Andrew Lloyd Webber has no love for the 2019 film adaptation of his musical Cats.

During an interview with Variety, the 73-year-old composer described the film, directed by Tom Hooper, as “off-the-scale wrong” and claimed it caused him to buy a dog due to emotional distress.

“Cats was off-the-scale all wrong,” he explained. “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.”

Webber added that the film left him “emotionally damaged” so he has completed paperwork to bring his dog with him to Broadway.

“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,” he shared. “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.'”

In an interview last year with The Sunday Times, the legendary composer mused about his aversion to the film – which included an all-star cast of Hollywood heavyweights, including Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Rebel Wilson, Idris Elba, and James Corden.

“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,” he explained. “The whole thing was ridiculous.”

Webber was credited as an executive producer on the project and collaborated with Swift on an original song called Beautiful Ghosts.

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