Simon's Cat
Simon's Cat is an animated web cartoon and book series by the British animator Simon Tofield featuring a hungry cat who uses increasingly heavy-handed tactics to get his owner to feed him. In January 2009, it was announced that "Simon's Cat" would be published in book format due to the success of the first films. Canongate released the title on 1 October 2009 in the United Kingdom. It was later released in multiple other countries and additional titles in the series were subsequently published as well. 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" from 2011 to 2013. In August 2015, it was announced that Endemol UK had acquired a stake on "Simon's Cat". In May 2016, "Simon's Cat" partnered with "Sesame Street" 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 had around 13 years of experience with animating commercials for companies such as Marmite and Tesco , initially came up with the idea of the first short film as a way of teaching himself of 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. Episodes. Main series. This is a comprehensive list of all the Black & White (rarely in colour) episodes of "Simon's Cat" including holiday  specials. Off to the Vet. 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 a 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 are curious to see what the film is 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 releases 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 will feature fresh gags, adventurous characters and new locations. Awards. Also, "Simon's Cat: Pop Time", a video game for iOS, Android and Amazon Kindle, was nominated for "Best Casual Game" and "Best Puzzle Game" at The Independent Game Developers' Association 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.