#also Munk my beloved

[chopshajen]

This redraw meme is going around and I did it with blorbos from my (live stage performance) shows

[millenari]

watching this video again it's extremely funny how Macavity just drags Munk off and the others don't even blink

[word-wytch]

✨ Life Update ✨

Hello everyone,

I have not been active here in months and wanted to fill you in on what has been transpiring in my life. All very good things, but it has undoubtedly taken my attention away from fandom and writing and into the more physical, tangible world -- a therapy for me that has been necessary on my creative and personal journey.

Back in October my coworker found a stray kitten that I fell in love with at first sight, but my home was a mess so I spent 3 weeks cleaning and organizing and getting it cat-ready while she fostered him. Over this time I discovered how therapeutic the act of cleaning -- something I had always seen as a tedious chore -- truly was. I began to look forward to the satisfaction of wiping away years worth of dust and grime, how I could lose myself in the moment and relish in simple, physical action, and delight in the finished result. In reality, all that really needed to change was my attitude and my relationship to cleaning. It has become like a therapy to me, and I was able to fulfill a dream of hosting a dinner party for friends after years of construction on our very old house prevented us (my partner and I) from doing so.

This is Munkustrap (aka Munk, Munko, baby kitty) named after my favorite and hottest cat from the musical Cats.

Anyway he's literally a perfect angel (and sometimes a poopyhead) but as he is a 6 month old kitten, he requires a lot of my attention. My days now begin and end with feeding and playing with him, and the physical interaction has been so welcome and therapeutic.

In my other real-world endeavors, I have been devoting quite a bit of time to another beloved artform, which is songwriting. In my day job I work at a nonprofit youth arts organization and have been training a new receptionist and also teaching songwriting and performing at the organization with the kids in my class. I have also been active in the dance company I am a part of as well.

It has become vitally important for me to devote time to engaging with my local artistic community, so I have been getting out in the real world and attending local shows. My community is small and my voice and presence in it, as all our voices are, is important. Just as our voices are in online communities, however large or small.

Though I have prioritized my physical world over my virtual one in the past few months, I have still been peripherally engaged, keeping a pulse through close friends and discord servers. And I have been writing, though not as often as I used to. It is not the center of my current life situation and that is ok.

I do intend on continuing and completing DSSCTM, though I am unsure of the timeline on that. Right now I am more focused on being rather than doing, but I sense that when I return to the realm of writing I will do so with a renewed sense of excitement, passion, and joy.

I love you! 🎢💕

[afairytalestray]

OK so on Saturday I got to go to Milan to see the Cats Il Sistina tour and HOLY GOD IT WAS AWESOME. I'm glad I studied the character designs in advance because a lot of the costumes are really different. I'm not typically a huge fan of nonreplicas but Il Sistina may well change that!

I've compiled my thoughts on the show here! Nb, I do not speak Italian so I'm not sure how close to the original lyrics the translation is 😅

There were no green goggles, but the Cats did come in through the audience. I had an aisle seat and Cassandra walked right past me! She was right there and so beautiful omg.

I've gotta get in right at the start that Simone Ragozzino is my new all-time favourite Mungojerrie. The most ever! A little guy. He got most of the acrobatics that Tumblebrutus usually does - apparently Simone used to be an acrobat/gymnast so that makes sense. He and Rumpleteazer were sufficiently chaotic but also clearly valued and beloved members of the tribe. Idk man Simone just got it. Tumble-jerrie ftw. 

The cathedral from "round the cathedral" was changed to a Colosseum reference which I loved 😍

I'm obsessed with Demeter’s makeup from this tour actually. I'm personally not the biggest fan of cryptid-style makeup and looks in Cats in general, but I feel like Deme was balancing just on the edge and it really worked and I loved it. Maybe it was Viviana Salvo's acting as well - she was fabulous at toeing that line between stunning and unnerving!

Tugger and Munkustrap were super close! Munk was less annoyed by Tugger’s antics than normal and they did this thing at one point where Tugger was holding onto Munk who leant fully backwards off the edge of the stage - it was like a trust exercise and I was a fan. Their rendition of Old Deuteronomy was lovely and their voices worked so good together! Tugger was definitely Munkustrap’s second in command of the tribe. I wish Tugger was a bit more Tugger in appearance, he seemed very yellow with not a lot of detail on his costume, but the personality was hundo p present and accounted for. He did the "bite is worse than your bark" line in Jellicle Songs and legit barked at the end.

Jennyanydots was fabulous! Instead of a big coat she literally wore a giant ball of wool, and one of the props was giant knitting needles and the start of what might have been a giant scarf - it took 6 of the Cats to carry it. It actually worked super well for Milan, which is known for fashion and fabrics - there's even a giant sewing needle sculpture outside Cadorna Station! It was probably a happy coincidence but I enjoyed it!

Victoria's role was changed quite a bit, her solo was totally different and the pas de deux was gone. There also kinda just... wasn't the big small first touch Vic and Grizabella moment, which I was sad about, but if Griz's big moment wasn't "TOUCH MEEEEEE" in the translation, I'm not so bothered by it. I wish Vic had a bit bigger of a role because I love her, but she was killing it whenever she was on stage.

We are all stan pink Jemima, she had such a lovely voice too. Her and Alonzo were playing with a tennis ball during the interval and it was adorable.

My beloved Coricopat and Tantomile were lying in the Mouth of Truth prop after Moments of Happiness; they had their usual role of translating Old Doots through Jemima so I thought their placement here was deliberate! They weren't always fully in sync which I kinda liked, it was like they were allowed to be their own characters rather than just "the twins". I definitely got the impression that Tantomile was the older sister which hella backs up my hcs about her!

