HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Simon's Cat'' is a British animated web cartoon and book series written by Simon Tofield. It features a hungry cat who uses various tactics to get his owner to feed him. In January 2009, it was announced that ''Simon's Cat'' would be published in book format in response to the success of the first animated films.
Canongate Books Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner '' Life of Pi''. Canongate wa ...
released the title on October 1st, 2009 in the United Kingdom. It was later released in 26 other countries with 9 titles added in the series. In June 2012, Walt Disney Animation Studios began releasing specially-made shorts of ''Simon's Cat'', while a ''Simon's Cat'' newspaper strip ran in the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...
'' from 2011 to 2013. In August 2015, it was announced that Endemol Shine UK had acquired a stake on ''Simon's Cat''. In May 2016, ''Simon's Cat'' partnered with the American preschool programme ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...
'' as part of their Love to Learn campaign. In June 2017, the game ''Simon's Cat: Crunch Time'' premiered. In February 2018, the game ''Simon's Cat Dash'' premiered.


Background

Tofield, who has over 13 years of experience with animating commercials for companies such as
Marmite Marmite ( ) is a British savoury food spread based on yeast extract, invented by the German scientist Justus von Liebig. It is made from by-products of beer brewing ( lees) and is produced by the British company Unilever. Marmite is a vegan ...
and Tesco, initially came up with the idea of his first short film as a way of teaching himself how to animate using Adobe Flash. He also further revealed that inspiration for the series came from experiences with his four cats – Teddy, Hugh, Jess, and Maisie, with Hugh being the primary inspiration.


Production

The series is animated with Adobe Flash Professional and TVPaint. The pictures are hand-drawn electronically, using an A4-size Wacom Intuos 3
graphics tablet A graphics tablet (also known as a digitizer, digital graphic tablet, pen tablet, drawing tablet, external drawing pad or digital art board) is a computer input device that enables a user to hand-draw images, animations and graphics, with a spec ...
.


Characters

* Simon's Cat: The main character; an affectionate but often stubborn and clumsy cat. His antics include his quest for food (his signature gesture is to point at his mouth or dish when hungry), and other ways of vexing his owner, Simon. Simon's Cat loves cat food, but also enjoys birds, mice, and fish out of Simon's
koi or more specifically , are colored varieties of the Amur carp ('' Cyprinus rubrofuscus'') that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of ''C. rubrofuscus'' ke ...
pond. A significant amount of the humour in the book comes from his efforts to capture birds, mice, and fish. Simon's Cat has not been officially named, although writer Simon Tofield says that Simon's Cat is based on his own cat, Hugh (in the show, Simon has been hinted to call his cat Gilbert). * Simon Tofield: The long-suffering owner of the cat, a graphic artist. Simon is good-natured, gentle, easily startled, and accident-prone. As shown in "Spider Cat" and "Scary Legs," he is very arachnophobic. Simon is from Leighton Buzzard,
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
. * Kitten: The playful
sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...
of Simon's Cat, who was brought home by Simon in October 2011. In spite of his tender age, he appears to be considerably smarter and more cunning than his adult counterpart. Kitten, too, will point at his mouth or dish when hungry, just like his adult counterpart. * Simon's Sister's Dog: A dog that first appears in the video "Fed Up," in which he is fed underneath the table by a family. The dog also appears in the book and loves to play fetch. It's revealed that his name is Oscar. * The Bird: A bird who Simon's Cat chases, and who generally outsmarts him. Also features as a cat toy or even a Christmas ornament. * The Hedgehog: A hedgehog that lives in Simon's back garden. Simon's Cat loves to annoy the hedgehog by impaling objects such as apples, leaves, and tennis balls onto its prickles. The hedgehog also has children. * The Bunny: A rabbit that lives in Simon's garden who can literally run circles around Cat. * The Squirrel: The squirrel lives in a tree in Simon's back yard. He loves to pelt Simon's Cat with acorns when the cat chases him. * The Garden Gnome: A garden gnome similar to the one broken by Simon's Cat in "Let Me In." The gnome is seen holding either a fishing rod or a net. Simon's Cat often tries to get the gnome to help in his schemes to catch food. Cat considers the gnome a friend, apparently unaware that it is an inanimate object. * The Toad: The toad also lives in the garden. * The Frog: The frog appears in some shorts as well, and is differentiated from the toad in a "How to Draw... Frogs and Toads" short as well as in the "Simon Draws" section of the ''Kitten Chaos'' book. * Chloe: A female cat who is the love interest of Simon's Cat. Demure and somewhat snobbish, she exhibits a finicky appetite, munching on a trail of cat treats or even butterflies, but angrily refusing a mouse offered by Simon's Cat. * The Mouse: Another creature that is often chased by Simon's Cat. Despite their adversarial relationship, the mouse aided Simon's Cat in an elaborate plot intended to impress a female cat in one shore, later helping him to get food in another." * Maisy: Another female cat who falls in love with Simon's Cat, even though he grows to be terrified of her. * The Crow: A bird who sometimes annoys Simon's Cat. * Jazz: A grumpy territorial Persian that Simon's Cat often gets into fights with. * Teddy: A stray cat living in a box that Simon's Cat befriends. As of late 2022, he appears to have found a forever home.


