It’s been almost a year since the release Cats, the instant bad cinema classic take on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s deathless musical. But the movie was already notorious long before its hit theaters. When the first trailer arrived, social media exploded with jeers, many of them about the creepily realistic derrieres on the human-felines. The already overworked effects crew then had to painstakingly fix that, which may have caused them to ignore other issues, like the fact that some cats still had human hands. But was there ever a version of the film where they didn’t change that problem? Is there in fact a “butthole” cut of Cats?
That’s what Stephen Colbert wanted to know. On Friday’s The Late Show, Colbert asked one of his guests, James Corden — who played hungry trash pussy Bustopher Jones — about the existence of this legendary version. Alas, even he couldn’t give a clear answer.
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen it. I’ve not watched the film,” Corden said, implying that he may have never actually watched any version of the film. His host then asked if a Cats where every performer had anatomically correct rear ends would perhaps make it better, or at least more entertainingly awful. “I think, either way, it probably can’t save that movie,” he responded.
Alas, it’s almost certain the “butthole” cut does not exist. The trailer was released some six months before the film’s release, and it’s highly unlikely the editors had at that point even completed an assembly cut, which is to say the whole movie laid out, before trimming it down to a releasable form. Of course, if there was ever high demand for a “butthole” cut, the effects team could go back and undo their fixes. But they’ve already been worked to death and would surely like to move on with their lives. Still, one can dream.
You can watch Corden’s chat with Colbert in the video above. The Cats discussion begins around the 1:50 mark.
(Via ComicBook.com)