Gus was absolutely WILD. He comes in after Jellylorum has done her whole first part of the song in this raggedy old tradiotional Sherlock Holmes-style beige plaid coat instead of being there but kinda out of it the whole time. At first he wasnt keen on replaying any of his roles, but then all the others were like please please please and he relented. I think they were calling him (or his role) Romero? Idk if that's an Italian reference I just don't get? They did Pekes and Pollicles (one of the above had been changed to chihuahuas!) and then the bold Rumpus/Romero appeared... in a red satin bath robe and holding a sabre??? I need to look up this reference! Dude didn't just intimidate the pollicles, he straight up cut a couple of them down with his sword! Grandpa woke up and chose violence 😂

There was no trash train in Skimbleshanks 😭😭 there were giant glowstick things that changed colours though. Skimble and Bustopher were played by the same actor which is a combo I haven't seen before. Skimble was definitely still everyone's favourite train dad, all the characters were totally hyped for his song. HE DID TAP LIKE IN 2019. It was really cool how they did it, all the music stopped and he started a call and response tap dance with some of the other characters. The background showed an animated video of going through a train tunnel, like from the perspective of a train driver! The tap was gradually speeding up and became the sound effects of a train setting off and moving through the tunnel. I'm not explaining this super well but it was SO cool.

The Macavity Fight was quite different. There wasn't him disguised as Old Deuteronomy and then unmasked. What happened was he showed up and caused some shenanigans and then disappeared. There were about 4 of him around, so it looked like he was teleporting around the stage and audience! Bombalurina and Demeter performed his song which was absolutely fantastic (seriously how do these actresses actually manage to dance like that and sing at the same time?? Goddesses), after that he showed up again and the full cast was involved in the fight. Munkustrap still got the good choreography, but the whole tribe was involved trying to protect Old Deuteronomy. Tugger was definitely a protector in this production, he was very involved. Jerrie got KO'd a good few times, and Macavity absolutely destroyed poor Jenny! It felt like all of them were trying to protect their family and I really liked that. Despite that, Macavity was still able to win and successfully kidnap Old Doots!

"Mungojerrie, RUMPLETEAZER, Griddlebone" they let my girl do crime again!

Mistoffelees and Quaxo were besties, and Misto was REALLY enjoying Tugger's song I'm just saying. Delighted to announce Il Sistina Misto was a fruity little guy. He didn't get the terrible bore line, sad face, that went to Quaxo, but tbh idk how they translated that so it could be totally different! At one point Alonzo was holding him back at the start of Tugger’s song! We then saw a sponge-like Misto who picked up behaviours from the others around him, like he wasn't too sure of himself. This is actually one of my favourite Misto hcs so i was so chuffed to see it so clearly. He then helped Alonzo rein George (at least I think it was George!) in from going mental fanboy at Tugger. He was originally curious about Griz but then adjusted to hissing upon seeing the others. This fully went forward into his song. They did some big choreo changes. It was significantly less dance-heavy than traditional Misto performances and had a stronger focus on him being magic. There was a levitating box that they spent a lot of time with - Magician's Assistant Cass got in, but then she didn't disappear? She just popped back out again after the box had been rotated a few times. Some of the Kittens were waving their hands under the box to prove there was nothing holding it up and looking amazed which was adorable though. There was also a bit where Misto put some cards into a hat, the hat got passed down a line of Cats and then at the end they just sort of flew out? Like idk maybe they changed the lyrics where they're describing different magic tricks and it all makes sense! I THOUGHT THE CONJURING TURNS WERE GONE, but they were just moved to the very end of the song and cut down quite a bit.

Ok BUT LISTEN, à la 2019, the poor boy tried and failed twice to bring back Old Deuteronomy and then just sort of flopped in the corner all defeated but then BOYFRIEND TUGGER HELD HIS HANDS AND GOT RIGHT UP CLOSE AND WAS LIKE I BELIEVE IN YOU BABE and omg for real those actors knew EXACTLY what they were doing Tuggoff nation RISE. I'm always a red-sheet-turned-cape stan but I can definitely get behind the sparkly tail coat and playing card bowtie. He also had this handkerchief that he threw up in the air and it became a magic wand. I have no idea how and it was very silly so obviously I loved it. Although I wasn't massively into the choreo changes (ballet dancer Misto 5eva), Pierpaolo Scida was a magnificent Misto and I adored him - he was so cute! The little background actions and looks he did were so in character with how he interpreted Misto! Also he was beautiful you can't change my mind.

Malika was such an intense Grizabella - 10/10. She was proud but so vulnerable. She walked right past me when she first came in and lads, she did the whole show in these massive stilettos - absolute queen. At one point it literally rained on her on stage! During her first Memory, Old Deut was really watching her, and at the end of it he approached her, but she ran off when she saw him. I thought it was a super cool character moment, like she knew she wanted to be accepted, but wasn't quite ready for it. Even after the big Memory and Old Deuteronomy declared her the Jellicle Choice, Victoria approached her, but she was still too scared to let her, and it was Jemima who finally was able to reach her and bring her in. At the end she just kinda disappeared off stage - there were no flying tyres or magic stairs in the circus tent!

During the bit after the bows some of the cats were out in the audience and Tugger scared the absolute crap out of this one woman by poking his head in between her and the person sitting next to her. Iconic. Also during the latter part of the interval the audience was allowed to come up to the edge of the stage where some of the actors were goofing about in character. This mf pretended to cough up a hairball and now I have it on video. I also got some close ups of Teazer and the beautiful Bomba!