Episodes


Main series

This is a comprehensive list of all the Black & White (rarely in colour) episodes of ''Simon's Cat'' including holiday specials. There are over 100 episodes of Simon's Cat, ranging from episodes published in 2008 all the way to 2022.


Off to the Vet and Color Episodes

In the summer of 2015, a crowdfunding campaign was launched to raise funds to allow Simon and his team to make a 13-minute colour episode of Simon's Cat. Everybody who contributed at least £5 was offered free access to the clip and other perks. The campaign was successful and the clip was released to supporters in August 2015. In January 2017, the clip went on sale (unlike the other episodes, ''Off to the Vet'' previously was not offered for free viewing). It was released for free viewing on 26 October 2017. It was then re-released in black & white on 26 April 2018 at the request of fans who were curious to see what the film would be like in the series' signature black & white style.


Simon's Cat Logic

A series of animated cartoons with embedded live footage that explains cats' traits and behaviour and what can be done to keep them happy and healthy. It is introduced and narrated by Simon Tofield (animated intro, live throughout the episode) and features cat behaviourist Nicky Trevorrow (live). Each episode is illustrated with animations of cats and excerpts from ''Simon's Cat'' episodes as well as Behind the Scenes footage.


Simon's Cat – Sketches

Simon Tofield released a new series titled ''Simon's Cat – Sketches''. Unlike its main shorts series, these episodes are faster to make, giving it a looser look and feel, while keeping the humour and relatable comedy intact. This series features fresh gags, adventurous characters and new locations.


Awards

Also, ''Simon's Cat: Pop Time'', a video game for
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
, Android and Amazon Kindle, was nominated for "Best Casual Game" and "Best Puzzle Game" at
The Independent Game Developers' Association The Independent Game Developers' Association (TIGA) is a trade association representing the business and commercial interests of some video and computer game developers in the UK and Europe. History TIGA was launched in 2001 by Patricia Hewit ...
Awards 2018; another game for iOS and Android, ''Simon's Cat Dash'', was nominated for the "Heritage" award.


Bibliography

All books authored by Simon Tofield. * ''Simon's Cat'' (2009) * ''Simon's Cat: Beyond the Fence'' (2010) * ''Simon's Cat in Kitten Chaos'' (2011) * ''Simon's Cat: Feed Me!'' (2012) * ''Simon's Cat vs. The World!'' (2012) * ''Simon's Cat: Wake Up!'' (2013) * ''Simon's Cat: Play Time!'' (2013) * ''The Bumper Book of Simon's Cat'' (2013) * ''Off to the Vet... and Other Cat-astrophes'' (2015) * ''Simon's Cat: It's A Dog's Life'' (2019)


References


External links

* * * {{Endemol Shine Group Mass media franchises introduced in 2008 British animated films Endemol Shine Group franchises Fictional cats Internet memes introduced in 2008 2008 animated films 2008 films Canongate Books books 2000s YouTube series 2010s YouTube series 2020s YouTube series 2000s British films