This Viral Cartoon Cat Urban Legend Is the Next Internet Story to Become a Movie

Internet urban legends are on the rise due to their built-in fan bases, low-risk storytelling, and an already established influence on online culture. Hollywood is taking good notice of them all one by one, since viral folklore is fast becoming Hollywood’s newest goldmine.

After Siren Head found a home at Warner Bros. in a massive bidding war, another viral internet sensation from the same Canadian art illustrator, Trevor Henderson, the Cartoon Cat urban legend, is to be adapted into a film, as per Bloody Disgusting. The Siren Head creature’s film will be directed by Brian Duffield, with Duffield and Zach Cregger co-writing the script.

Cartoon Cat would be the second feature deal for Henderson. Following the success of the internet-borne Backrooms (2026) by Kane Parsons, Hollywood is digging deep to get original content and capitalize on it. It could be considered a win-win situation for the creators as well as the studios since creators are finally getting recognition that they deserve, fans are getting a chance to watch their favorite horror characters spreading scares on big screens, and Hollywood is getting another story idea.  

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The Cartoon Cat film is acquired by Sony’s TriStar Pictures preemptively. Roy Lee, Steven Schnieder, Scott Glassgold, J. Todd Harris, Thomas Pettinelli, and Marc Marcum are producing the film. Lee and Glassgold are also included in the Siren Head project. TriStar is looking for a suitable director to bring Cartoon Cat to life.

It is known that another internet-borne creator, Markiplier, whose Iron Lung (2026) just hit theaters recently, was the one to boost Henderson’s Siren Head, which helped him gain a massive following and billions of views, leading him to now secure two film adaptation deals within a single year.

Sony Pictures has a long-standing relationship with Henderson, as he did the concept art for Screen Gems’ Tarot (2024). The studio now shows confidence in his creative art and further invests in him in order to keep working with him. Sony is also investing in projects created by independent online artists and internet creators rather than relying on traditional books, comics, and other regular studio ideas.

What is the viral Cartoon Cat urban legend?

The internet urban legend, Cartoon Cat, is known as the menacing cat deemed an ancient hollow rot. It uses collective human awareness and memories of old cartoons as a passageway to manifest into our reality to wreak violent havoc.

It resembles the giant 1930s rubber-hose animation cat, Felix the Cat, but with horrific features. It has blood-stained teeth, wears white cartoon gloves, and can shapeshift or bend the laws of physics.

His unsettling photos appeared in the abandoned malls, dark corridors, and desolate settings that gained massive traction on social media accounts. It is almost the same as the Backrooms, where liminal spaces got immediate attention from the modern audience, especially Gen Z. The psychological roots connected with the Cartoon Cat character are what made the scary creature one of the most beloved monsters on the internet.

The viral nature of this creepypasta, a modern internet legend, remains one of Henderson’s most precious monster mythos. Fans have been actively engaged in discussions in TikTok videos and YouTube comments with their theories suggesting Cartoon Cat to be a demonic entity. Its harmless nostalgic look could be deceiving since it is not an actual cartoon that is here to tear down everything in real human lives.

There are several characters designed by Henderson on his official Instagram page, including Long Horse, Bridge Worm, The Man with the Upside Down Face, and many more. Keeping in mind Hollywood’s recent mining of the internet IPs, there could be a potential for new franchises, but it would be too early to say so. It all depends on the commercial success of Siren Head and Cartoon Cat films before any further official announcement of more film adaptations comes.