Grumpy Cat is going from meme to movie — but not everyone is on board for the internet sensation’s film debut.
The famous feline with the downturned mouth (giving her a perpetually grumpy look) has been a huge hit online and her picture has turned into one of the most popular memes. The cat herself (whose real name is Tardar Sauce) has even become a cottage industry of her own, with t-shirts and all kinds of other products on her official website .
So in a way, a Grumpy Cat movie was inevitable. The folks at Lifetime stepped up to turn the cat into a movie, casting Aubrey Plaza to voice the lead role in Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever .
The movie features Grumpy Cat as a lonely kitty at a mall pet store trying to find a home. The cat connects with a 12-year-old named Chrystal, who discovers that she can communicate with the cat and then spends Christmas Eve rescuing Grumpy Cat from the mall.
This week the first Grumpy Cat movie trailer was released, and while some were excited about the prospect of the curmudgeonly cat on screen, others thought it was a bad idea.
The Verge asked why the world could possibly need a Grumpy Cat movie:
“This spectacle is about as absurd as it is sad. (Not you, Aubrey. You’re alright.) Can any of us honestly imagine life being anything other than grump-inducing for Grumpy Cat at this point? Isn’t it possible that we’re in fact making her grumpy by this unnecessary adulation? When will we stop allowing this cat to be trotted around like a circus act? When will the cash grabs cease? Is there literally no other animal we can passively make memes of? The party’s over. It’s time to let Grumpy Cat just be a cat.”
Others critics joined in:
grumpy cat literally looks like the worst movie o f all time im obsessed with aubrey plaza and i love cats but what is going on here
— danica (@ianbrennans) November 2, 2014
Anyone who wants to reserve judgement on the Grumpy Cat movie and see it for themselves will have to wait a bit longer. The movie premieres November 29 .
[Image via iwatchstuff.com]