Watch: Ahead of Cats release, voice cast explains what the story means to them in a featurette

The first trailer of Cats, the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's beloved musical, will release on 19 July. Prior to that, Universal Pictures shared a featurette video that goes behind the scene and also introduces the primary voice cast.

The cast includes Oscar-winning singer and actress Jennifer Hudson as Grizabella, talk show host James Corden as Bustopher Jones, Jason Derulo as Rum Tum Tugger, multiple Grammy winning singer-actress Taylor Swift as Bombalurina, veteran British actor Ian McKellen as Gus the Theatre Cat, DJ-rapper-actor Idris Elba as Macavity, Rebel Wilson as Jennyanydots, and veteran stage and screen actress Judi Dench as Growltiger.

Dancer duo Larry and Laurent Bourgeois (Les Twins), and Royal Ballet's Francesca Hayward are also involved in the film. The dance sequences have been choreographed by Hamilton's Andy Blankenbuehler.

According to Bleeding Cool, the cats will be brought to life onscreen using motion-capture technology. In the featurette, the actors also talk about how much the film means to them and bringing the story to life.

Britain’s Tom Hooper, whose past credits include Oscar Best Picture The King’s Speech and musical Les Miserables, has directed the film. Hooper has also produced it alongside Debra Hayward, and Working Title's Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. Lloyd Webber, Steven Spielberg and Angela Morrison are the executive producers on the project.

The story follows a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make what is known as "the Jellicle choice," and decide which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. The stage version of the musical is the fourth-longest-running show in Broadway history and the sixth-longest running in London's West End.

Cats is scheduled to hit cinemas on 20 December/

Watch the video here