The Italian Junkyard was fabulous! It was mostly roman landmarks like Piazza Navona and Bocca della Verità, but there was also Michelangelo's David (which I'm pretty sure is in Florence) above the orchestra! There was also a giant marble foot, an Italian-style water fountain, and a broken column. My favourite prop was the bench, it's elevated at the back left of the stage and the cast were using it like a slide to enter the stage! Also it seemed to be Misto’s preferred location to lounge.

In conclusion, I will never get over this.

[jelliclekay]

Cats 3/8/2023

Went to see the tour in Charleston last night! I was really happy for there to be another stop on this tour leg close to me. I had an absolutely amazing time and my negative experiences were not the fault of the cast at all but rather the venue itself.

I went in cosplay, which is always such a fun experience. Got a lot of people complimenting my costume, a few people who wanted pictures with me and many who thought I was in the show 

Here was the cast board for that night.

(Not listed was Elana from the last leg of the tour who was on for Tantomile!)

I was INCREDIBLY lucky to see Rachael on as Grizabella. Tayler Harris is phenomenal of course, but she has been Griz for every show I’ve seen so far and I was so excited to see a different performer for her. Many of my thoughts on the show are going to be about her because I was concentrating so hard on her and her performance.

Also, the venue did NOT have physical Playbills which was unfortunate. The venue itself had some tech problems going on that but I am probably the only one in the audience who even noticed.

On to my thoughts!

Act 1

During the “feline, fearless, faithful and true” line, Jerrie put his arm around Teazer and the two shared a cute little look. So cute.

When the boot dropped, the audience reacted so strongly, more so than I’ve ever heard. Like everyone either laughed or gasped, I even heard the woman behind me go “Oh that scared the shit out of me.” 

Michelle Jennyanydots my beloved. She always changes up the delivery of her lines which I really really like. 

LUKE TUGGER. I was both excited and a bit sad to not see Hank. I love Hank’s Tugger, but was excited to see a Tugger cover go on. Luke was great, he actually MEOWED which I appreciated. Luke is also so huge, he towers over practically everyone so he gives “Big Little Brother” energy to Kade’s Munk. Him and Erica had great chemistry together too, which for me is really important.

When Demeter takes a photo of Tugger at the end of his song, he posed with Jenny and Jelly like it was a family portrait. It was SO CUTE, Tugger and his moms <3

Rachael Griz. Oh man, where do I start. I think the biggest difference between her Griz performance and Tayler’s is the way they conduct themselves. Tayler Griz still holds her head up high, still trying to hold on to a sense of pride while also asking for forgiveness. Rachael Griz however is a lot more... pitiful, more desperate to be accepted. Her facial expressions are more sad, her posture is more slumped and she is more visibly effected when the younger cats mess with her and when Munk hisses at her. 

I just love the part where Alonzo and Munk dance with Bustopher when he comes out on stage. It makes me smile every time.

Yuka Victoria and Samuel Plato are still the most in love. Yuka Victoria just is non-stop smiling the entire show, it’s so cute to see.

Will I ever shut up about Rachael? No. Her version of the first part of Memory was incredible.

Act 2

I’m 12/12 now for seeing John Anker Bow as Gus but he’s fantastic every time so it’s alright. I’m always worried about the audience during Gus’s part, but thankfully this audience loved him. He got more applause than I think I’ve ever seen Gus get both during his song and Pekes. Also Allyson really nailed that high note right at the end of Rumpus Cat.

At the “At a Shakespeare performance” Teazer dramatically pretended to fall into Jerrie’s arms. That was adorable. 

Just obsessed with Erica Bombalurina, truly. The way she moves and acts on stage is insane. And her voice is phenomenal, truly she is the most Bombalurina ever. The way her and Nora perform Macavity really falls in line with my own headcanons for the two, both in their own relationships with Macavity and their relationship with each other. Erica Bombalurina really tries to play up just how much she knows about Macavity, in a “yeah, that’s right, I’ve been with him too” in her voice and mannerisms when she’s singing her parts of the song. And during Bombalurina’s solo, Demeter at one point angrily crawled towards her with a face that read “Are you seriously doing this to me right now?” Erica really understands the assignment with her portrayal of Bombalurina and I will never shut up about her.

During the Mac fight, Tugger quickly checks on Bombalurina to make sure she’s okay, and my Tuggerlurina heart was so Happy. Obviously I love every single Tuggerlurina moment, and thankfully there are plenty in the revival but ugh. This really got me.

Then some tech issues happened. Right after Mac shuts the lights off, the head lamp that they swing around and shine out into the audience wasn’t working. I was sitting there expecting it but it never happened. The music that plays during this moment went on for an awkwardly long time until finally a spot light very quickly fumbled on stage so the cast could do the “Macavity’s not there.” It was so bizarre and even my friend who was seeing Cats for the first time thought it seemed strange.

RACHAEL’S VERSION OF MEMORY WAS INCREDIBLE. I knew it was going to be, but UGH she was fantastic. Really expressed just how much pain Griz is in and how desperate she is to be forgiven while still giving one of the best vocal performances I’ve ever heard. I’m so happy to have seen her perform. 

Also got to talk to so many of the cast members after the show, and many of them recognized me from a few months ago which I wasn’t expecting! I didn’t have a playbill for them to sign, so I improved and had them sign my tote bag instead.

That’s about it that I can remember off the top of my head. It was a great night and I’m so glad I made the trip to go see it. 

