Animated Inspiration: Simon's Cat "Screen Grab"

So my neighbor has this cat that she leaves outside all the time, all year round. When asked, the story I got was that it was because the cat kept peeing in the house. Understandable, I suppose, but when you have four kids under the age of five and your sister has a really nasty dog that she keeps indoors, it doesn't surprise me that the cat was acting out.

At any rate, I discovered evidence that 'Tuna'* spent the better part of the winter living in my shed. And this spring, for reasons unknown, my neighbor abandoned her house and moved out in the space of, like, two days. On the one hand, I'm sorry to see her go cause she was the best neighbor we had living there since the house was built. On the other hand, she abandoned the cat.

After a discussion with my roommate about the ups and downs of cat ownership, we began the process of feeding Tuna and letting her into the house for as long as she wants to be inside. Hopefully, by the time winter rolls around, she'll be used to using the litterbox again and will want to stay inside where it's warm. So, I guess I've got a cat now. She's friendly and well behaved so far, but I'm hoping that I won't have to deal with situations like in the new Simon's Cat. :3



* My roommate and I call her 'Tuna' because since she moved in, my yard has been free of mice and moles. To reinforce her good behavior, every time she left a mole or a mouse on the front porch, we'd give her a can of tuna.

Animated Inspiration: Simon's Cat - "Nut Again"

Since it's the Christmas season, here's an additional animation that I find inspiring: Simon's Cat in "Nut Again".



One of Preston Blair's famous examples of secondary action, found in his books on animation, is the squirrel as he picks up a nut and flips his tail. While this animation has the usual mixture of dry wit and slapstick comedy, it's the timing, weight, and motion of the squirrel's tail that I find most interesting and worthy of further study.

Animated Inspiration: Simon's Cat 'Window Pain'

Since I've been a little late with these blog posts, here's an added treat for this month: a new Simon's Cat.

When I watched this the first time, I started to get that feeling of 'been there done that' when the cat pointed to his mouth and did the whole 'feed me' bit. I had fallen into the trap of believing that the ending was going to be anti-climactic, so the presence of the kitten was unexpected and left me with a great laugh. I can't help but think that Simon Tofield planned this little 'gotcha' from the start. Much like playing with a cat using a laser pointer, Tofield led us right where he wanted us to go when setting up the final gag.

Animated Inspiration: Simon's Cat

Since my review of the 2012 TAIS Summer screening isn't finished yet, here's the latest Simon's Cat to hold everyone over.

Animated Inspiration: Simon's Cat "Fowl Play"

You know it's going to be a good day when you get to work and there's a new Simon's Cat waiting for you. Looks like we got an early Christmas gift from Simon Tofield: a hilarious animated short and a solid object lesson in character animation!

Looking at this short film, the timing in Simon Tofield's character animation keeps getting more and more solid. After watching the film through once, hit the replay button, then pay close attention to the motion of the cat from around :05 seconds to :20 seconds--where the cat shakes his head, notices the turkey and lunges up at the glass, then hides back down. The motion is smooth and expressive and the posing remains very clear and readable. It's the motion of Tofield's characters, coupled with the posing, that allow me to clearly read the cat's motives--even more than the actual staging of props in the film's initial setup. These key elements describe the cat's body language, which in turn allow us to subconsciously read beyond the cat's facial expressions and clearly see the motivation and thoughts behind his actions. As I proceed on my animator's journey, short films like "Simon's Cat" are valuable tools for training my eyes to look for the key elements in the motion of real-life animals, objects, and people before attempting to reproduce them in a visual medium.

Animated Inspiration: Simon's Cat 'Catnap'

Well, it's Thanksgiving here in the States and I'm thankful that another Simon's Cat was released!

Animated Inspiration: Simon's Cat

This was posted last Friday on Simon Tofield's website, so I'm a little late with the repost, but here's the latest edition of "Simon's Cat" in a scenario that I'm sure a lot of cat owners can relate to!

Animated Inspiration: Simon's Cat

Well, Simon Tofeld has done it again. I found this a month late (I think he released it for Easter), but here is the latest Simon's Cat. As always, it's chock full of character and mirth and worth two minutes of your valuable time!

Animated Inspiration: Simon's Cat 'Sticky Tape'

You know it's going to be a good month when Simon Tofeld releases another installment of his "Simon's Cat" series! As my current project is being produced using Flash CS4, it's always exciting--and humbling--to see what Flash can do in the hands of a master animator like Mr. Tofeld!

Animated Inspiration: Simon's Cat 'Santa Claws'

Christmas is right around the corner, so here's an early present from Simon Tofield: a Christmas themed 'Simon's Cat' animation. *<[:3

Animated Inspiration: Simon's Cat 'The Box'

Simon Tofield is back with his cat. Sometimes Simon's work makes me laugh out loud, sometimes it's just a chuckle, but I always find something amusing about this series--probably because I love cats.

Looking at this from an animation standpoint, I love the cat's smooth motion and split-second expressions. Watch when the cat tips over the box from marker :45 to :46. In one second, a maximum of fifteen frames if he's drawing this animation on twos, the cat goes from being compact with limbs tucked in to spread eagled to being compacted again, albeit in a box. The amount of motion, body language, and expression that takes place in just that one second is enormous--to say nothing of the timing necessary to pull off that gag. Mr. Tofield is simply a master at drawing these split-second expressions that parody a real-life cat's reflexes.

Also observe the layered actions at marker 1:33 when the cat pops out of the box--first one ear and then the other as the head moves and the eyes look around. Mr. Tofield draws the cat--moves the cat--not as a single entity but as a series of individual parts. Observe the motion of the cat's legs at marker 1:50. There's no symmetry in the motion, which is intentionally jarring to our expectations but breathes more life into the cat.

As an added treat, check out this animated commercial for Felliway, a diffuser spray for cats. Not a Simon Tofield production as far as I know, but amusing nonetheless.