The once mighty cat. Felis catus. Carnivorous predator by nature, worshipped by ancient Egyptians, feared for its ties to the occult in medieval times, declawed by centuries of domestication, cute YouTube videos and the unfortunate Internet trend known as “breading.” Look it up — it’s not pretty.
A new reality series aims to help cats reclaim their rightful perch atop the carpeted scratching post of the animal kingdom.
Battle Cats, created by Vancouver-based production company Soshefeigh (pronounced SO-she-fy), pits cat against cat, pet owner against pet owner, in a hair-raising skills competition that’s part reality TV, part Best in Show. Events include the Catapult, the Hammer Paw, Obstacle Course, High Jump and the Smash. In each episode, four “cathletes” enter the Battle Cats Arena to test their agility, strength, reflexes, speed, intelligence and dexterity — only one leaves with the title of Battle Cats Champion.
According to the show’s creators Matt O’Brien and René Brar, the series was initially conceived as an obstacle course competition for babies and toddlers until they learned ABC had just picked up a program based on a similar concept.
“So we quickly pivoted and said, ‘What about cats?’” says O’Brien, on the phone from London after meeting with TV executives in Ireland. “And it was a blessing in disguise because as soon as we started to flesh out the concept, we realized [cats] have such a great following online and people just seem to love cats so we were off to the races. And cats are obviously much more agile than babies.”
He adds, “Though they both urinate everywhere and are very ill-tempered.”
Needless to say, the timing for such a show couldn’t be better, with the Internet littered with dozens of cat memes and celebrikitties from I Can Haz Cheezburger? and lolcats to Grumpy Cat, Keyboard Cat, Lil Bub, Henri “Le Chat Noir” and Japan’s Maru, whose box-loving antics have been viewed more than 200 million times on YouTube. However the cat craze currently clawing up the Internet is more than a feline fad, maintains Brar.
“Humans, going back to caveman days, we’re just hardwired to pay attention to cats because big cats were our main predator,” says Brar who ironically, like his colleague, is allergic to cats. “There’s something instinctive that just makes us focus on them. And when you shoot them in slow motion, there’s something about them that’s hypnotic and beautiful.”
While the cat competition is real, the show’s play-by-play and colour commentary is scripted and deliberately over-the-top in its reverence for the supposedly hallowed sport.
“We really used the script to augment the colourful characters and the crazy cats,” O’Brien says. “So we really wanted to match that tone, almost like an homage to Best in Show with a dollop of Wipe Out… some of the forefathers of Battle Cats that really inspired the style and tone of this comedy.”
Cat owners also share screen time with their competitive pets, though Brar concedes not everyone was prepared for the spotlight. “We definitely saw a lot of stage mom types during the casting process who were very assured about the ability of their cats and how they were going to tear the competition apart,” he says. “There were certainly a lot of people who talked a big game but when it came to game time they weren’t quite ready for the big league.”
Then there are competitors like Katelyn Garrity and her one-year-old Manx named Navii who were born ready.
“[Navii] is a very high jumper,” says an enthusiastic Garrity, who owns three cats and can often be seen walking them on leashes around her Burnaby neighbourhood. “She can go really far and fast. She’s quick on her feet. The Manx breed are known to have long back legs and shorter front legs like a rabbit so that was really a benefit towards the show.”
Although she’s unable to disclose how Navii fared in her episode of Battle Cats, Garrity admits the competition was fierce. “They asked me what breed I was most nervous about, and at the time I was really nervous about Bengals because they’re really high jumpers as well, and [the crew] told me to actually watch out for the Hairless Sphinx… They’re the ones to look out for.”
As with most sports, however, there is a dark side. Namely doping. While Garrity and clean-living Navii fall firmly in the anti-catnip camp, other competitors have no problem spiking their performances. The issue is so divisive, Battle Cats dedicated an episode to the controversial topic, going so far as to interview outspoken pot advocate Jody Emery.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to have [catnip] in this competition, only because it can go two ways. They either eat it or roll in it… It’s kind of like smoking weed,” Garrity says.
The bigwigs behind Battle Cats, however, have more of a laissez-faire attitude towards the uncontrolled substance. “Ultimately we left it up to the owners,” O’Brien says. “It’s a double-edged sword. It either gets them really excited and amped or it knocks them out and makes them comatose. But we think that cats should have the freedom to choose how they live their lives.”
With six half-hour episodes already in the can, clips of the show began appearing online in the summer. Full episodes will air this October on speciality channel Bite TV and there are talks about taking Battle Cats to other countries.
Despite such prospects, Brar says his aspirations for Battle Cats are much more modest than world domination.
“Really our goal is for people to turn on the show and say, ‘What the f***? Is this real? Is this a joke?’”
