Cats trailer: Twitter slams Taylor Swift, Judi Dench's CGI-infused musical remake, call it 'a nightmare'

LOS ANGELES | The star-studded movie version of hit stage musical Cats released its first trailer on Thursday, but first impressions were far from cuddly. The movie, to be released in December, features Taylor Swift in her first film role, along with Jennifer Hudson, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Idris Elba and James Corden.

The film uses the actors’ faces and covers their bodies in computer generated fur as they sing and dance on a larger than life set.

Jennifer Hudson in a still from the trailer | Twitter

I am a cat now and somehow that was everything #CatsMovie pic.twitter.com/80gZHpvzMW

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 18, 2019

The film, directed by Britain’s Tom Hooper, who won an Oscar for The King’s Speech, is the first movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s successful stage musical Cats. The unlikely stage musical, based on poems by T.S. Eliot, opened in 1981 and had become one of the longest-running shows on both Broadway and in London.

The trailer racked up more than 100,000 views in the first hour of being posted on YouTube. However, social media users found the combination a bit unnerving, to the extent that some even termed it as nightmare. “Taylor I love you but this is gonna give me nightmares,” a user named Charlotte Eller posted on YouTube.

Check out some of the reactions here

My therapist: don’t worry cat Judi Dench, cat Taylor Swift and cat Jennifer Hudson aren’t real, they cant hurt you.

Cat Judi Dench, cat Taylor Swift and cat Jennifer Hudson:#CatsMovie pic.twitter.com/VDdjtjhWve

— Manu (@manucornickf) July 18, 2019

The #Cats trailer goes deep into the Uncanny Valley and discovers there is no bottom. Pure, straight-up nightmare fuel. pic.twitter.com/pU6x5y1Wi1

— Mathew Buck (@FB_BMB) July 18, 2019

I'm at a loss for words pic.twitter.com/0QblRxDk5k

— Chris Evangelista (@cevangelista413) July 18, 2019

just watched the CATS trailer

how do i unwatch the CATS trailer

— jacksfilms (@jacksfilms) July 18, 2019

The Cats Trailer makes the #CatsMovie look like it was filmed in Snapchat. pic.twitter.com/S5GuxkaHU2

— Cult Cinema Catacombs (@TheseFilmsExist) July 18, 2019

In a behind-the-scenes video, Oscar-winner Dench, one of Britain’s most admired actresses, called the film “an Alice in Wonderland experience.” Swift, known for her love of cats, said cast members did extensive movement workshops to embody their feline characters.

“As a cat lover, and a cat owner, he (Hooper) told me I was going to get to go to cat school every day. For work! What?!,” the delighted singer said in the video.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Watch the trailer here: