The Stanley Kubrick Meetup — NYC

https://skm-nyc.tumblr.com/post/86610622257/the-cat-stays-in-the-picture-center-photo-from

"The lasting and ultimately most important reputation of a film is not based on reviews, but on what, if anything, people say about it over the years, and on how much affection for it they have." Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999)

Stanley Kubrick’s  “The Aristocats”

A lifelong subscriber to “Cat Fancier” magazine, Kubrick adopted all unclaimed cats from “A Clockwork Orange”.  He later planned to feature them in a live-action version of “The Aristocats”; with Scatman Crothers reprising his role as “Scat Cat”.  The script, by Terry Southern, was based on the notorious shaggy-dog-story/dirty joke, “The Aristocrats”.

The project was canceled when Kubrick became concerned about the safety and comfort of the cats during a prolonged production.

Later, he cast some of the cats (and Scatman of course), in “The Shining”, but their scenes were cut after the film’s opening weekend. Traces of them remain, however, such as when Ullman asks Jack if his luggage arrived ok, you can glimpse the cat carrier sitting amongst it, in the big pile by the door.  And there was another scene where they cause Wendy to burn some toast, and Jack has a fit about it.  

“He was mainly interested in making movies, and feeding his cats when there was a break,” says Vincent LoBrutto, his biographer (in a Movie Geeks United podcast).

“His favorite cat used to sleep in a small climatized room and I had to take him Evian water and fresh grass to eat every morning.” says Emilio D’Alessandro, his chauffeur and all-around assistant.

The writer Alex Ross, in “Stanley Kubrick Was My Friend, Too”, tells of Kubrick’s next attempt to combine his two loves:

Stanley always had trouble with actors, and he had the idea of casting this [new] film entirely with his favorite cats and dogs. I struggled mightily with the limitations that this plan placed on my style. Each page of the script had to be submitted to his very favorite cat, Ophuls, who was only mildly amused by the material. The project gradually ran out of steam.

Below is “Polly”,  who appeared in “Eyes Wide Shut”.

“Polly loved Dad.  She would sleep on his chest if he let her.  I painted the picture of her for his 60th birthday.” (Katharina Kubrick, quoted in The Encyclopedia of Stanley Kubrick)