“Mask Maru“: The always delightful Maru gets his head stuck in a paper bag. This cat should get his own TV show. Grade: A+
“Awesomely cute begging kitten!” The title says it all. A little on the short side, but there’s a big payoff 18 seconds into the clip. Grade: B+
“Cat attacks baby“: Another short one–and there’s no sound–but there’s something about a cat jumping on a toddler that just cracks us up. Grade: B
“The two talking cats“: They don’t have much of a vocabulary–”Meow,” is pretty much it–but this kitty couple laying on a bed really do seem to be having a genuine conversation. Adorable. Grade: A
“Satan’s Cat“: This one isn’t very cute–a caged cat hissing and spitting as if possessed by a demon–but is weirdly irresistable all the same. Grade: C
“CATcerto”: Lithuanian composer Mindaugas Piecaitis leads a 12-piece chamber orchestra in a live performance as Nora the piano-playing cat is shown on a movie screen. “Nora chases musical notes the way other cats chase toy mice,” Piecaitis says of his creative partner. The song blows the roof off of the Klaipeda Concert Hall, but we miss the intimacy of Nora’s solo work. Grade: B+
“Gizmo Flushes”: A black and white tabby flushes a toilet, watches the water swirl down, then flushes again, then watches again, then flushes—over and over for nearly three minutes. Now that’s entertainment. A timeless classic in the cat video oeuvre. Grade: A+
“Keyboard cat”: This isn’t so much a cat video as it is a viral gag. Footage of a cat in a blue shirt playing an annoyingly upbeat organ riff is inserted into random blooper scenes—a man falling off a treadmill—with the running joke “Play him off, Keyboard Cat” inserted as the title. Call us purists—or purr-ists—but the cat’s paws are obviously fake. Grade: C
“Maru and big box”: There are plenty of one-hit wonders in the cat comedy game, but Maru delivers in video after video. This kitty from Japan has more personality than a lot of human comedy stars—and better timing. We love the video with the paper bag, as well as the one with the diet soda box, but this one—in which he hops in and out of a big cardboard carton—is our favorite. Hysterical. Grade: A
“Simon’s Cat ‘Cat Man Do’”:
Like the Oscars, we normally give animation short shrift, but this simple line-drawn cat cartoon is so funny and cute—and so brilliantly encapsulates the joys and frustration of cat ownership—we have to give it its due. Grade: A
What else is out there that we missed? Whaddya think of our grading?
For our take on the online cat obsession, pick up this week’s EW on stands now.
Comments (1-15) of 35 Add your comment
Where is Ninja Cat!?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79dt9HRif8g
oh I’m such a freak. I can’t believe I watched all of those.
You need to include the video “Kittens, inspired by kittens”
I’m with Gretchen. As soon as I saw the title of this post I was expecting to see “Kittens, inspired by Kittens” which is easily my favorite viral video of all.
“CATcerto” definitely deserves a higher grade than a B+ because that was a pretty awesome concerto that the composer was able to write around Nora’s random improvisations! And where is “Ninja Cat”?
Also, “Kittens, inspired by kittens” is not technically a cat video because there are no live cats involved – only pictures.
I have to disagree with you Laura -”Kittens, inspired by kittens” captures the true essence of all cats. Also, “Cat videos, cat videos, cat videos” implies no rule of needing the cats to be live.
Correction: Even though the cartoon “Cat Man Do” is only a cartoon, at least it depicts a living and moving cat doing cat-like things. I still don’t count a video about a cat picture book as a real cat video.
Keyboard cat’s arms are totally real. Those are the stiff, awkward arms of a cat who is not at all enthused about his owner moving his paws around on a keyboard.
And that video deserves more than a C – the “play him off keyboard cat” gag isn’t what makes this one great, it’s keyboard cat + Hall & Oates that make it golden.
Gretchen – - you & Jeffrey Bryan sound like soulmates. Given your same preference in viral videos, you could really hit it off.
Ninja cat! You missed ninja cat!
yeah! I love me some cat videos! the last one is great, and so true.
Maru is so adorable – I love the one where he wear the bag on his head as he saunters through the apartment. Simon’s cat is very well done and gets an A+ from me.
I love love love cat videos! But how could you guys forget to mention “Cat I’m a Kitty Cat…and I dance dance dance” ?
How could you miss Ninja Cat or The Mean Kitty Song? Those are classics. Keyboard Cat and Kittens Inspired By Kittens were such a disappointment. Love Simon’s Cat.
hahaha this is sooo funny i told all my friends about the videos!!! I have 2 cats… i should make some!
Don’t like the inclusion of “Satan’s Cat”, at all. The site is comes from is of such poor taste (as you can tell from the url), that I’m really concerned about what happened to the cat in that video. Was it just a cat being boarded that was scared, or was it a shelter cat that was destined to be euthanized as unadoptable? Not enjoyable to watch.