Guy straps camera to model train, envisioning a world where giant cats roam the Earth
Aux Features Aux
Jonathan Lawton is a visionary artist. His work may seem humble—the West Yorkshire man builds model railways, set in blue-skied little villages, just like so many other people looking for a productive reprieve from their daily lives. But, Lawton’s work extends beyond its genre and into the realm of speculative fiction thanks to his collaborator, a cat named Mittens that towers like a benevolent god in a showcase of his creation.
Lawton recently created a striking short film in which he put a camera on a model train as it toured his miniature town. The craftsmanship on display in the tiny boxcars and bridges is impressive in its own right, but what truly stands out is Mittens walking throughout the town, mighty and proud as it surveys its domain.
Mittens towers over the little village, keeping watch over everything that occurs within its domain. The train momentarily enters a tunnel and briefly hides from the giant cat’s view, but it emerges again soon after, just as Mittens effortlessly descends from a warehouse roof to stand, impassive as a four-legged Colossus Of Rhodes, while the train passes between its car-sized paws.
Fortunately, Lawton and Mittens’ art offers a utopian vision of the future. The cat doesn’t swipe or bite at its tiny subjects, but lives in harmony with them, keeping a watchful eye on all it surveys. The only downside to the video’s depiction of a giant cat-ruled world is that occasionally, as the clip demonstrates, our skyscraper-sized feline overlords may occasionally interrupt traffic by sitting in front of a train before lazily standing up to reveal a gross cat asshole the size of a billboard.
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43 Comments
Let me be the first to say this is awesome.
It is, and it’s the perfect opportunity to give a shout-out to my favorite Twitter account, Giant Military Cats:@giantcat9 even tweeted about this train video a few weeks ago:
I don’t get it. Trains are…OK. Aren’t they? What exactly did he do to deserve this? Am I supposed to appreciate the timing? The art? The sheer cruelty? Is there an element of parody that’s been lost on me? Is it a reference to Aspie train obsessives? Or is this meant merely to remind viewers of a more substantive work — a true meme?With no greater context, I find it uncompelling, and I hereby issue a tentative “Boo, not feeling it, sir or ma’am.”
It’s a gif of a reoccurring joke from Asdfmovie
Cheerfully withdrawn.
#TechnicalityNoDownBooOver
never mind
No such thing as a benevolent cat.
Is there a non faecebook link?
This is the cuter, fluffier version of that scene in “Ready, Player One” where King Kong menaces the street racers, which was my favorite scene in that movie. So two paws up!
Through the cat’s legs. +10
The moment where you lose sight of the cat as the terrain rises up and the train enters the tunnel, only to be hit with the reveal that the cat is straddling the tracks as it rounds the bend…kaiju directors/cinematographers, take note of that.
Agreed. That was such a fantastic reveal. I even let out a “Whoa!” when the cat legs hove in sight.
before lazily standing up to reveal a gross cat asshole the size of a billboard.I’m glad someone released the butthole cut.
But did it have to be 4 hours?
YES.
I have become Mittens, destroyer of worlds.
“I’m Mitchell!”
Are you Ma-ma-ma-ma-Mitchell?
If Gozer had asked me…
Think of all the incredibly bad schlock Sid and Marty Krofft would have been able to create if they had tiny camera like we do today…
And legalized marijuana!
They just needed the tiny camera. They had lsd.
How is it that cat is not going Godzilla all over those trains? My cats would!
He’s waiting for the most inconvenient time
Because you want him to. Cats will never do what you want
Cat butt!
Crabtown will never be the same.
20th or 21st century reference?
Both great references. No need to choose.
He can’t be much of a train enthusiast to have strapped a camera to the locomotive. Those things have been available with cameras for decades now.
I’ve been in the hobby for 20 years and never once run across a locomotive sold from the factory with a built-in camera. Even if such a thing does exist, not all of us can afford to dedicate a locomotive to just filming stuff. Taping a GoPro to a flatcar and pushing it ahead of the train is an easy and cheap alternative, and what almost everyone does.
Well AV Club, you finally beat Rex Chapman to it.
This is cool, but I swear we’d have fusion already if we put these people to good use.
The ending looked more like Trump’s mouth.
This needs to be re-shot in VR.
It’s stuff like this that gets me through the pandemic. Bravo. Also: c’mon, you can’t even see its asshole.
This is exactly what I needed today.