'Space Cats' Viral Video's Creator Explains April Fools Joke (VIDEO)

By: SPACE.com Staff
Published: 03/30/2012 06:35 PM EDT on SPACE.com

Brant Widgen is so good at his job that you are not aware of the widespread problem that is cats "photo-bombing" stunning images of space.

Ok, so not really. But in the spirit of April Fools' Day, SPACE.com would like to share a hilarious video about a fictional character named Brant Widgen who works as an "image enhancement engineer" whose primary job is to remove adorable but pesky cats from the foreground of space photos.

The video begins with Widgen describing his typical workday.

"I usually receive a folder filled with new space images, and my task is to clear them up," Widgen says in the video. "I tweak some of the contrast, the color palette, and most of the time — I'd say 80 percent of the time — is the removal of a cat." [See the space cats video]

In fact, you could say that when these cats are trying to steal attention away from the wonder of these cosmic landscapes, it's Widgen's job to be firm in saying: no can haz.

"The problem is that they are obscuring the astronomical phenomena that our scientists and the public would be more interested in seeing," he explains in the video.

The video was posted on YouTube by Andy Freeberg, who told SPACE.com that it was created by some of his friends to poke fun at the ongoing debate about "fake" images of the cosmos. [April Fools! 5 Fake Scientific Breakthroughs]

"The friends that made it were joking about all of the YouTube comments where people claim NASA is photoshopping their content to fake things," Freeberg said in an email. "In particular, they were talking about a video of sunspots that commenters claimed were fake. They thought it was funny that people would believe NASA would be going to the trouble of photoshopping sunspots into scientific images and that started the joke that they also have to photoshop cats out of the pictures to make them look 'right.' That idea, combined with the fact that a lot of the Astronomy/Hubble images really do get photoshopped to make them more appealing, was the seed of the idea."

The character of Widgen is fictional, and Freeberg said his friend, Ryan, improvised most of the lines.

"I also just love the idea that there's this guy out there whose entire job is sitting in a cubicle and photoshopping cats out of astronomical images and yet who talks about it in a completely matter-of-fact way," Freeberg said.

In the video, Widgen talks about his job and shows examples of before-and-after images featuring his handiwork.

"I think there was a time in my career where I did resent space cats and their tendency to photo-bomb these images, but it's like getting angry at the sunshine," Widgen said. "It's like being jealous of a bag of sand. These things are just things and they're doing what they're meant to do."

In some images, Widgen shows where the cats originally were, saying that he can still see "the feline signature."

He also goes on to say that his most difficult case of "space cat photo-bombing" was the famous Pillars of Creation image from the Hubble Space Telescope.

"There was a tiny, little tabby peeking around one of the pillars, and it was just too adorable to erase because it was like the pillar was his little scratching post, and he was peeking out to say: hello, I trust you. I love you," Widgen explains.

For Freeberg and his friends, the video is also something of a commentary.

"One of the best parts about the video is that it plays on the idea of what is "real" and the skepticism people have surrounding anything involving space," Freeberg said. "Forget the moon landing conspiracy, we've just blown the roof off of the space cat conspiracy and the world will never be the same."

Yet, at its core, the video is meant to be funny and lighthearted.

"[T]he video was basically made as a joke, but we're glad people are digging it," he said.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

• Gallery: Strange Nebula Shapes, What Do You See?
• Stunning Photos of Our Milky Way Galaxy
• 10 Tech Blunders That Could Be April Fools' Day Jokes

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Comments

[mamacat]

07:57 PM on 04/24/2012

Flying felines, from the far-flung forests of Frankadonia, fighting for a future free from falsely friendly canines and rodentia. Long may they prosper!

[rg9rts]

06:45 AM on 04/05/2012

I still don't understand why people turn into mushpots where cats are concerned, oops gotta run "Monsta" is meowing for food.

[glitterpet]

08:49 PM on 04/03/2012

I thought you all might enjoy this little cat "space" poem --

THE CAT AND THE MOON

The cat went here and there
And the moon spun round like a top,
And the nearest kin of the moon,
The creeping cat, looked up.
Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,
For, wander and wail as he would,
The pure cold light in the sky
Troubled his animal blood.
Minnaloushe runs in the grass
Lifting his delicate feet.
Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?
When two close kindred meet,
What better than call a dance?
Maybe the moon may learn,
Tired of that courtly fashion,
A new dance turn.
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
From moonlit place to place,
The sacred moon overhead
Has taken a new phase.
Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils
Will pass from change to change,
And that from round to crescent,
From crescent to round they range?
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
Alone, important and wise,
And lifts to the changing moon
His changing eyes.

W. B. Yeats (1865-1939)

=)

[MagicManDoneIt]

10:47 AM on 04/02/2012

Don't get rid of space cats they want to be pind

[Tony Rochon]

09:31 AM on 04/02/2012

There are more stars in the sky than grains of sand in the litterbox.

[nanaofmysky]

05:03 AM on 04/02/2012

We always said cats were alians. One minute you can not find them then the next they are behind you. They look at you as if to say " What is your problem, I was busy (sp)" They purr and you give them ALL your attention, they meow you feed them. You are there to serve them at all times. LOL Love the pics.

[wlcd]

01:43 AM on 04/02/2012

Is PETA aware of this?. Save the cats. Space cats have rights. The prime directive forbids removings space cats. Capt. Kirk and Spot, opps, I ment Spock are hot on trail. I beleive space cate are the ancestors of tribles.

[firstsuf]

08:46 PM on 04/01/2012

this would explain ancient Egyptians reverence for feline divinity

[satorii1s]

03:37 PM on 04/01/2012

Me and my wife have been well trained to serve our Cat overlords, and are rewarded by their presence daily.
They purr and we pet them, the murr and we feed them.
They do the thing with their eyes and we drop whatever were doing and pay attention to them. Best food, best toys, best and warmest resting spot in front of the monitor heater.

[Sabrae]

01:16 PM on 04/01/2012

This is exactly the sort of thing cats would do. This, and shop online with your credit cards when you're asleep.

[Hillrick]

12:19 PM on 04/02/2012

I've heard that....

[sharinstuff]

11:15 AM on 04/01/2012

did someone say viral cat video? http://www.webvet.com/main/2011/12/22/viral-video-nyan-cat

[Juanne Michaud]

03:07 AM on 04/01/2012

Cats ARE the galactic overlords. I thought everyone knew this. (Typing this while the 3 who live with me are sleeping. Have to be careful -- They disapprove of Monkeys reading or writing.)

[VirginiaJeff]

12:36 AM on 04/01/2012

LOL. Nice ;)

[Genders]

09:45 PM on 03/31/2012

Cats are our masters. Haven't ya figured that out?

Good thing cats love us.

[Hillrick]

12:20 PM on 04/02/2012

Only until they learn to open cans on their own.

[Genders]

02:21 PM on 04/02/2012

They do like our canned food, but they don't need it. ;)

[rg9rts]

06:39 AM on 04/05/2012

Too lazy.

[Medusa Sant]

07:12 PM on 03/31/2012

lmao