The music from Cats, the Broadway musical-turned-movie, is critically acclaimed. But you try and put people in cat suits, and fur sure, people are going to hiss and yowl about it.
The first trailer for the film came out Thursday, highlighting such stars as Taylor Swift, Idris Elba and Judi Dench converted into cats, complete with “digital fur.”
To be fair, it’s an almost impossible chore to blend humans and animals and make them not seem like something out of the Island of Doctor Moreau. Social media users found the combination a bit unnerving — particularly since the actors almost look naked in their feline get-ups. “Somehow the people in Cats look nuder than if they were nude, and it’s weird as hell,” wrote Gavia Baker-Whitelaw.
somehow the people in Cats look more nude than if they were actually nude, and it’s weird as hell. pic.twitter.com/vw8vtsIAUa
— Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (@Hello_Tailor) July 18, 2019
just watched the CATS trailer
how do i unwatch the CATS trailer
— jacksfilms (@jacksfilms) July 18, 2019
“you’ll be playing a cat, in Cats! We’re using digital technology to make you a cat”
“a relief, then, because I was about to ask a follow-up question about whether I would be a befurred nude entity, smooth in weird places, neither fully cat nor fully human”— Alexandra Petri (@petridishes) July 18, 2019
CATS 2019: pic.twitter.com/1GNl6hUNaw
— Tim Lydon (@TimDLydon) July 18, 2019
Cats: The Musical. pic.twitter.com/GLWUkFn7fh
— Amazon Movie Reviews (@AmznMovieRevws) July 18, 2019
I’m fucking dying, I asked my eight year old to watch it to get her opinion and she nope-ed out as soon as the first cat came on screen. Like, literally said “no” and walked away.
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) July 18, 2019
Every cat in Cats is stuck halfway through their morph pic.twitter.com/6vOzm1xeds
— Hillary Busis (@hillibusterr) July 18, 2019
Is our reaction to Cats gonna be the thing that unites us in these broken days?
— Riley Silverman ? SDCC (@rileyjsilverman) July 18, 2019
Some couldn’t resist matching the reaction to Cats to the recent response when Sonic the Hedgehog announced its movie character. The reaction was so negative that Sony went back to the drawing board to fix the character’s appearance. “(I don’t know), I think Taylor Swift looks good in the Cats trailer,” wrote Josh Kurp on Twitter, sharing a picture of the creepy, human-toothed Sonic.
idk, i think taylor swift looks good in the cats trailer pic.twitter.com/yCSEHqGPEs
— Josh Kurp (@JoshKurp) July 18, 2019
I think the lesson we can learn from the Sonic and Cats trailer launches is that photorealistic cgi hair looks great and should be in every movie
— Jordan Poole (Drank) (@thom_not_tom) July 18, 2019
Sonic the hedgehog team: We’re going to have a great looking anthropomorphic mammal ever.#cats team: Hold our catnip. pic.twitter.com/1tOTcd9rpK
— Ivan Pereira (@IvanPer4) July 18, 2019
Yes, there were Doctor Moreau comparisons. Joked author Cethan Leahy, “The new The Island of Doctor Moreau trailer looks very creepy but I’m not sure about all the singing.”
The new The Island of Doctor Moreau trailer looks very creepy but I’m not sure about all the singing.
— Cethan Leahy (@CethanLeahy) July 18, 2019
“Paging Doctor Moreau. Paging Doctor Alphonse Moreau—the FBI is here to see you.” pic.twitter.com/lsyxynqaFh
— Mat Johnson (@mat_johnson) July 18, 2019
CATS looks like the unsexy version of that Dr. Moreau episode of Batman: The Animated Series. pic.twitter.com/YoXZ061I6E
— Elle Schneider (@elleschneider) July 18, 2019
And the size of the cat-actors when combined with the sets seems off to some. “I own a very small cat,” wrote Emily Heller on Twitter. “She does not look this tiny on my bed.”
I OWN A VERY SMALL CAT SHE DOES NOT LOOK THIS TINY ON MY BED pic.twitter.com/0vipSd5vm9
— Emily “kind of a speed freak” Heller (@emilypheller) July 18, 2019
THE CATS ARE TOO SMALL!!! I REPEAT, THE CATS ARE TOO SMALL!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/z7IGQYFDCQ
— Nicole Silverberg (@nsilverberg) July 18, 2019
Star Wars Epsiode IX Rise Of Skywalker who?
I am only gonna watch Taylor Swift as a cat dancing around furniture double the size of humans.pic.twitter.com/9wGFjqBODP— Getaway_DREAM (@Unholy_Josh) July 17, 2019
nobody involved in making this movie knows how large or small at cat is pic.twitter.com/AH2wS17HNu
— Megan Lasher (@MeganLasher) July 18, 2019
