Smalltown Boy CapCut Template: Which One Is Real and Why It Fails

TL;DR — The Smalltown Boy CapCut template with the most runs is "Silly Cat Meme" (132,136 uses on October 27, 2026). It isn't AI: it lays the two original cats over your photo as a background. The AI ones are "Ai" by Future301 and "SmallTown Boy" by FEadie, and they spend CapCut credits. If you'd rather skip templates, Seadanse's Smalltown Boy AI makes the 14-second wail-and-trade video from 1 or 2 photos with the song built in.

You tap a link hoping to dance at the fence, but you get something else. As one person posted under a TikTok tutorial for the dance, "Nope. It just makes my pic the background".

Other people run into credit walls or can't even spot the edit. A viewer wrote, "I cant use it, keeps asking me to pay".

We opened every Smalltown Boy CapCut template we could find on October 27, 2026, and here's which one does what and how to fix each problem.

Where Is the Smalltown Boy CapCut Template?

The Smalltown Boy CapCut template lives in the CapCut app and on capcut.com, and most people reach it from a "CapCut template" link on a TikTok video of the dance.

There isn't just one template to pick from. You'll find at least six options made by different people.

Searching "Smalltown Boy" in the app's Templates tab brings up several choices. But finding the right version isn't always easy. One user commented under the Spider-Man and Mary Jane clip, "yo tengo capcut y es imposible encontrar esta plantilla, o salen unas mas cortas de 14 segundos" (Spanish for "I have CapCut and it's impossible to find this template, or shorter ones under 14 seconds come up").

Which Smalltown Boy CapCut Template Is the Real AI One?

Only some Smalltown Boy CapCut templates are AI; the most-used one is a green screen. That means it cuts out the dancing cats and lays them flat over your photo. 132,136 uses means it's the one most people land on, so it's the one most people get wrong.

Here are the six we found, by uses:

• "Silly Cat Meme" by GreenScreamMemes (132,136 uses): not AI. It's a green screen: the two original cats, cut out, dance over your photo, which stays a still background. It runs 14 seconds with one photo slot.
• "Ai" by Future301 (80,653 uses): an AI template, 13 seconds, one photo. Its sample keeps the same dancer up front the whole time, on a red patterned wall, without the trade.
• "SmallTown Boy" by FEadie (59,864 uses): an AI template, 15 seconds, one photo, and its sample shows two men at a wooden fence and hedge.
• "Smalltown Boy Ai" by rizky (7,097 uses): an AI template, 10 seconds, the two-cat version.
• "Small Town Boy Trend" by ArtemisCC (4,005 uses): an AI template, 14 seconds, and it's the template under the Spider-Man and Mary Jane version of the trend.
• "Smalltown Boy" by BatToS (1,111 uses): an AI template, 14 seconds.

The AI templates are 10 to 15 seconds long and take one photo.

If you want two different dancers who trade places, add two photos to the Smalltown Boy AI generator.

How Do You Use a Smalltown Boy CapCut Template?

You use a Smalltown Boy CapCut template by opening its link in the CapCut app, tapping Use template, adding a photo and exporting. A CapCut template is an edit someone built in the CapCut app, with a slot for your photo.

1. Open the link: open the link from a TikTok video's template button, or search the Templates tab in the CapCut app.
2. Tap Use template: tap the button on the template page to open the media picker.
3. Add your photo: pick the image you want to use from your camera roll.
4. Export: save your video to your device or share it directly to your feed.

Some creators add extra steps you don't actually need. One popular TikTok guide tells users to "click Use Template in CapCut" after copying links. But as a viewer under another tutorial said, "Copying the link was a completely unnecessary step".

Why Isn't the Smalltown Boy CapCut Template Working?

The Smalltown Boy CapCut template usually fails in one of five ways, and each has a plain cause. Here's what goes wrong and how you can fix it.

The Cats Dance Over Your Photo Instead of You

A viewer under a Smalltown Boy dance video wrote, "dont work, just outside a still oicture with cats dancing". Another viewer under a CapCut tutorial said, "Didn't work for me it just put the original two dancing cats over my picture".

That's because you picked Silly Cat Meme, which is a green screen (the cats cut out and laid over your picture). As another comment on that same video noted, "it doesn't work because this one isn't ai."

Fix: pick an AI template from the list above, like FEadie's or Future301's.

The Template Keeps Asking You to Pay

A frustrated user posted under a Smalltown Boy clip, "I cant use it, keeps asking me to pay". Another viewer under a Smalltown Boy dance video explained, "Son 150 de crédito que debe tener" (Spanish for "you need 150 credits").

