I just found out that the Cats musical didn't invent the term "jellicle cats" and it dates way back to an old poem. Now my stupid imagination won't let go of the idea. So how does this sound to you guys? There's a secret civilization made up of intelligent cats. They live in the human world, but call their kingdom Dgellyk (or maybe Dgellyka) and the cats are Dgellykal cats...get it? They have the power to shift between normal cat forms and a more human-ish shape, and they live a sort of medieval-style life without any of us knowing about it. They're born as normal cats, but every year the Dgellykal Moon rises, and they leave kittens out in its light whole they hold the Dgellykal Ball. The moon turns some of the kittens into Dgellykals, but not all of them, and they're adopted into Dgellykal society. And then...plot happens. I don't know yet. The poem mentions that they have "terpsichorean powers" which just means dancing, but I'm thinking about maybe making a magic system out of it. Anyway, what do you think? Does it have potential, or have I lost my freaking mind here?
I think the musical Cats for better or worse (okay, definitely worse) has marked its territory on TS Eliot's cat poems and anyone who tries to offer a competing vision will be crushed by the weight of its inanity (and maybe even a bunch of lawyers). I would abandon this idea, or at least scramble the terms and characters sufficiently to mask its inspiration.
That's one of my main concerns, but would the musical really be able to claim ownership of any of those things? They're used in the musical, but they were all originally taken from the poem. And I'm not sure, but I think the poem is public domain as well, which means anyone can use it. But i also know copyright laws are complicated, so is there still a way I could get sued for using it?
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats was published in 1939 and is still under copyright. But even without that, do you want your work to be associated in any way with Andrew Lloyd Weber's monstrosity? Of course not. At least file off the serial number and make it elcillej possums or something like that.
A story about cats sounds cool. Many people have cats so there should be interest in it. Maybe drop the 'jellicle', humanoid part, and make it about domestic cats with hidden abilities. The cats could have the power to rule the world through telepathically influencing humans, but the trouble is, the cats haven't worked out what the world is for yet, other than to have the humans provide food for them and warm dry places to slob out. And then, one of the cats has an idea. . .
It's possible the T.S. Elliot poem could be in the public domain despite the publication date. Also, copyright isn't likely to extend to the term "jellicle cat." Whether you want the association is a separate issue, of course.
I mean, cat girls are definitely a thing... if ya know what I mean. Anthropomorphic animals in adult stories I think tend to end up attracting the furry crowd whether the writer intended it to or not. No idea if that is suppose to be a good or bad thing. I don't know much about it. There's a a movie this reminds me of though, called The Cat Returns. Cats can travel between the human world and a cat kingdom. I believe that during the day in the human world they have to act like cats bt maybe that's their choosing. In their own kingdom they stand upright, dress in clothes, have a royal family, etc. I guess my mostly uninformed opinion is there would be people who would read it, but it might be a pretty niche crowd.
