Simon's Cat in Gromit Unleashed

image source: Simon's Cat

Several years ago, I came across a YouTube animated video that reminded me so much of Jawa, a Snowshoe cat that I once co-parented with an ex-boyfriend.

After finding a series of other charming videos with the same cat, I found out the animator is Simon Tofield and became a Google+ follower of Simon's Cat.

So this morning, when I see on my Google+ page Simon's Cat and my favorite claymation pooch Gromit together, it was a match made in animated heaven.

The latest video (see below) features Mr. Tolfield sketching his perpetually hungry kitty on a giant sculpture of Gromit to help raise funds for Aardman's (the animation studio for Wallace and Gromit) children's charity.

And in case you're curious (as cats notoriously are), here's the video, "Cat Man Do" that started it all for Simon's Cat:

A Matter of Loaf and Death

I've been a HUGE Wallace and Gromit fan for about 15 years. So when I found out there's a new short feature film (like "A Close Shave" and "The Wrong Trousers") that is debuting on December 3, I got all excited. Problem is, it will only be shown in the U.K. and Australia. No date announced as to when it will be available in the U.S. It's likely this will be featured later in 2009 in an animation film festival.

I'm glad to hear that creator Nick Park has returned to the short feature format. While I did like "Curse of the Were Rabbit" very much, the short features have a lot of charm, wit and sight gags packed into 30 to 60 minutes that a full length feature tends to drag out. And while Mr. Park stresses this is being tailored for British audiences, I think that's great. Much of the charm of Wallace and Gromit is because it is very British.

Jolly good.