Godzilla, Cats, and Other Movies That Are Embarrassingly Silly Without CGI

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How is it Even Possible Cats Looked Creepier in Person?

We've all come to accept that the big-budget screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats was pretty much the cinematic equivalent of pouring expired ranch dressing into your eyeballs at a haunted PetSmart -- but while the film's visual effects are, at best, janky and, at worst, a crime against humanity, somehow this goddamn thing looked even creepier behind the scenes.

We have yet to receive much official footage documenting the making of Cats, thankfully, though, co-star Rebel Wilson took to Instagram to share some photos of what that much-ballyhooed "digital fur technology" really looked like in person. Turns out it's not so cat-like, with more of a "middle-aged French clown troupe rethinking literally all of their life decisions" vibe.

Rebel Wilson/Instagram"So after this is over, do you plan on pretending like your Razzie award never happened, or trying to be the cool actress who leans into it?"

Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber looks so unimpressed it's a wonder he resisted the urge to take up residence underneath the soundstage and start dropping lighting fixtures on random cast members.

Rebel Wilson/Instagram

Even the productions most respected acting legends weren't spared the indignities of their respective mo-cap suits.

Rebel Wilson/InstagramAt least it didn't reduce Ian McKellen to tears this time.

Anyway, this all means we're one step closer to Dame Judi Dench taking over the role of Groot.

5

Aladdin -- If You Thought Will Smith's Genie Was Off-Putting Before ...

When Disney's live-action remake of Aladdin was first announced, folks had a lot of questions ranging from "Why?" to "Huh?" to "maaaybe stop putting all your extras in brownface?" Many fans were concerned with the look of Will Smith's Genie, who resembled some kind of one-man Blue Man Group XXX parody. Venturing into Agrabah's uncanny valley was no easy feat, as evidenced in the decidedly un-magical behind the scenes footage, in which Aladdin had to dance with gyrating dudes in blue gimp suits.

Walt Disney PicturesReally nailed those sets once again, Disney.

These anonymous figures had to make it look like the Genie was magically conjuring food by literally shoving it in Aladdin's face like a squad of Olive Garden servers who quit that afternoon.

Walt Disney Pictures

4

Call of the Wild -- Harrison Ford's Canine Friend was an Adult Man

Proving that audiences only want to see Harrison Ford palling around with a furry sidekick if the words "Star" and/or "Wars" appear in the title, the recent Call of the Wild was a disappointment at the box office. Either because of animal cruelty laws, or to ensure Harrison Ford couldn't sell his co-star for weed money, filmmakers opted not to use a real dog, and instead decided to cobble one together using a bunch of ones and zeroes. In order to provide something for Ford to react to (other than tiresome Han Solo questions) in real-life Buck was played by an actual adult man, Terry Notary.

20th Century StudiosWhich we're sure was exactly what the perpetually too-old-for-this-shit Harrison Ford had in mind for this kind of movie.

Obviously pretending to be an animal while wearing a motion-capture suit is nothing new in Hollywood, but you have to imagine this guy felt a little awkward in scenes such as the one where he had to fetch mail for the star of The Fugitive.

20th Century Studios"No offense, Mr. Ford, but I may conveniently forget this one when it comes time to update the resume."

3

Dolittle -- Those Adorable Animals Were Crappy Go-Karts

The big-budget Dolittle found Robert Downey Jr. playing the legendary Dr. Dolittle, talking with animals, and... um, going on an adventure with... okay, we didn't actually see it. Hardly anyone did. But one thing we do know is that he spends part of the movie riding around on an Ostrich-- because it was in a trailer that we didn't have to spend twelve actual American dollars on.

Universal PicturesYou can almost imagine the CGI animals asking "Another Iron Man flick starting to sound a little more tempting yet?"

In reality, the doc's interspecies Uber was somewhat less enchanting-- as in it was a go-kart-like contraption being driven by a dude seriously re-considering his film school tuition.

Universal Pictures

2

The Gators in Crawl Were Groping Dudes and Poking Puppets

Not to be confused with the low-budget '80s Star Wars knock-off Krull, 2019's Crawl features a killer alligator stalking humans in a house that's flooding during a category 5 hurricane -- and somehow it didn't win all the Oscars. Instead of using a real alligator, which would be expensive and bitey, they went the CGI route. For some shots they merely poked the actors with a foam head on a stick like a bunch of dickhole Jim Hensons.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures"Go back to Michael's, you monster!"

1

Godzilla: King of the Monsters -- King Ghidorah was Really Three Dudes

The recent sequel to 2014's (sadly Puff Daddy-less) American Godzilla reboo found the titular monster claiming his role as the "King of the Monsters" (with a little help from the most affordable cast members of successful TV shows). Godzilla teams up with Mothra to battle "Monster Zero", which sounds like a new energy drink but is actually King Ghidorah, an alien creature who's just one head shy of forming the world's screechiest barbershop quartet.

Warner Bros. Pictures"HELLO MY BABY!! HELLO MY HONEY!! HELLO MY RAGTIME GAL!!"

Ghidorah wasn't a purely digital creation, his three heads were animated thanks to the motion capture performances of three dudes (Alan Maxson [right head], Jason Liles [center head], and Richard Dorton [left head]) awkwardly wiggling and pretending to breathe fire in a performance indistinguishable from your ex-roommate's modern dance show.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Warner Bros. Pictures

They even got down on all fours and writhed around on the floor as if it was a common Taco Bell restroom.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Warner Bros. PicturesIs it too late to just go back to a guy in a foam rubber suit?

But at least these actors contributed the nuance and soulfulness necessary for the film's representation of a skyscraper-sized space-dragon.

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