Maru 4 is feaured in Santa Cruz's first annual Internet Cat Video Festival.
When my editor told me I had a full page to fill with my musings on Santa Cruz’s first annual Internet Cat Video Festival, the first thing I did was wet my pants. Just kidding—I’m litter box potty trained, duh! No, the first thing I did was text my cat:
“OMG girl we have plans for Saturday night!!! Xoxomeow ~Mom
P.S. I LOVE YOU AND YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND. <333”
After the entire hour and a half-long playlist—to be shown in all its glory to attendees at Rebecca’s Café on Saturday night—had paraded across my computer, I turned to the notes I had taken, only to see the words on the page morph into interlocking cat silhouettes floating like orbs in the texty abyss.
“Uh oh,” I said to my tabby cat Veruca, as she poked holes in my down comforter with her claws while purring, “I might have just OD’d on cats. Hey, by the way—do your meows ever sound like dog barks when I’m not around?” (Google: “Cat gets caught barking by a human and resumes meowing.”.html)
The world of the Internet cat video, it turns out, can be surprisingly artistic.
“Some of them are actually films—quite the well put-together pieces of cinema,” says festival organizer and Tannery resident Kevin Devaney. Oftentimes they are scored with gripping, apropos soundtracks, and the plots of several home video-style submissions have the full-circle feel of successful comedy sketches. Also, lest we forget: cats have such beautiful soft fur! If that ain’t art, I don’t want to snuggle what art is.
In preparation for the festival, here’s a rundown of some of the bounty that will be bestowed upon attendees:
I AM MARU 4: Anyone who knows anything about famous Japanese Internet cat Maru knows that Maru loves boxes. This edition of Maru—who boasts over 300,000 YouTube subscribers—is ballet-like, as Maru explores the cardboard terrain of her(?) home, to the tune of a gentle accordion. Watching Maru is like sinking into a warm bath whilst eating a peanut butter sandwich. (Just go with it.)
A FAT CAT ON A TREADMILL UNDERWATER: If I had to guess, I would guess that this long-haired cat weighs at least a solid 18 pounds. One can only suspect his weight is why he is walking slowly on a treadmill on his hind legs, with water up to his waist, while his human holds him upright. A soulful R&B track is the only sound, so when the cat looks mournfully askew and opens his mouth, we hear…nothing.
PEEK-A-BOO CAT IN A SUITCASE: When taunted with the gentle scratching of a ballpoint pen, this cat pops out of the canvas suitcase in which it is hiding, with the fury of twenty Vikings. But when (spoiler alert) the canvas suitcase cover comes up after a minute and a half, the cat’s all, “who, me?” All in all, it makes for one “exhilarating, unpredictable romp,” as Roger Ebert probably once said about When Harry Met Sally. (RIP.)
WELCOME TO KITTY CITY: This Salvador Dali-esque animated short, in which cats multiply into more cats, Transformer-style monster cats, and cat-trains in which other cats ride, is simply put, one of the most bizarre things in existence. As YouTube commenter Dreadlockminer put it, “am I tripping on acid?”
HENRI 2, PAW DE DEUX: The ennui felt by the cat Henri is universal: “I am free to go. Yet I remain.” “We cannot escape ourselves.” “The 15 hours a day I sleep have no effect. I wake to the same tedium.” This black and white French film (with English subtitles) imparts upon its viewers the melancholy wisdom of a cat confined to a typical cat existence. And after viewing nearly two hours of cat videos straight through, humans who make it to this point in the festival will no doubt nod solemnly in solidarity, as they whisper to Henri’s ethereal presence: Je comprends, Henri. Je comprends.
Santa Cruz First Annual Internet Cat Video Film Festival
Saturday, May 11, 8-10pm; free
Rebecca’s Cafe at the Tannery, Santa Cruz