[uppastthejelliclemoon]

Girl help I have recently been CONSUMED by a Percy Jackson Cats au.

Cass and Munk are children of Athena, because they're both smart but can also kick your ass. I'm picturing Munk as sort of a head-camper figure? Not sure if that's a thing but it is now!

Jerrie and Teazer are children of Hermes, because OBVIOUSLY who else but the trickster god??

Alonzo and Mac are sons of Ares, and Plato a son of Hephaestus - idk why, I'm just vibing with it.

Demeter, daughter of Demeter because I can't resist that. She rolls her eyes so hard at her dad for it. Bomba is a daughter of Aphrodite, and also a better warrior than all the Ares kids. Also a champion matchmaker.

Tugger is a son of Apollo and has inherited every single bit of the showman and musician. I also like Cori and Tanto as children of Apollo, and with Cori taking on the oracle role.

Misto is a son of Hekate and Victoria is a daughter of Nike. They're besties because minor gods solidarity 💪

There's no plot at the moment but hhnngggghhhh I had to share this with someone before I exploded.

NO BC SAME IT’S ALL I THINK ABOUT

Obsessed with both of us making Munk a son of Athena and Tugger a son of Apollo, we truly share a single braincell lmao but it makes SO much sense!!

And yes, head campers are 100% a thing!! Munkustrap would absolutely be the head of the Athena cabin!!!

Keeping Griz as Tugger’s mom and Deut as Munk’s mom, I also love the idea of Apollo and Athena guiding their children and their mortal parents towards each other!! They want their family to be happy!!

And if we want to bring Roman gods into it with specifics, I’d see Alonzo as a son of Mars, and Mac as a son of Ares. Alonzo is someone I see as having a personality closer to Frank Zhang in the Heroes of Olympus series!!

Plato as a son of Hephaestus my beloved… so good… thinking about him 😌

MINOR GODS SUPREMACY FOR MISTO AND VIC BLESS and if we want to keep them related imagine Bustopher landing TWO different goddesses he’s iconic

[peterpandiedtoday]

do i even have to preface this with gxd is real because. obviously. been a liiiiittle bit miffed they kept cutting carbucketty instead of bill bailey when obviously bill boy would be the logical choice, my boy c has soo many solo bitties whereas biboop just tumbles around. etc. and today they cut him instead!! telepathic abilities here we go

[ghost-of-box-five]

I LOVE THIS

The Fine Art of Kitten Wrangling

And to the person who had to wait the longest - @falasta​, thank you for your patience! This one is, with over 4k words, the longest of the Catsiversary fics, out of the simple reason that you gave me the perfect opportunity to use a fic snippet that I didn’t really know what to do with. I hope you enjoy! ♥ All my love to all who read/like/reblog! :)

It was not often that a cat looking for trouble came to the junkyard, but when it did happen once upon a time, it was always the hottest topic in London for weeks on end.

Keep reading

[rust-painted-fingers]

really starting to figure out that a lot of my favorite fandoms are where the characters feel like a real family?

maybe not in the tradition role of parent, sister, grandpa, etc. but more so in the togetherness

like, for example, world trigger is a beloved of mine because everyone just, knows each other. I mean this literally, it feels like an actual organization that is united under the same goal to protect humanity from danger. They might not all be friends but they're all aware of the other members.

they're aware of all the characters that get named at least fjdklfjsl . One good example is Natsume I think. She's a newcomer, but when chika and her are in the practice ranges they get to know other higher level snipers. And, spoilers, she gets invited to join a B rank squad.

this might feel very duh, one of the main characters needs a way to find out who these people are, but like!!!! I don't care, Natsume is technically in best friend role, there wasn't technically a reason for her to get invited or whatever. Or maybe I'm not watching enough decent media but my point is, natsume is friends with chika, chika and her get introduced to high level snipers, just like them, and after lots of hard work and plot, natsume gets a level up.

and this is just for one character, a side character at that. All our main boys meet a shitton of people, and it all feels very together, like they're actually working close enough that you just have to remember them. kinda like when you eventually know all of your classmates when you were in school because of how much time spent together, but leveled up by a hundred.

the other media I am currently going feral over is cats, and by god lemme tell you. this musical may not have an i want song, but we get all their characterization from their actions, and there's so many...

the most obvious one is how almost none of the cats actually sing their own song. they have some verses but most of the time the rest of the tribe is singing it. and this in itself gives information about the cats who do sing their own song, ex tugger and rumpleteazer and mungojerrie. and even tugger's song is still filled by the accompaniment of the other cats! I'm pretty sure rumple and mungo's are the only song sung solely by them. Mungo and rumple are obviously sneaky, little shit cats who get up to mischief and general nuisances. they sing about their triumphant schemes and are very proud of it.

tugger is technically singing about how he also is a little shit, but less trickster like and more indecisive in anything and causing trouble bc of it. but you wouldn't even realize it because the way the song is performed is vital for him because he sings it very provocatively. he's very much loved and wanted and he loves that shit.

and this general format follows, they sing a song but what you learn of them is less in the lyrics but the performance, and they all care for each other. they, mostly, follow munks lead and help out the other cats in their song

and then some productions have stellar character choices that make me want to weep with some interactions.

i just... these fuckers grabbed me by the throat and have yet to let go. it's a good thing a i'm all for it

[skimblyshanks]

@thunderwhenhepurrs made a post about CATS makeup and favorite trends so I wanted to do the same. I'm making the decision to skirt around the iconic Dawson/London tradition looks for the most part, mainly bc a lot of my opinions on those are influenced by the specific actors (aka: Skimble would just be Marat and Hayden bc I am in love with them fjrjgdj. Kevin Alvey too)

Anyway yeah gonna post makeup looks I love.

