Herding cats!

Why is it that I find the background of this picture so fascinating?

Final ADR for@TheHobbitMovie @WBPicturesID @wetafx @wetaworkshop can't believe what I've just seen utterly gobsmacked pic.twitter.com/x2VMtikBmM
— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) September 18, 2014

Well, of course I love the main part of the picture!  It's a SELFIE by none other than Richard-freaking-Armitage!!

But those cats on the wall in the background?  I can't help thinking....  Is it a hidden message?
Is he playing cat and mouse with us?  That ginger cat folk art painting looks very familiar to me.  Does it have any other significance?  Could it be sort of a visual apologia to all us cat-loving RA fans for his infamous dog preferential statement? Does he even look remorseful?

Let's look at those background items more closely...

#1 is very familiar, in fact I thought I once had this same picture as a ceramic tile that I used as a trivet until it broke.  But after searching google images for quite some time I have not been able to find out anything about it.  But I did find a picture of my old trivet (and it wasn't the same at all!).  If anyone has any information about this cat painting - I would be very interested!

I did however, find plenty of other very interesting pictures of orange tabby cats. My favourites were the ones inserted into famous paintings over at Fatcatart blog -- especially (because of my fondness for Monet paintings) this one:

#2 appears to be a Felix the Cat clock.

Here is a still from the animated film Felix the Cat in Hollywood (1923)

#3 (The Hidden picture) is the real problem.

Luckily, I was able to find this picture of the same room where the picture is visible.

Note the Felix the Cat clock has moved.  In this picture it is just over the girl's shoulder. 

The little figurine between the cat painting and the now visible blue matted photo looks like a cat playing a musical instrument.

From Soundtrack's' Facebook Page

The photo of the figurine is very blurry but it does appear to be a cat playing a bass violin, or could it be -- a cello?  Hmmm... Curious and curiouser...RA fans know that Richard has been known to play the cello.

The above photo on the right is more of a mystery. It appears to be a handsome man playing an instrument which I have come to believe is called a Vibraphone.  My first impression of the blurry picture was that it was of Elvis (the King) but since my research didn't turn up any evidence that Elvis ever played a vibraphone, I had to look for other options. The best looking vibraphone player I could find was this man Tito Puente, otherwise known as the Mambo King.

Even though RA is also known by his Hobbit film character's nickname of the King Under the Mountain, I knew I was grasping at straws here...  I really didn't think his hairline looked correct, and besides where was the cat reference?!!  I was going to go with the fact that Jazz musicians are also known as Hepcats... but I wasn't fooling myself.  So I kept looking for another good looking vibraphone player.

Finally I came up with this man, Terry Gibbs.

His hairline looked spot on, and when I researched his music 

this album fairly sprang up and dug its claws into me!

There's that orange cat again!

Even more strange... this album was released the year I was born (1961). 

I have no idea what all this means but it seems that somebody around here must be some crazy cat!

Before you give up on me have a listen to the cool vibes of
 Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco playing 

Please Send Me Someone to Love

That orange kitty has found someone to love!

Manip from Richard Armitage with Cats Tumblr

Here kitty!

I do love cats...even though I cannot have one of my own as I am very allergic. :(
So I have to love them in theory, rather than in practice.

The Tale of Tom Kitten / by Beatrix Potter

As I am a Beatrix Potter fan - I had to include this one.

My personal favourite cartoon kitty was Warner Brothers' Sylvester the cat
voiced by the inimitable Mel Blanc.

Warner Bros. Sylvester the Cat

Since this blog is inclined to be fairly musically oriented, here is Sylvester attempting his musical debut:

Unfortunately he didn't get a warm reception.


 There are many other fabulous cartoon cats, if you are interested in seeing some more,
here is a link to a great article: Famous cartoon cats

The AristoCats was a Disney cartoon feature film which I enjoyed very much when it hit theatres in 1970.  I probably had to wait awhile to see it though. Even though we still had a theatre in our town then, it usually took about a year before it found its way to my neck of the woods.
The music was very memorable.
I was delighted to find this clip from a television special which reunites
two of the best voices in all of moviedom!

Everybody Wants to be a Cat / The Aristocats

 I also remember being inspired to sketch some of these cats,
probably from a comic or possibly colouring book.

