ANIMATOR | CHARACTER DESIGNER | VISUAL DEVELOPMENT

FINAL YEAR SHORT FILM

Character design I did for my senior year Short Film at Nemo Academy (2026)

What is it about?

An indoor cat, one day, decides to escape from his house to prove he can be as independent as humans, trying to mimic them. He waits for his owner to leave and close the door, then gets dressed and prepares his escape.

Once outside, however, he realizes that it probably was a terrible idea...

STYLE EXPLORATION

SHAPE EXPLORATION

CAT (SPHYNX)

He's a hairless Sphynx cat, with only a tuft of hair on his head.
He's very self-confident and particularly vain. He's always lived
in comfort, surrounded by luxury and dozens of cat coats and
sweaters. Unfortunately for him, however, he's never allowed to
go out. Because of this he's very envious of his owner who's
never home, and every day comes and goes whenever he wants.
It seems unfair!
Humans are his model, and he does everything he can to be like
them: he stands on two legs and walks as best he can, but he's
getting the hang of it; he dresses up and always looks at himself
in the mirror with satisfaction.
He knows that life as a cat isn't for him, too monotonous:
sleeping, eating, litter box, sleeping, eating, and so on. That's why
he tries everything he can to get out of the house and explore
the world (or at least the neighborhood where he lives in) to
understand the charm of human freedom and autonomy.
Who's going to stop him if his owner is never home?
He lives in this beautiful house with a very calm dog who is
much bigger than him, but he is sure that he cannot understand
him. After all, he is a dog, how could he?

GUARD DOG (ROTTWEILER)

He's a really grumpy dog, the kind of dog you'd rather not cross paths
with during a walk. The classic guard dog, ready to bark at any sight of
intruders (or simply someone who is passing by).
He lives in his backyard, chained to a suspiciously fragile nail
Better not to provoke him...
Oh, and he doesn't like cats. AT ALL.

HOUSE DOG (BASSET HOUND)

He's a simple dog, he loves sleeping and minding his own
business. He spends his days observing the oddities of his
roommate cat, but doesn't understand the reason for all this
discontent; what more could he want from life?
In any case, he's just a cat, impossible to understand.
Even if, deep down, he actually finds him interesting.