Nina Simone: My Baby Just Cares for Me (1987 Music Video) User Reviews

A pleasant little film

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 29 August 2009]

Thank you cachalot0 for some background to this short animated film. When I saw it, I had no idea what it was or why it was made--perhaps it was intended for some commercial.

The film consists of a lounge singing sexy cat (?) who spends the entire film singing for the audience at a nite club. At the same time, a scruffy looking white cat spends most of the animated film trying to sneak into the place--it appears he is the singer's boyfriend. Then, in the middle, the clay that had been used up until then is replaced by an interesting musical segment with piano keys. They become animated to the music in a way you really need to see--I really don't think I can adequately describe it.

The bottom line is that this is a tough film to rate or describe--especially since there isn't any dialog and the back story is not clear. However, the animation quality is nice and the film is a pleasant little music video of sorts. Not a film that is must-see but I can really respect the quality and work that went into this thing.

My baby just cares for me, Peter Lord, UK, 1987, 35 mm, color

[cachalot0 · 10/10 · 24 December 2007]

This may probably be one of the best -and cutest- animated short-movies ever, and it hasn't aged at all (it is already 20 years old) ! The characters are cats, a bar singer and her lover, and they are (as it is very often the case (for example Wallace & Gromit)) made of play-dough. The story is completely in touch with Nina Simone's wonderful song (1928, music by Walter Donaldson & lyrics by Gus Kahn). In addition to the funny-romantic mood, there are some very creative passages based upon the keyboard of a piano. Supposedly, the short-movie was used in 1987 in the UK for a commercial for a perfume. For those who haven't seen it yet, the video is currently viewable on the internet(on a very famous broadcasting website).

rough but authentic and holds the beat

[sbwoodside · 9/10 · 31 October 2010]

Peter Lord created a terribly cute claymation for this Nina Jones "music video", featuring two cats in love, the sophisticated singer and her unsophisticated darling. This song is one of Nina Jones' best recordings, and Peter Lord (with Aardman) translated the lyrics into a bit of a silly story. The visuals will appeal to kids and the fantastic singing and perfect piano will appeal to adults.

On particular technique that appealed to me is the piano segment -- Lord moves from claymation to live motion play with the piano keys to give a very abstract interpretation of the music, but totally in sync with the beat. The claymation is a bit rough and choppy but it still scores 10/10 for authenticity.

Hey all you cool cats out there!

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 9/10 · 22 March 2016]

Okay, so this is a music video, but it's apparently a legit short too - so I get to talk about it! This playful little clay animation has a lot of style and although it definitely shows its age I find it remains one of the best animations of its type that I've ever seen. I love it, the bluesy smoky atmosphere and visuals of the setting are just hugely charming to me, they're really cool and beautifully put together. I also like the instrumental sequence that shows the dynamics of the piano keys, I find that kinda haunting. It's pretty humorous too, I love the lively antics of the cat who's determined to get lucky with the slinky sassy feline songstress of his dreams. And he actually does manage to steal a kiss at the end after falling into her arms! And the song, yeah I love that as well, it has a lovely gentle swinging rhythm to it. Nina Simone's voice and the piano meld seamlessly with each other. I can never hear the song on the radio without picturing a big fat tom cat strutting funkily along a wall! A classy song to mellow out to and a nice bit of animation art. I'd recommend it to fans of clay animation and music both, it's simply mag-nificat!!!