The Cats

Crooners who shone in the moonlight mimicry of the spotlight
Jazz singers Hip cats that went scat
Black cats who sang the blues
Buskers with opened mouthed hats, hungry for a feed

Here's a taste of the poem that forms the screenplay for The Cat Piano. Along the journey we will post some more extracts from the poem to get people in the mood for the film.

Today we're going to show you some of the characters from the world of The Cat Piano. The main character and narrator is The Poet, a tortured romantic in a city of singing cats.

After countless cat designs one charismatic cat caught our eye...



From this design grew the final incarnation of The Poet, seen below. We felt a wiry cat-like build would be perfect for the noir beat setting. Furthermore this graphic angular design works beautifully in 2D animation.




The second main character in the film and the object of his affections, is a beautiful white female cat singer. We wanted her to look ethereal and innocent with an Egyptian/Arabian streak. Unlike The Poet, her final look came about quickly.



The background characters who fill the jazz clubs, bars and concert halls were the next addition to the cast. We had to make sure that they were interesting, but not so eye catching as to draw attention from the main characters. Below are some of Ed's raw designs, ripped straight from his sketch-pad.



Here are some more stand-alone designs by Ari.

Over the next week we'll be developing a background style. At the moment we're picturing something bold and minimal, utilizing strong single colours.

Please come and visit us again soon for updates on the film.