Why aren’t cats as popular in cinema films as internet videos?

Cat videos almost dominate the internet video sites. Together they are seen hundreds of millions of times. Yet, there are no such films of funny cats and crazy cats etc. at cinemas, or as DVDs sold at shops. Cats are extremely popular online but they have almost no presence at all on the ground.

The amount of views that some videos get is larger than many successful films. Take, for example (at random), the video of the angry cat I recently referred to on the cat rage page. That video has been seen 82 million times. Compare that with the film Titanic, the fifth most successful film of all time in money made.

At cinemas it has been seen by about 200-250 million people and 60-100 million bought the DVD. OK it is more than the video but the figures are in the same order of magnitude. Many other successful films will have been seen by less people than the video I have referred to. This is remarkable.

Cat videos and cat films. Picture of drive in movie screen by Patrick Feller

We seem to have two different sorts of viewer (a) internet and (b) cinema. The cost of making a short video is nothing compared to the cost of making a major movie. Videos are profitable in terms of advertising revenue.

I wonder if you could present cat videos in cinemas? It seems wrong. Why does it seem wrong? I don’t really know. You see them on television occasionally.

These are some of the differences between online videos and films:

Films are much longer at about 90 mins or more. Videos are very short by comparisons at 15 seconds to several minutes, usually. It is about attention span. A lot of people who have a short attention will prefer a video online. Modern man has a shorter attention span. It is all quick and instant. Online surfers skim everything. Many videos of a few minutes are not seen through to the end.
Cinemas and DVD shops charge us to see or buy their product. Online videos are free. This massive difference must cause different people to be attracted. At a basic level, people with less disposable money are more likely to watch a video online.
Anyone, anywhere can watch a cat video online. Film audiences are much more restrictive due to the language barrier and distribution barriers. There are no language barriers for cat videos. This must boost video views.

It seems that film makers missed out on a money making subject: cats. Even today, no one is making or plans to make a film that features cats. The Warrior Cat book series is extremely popular and there is a call for a film based on the series but there isn’t a film producer anywhere who will make it despite the obvious success of cat videos. The only Warrior cat movies are videos made by amateurs.

You can almost sense that a film about cats would fail. But would it? Why can’t we transfer the explosion of popularity of cat videos and even still images to film at cinemas and on DVDs?

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Comments

Why aren’t cats as popular in cinema films as internet videos? — 10 Comments

Rose on February 25, 2013 at 1:17 pm said:
So we are all agoraphobics roflol.
Who goes out to work to do my job on my behalf,who takes my kids to school,who takes my dogs walking?I have a much fuller life than you facereality,bob,woody whatever you are,I don’t sit at my computer writing bitter and twisted rubbish and making myself look what you are,a sad pathetic lonely troll.
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Uncrazy cat lover on February 24, 2013 at 8:24 am said:
Sad sad sad bitter person FaceReality.
The ‘crazy cat lady’ tag has a lot to answer for and those who mock cat lovers are really at the bottom of them afraid of cats, because they know cats are far more intelligent than they will ever be.
Maybe they are also jealous of the love a cat gives and receives because they themselves have no life apart from searching the internet to find places to express their hatred of cats and their caretakers. They are the ones who try to manipulate others to join them in their hatred.
Cats are a huge part of my life but I also do a lot for people too, far from hiding behind my computer monitor. All the cat lovers I know have busy lives too, having cats around makes our lives complete.
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Face Reality on February 24, 2013 at 6:32 am said:
Because the rest of the world does not hide behind their computer monitors with a cat on their lap desperately trying to manipulate others for the attention that their cats just can never provide.
Agoraphobics and cats fit like hand and glove.
That’s why so many of these cat-lovers even choose cats for pets and let them roam free. They cowardly live out their sheltered lives through their free-roaming cats’ behavior.
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- Michael on February 24, 2013 at 7:36 am said:
  That’s a pretty weird theory – sorry. You think the majority of people who like cats are frightened of going outside but let their cats roam free and that these agoraphobics live their outside lives through their cat’s behavior.
  There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support that statement. There are some reclusive people who keep cats and who act irresponsibly letting them roam etc but these are relatively rare situations compared to the tens of millions who live mainstream “normal” lives with their cats.
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- Marc on February 24, 2013 at 9:18 am said:
  Woody – don’t you get tired? Don’t you ever stop and look at the unhappy angry cat hating loser you are and think “I’m going to die soon and this will be what I did with my life” – and decide to try and enjoy yourself a bit. Your last words, which nobody will probably hear, will be something about hating cats, if you aren’t careful.
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Marc on February 23, 2013 at 8:59 pm said:
I stopped buying videos when I realised you have to watch 20mins of crap before you even get to the film. You would have thought if you paid for the damn thing you would have some reasonable choices but you don’t. I suggest to anyone who is tired of big movie business advertising and all that nonsense that you just download the thing for free, press play, and watch you movie. I’d pay to do it but I wont pay to be forced through 20 mins of hollywood advertising which you can’t skip through.
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- Marc on February 23, 2013 at 9:18 pm said:
  Sorry – I’m a grumpy fart. I think a cat movie might work. Watership down worked. I think there is no question it might work. I think it might even work better than other animal stories. But I suppose it would have to be animated. There was that film ‘the bear’ which was real and had no voice or anything and followed a bear and there was a story. I am not sure if this would be possible to do well with cats. Maybe it would but I think part of the bear’s success is that we are not familiar with it and it’s surroundings so it’s a majestic look at nature. Humans need that power to get off on. A cat film could be good though I think – at first you might think not, but it’s certainly a possibility. I’m not sure how they act. I think dogs are more film friendly. They can be trained to do things on camera. Not cats. Nonetheless people love cats and might like them in a longer movie form.
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  - Michael on February 24, 2013 at 7:49 am said:
    Well, I agree because cat videos are massive hits. Some sort of clever integration of animation and “reality” may do something. Although I don’t really like the “funny cat videos” genre I can’t see why it can’t be transported to the big screen. I am sure some clever American producer could dream up something.
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    - Marc on February 24, 2013 at 5:58 pm said:
      Michael, watch ‘A cat in Paris’ – it’s an animation, it’s quite sweet. Try to watch the french version with subs rather than the americanized english one though. There’s another cat film – a danish one I think, about a lady who can talk to the cats in her neighbourhood – I forget the name but it seems like a very nice movie.
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    - Marc on February 24, 2013 at 6:00 pm said:
      The Danish or whichever country around there one is not an animation it’s real life but I think the cats have voices – it seems like a fun movie that explores the idea of what it would be like for a cat to be in the body of a human. I would like to see it too. I have ‘A cat in Paris’ so if you would like it I can upload it to my server for you to download it.
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