This movie, An American Tale : Fievel Goes West came out when my kids were little and I am sure my husband and I enjoyed it as much (or more) than they did.  I particularly liked Dom Deluise's tubby cat named Tiger who was a friend to Fievel Mousekowicz, unlike the bad guy cat who was voiced by John Cleese.  This clip has Tiger rushing to catch a train (while being hindered by countless dogs)!

Dom Deluise as Tiger in Fievel Goes West: An American Tale (pt.2)

Do you remember The Stray Cats?  I loved their retro Rockabilly sound back in the '80s.
This next video includes cute pictures of real kitties.

Stray Cat Strut / The Stray Cats
video by Dayniac4324

Love this next song, and although it is not about cats,
the video cleverly features claymation cats.

Nina Simone _ My Baby Just Cares for me
video by pluisje666

Do you think that Tomcat is a bit of a stalker? Hmmm.....


You may be wondering.... 
What has all this cat stuff got to do 
with Richard Armitage?




Well ... some of us cats know that Richard Armitage 
appeared in the 1994-95 production of the musical Cats 
in London's West End.

Lots of gReAt bloggers have already written about it, but I believe Jonia (Jonia's Cut Blog) was the first to get the scoop on all the best information.  Here is her post about it. (Click Here).
Apparently Richard played the dual roles of Admetus and Macavity.

Jonia has some great videos on her blog but more recently Crystal Chandlyre saved us all some time but compiling several videos to highlight just the parts that Richard Armitage appeared in.

Richard Armitage as Admetus in CATS - Pas De Deux

/ compiled by Crystal Chandlyre

As quoted from the Wikipedia article on Macavity:

Macavity is typically depicted as a cat with a chaotic array of red, orange, white, and sharp black stripes. He is often portrayed with very long claws and wild dark hair. The role of Macavity is usually played by the same actor as Admetus...  His costume is ginger and white, and specifically includes a simple make-up design that the actor transforms into the elaborate Macavity make-up, and then re-applies after the featured scene. Admetus/Plato is also often recognizable as one of the tallest cast members, as the fight scene between Macavity and Munkustrap requires him to be able to lift other male dancers. 

Richard Armitage in the 1994 cast of Cats, on London's West End (photos from Jonia's Cut Blog).

I was rather thrilled to hear he had played the Macavity role because I was very familiar with the poem (from  Old Possum's Book of Cats by T.S. Eliot).

Way back in my elementary school days I performed that poem on stage in our local Festival of the Arts. As it is a fairly long poem I was given kudos by the adjudicator for my (I believe she said) "prodigious" memory (if only it were so good today). But I was also criticized for not putting more feeling into it.  I remember being a bit shocked, because no one else had suggested that I should do that.  My mentors, who were family and friends only helped with my lines, but never did it occur to me that I should do more than get up on stage and recite it!  It made me wonder how differently I could have done it had I actually tried to perform it rather than just recite it. This was long before Andrew Lloyd Webber's  musical CATS was inspired by the poems. If I ever wanted to try the poem again, I think I would rather sing it!


Then, there is the Tumblr blog entitled: 
Richard Armitage with Cats!

When I saw these pictures for the first time, 
it was a very happy day. :)

Here are two of my faves!

This next video is very cleverly done by Ana Cris 
who hosts the blog La Loba.
She has combined clips from the documentary narrated by Richard Armitage
with clips of him in Spooks / MI-5.

Richard Armitage_Eye of the Tiger / by acrl2

Imagine if all the characters in The Hobbit movie were portrayed by... you guessed it -- Cats!

Trailer Cats version of The Hobbit trailer

More Hobbit Cats!
The longer I wait to post this, the more great stuff I find!  This is the newest one. From the fantastically creative graphic artist Tannni  - where she compares the cast of The Hobbit to various cats.

Oh course I had to show you a couple.

She has several options for Thorin.

You simply must click on this to see the whole page!

I know! That was amazing!


You think that's something?  Look at this..
Another great graphic from Tannni!
Watch Richard Armitage transmogrify into the King of the Beasts!

How are you "feline" about cats?  
What is your favourite cat from literature, 
stage or screen?