Bleaching

Angry fans demand the “butthole” cut of ‘Cats;’ Universal responds

Maybe it’s the pandemic?

Fans of the widely-derided version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical film Cats took to the internet this week to criticize the film’s streaming release. Specifically, they demanded the release of an alleged alternate version of the film that featured numerous shots of computer-generated cat anuses.

Really.

The saga began when an alleged friend of the producers of the film leaked that the film’s motion-capture cat performs originally had CGI anuses added to them for authenticity. The story received clarification and corroboration when an anonymous VFX artist told journalist Ben Mekler, saying “there were never shots of cats with butt holes, or at least by design, none that I saw anyway. However, there were a dozen or so shots where the skin and fur simulation was groomed or just folded in a way that really REALLY looked like very furry lady genitals and buttholes by accident.”

Fans took to Twitter with the tag #ReleaseTheButtholeCut demanding that Universal Studios, the company behind the movie, release the earlier cut of the film. Vanity Fair reached out to Universal for comment, and even received a response, calling the query their “favorite email of ALL TIME.” However, Universal refused to confirm nor deny the existence of a “butthole” cut.

Related: Seth Rogan got stoned and live-tweeted while watching ‘Cats’ and it was glorious

Cats opened to disastrous reviews last December, with critics and audiences attacking the film for its bizarre visuals, lack of a plot, and dodgy special effects. Universal even pulled the film from theatres after complaints from viewers to “touch up” some of the special effects.

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