La Calabaza CapCut Template vs AI: the Original Kittens, or Your Own Pet?
What CapCut's La Calabaza templates do, checked in October 2026: the blue-screen kittens over your clip. Why they can't make your cat or dog dance, and how an AI template turns all three dancers into your pet.
La Calabaza is three tiny AI kittens by a road at night, standing up on their hind legs to dance in sync to "La Calabaza", one in a cowboy hat, one in round glasses. There are two very different ways to join in: paste those kittens into your own video with CapCut, or make a new video where all three dancers are your own cat or dog. Here is what each one gives you.
1Upload a photo of your pet
JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC · under 20 MB0/1 photos
Photos that work best
- Clear, whole body
- Screenshots, stickers
- Head only
- Too dark or blurry
- 14 s video
- 9:16, like the original
- Original song available
- No watermark
2Version
By making a video, you confirm you own these photos or have permission from everyone in them, and they don't show celebrities or anyone under 18.
Renders in about 5–10 minutes. We email you the link. Automatic refund if the photo is rejected or the render fails.
The short answer
- You want the kittens in your living room, for free: a CapCut blue-screen template.
- You want your own pet as the three dancers: the La Calabaza Dance template.
What CapCut offers
- A blue-screen template. "LA CALABAZA" (about 57,000 uses on 31 October 2026) keys the original dancing kittens over a clip you pick.
- Cat templates. MemeScreens' "LA CALABAZA CATS" (323 uses) and "LA CALABAZA KITTENS" (256 uses) set the kittens into ready-made scenes or your footage.
- Free editing. Add text, cut it to the beat, export without paying.
All of them use the original kittens. That's the joke for some people: the kittens dancing in your office or behind your dog. If you want your pet to be the one dancing, a template can't do it, because it has nothing to animate your pet with.
What the AI template makes
- The crouch: three copies of your pet sit hunched by the curb as the camera creeps in.
- The rise: they look up, stand on their hind legs and lift their front paws; the middle one meows.
- The sync dance: a side-to-side sway, paws out, in step with each other.
- The turn: all three turn their backs, turn round and keep dancing; the clip ends on the one in the hat.
It's 14 seconds in 9:16 with the trend sound, from one photo of your cat or dog: its fur, face and markings on all three dancers, the hat in the middle and the glasses on the right. Step by step: how to make the La Calabaza dancing pet video.
Side by side
| CapCut template | La Calabaza (AI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Your clip | One photo of your pet |
| Who dances | The original AI kittens | Your pet, three times |
| Dogs | Only watching | Yes |
| Sound | The template's | The trend sound, in the file |
| Length | The template's | 14 s |
| Price | Free | 10 credits and up, or from $7.99 without an account |
Using both
They work together: make your pet's dance here, then open it in CapCut to add a caption, or cut it next to a clip of your pet watching the original kittens. Want it for free? See can you make the La Calabaza pet dance video for free?.