Cat, James Jordan as Bustopher Jones, Jennifer Hudson as Grizabella, Rebel Wilson as Jennyanydots, Idris Elba as Macavity, Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy and Jason Derulo as Rum Tum Tugger.

Lloyd Webber previously branded the film “ridiculous”.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Lloyd Webber said (via the Daily Mail): “The problem with the film was that Tom Hooper decided that he didn’t want anybody involved in it who was involved in the original show.”

“The whole thing was ridiculous,” he added.