The Visual Effects Society snaps back at Cats insult during Academy Awards

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Oh, Digital Fur Technology, what sweet madness have you unleashed upon the world? From the moment the very first trailer for CATS was released, all anyone could talk about were the rather disturbing visuals of these human/cat hybrids. During Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony, James Corden and Rebel Wilson (who both appeared in CATS) took to the stage in full CATS costume to announce the winner for Best Visual Effects, but not before poking fun at the box-office bomb.

Speaking in unison, Corden and Wilson said, "As cast-members of the motion picture CATS, nobody more than us understands the importance of good visual effects," prompting laughs from the audience, but the Visual Effects Society isn't amused. The VFX society released a statement taking issue with the jab, and offered one of their own right back, saying, "The best visual effects in the world will not compensate for a story told badly." Oooooh damn. "On a night that is all about honoring the work of talented artists, it is immensely disappointing that The Academy made visual effects the butt of a joke," read the statement. "It demeaned the global community of expert VFX practitioners doing outstanding, challenging and visually stunning work to achieve the filmmakers’ vision." You can check out the full statement below.

The Visual Effects Society is focused on recognizing, advancing and honoring visual effects as an art form – and ensuring that the men and women working in VFX are properly valued.

Last night, in presenting the Academy Award for Outstanding Visual Effects, the producers chose to make visual effects the punchline, and suggested that bad VFX were to blame for the poor performance of the movie CATS. The best visual effects in the world will not compensate for a story told badly.

On a night that is all about honoring the work of talented artists, it is immensely disappointing that The Academy made visual effects the butt of a joke. It demeaned the global community of expert VFX practitioners doing outstanding, challenging and visually stunning work to achieve the filmmakers’ vision.

Our artists, technicians and innovators deserve respect for their remarkable contributions to filmed entertainment, and should not be presented as the all-too-convenient scapegoat in service for a laugh.

Moving forward, we hope that The Academy will properly honor the craft of visual effects – and all of the crafts, including cinematography and film editing – because we all deserve it.

What do you think? Is the Visual Effects Society being a little too sensitive or was the gag a bit of a low-blow? Warner Bros. famously removed CATS from its For Your Consideration page following its disastrous debut, but on a plus side, the film has been nominated for an impressive nine Golden Raspberry Awards. Those are good, right?