Visual Effects Society Slams the Oscars for That 'Cats' Moment

James Corden and Rebel Wilson appeared on stage in costume as their Cats characters and skewered their movie while presenting at the 2020 Oscars.

The co-stars presented the award for Best Visual Effects and joked, “As cast members of the motion picture Cats, nobody more than us understands the importance of good visual effects.”

As you’re probably aware, the movie Cats was critically panned and a lot of the criticism had to do with the visual effects.

Now, the Visual Effects Society is slamming the Oscars for that whole bit.

“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,” the organization said in a statement.

“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,” the statement continued.

“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,” the society added. “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.”