Cat Animations

Here are some shorts I found that can inspire me and give me some ideas.



This is a funny story done in 3D. I think if I went the 3D route I'd go for a style like this as everything is reletivly simple so the animation and the story are more the main focus.




This is a really nice little animation made by an Animation Mentor student and I love the characters and its a funny story. The style is very much like mine and I'd love to do something like it. The story is simple but funny. Another thing I'm interested in doing!




This is a stop motion animation about a fat persian cat who tries to catch a bird but it all goes wrong. Its well done and a nice story, it also reminds me of the new Fantastic Mr Fox film. I'm not personally a fan of stop frame animation so its highly unlikely that I'd go down this path.




This is an old MGM cartoon. It's the kind of animation I watched as a child and grew up loving. It's a nice style and funny. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the fact the animals talk. I'd prefer to do a no talking short, just music or background noise.




A very odd animation in a Japanese style. I like odd and weird so maybe a story like this would be good. There are some wonderful shots especially the bit at 0:14 and 0:49. Its mainly based on souls as Nyātta, an anthropomorphic kitten, travels to the land of the dead and back in an effort to save his sister's soul.




The 13th Kitten is set during Halloween and the Queen Witch is plotting to stop time and rule the world forever. She has 13 newts, 13 toads and 12 kittens. So with the help of her army of Karate Witches they set out to capture the 13th kitten and complete the spell. But the kittens mother and her pumpkin friends race to try and save the day. Sounds a bit corny but I like it for how it looks visually. I especially like how the cats looks although the animation doesn't look perfect.




This animation is a re-imagining of a Russian folk tale about a hen who layed a golden egg. It's a nice story although a little sad. I particually like the way it looks cartoony 3D. I'd consider doing this for the background of my animation as I think it could work with quite a few different styles. Possibly have this style as the background and a style like the cats from the 13th kitten.




A very simple animation but it works. The kitten is actually just an extra in this episode as this has been made as a series like the ‘Simon’s Cat’ episodes. I believe for this to work I'd need a strong story though.

Idea - Cat , The Fish Shop Cat? - Simon's Cat

I have been thinking about what I would enjoy to do and I decided that I want to do something with animals or an animal. Cats are my favourite animal. Making a short with a cat would make it easier as cats are always around and studying their movements would be easier than some animals. Cats is also one of my obsessions and if you know what its like to have Asperger Syndrome and an obsession you will know it takes over everything and you know as much as you can about that subject. This would make me fully interested in my project and more likely to keep up my blog and research.

Already there is a 'Just So Story' about a cat called ‘The Cat that Walked by Himself’ but I have been thinking about coming up with my own story. I really like the ‘Simon's Cat’ animations and was thinking about doing something similar. One of the Simon's Cat animations is below.



I could even go back to my idea in first year about the fish shop cat who tries to get his food tin open.

Lovely style of animation I found - The Dog Door

While looking on YouTube I found this Russian animated story called 'The Dog Door' that has a beautiful style that I would be interested in trying to recreate.

There are animations!

I did a search on YouTube to see if the stories have been animated and I found a series that was broadcast on BBC in 1984. It was posted by a user called sheilagraber. Below is the link to all the Just So Stories she has posted.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=76A5B1AAFF1D002F

I also found various videos of the stories for sale on ebay. The cover art looks different to the YouTube animation so its possible that the stories have been animated again by someone else.

My first idea - Just So Stories

When I was young I was very fond of the Just So Stories such as 'How the Leopard got his spots' and 'The Elephant's Child' and 'The Cat that walked by Himself' by Rudyard Kipling.
I thought that I could make one of these stories into an animated short.

If I choose to do this for my project, I plan to: -

* Read all the stories again.
* See if any have already been made as an animation.
* If it has been done before; watch them and review them. My likes and dislikes or any ideas they give me for my work.
* Look at similar animations and different styles of animation.
* Choose which story I would like to animate.
* If the story involves animals; study them at the zoo, in books and on the internet.
* Do sketches and designs of characters, sets.etc.
* Create walk cycles and test animations.
* Create a script
* Create a storyboard
* Create an animatic
* Animate the story
* Add sound and music
* Get feedback from people
* Make any changes

This can be a rough plan for any other idea that I come up with as well.