Demeter and Skimble are both characters where I just. Adore the US and Australaisa pre revival designs. So much. They're v different vibes but both just pull me in.

Munk is where the exceptions abt London Productions start coming in 😂 I can't help it. As much as I vocally dislike Mulket!strap, the 90s was a goddamn era for Munk across productions. Also a bonus from US Tour V

Macavity! I'm a simple skimbly. I don't have much to say. This is v much skirting London and technically has a UK tour picture but shhh. I like me subtle fang carving from the makeup, and I really like the designs that have weird little visible asymmetrical color split on his forehead.

As I've mentioned in a past post, Grizabella as a younger character is not a creation of the 2010s. Indeed, Griz as explicitly old seems to be from London in the late 90s, meaning other productions didn't necessarily follow that. What I think distinctions classic "young" grizabellas from current ones, tho, is that...she isn't sexy young? She's still come on hard times, her glamor has still faded; whether she's read by the audience as old or young doesn't come primarily from the makeup and costume, bc what those communicate more than her sexiness are her status as a pariah. Sidenote, I think Hamburg might be my absolute favorite of Classic grizzes, bc look at those wigs!!! Permy/frizzy hair and a clear cat ear shape???? On MY Grizabella????

Misto is...misto. obviously there's a beautiful simplicity in iconic look, it's iconic for a reason, I just. Also really like ones that play with it. Whether that be by giving him a perma-cockee eyebrow like the US tradition, playing with use of skin tone, or by bringing in black stripes. Special shoutout to the US Revival for not looking at black actors and saying "well you have two choices. Flat white all across your face, or ashiness." It's kind of bare minimum but like fjdjfjdej. Misto is Misto :)

Classic US Tumble my Beloved...

That is all there is to say on that

It seems like Tour V Jenny managed to just. Become her own flame point liking motherfucker and I adore her like. No other iteration really matches her and I love her so so so much

Cori and tanto are by and large a package deal per their whole like. Conceit, ig. Also I've been making the conscious choice to not use shiki just because that's a whole other can of worms abt my love fjdjgndn but I can't leave out shiki tumblr in this bc he's just. So. PRETTY. But yeah. Cori and Tanto are always characters whose London designs I've always kinda. Not preferred. I like the vibes on other designs, yanno.

[curious-minx]

Hey! There's Movie in My TV!

There's Too Many Tv Movies on Tv.

There is no other form of entertainment media that is more self-conscious as the TV movie. The TV movie is like one of those text heavy t-shirts bought off the FB ad algorithm marketplace: Mom: The Movie.  Many many of these TV show movies love the colon. From the in-development The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie to the We Bare Bears: Movie, and let’s not forget the Americas Most Wanted TV movie, If Looks Could Kill: From the Files of America’s Most Wanted. The colon and TV titles go together like your favorite sitcom character and Hawaii. The colon is so beloved by TV movies that the lil stinkers behind the Aqua Teen Hunger Force  movie just had to indulge in some whacky title antics, totally demolishing the Colon title. 

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters

The TV movie title is also a  place for the writers and marketing team to kick back and relax. The TV movie title is flexible it can even just be the name of the titular series as well and the the movie portion of the title is left silent and left to the imagination like the Strangers With Candy (film). 

Other note worthy TV movie titles:

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip

Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks

Astro Boy: Mighty Atom – Visitor of 100,000 Light Years, IGZA

Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation

Crayon Shin-chan: Fierceness That Invites Storm! The Singing Buttocks Bomb

Crayon Shin-chan: Fast Asleep! The Great Assault on Dreamy World!

Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time

Munster, Go Home!

A Very Merry Pooh Year

Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog

Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure

Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day

Whoops Apocalypse

Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!

Yu Yu Hakusho the Movie: Poltergeist Report

^^^Definitive proof that TV really is a Writers medium!

////Stare deep into the burnt in bars of yellow or green within your antiquated TV. Isn’t it time you get a new one? My bff can whip us up a RTINGS EXCEL spreadsheet to pour over.////

A babysitter asking their adult son what Trailer Park Boys' TV movie he wants to put on.

Other connective tissue tying TV movies together: “So you want to make a TV movie?” Asks a phantom investor tapping on your nose. The easiest and most effective way is to turn to your nearest kid and see what they are watching. TVs are Nature’s babysitter after all. Children’s entertainment sells toys and a higher budget can up the marketing ante. Rugrats and Spongebob really made a gambit with toys and video game tie-ins related to their movies. Winnie the Pooh, Sesame Street, and the Muppets made movies for nap time. Then there’s the odd duck of Looney Tunes Back in Action and it’s lamentable corporate cousin Space Jams that have a deeper commercial confidence and viable that astounds critics and is fodder for so bad their good movie podcasts. 

The Movie (silent colon),  represents the apex of what an animated cartoon could ever hope to accomplish. Bob’s Burgers is the latest iteration of this Graduation from lowly animated TV series into a Movie released in theaters phenomenon. In a better, more just world there would have been a theatrically released Bojack Horseman movie that Netflix would be pouring hundreds of millions into. 

Heathcliff: The Movie

In the 80s and 90s it was once even viable to put an episodic compilation or a package film of an animated property in theaters. The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie and Heathcliff: The Movie were among the only ones to pull this off, but it answers at the main cliched critical assessment that most TV movies don’t need to exist and are usually just overly long glorified episodes. 

