Nostalgic (Except for Eating the Hairball....)
I used to have a whole army of cats. Had to give them all away, of course. My parents had a cat named Peanut Butter who lived for twenty-nine years! She was like a kitten until the last six months of her life. After that my mother refused to get another cat. I despise dealing with the landlord in any capacity, so I won't jump through hoops to get a pet for my apartment. It's depressing to hear about the friendships forged between pets and their owners, for me at least, because it is part of a world that for some reason I'm not a part of anymore.
WIth that said, watching "Lazy Days" put me in a melancholy mood. It contains everything you'd expect out of watching a domesticated feline: subtlety, crudity, even joy. The cat does not appear to miss the owner, knowing the owner will come home (or is already there), and goes about its business the way that any fastidious creature does.
One of the most challenging aspects of animating a cat is getting the tail down pat. Ashley had insane amounts of trouble and it shows. It's also a poor presentation, having eyeballed the frame-by-frame. It resembles a squiggly invertebrate than a prehensile tail. There is also a bone structure to a cat's tail, evident if you look long enough. One thing is for sure, though: under no condition could you just "tween" a cat's tail and live to tell the tale; the traditional method, no matter what effort or result, is the only method that can work.
Getting past that glaring flaw, the simple style, color composition, animated antics, and even the choice in music (a bit rough but passable) complement one another in a gorgeous tapestry. There's no real plot or slapstick mischief, but cheers to Ashley for never including the absurdity of those cat videos and captioned pictures you see on YouTube. Those pretty much withheld my desire to have anything to do with cats. This Flash alone stirred that desire alive again, and not in a way I find comfortable.
"Lazy Days" is a sweet, cute little cartoon when you need a break from all those "Madness" sequels and "Blacktastic" music videos (I assume someone had the nerve to try their hands at one of Stamper's songs), and maybe it might just make you nostalgic as well...!
