Templeton Gets His Wish

Yearning for peace and quiet, cat Templeton steals from his brother's piggy bank and mail-orders a wish-granting diamond. He gleefully wishes his pesky family away and sets out to enjoy the solitude. But loneliness eventually consumes Templeton, and he wishes for his family's return. A minimal palette and skillful changes in facial expressions convey his emotional highs and lows.

Pesky younger siblings and cranky parents with high expectations drive cat Templeton to yearn for some peace and quiet. Can’t he just be left alone? He does a bad thing (steals from his brother’s piggy bank) and gets “something good in return”: a wish-granting diamond via mail order. With glee and ease, he wishes his family away and sets out to enjoy the solitude. Templeton plays hard and lounges hard. He cleans nothing, not even himself, and his solitary playtime romps are a little-kid’s fantasy. But a limitless world gets old, even when it’s what you think you want. Loneliness eventually consumes Templeton, and he wishes on the diamond for his family’s return. A minimal palette dominated by neons (blue, green, and orange) and grays focuses our hero-cat’s emotional highs and lows, muting his bad behavior and celebrating his solitary joy, while his facial expressions are conveyed through small line changes and skillful eyeball shifts. A handful of negative images and recycled spreads are purposefully composed to show how the same scenario can be felt in dramatically different ways. The story’s exuberance is catching and reassuring -- who doesn’t sometimes wish that those closest to them would just simply disappear? -- but it’s a relief when his family returns, warts and all. Templeton is a celebration of independence, and of our complex feelings about those we love. pamela yosca