When the first Cats trailer came out in July, the internet lost its shit. And quite right too. The first look at Tom Hooper’s big-screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical was most baffling for its innovative-slash-bizarre use of CGI and weirdly human-like cats in high heels, and, in Judi Dench’s case, the creation of a cat who wears a coat made of cat fur worn on top of their already existing cat fur. Odd.
The second trailer was released earlier this week and does absolutely nothing to lessen the weirdness. While the first had more of a performance element, the second shows you what the cats (played by Taylor Swift, Idris Elba and more) get up to elsewhere, and it’s just as disconcerting.
As with the first Cats trailer, the new preview has sent the internet into overdrive. And just like after the release of the equally terrifying live-action Sonic earlier this year, the on-point memes have come pouring out.
There's a new Cats trailer…
*resumes screaming in terror* AAAAAAAAAHHHHH! pic.twitter.com/faSzFb5zXB
— Mathew Buck (@FB_BMB) November 19, 2019
Movie I wanna like this so bad why you making it so hard!!! My god the “cats got your tongue” line why why why why! But the memes though lol #CatsMovie #CatsTrailer https://t.co/RioQ1ujA7B pic.twitter.com/I2VUlkgWDq
— Kittykate?? (@Kittyka60267877) November 20, 2019
One of the most disturbing revelations from the second trailer is Idris Elba’s exceedingly strange CGI cat body. Let’s just say it hasn’t gone down brilliantly. One fan even says the unthinkable, suggesting that Cats is “the first film to make Idris Elba look not sexy”. Huge.
me seeing Idris Elba's weird CGI cat body in the new CATS trailer pic.twitter.com/XTHZoCadYG
— priscilla page (@BBW_BFF) November 19, 2019
We, as a society, have failed.#CatsTrailer pic.twitter.com/GcNThbjEpV
— ??????? ?? ??? ????? (@Force_Herald) November 19, 2019
my therapist: idris elba in #cats can't hurt you, he's not real.
idris elba in cats: pic.twitter.com/RHX6EqyH1V
— Ali Griffiths aka Pumpkin Mayor of Pottsville (@aebgriffiths) November 19, 2019
Damn, Cats will go down in history for being the first film to make Idris Elba look not sexy. I want death. pic.twitter.com/enASoHgpT3
— Matt Berger (@abergerhobbit) November 19, 2019
Other highlights, if you can call them that, include more footage of the feline Taylor Swift, which raises a fair few questions. She’s the only cat that wears shoes – high heels, of course – and just look at that finger fur.
From what I can see in the trailer, only one cat wears shoes and then only on her hind legs. Taylor Swift Cat should also wear heels on her hands and this is my single-point plan to make Cats good pic.twitter.com/GXZWXIHFtE
— Jacob Oller (@JacobOller) November 19, 2019
omg taylor looks so cute in the cats trailer pic.twitter.com/ABtSwLf490
— jess evelyn ? (@repudrama) November 19, 2019
My therapist: You need to stop fixating on Cat Taylor Swift’s finger fur. It's not real and it can't hurt you.
Cat Taylor Swift’s finger fur: pic.twitter.com/EqofEp2jee— emma loves the farewell (@msmegalodon) August 5, 2019
Yet more memes are rolling in, mostly ridiculing these weird, human-like cats that we still can’t quite figure out. God knows what will happen to Twitter when the full movie comes out…
— Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) November 19, 2019
#CatsMovie a tale of two images pic.twitter.com/v3L9N2KbOj
— Tardelli_82 (@tardelli_82) November 19, 2019
Gonna tell my kids this was the Cat in the Hat #CatsMovie pic.twitter.com/t55l6kIgP7
— Robert Richmond (@RobertRichmond0) November 19, 2019
real Cats watching that #CatsMovie trailer pic.twitter.com/aklc5Tv33F
— Sᴛᴇᴘʜᴇɴ Cʜᴀʀʟᴇꜱ ?? ??? (@stephenvcharles) November 20, 2019
Wow just saw the new cats trailer and they heard our complaints and listened to the fans and I think the redesign is exactly what we wanted! Now THAT’S more like it! pic.twitter.com/nLp9AzaSIa
— Bethany White (@bethwhit_) November 20, 2019
Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by the Cats movie trailers. pic.twitter.com/t3j9R93Y0t
— Ally Poole (@allyremelle) November 19, 2019