The fact that some of these TV movies had the audacity to be released in theaters boggles the mind. Not  movie theaters being a semi-sacred space that are being defiled by over grown TV homunculi. A random sampling of TV movies that were released in American movie theaters:

Barney’s Great Adventure 

the complicated Digimon Digi-verse

Entourage

Fat Albert

Hey There It’s Yogi Bear

Horrid Henry the Movie

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie

Pufnstuf

Thomas and the Magic Railroad

The Wild Thornberries movie

And most egregious of all TV movies to hit theaters: Doug’s First Movie.Doug, we don’t take kindly to threats around these here cineplexes.  Imagine how much cleaner A Doug Movie would have been!

We're celebrating our ten year open relationship anniversary with a screening of Piglet's Big Movie.

Did these TV shows really deserve the phrase, “One ticket to the Recess’ School’s Out, please”?  A real transaction that I witnessed as a child seeing Recess School’s Out and spying  an alone, totally solitary rough thirties looking dude.Sitting by himself , enjoying the Recess Movie. And if you get one TV movie then you’re in the bank for sequels baby, after Recess: School’s Out came out it earned itself three more straight to video TV movies. The last of the Recess TV movie franchise is poetically titled All Growned Down (I told you, writers are having TOO MUCH fun with these titles).

I'm gonna need a bigger screen to list all of these Doraemon movies.

And don’t get me started on anime movies. Seriously, I’m no weeb. I don’t know my Crayon Shin Chan (29 films) from Doraemon (30), or why there have been 24 Case Closed movies, Pokemon (24)  DBZ (21), Lupin III (13), Naruto (11)Digimon (8), Sgt Frog (5) Inuyasha (4) Hamtaro (4). It boggles the mind that there are twice as many Hamtaro movies as there are Mobile Suit Gundam movies, but anime movies work by their own logic. Anime movies tend to also have high production value and quality control. The Evangelion Rebuilds is the Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me of anime movies.  The only Western Animation that comes close to this prolific output are the true American animes:  Alvin and the Chipmunks, Scooby Doo, Thomas & Friends, Tom and Jerry, Winnie the Pooh, the Muppets. And Star Trek the only TV movies not for babies. I don’t mean to undersell Scooby Doo, because it’s the absolute beast when it comes to TV movies. Scooby Doo has done animated TV movies, live-action TV movies, puppet, crossover multiverses. Scooby Doo is the connective tissue between Batman, Bobby Flay, Courage the Cowardly Dog, KISS, Legos, and Wrestlemana (twice). There’s even a spin-off TV movie of the Scooby Doo TV movie verse with Daphne & Velma. 

You can tell Velma is the one with glasses because she's wearing a sweater with glasses on it.

Here is an excerpt of a review by Danielle Solzman of Solzy: “The film could not come at a better time for women.”

Powerful stuff Solzman.

////I am sorry that my bff kept saying the name of the website RTINGS like Drake trying to do a patois. He is way too white, way too Cali, way too Mike TV movie to be saying anything so reprehensible. I am going to sell one of his TVs out of punishment and I was actually hoping you’d help me pick out which TV I sell. Maybe I should sell his Hello Kitty CRT TV? Sadly he sleeps with his Shrek CRT TV every night and I’ll never be able to sell that one. While I wait to decide let’s think about what other connective TV movie tissue there is….////

David Lynch. A powerful TV movie connective tissue. Fire Walk With Me and The Missing Pieces antennae down the best TV movie of all time. Mulholland Dr, best failed TV pilot of all time. David Lynch’s dominance of TV is astounding mainly because the TV movie world is a dump. A memory dump and a quality dumping ground. There is so much extended goodwill given to any show that has nostalgia factor. Sometimes the TV shows feel like saved by the fan campaigns like Serenity and the Veronica Mars movies. But most of the time a TV movie has me asking who asked for this?

The Downtown Abbey movies are a huge example of this but they are one of the only big British TV movie franchises that have caught on over in the States (other than a lil comedy franchise called Monty Python). TV movies are culty by design. The TV show Community’s hollow rallying cry for six seasons and a movie is when a cult fandom dream curdles. Some of the most successful prestige TV shows still don’t make for critically beloved or well remembered TV movies either. Deadwood and El Camino were for the fans treats that helped stoke the embers. Many Saints of Newark did not bolster Sopranos legacy, because the show still looms so large that it never needed a TV movie. The fact that the movie is mostly ho-hum and innocuous is par the course. There are surprises to be sure. The Shaun the Sheep movie is a bonafide quality silent movie and all the cool alt comedy kids love Macgruber. A good TV movie can be done but they always have the stink of TV on them. 

Videodrome. Or the image of a TV show trying to become a movie?

TV shows are becoming more cinematic. TV is very much in awash in identity crises. TV season Episodes are becoming DVD chapter menu breaks for a 6-8 hour movie. To wrap this all up I think the 2022 Emmys nominations for best TV movie really sum up the essence and state of the TV movie:

“Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers” (Disney+)

“Ray Donovan: The Movie” (Showtime)

“Reno 911!: The Hunt For QAnon” (Paramount+)

“The Survivor” (HBO/HBO Max)

“Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas” (The Roku Channel)

The Survivor is a holocaust boxing TV movie btw. Just in case you’re wondering what kind of competition Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas was up against. ":The Movie", having fun with titles, and Christian holidays all remain the hallmarks of a TV movie. The Roku Channel should just be the home to all TV movies.