That's because the AI templates spend CapCut credits inside the app. If your account runs out of credits, the app stops the video and asks for payment.

Fix: check the credit cost on the template before you add photos.

The Result Looks Nothing Like the Smalltown Boy Dance

A user under a trending video complained, "Son re truchos porque gasté muchos créditos y mis gatos quedaron re mal" (Spanish for "they're total fakes, I spent a lot of credits and my cats came out awful"). Another commenter on the same dance clip said, "This is cap, the CapCut version looks sooo bad and nothing like this".

That's because an AI template takes one photo and may keep one dancer up front the whole time, without the trade. Future301's sample shows this problem on a red patterned wall.

Fix: choose a template whose sample shows the trade at 7 seconds, and use a clear front-facing photo.

You Can't Find the Template in CapCut

Many users can't spot the right edit in the app before they even start. As a viewer under a CapCut tutorial asked, "Why its never work to me".

That's because there are several templates with near-identical names, and some search results are shorter ones under 14 seconds. The search bar doesn't always show the version you saw on your feed.

Fix: open the template from the TikTok video's link, or search the exact name from the list above.

Your Smalltown Boy CapCut Video Has No Song

Your finished export can end up silent, or with other audio. CapCut's own guide for the trend tells creators to make the motion first, then add the audio yourself in the CapCut editor before you export.

Fix: add the song in the CapCut editor before you export.

How to Make the Smalltown Boy Dance Without a CapCut Template

You can make the Smalltown Boy dance without a CapCut template on Seadanse's Smalltown Boy AI page, where you add 1 or 2 photos and press Create.

You get a vertical 9:16 MP4 of about 14 seconds at a red wooden fence. People, pets, cartoon and game characters all work. Faces, hair and outfits come from your photos, with no watermark on the exported video.

Here's what you get:

• Two close-ups: your first photo wails up close for the first 7 seconds while the second dances behind.
• The trade: on the cut at 7 seconds they swap, and your second photo takes the close-up.
• The partner: with one photo, the page makes a matching partner. That's another animal of the same kind for a pet, a character in the same drawing style for a character, or an adult friend for a person.
• The song: the 1984 recording of "Smalltown Boy" plays from the first second, already in the file.

One 720p video costs $9.90, paid once, with no sign-up and no app. One photo or two cost the same.

You can see the full breakdown in our guide on how to make a Smalltown Boy AI video. If you want to check out other options on the market, we also have every Smalltown Boy AI generator compared.

Smalltown Boy CapCut Template FAQ

Is the Smalltown Boy CapCut template free?

The green-screen template doesn't cost money, but it isn't AI. Viewers say the AI ones ask them to pay, with one user noting, "capcut not free. it needs a subscription."

Why does the Smalltown Boy CapCut template only show cats?

That's because you picked the green-screen Silly Cat Meme template by mistake. As one viewer under a CapCut tutorial pointed out, they were "only getting cats".

Can I use two photos in a Smalltown Boy CapCut template?

The templates take one photo. If you use our Smalltown Boy AI video maker, you can add 1 or 2 photos, and the tool makes a matching partner when you add one.

Does the Smalltown Boy CapCut template work with my cat?

The template works with pets, and you can read how the Smalltown Boy dance trend started with two cats. On our page, a pet stays a real animal of its own breed, standing on its hind legs and dancing.

What song is in the Smalltown Boy CapCut template videos?

The music is the 1984 recording of "Smalltown Boy" by Bronski Beat. Jimmy Somerville sings the vocal in falsetto on Bronski Beat's 1984 single.

Make Your Smalltown Boy AI Video Without the Template

The most popular template is just a green screen that pastes original cats over your photo, while the AI versions spend credits. You can skip the setup and make a Smalltown Boy AI video directly in your browser with both close-ups, the fence, and the trade included. Each video is $9.90 at 720p, paid once.

Written by The Seadanse Team, the team that built the Smalltown Boy AI page.

Related Articles

• How to Make a Smalltown Boy AI Video From 1 or 2 Photos (4 Steps) — the four steps, who wails first, and the photos that work best.
• What Is the Smalltown Boy Dance Trend? The Wailing Cats, Explained — who posted the two cats, why the song came back, and how the dance spread.
• Best Smalltown Boy AI Generators (2026): 10 Ways Compared — the sites and apps that make this video, side by side on photos, length, sound and price.
• Smalltown Boy AI Prompt (Copy-Ready): Both Close-Ups and the Trade — a full prompt for the two shots, to use in a video tool yourself.