
Toby Cato
I'm a self-taught animator living in South East London and working freelance. I'm fascinated by the magic of animation and started to teach myself from a book by Richard Williams when I was 18. My main interests are experimenting with physical media in order to create the illusion of life and movement. My first love is drawing, but I work with photography, paint and digital animation to find new and interesting styles. I also make music and infuse my animation work with experimental hip-hop and funk soundtracks.
My dad is of Jamaican heritage and me and my sisters find that history to be a huge source of inspiration in our work. I am influenced by Jamaican cinema and the work of experimental animation artists such as Frank Lebon, Lotte Reiniger and Ralph Bakshi. I’m particularly interested in creating dream-like realities where I can live in the world of imagination - my only nation. My recent animations deal with finding my own identity as a young black man and with challenging the roles that black and female characters play in film and animation.

Toby Cato, 1 Man (2021), video still
Watch: Toby Cato, Black Moon (2022)

Toby Cato, cato zone (2021), video still

Toby Cato, production image, 2020

Toby Cato, production image, 2020

Toby Cato, production image, 2020

Toby Cato, production image, 2021