By and large the  fetid pool  of direct  to TV movies are becoming easier to find. Why anyone would want to, that’s for the powers of Nostalgia to decide. I even pondered the notion of consisting on a media diet of exclusively TV movies. Beyond Youtube, HBO Max has dutifully collected the Batman and Scooby Doo movies (anyone reading this with an HBO Max subscription can watch the Scooby Doo Bobby Flay TV movie, Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost), hell even Care Bears: The Movie has found a home on HBO Max, but not all TV movies are so lucky. Nowhere streams Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show (Or the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie or the Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog) and less and less people know about the existence of The Monkees’ Head. One day, perhaps next financial quarter,  all TV will be TV movies and all movies will be TV. 

[falasta]

2021 Tumblr year in review

#cats the musical - 155 posts

#yes - 44 posts

#michael munkustrap gruber - 43 posts

#munkustrap my beloved - 40 posts

#tolkien - 38 posts

Longest Tag: 134 characters

#especially how in the book quickbeam is like yeah i've already made up my mind but the others need awhile so i've been sent to babysit

Top Posts:

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

17 notes • Posted 2021-10-30 11:38:27 GMT

#4

This is exactly how my two little nieces left the dollhouse when they went home this afternoon.

19 notes • Posted 2021-08-08 03:45:06 GMT

#3

21 notes • Posted 2021-10-30 14:04:20 GMT

#2

Alright folks, I’m tired of the sadness tonight. I’ve spent too many years of my life feeling depressed and I am damned if I’m going to let it spread any further.

As a newbie to the fandom, I wanted to express just how much I really, truly appreciate everybody who makes this fandom such a creative and lovely space.

Every person who reads this--know that I have been so blown away from the moment I stepped into this fandom by the fun, enthusiastic, welcoming, and KIND people I have encountered. I have so much respect for each and every one of you, and you make my experience here a wonderful one. Please know that!

Reminder of why those of us in the Cats fandom are here: remember the message of forgiveness, understanding, redemption, love, and a promise of a new life? “Cats” is a musical full of fun numbers and fun characters and interactions, and we love it for that! But it is ALSO about becoming and celebrating your best self, continuing to learn and develop in personal character, in skill, and specially in wisdom and love. With, you know, some hip wiggle action and tap shoes and blowing the stage up with magical powers along the way! 😄

To @whitmerule: Thank you for everything you have and continue to do in this fandom, for the gifs and the pictures and the RPs and the butterbuns and your adorable artwork and beautiful writing and for being a gracious, kind, and peacemaking person

To @madamtrashbat for being the first person to really welcome me into this fandom, the first person to tag me 🤗 , for aggressively spreading love and cheer and humor, for standing up for everyone ... and for being a John Partridge fan! AND an amazing writer!

To @alonz-ho for giving such thoughtful advice, for being a cheerleader when people are feeling down, for your artistic talent and skill, for always standing up for others and for always willing to be listening ear

To @skimblyshanks for caring so much about cultivating a positive atmosphere for everyone, and for people to be kind to each other while enjoying our fandom!

To @roxycake .. oh my goodness to roxycake for being everyone’s biggest cheerleader!! For your sweet and cheerful posts and replies, for your blog which provides me an abundance of exquisite artwork daily, and for being a mutual LotR fan 😉

To @linadoonofficial, for creating the world’s most adorable artwork ask game, and for all the work and time that required and how it spread such sweetness and positivity! Thank you for sharing your art and writing and creativity and positivity! AND you gave us an adorable set of kittens to love

To @thatmysticaltuxedocat-rp and @munkthehunk​ . The two of you have made my entire month. The back and forth between Misto and Munk/Tugger/Macavity and all the character interactions are the absolute highlights of my week. I love and appreciate how much you support each other, in character and out of it. I love the fun, the silliness, the drama, and the sweetness in all your posts. And especially just the plain enthusiasm for Cats! You two are the absolute best.

And for so many people I didn’t include here because I’m still a newbie--I see you, I see your posts and reblogs, your fun and venting and creativity and just having fun in the fandom. THANK YOU!!! Thanks so much to all of you!

I can’t do it in person, so please, from me: Deuteronomy’s warm, comforting, loving hug and hand clasp and Munkustrap’s beautiful expression and gentle encouragement. I love this musical so damn much ❤️ 🥺

38 notes • Posted 2021-08-06 05:52:51 GMT

#1

What I love most about this moment is that Macavity takes a pretty vicious swipe at Jennyanydots, and unlike *everyone else* up that point she barely reacts and swings RIGHT BACK AT HIM, and gets quite a few good ones in there too before Jelly finishes him off. Do NOT mess with the mothers of the tribe!

Created by @munkthehunk​

https://munkthehunk.tumblr.com/post/658364693292941312/yesss-love-this-bit-these-ladies-really-went

59 notes • Posted 2021-08-06 16:57:55 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[millenari]

you know i was just looking at this gif again and thinking about how i love Height Difference™ w/ Plato and Vicky on the right

Victoria's stretched all the way up on her tippy toes but Plato still kind of has to bend his elbows a little to keep their hands level! And you can see on the far left that Demeter and Munk are having the same issue, also cute there.

But then you have Tugger and Bomba in the middle and Tugger is very clearly wearing heels & they're still having zero problems whatsoever lmao. Tall Bomba my beloved.

[the-bafflement-of-scotland-yard]

Munkustrap!

Otp: DEMESTRAP or Demeetustrap, if we're counting OT3s sdjkfhsdkjfhs

Brotp: love the brother relationship between Munk and Tugger, but also Munk and Alonzo being friends sounds great

Song piece that reminds me of them: Munk being the reliable, solid tom he is, how could I go for someone other than our friend Johann Sebastian Bach? As for a specific piece... you know what, I'm just gonna go with the entire Wohltemperiertes Klavier (and maybe even the second band as well). Solid, well-crafted pieces that work as education in counterpoint as well as being absolute art.

