British animator Simon Tofield has turned his love affair with cats into an amusing series of cartoon videos, delighting millions of viewers on YouTube and other outlets.
For his inspiration, Simon relies on his memories of his numerous companions through the years — Jess, Maisy, Hugh, Teddy, Poppy and Lilly — but the name of the cat in his cartoon is known simply as Simon’s Cat.
The first video on this page asks the question “Do cats really hate water?” It is from Simon’s highly informative series called “Simon’s Cat Logic,” in which cat behavioral expert Nicky Trevorrow joins the conversation to explain how cats think.
I have always loved cats and thought I knew something about them, but I have been learning quite a lot from listening to Nicky’s advice in these videos. For example, I never thought it made much difference where you place a bowl of cat food, but Nicky suggests that the food bowl be placed apart from the water bowl, because cats in the wild keep their food away from their water source. She also advises cat owners to place the food bowl out from a wall, so that the cat can eat with the wall behind and thus be able to peer into the open space for protection. It’s at least worth some experimentation.
The second video on this page is Simon’s very first “Simon’s Cat” animation from March 4, 2008, called “Cat Man Do.” It illustrates perhaps the most important question in a cat’s life: Who really is in control?
From that first video, Simon went on to produce a series of short delightful animations that cover all sorts of cat experiences, including interactions with other animals. Check out the full list of Simon’s Cat Shorts.
In 2013, he produced a video that tells about his early life and how he progressed to become a professional animator with an ongoing love of cats. It’s called “The Simon’s Cat Story.”
His Latest video, released in December, is called “Winter Games” and can be viewed in the third video player on this page.
Simon’s most ambitious project so far is a 13-minute full color action video with sound effects and music called “Off to the Vet,” which you can view in the last video player on this page. The care that went into this project is obvious, but if you want to see behind the scenes and learn about the intricacies of animation, check out the 10 videos that cover all aspects of the production, from story inspiration to character voices, along with a companion book of the same name.
Simon, who works as an animator at Tandem Films in London, has had a lot of success with his cat animations, branching into:
- Books
- Comic strips
- Games, and
- A huge line of products
As for cat knowledge you can use, check out these episodes of “Cat Logic”:
- Why do cants have a “crazy time’?
- Do Cats Fall In Love?
- In or Out? Why Are Cats So Indecisive?!
- Why Do Cats Love Boxes?!
- Why Do Cats Sleep in Unusual Places?!
- Why do cats clean themselves so much?
- Things You Didn’t Know About Feeding Time!
- Does Your Cat Bring You “Gifts”?
- What makes a great gift for a cat?
- Are Black Cats Unlucky?
- Learn To Speak Cat
- How to keep cats entertained!
- Is Your Cat Talking To You?
- Why do cats go crazy for Catnip?
- Territorial Behaviour!
- Cats on the Move
