Simon’s Cat by Simon Tofield

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British commercial director Simon Tofield, who is repped by Tandem Films is the creator behind Simon’s Cat, an absolutely delightful series of Flash-animated shorts. While the cartoons are minimalist to the core–simple line designs, no color and basic backgrounds–the animation has two key ingredients that make them a success: personality and charm. The latest short posted below, “Let Me In,” has racked up over 1 million YouTube views since its debut last week. The earlier one, “Cat Man Do,” is also a gem.

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  • http://mymedicatedlife.blogspot.com/ Bitter Animator

    I absolutely love these. The first one I saw made me totally get over my animation cynicism and bitterness for at least half an hour after watching it. So simple and charming with such an eye for the character of the cat. Lovely stuff.

  • http://torontoanimation.blogspot.com TempleDog

    Love guys who can do so much with so little…paring things down to the basics, with just two characters and minimal distractions. And kudos to Simon’s sound person…really great non-verbal acting by cat and owner both. More, please!

  • http://www.taberanimation.com Taber

    Love it! Great timing and building gags. Great stuff!

  • red pill junkie

    ‘Delightful’ is exactly the word to describe this :-)

  • http://educatedmetalhead.blogspot.com/ DanO

    Superb.

    - and no dialogue! Which makes it even better. You can send that short around the world and everyone will enjoy it no matter where they are from. I look forward to seeing more from Simon Tofield. Thanks for the info.

  • http://doubleben.blogspot.com/ Emmett Goodman

    Very nice! And I can totally relate to the cat’s owner. I love what comes out of Tandem Films. They have some great artists.

  • Laughing Dragon

    Wow, that was Flash-animated? I def have the wrong idea about Flash, then. Im always associating it with stiff, flat-looking characters and too-smooth movement. This little toon is a gem. Bravo! Bravo!

  • http://www.spitandspite.com Spit & Spite

    Awesome.

  • maxeythecat

    I saw this the other day on Youtube…absolutely adorable! Utterly charming and wildly funny…kudos to the author! As far as Flash is concerned, chuck them, it’s Toon Boom all the way!

  • Fred Sparrman

    Very charming! Oh wait, it was done in Flash? I hate it!

  • http://amymebberson.blogspot.com Amy Mebberson

    Oh, so THIS is the guy behind ‘Kitty Wakeup Call’ – that particular one has gone viral, I had no idea there were others.

    Awesome sauce :)

  • http://www.caleatkinson.blogspot.com Cale Atkinson

    Love it! Really puts a smile on my face!
    Great personality and shows how little you need to include to make something really shine. Kudos!

  • http://www.sisterson.co.uk Dennis Sisterson

    Laughing Dragon: If this was done in Flash then don’t give it too much credit! Simon has clearly done this the old-fashioned way and drawn every frame – whether on paper or into a program makes no odds.
    The beautiful simplicity of this piece shows that there’s no substitute for learning the skills and having the patience and talent to use them to best effect. I hope Simon gets the chance to do more of these, but after this I doubt that he’ll have too much free time!

  • Gummo

    Adorable, funny, charming, simple without being simplistic or simple-minded — who knew anyone still knew how to make such cartoons as these?

    Thanks for turning me on to Mr. Tofield’s work — he’s definitely an artist to watch!

  • Chuck R.

    This makes a great case-in-point to the posting about Rocky and Bullwinkle. There’s not a lot of detail here, but the design is funny, the sounds are funny, the timing is funny and there are unexpected moments, which get laughs.

    I love the part with the gnome: the way the cat shows us the silly thing, and disappears, and then he reappears with his back to us, and for a split second we can’t see what the hell is going on, and then we get the wind-up, and the thud in one instant. finally, there’s the absurdity that the glass is stronger than the gnome. This is all in a few seconds. —this guy’s really good.

    Who cares if he’s using paper or Flash or Toon Boom. He’s animating with his head.

  • http://www.db.dk/dn Dorte Nielsen

    Simon Tofield has a sense of absolute pitch for cats.
    You are a genious :)
    Kind regards from Denmark
    Dorte – owned by a cat :)

  • CatWoman

    We want more of Simon’s Cat here in Maryland, USA !! When is the next one?

  • ECR

    Looking forward to more, more, more!
    Terrific sense of ‘cattitude”!

  • VegasHank

    Why is this guy not producing his own animated cartoon show featuring this cat? He obviously has what it takes to go far. “More- we want more” demanded the masses!!

  • http://www.zachmills.com Kerry

    I LOVE it! Why am I up this early watching it?.. Because I have a cat who would not let me sleep. :)

  • mary

    i love this cat!

  • Cat Lover

    That cat is so funny i watched them for over an 2 hours

  • doodlebug

    I am absolutely dying for the next one! I have shared all 4, but especially the three cat ones with all my friends.

  • jimmie moglia

    The alarm clock cat is a very delightful cartoon. I hope you will upload it again.

  • Diddly

    I saw this and sent it to my mom, cause it reminded me of my cat Shorty and how she hates closed doors. We watched your other cartoons and are waiting for more delightfully simple entertainment, thx Simon!

  • Alicia

    I have never laughed so hard while watching an animated cartoon!!!! Love it Simon!!! The very best and keep them coming!!!!