Fave actor/actress: ... considering me simping for him is literally the reason I joined the fandom, I'm kind of obligated to say Michael Gruber, right? But of course let us not forget the og Munk: Jeff Shankley my beloved ;-;

Random Headcanon: his relationship with Demeter is a lot more equal than it may seem from the outside. Sure, he is the one to protect her, to comfort her when her trauma flares up, but she will gently but firmly tell him when he's done enough, soothe him when he's anxious about all the pressure put on him, and comfort him when he feels bad about being unable to protect the tribe from Macavity.

Rate from 1-100: 100/100 amazing darling I love him skdjfhsdfjksdhfkjdhf

I realise that a lot of my answers may make @a-cat-is-not-a-dog happy so imma just go ahead and tag you 🖤

[jelliclekay]

Top 5 actors across any production?

My answers are gonna be pretty predictable and from productions I've either seen or at least heard audio boots from SO

1. John Partridge

Wow who could have predicted this

But for real, Partridge's portrayal of Tugger is and always will be my favorite. He embodies everything I love about Tugger perfectly and if it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't love Tugger as much as I do. I could go on forever about Partridge Tugger but I'll spare you all from from 5 page essay I could write on him ♡

2. Suzie Melloy

I'll forever be bitter I'll never get to see this queen live. I'm not sure what it is about Suzie, but her Bombalurina is my absolute favorite (right next to Rosemarie and Chelsea.) Definitely recommend listening to her singing Macavity and Grizabella. She brings a slight sweetness to Bombie that I love (that I'm sure others would probably be put off by but I digress.) She also has fun headcanons for Bombalurina and I adore when actors have their own hcs for their characters. Also she's hot oops

3. Zach Bravo

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Mr. Bravo here. While Zugger isn't my favorite Tugger portrayal, Zach holds a special place in my heart because he's the cast member I've interacted with the most. When I met him at the stage door in Roanoke, he excitedly said "we get to meet finally!" to me and it's a moment I will never forget. And while Zugger isn't my favorite Tugger, his Tugger is so fun and gives off such annoying little brother vibes that I adore. And as a bi person myself, it meant so much to be to see Tugger being played openly queer by an openly bi person. Anyways, I love Zach and I miss him a lot.

4. Alexander Auler

AULERSTRAP MY BELOVED. My favorite Munkustrap by far and I'm so sad I will never get a chance to see him live. I know the Cats fandom loves Mr. Auler, but it's hard not to. He looks fantastic in the Munk makeup first off, and I love the instagram video of him being just the sassiest Munk in the world. I adore him.

5. Allison Lian

I'm currently going through a bit of a Rump obsession, and I 100% blame Allison for that. When I first saw Cats in January, I saw Kelly and while I adore her Rump, there is something about Allison that has me hooked. She has such good Rumple energy. The way she does her "Rumpleteazers" are so cheeky and cute, and are the closest I've seen so far to the Rump I have pictured in my head. Also she's so adorable I have the biggest crush on her.

[uppastthejelliclemoon]

I love the gender blind cast you came up with! I would very much like to hear your reasoning behind the casting of Old D, Munk, Tugger, Griz, Electra, Jerrie and Teazer, Jemima, and Skimble!

Old D: I love Amber Gray's voice SO much, it's so unique, and I adore her as Persephone in Hadestown! I'd love to hear her sing "Moments of Happiness", even if it's for a showcase or something! Also her stage presence is just *chef's kiss*

Grizabella: I'm incredibly in love with Norm Lewis, and he's such a powerful actor that I think the idea of him singing Memory would probably bring everyone to tears. Also I think there's something about someone who is taller than other actors hunching down until a pivotal moment when they straighten up and... yeah

Skimbleshanks: I think Lea Salonga would be SUCH a fun Skimbleshanks!!! I don't have a specific explanation why her, though, but I just love her!

overall, for the Oldie Squad, I kind of went with Broadway legends (Gavin Lee isn't a 100% solid choice, ideally Jennyanydots would be older of course)

Munkustrap: Patina Miller my BELOVED I obsess over her performance as the Lead Player in the "Pippin" revival, and her performance ability would fit so well with Munkustrap!

Tugger: I'm honestly in love with Karen Olivo. I'm imagining them singing "Mr. Mistoffelees" and I just... CAN YOU IMAGINE??? I listen to the "In the Heights" OBC recording just to hear them singing "It Won't Be Long Now".

Electra: Ricky Ubeda... no explanation, I just really love the idea of bringing back former cast members of Cats shows and think Ricky would make a great Electra!!

Mungojerrie: Haley Kilgore was absolutely adorable on "Once on This Island", and I think her acting would fit really well with Mungojerrie's character!! She's got a great playful stage personality.

Rumpleteazer: I just personally think that Jelani Alladin should really be in every single Broadway production, that's pretty much my entire reasoning XD

Jemima: Shereen Pimentel was Maria in the short-lived West Side Story revival back in 2020, which I saw back last February, and her voice literally has the PERFECT Jemima sound! It's so sweet and gentle. I got to meet her after the show and she's just such an angel and sweetheart, she's got the Jemima energy!!

overall this cast is so incredibly self-indulgent, and of course if it was a real thing I'd want them to chose some lesser-known actors who can dance and who can perform all the tricks, because that's what makes Cats Cats, but this is just me and my wishful thinking 😭