Alien Cat Stalls Earth Invasion at 5%, Tracks Down the Tuna

An alien invasion is 5% complete after two years, and the invader has been distracted by a couch. That's the premise of "Operation Maomao," an animated sci-fi comedy from creator Jonathan Yu, presented this week at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) in Taipei.

The planned series runs 26 episodes of seven minutes each. It follows Agent 19 of the Meowtocracy, dispatched from a home world running short on catnip and armed with top-tier training, a battle-ready body and a boss who checks in every Tuesday. Then a human finds him on the street, names him Maomao and keeps him supplied with catnip and canned tuna. The boss is livid. Agent 19 must now work out whether he is still the one doing the conquering.

The character comes from a real cat: Yu's wife's cat, 19, whom he met when he met her.

"I had never lived with a cat before, and so much of what he did felt completely foreign to me (ten years later, I still don't understand most of it): staring at the wall, knocking things off tables, sprinting around the house at 3 a.m.," Yu says. "I started to wonder, what if there's a reason for all of it? What if he's planning something? What if he's planning to take over the world? That's how 19 became Agent 19."

Whose story is it, really?

Yu was born in Taiwan and moved to Canada at age 10. Questions of identity and belonging shaped his childhood, and they were part of the reason he launched Shaogao, his animation brand, in 2017. Maomao belongs to the wider Shaogao Universe.

"On the surface, 'Operation Maomao' is a comedy about an alien cat sent to conquer Earth for catnip. Underneath, it's an immigration story: Maomao arrives with one set of instructions from home, slowly falls in love with his new life, and has to figure out who he is when he belongs to both worlds," Yu says.

An alien cat torn between two worlds is, of course, a familiar shape for anyone who has moved countries at ten.

How finished is the show?

Development stage, but not vaporware. The specifics:

• Season 1 is fully outlined.
• Characters and setting have been designed.
• A trailer is finished.
• Shaogao's 1.8 million followers and existing merchandise line give the characters a built-in fan base.

Yu and his team are also developing "The Shaogao Show," set in the same fictional world, and he says close viewers of "Operation Maomao" may spot clues to a larger story.

Producer Terris Ko first found Shaogao on YouTube and was struck by how sharp and widely relatable its humor was. Ko and Yu, with third producing partner Mike Huang, saw the potential for an animated universe that could travel.

"We see 'Operation Maomao' as the first introduction to a much bigger world of characters, stories, and adventures that we're excited to bring to life," Ko says.

What does TCCF have to deliver?

Deals. The producers are at the fest to meet creative partners and co-producers, investors willing to fund the show from development through production, and companies handling licensing and distribution.

"Just as importantly, we want to build relationships with partners who share our vision for the property and can help us develop its potential into a truly global animated franchise," Ko says.

The Taiwan Creative Content Fest, organized by the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), runs Nov. 6–9 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. Whether an invasion stalled at 5% becomes a franchise depends on who bites in Taipei this week.