Created on Youtube in 2008 as a series of short animated videos, "Simon's Cat" has become an Internet phenomenon with over a billion views.
After several books, the famous white cat is entitled to a video game, "Simon's Cat: Story Time".
Europe 1 spoke with its creator, Simon Tofield.
It is well known, cats reign supreme on the Internet.
Among the pioneers of this feline domination, there is
Simon's Cat
, a big white tomcat born in 2008 on Youtube.
First the hero of a series of black and white animated sketches, "Simon's cat", which has no other name, has accumulated millions of views to the point of wandering around in short films, some of which are in color.
Then came books and most recently a video game:
Simon's Cat: Story Time
, on Apple Arcade.
The opportunity to discuss the nine lives of this endearing cat with its creator, Simon Tofield.
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Simon's Cat
, a star with 1.2 billion views on Youtube
Pure Briton, Simon Tofield, animator by trade, created the first
Simon's Cat
sketch
in 2008. "I started with a video of a cat waking up a man in his bed and it went viral thanks to Youtube . I made another video, then another, etc. And it immediately became a full-time job ", remembers the Englishman at the microphone of Europe 1. These short scenes of banal life are centered on a feline "cheeky, cunning and a little too well fed who is constantly looking for a way to have kibble".
"And for that, he makes his poor master go crazy," laughs Simon Tofield.
In fact, the master is him!
Now 50 years old, he is the proud owner of five cats which serve as a source of inspiration.
"It's 50-50 between reality and humorous exaggeration. I take a lot of behaviors that people who have cats will recognize, for example when they successively support their front paws on a duvet, and I accentuate them", explains Simon Tofield .
A mix of
slapstick comedy
and deadpan English humor, the recipe works, since
Simon's Cat
videos
now have 1.2 billion views on Youtube.
A cat drawn in all forms
Another strength of
Simon's Cat
is its simple and instantly recognizable graphic style.
In 13 years, the cat has not changed one iota.
"It's white because I started with a black and white video. When I added colors, I kept it white because I thought it made it stand out against the background," says Simon Tofield.
With more than a hundred videos on the counter, the capricious tomcat gives work to its creator.
"Today, I make two videos at the same time, knowing that a typical video takes on average five to six weeks."
© Simon Tofield and his fictional cat / Simon's Cat Ltd.
But in recent years, the Briton has changed the world of
Simon's Cat
by extending the videos to ten minutes and sometimes adding color.
“I added other characters, other cats inspired by my own life. I never get tired of it,” he says.
"I drew books from it but I never thought that it could make a good video game," adds Simon Tofield.
When the Danish studio Tactile Games, a specialist in mobile games, suggested the idea to him, he was therefore surprised.
The start of an unprecedented adventure for Simon and his cat.
An untold story of
Simon's Cat
Tactile Games has designed a game in two parts: on the one hand, a narrative story around
Simon's Cat
, on the other, a puzzle game mechanic similar to that of
Candy Crush
. The result,
Simon's Cat: Story Time
, available on iPhone in the Apple Arcade subscription, does not look like much but is pleasantly nice in the length.
More precisely, it is the story which makes the interest of the game. "I worked by first making a lot of drawings for the characters, the houses, the animals. Then I got involved in the animation for making sure the drawings came to life as they should. Finally, I tackled the script, "recalls Simon Tofield.
For once, the story is more about Simon than his cat.
In this case, he must, with the help of his neighbors, prevent a real estate developer from constructing buildings in place of an abandoned park.
A clever mix of puzzles and investigation
The story is broken down into tasks: talking with someone, trimming a hedge, feeding the cats, building a greenhouse, etc. There are several gardens to explore and renovate with, as a common thread, a mystery to be solved about the origin of the park. Simon, his friends and his cats therefore lead the investigation between two cups of tea,
British
spirit
oblige. “I put a little of myself in each place, it's very personal. The best part was seeing my drawings come to life so quickly. There is something fascinating about seeing my characters, some of whom don't. have never gone beyond the stage of 2D drawing, moving and coming to life, ”says Simon Tofield.
The other side of
Simon's Cat: Story Time
is the mini-games.
Each task requires energy, represented by stars: two stars to plant flowers, three stars to build a bench… To have stars, you have to solve puzzles in the form of grids of colored squares that you have to associate to make combinations.
Solve puzzles, perform tasks, solve puzzles, perform tasks… It's a bit repetitive but that's how we move forward in the story.
With more than 500 grids, the game easily occupies ten hours.
After the video game, the film
Simon's Cat
?
The proximity to
Candy Crush
, not very pleasing at first, finally fits in well with the country aesthetic of the game and its relaxing pace of investigation in slippers. “I was sure that as long as the story appealed to the players and the game mechanics were easy to understand, looking like another game wouldn't be a problem. It's because you want to know after that we go on to play. I'm delighted with the result, "marvels Simon Tofield.
This project, much larger than his usual videos, also showed him that the universe of
Simon's Cat
could lend itself to large formats.
And why not the cinema.
"You should never say never! I would never have imagined making a mobile game a few years ago.
Simon's Cat
has never stopped growing so there is no barrier. So a movie one day yes , that would be nice, "laughs Simon Tofield.
One thing is certain, his virtual cat has not finished reigning on screens, large or small.