Read more about Felix the Cat at: Wikipedia Official Site: Pat Sullivan Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in the silent film era. His black body, white eyes, and giant grin, coupled with the surrealism of the situations in which his cartoons place him, combine to make Felix one of the most recognized cartoon characters alongside Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Popeye, Betty Boop, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo and Woody Woodpecker. Felix was the first character from animation to attain a level of popularity sufficient to draw movie audiences. Felix's origins remain disputed. Australian cartoonist/film entrepreneur Pat Sullivan, owner of the Felix character, claimed during his lifetime to be its creator. American animator Otto Messmer, Sullivan's lead animator, has more commonly been assigned credit by Americans in recent decades. Some historians argue that Messmer ghosted for Sullivan although Messmer's creation claim has not been proven. The art and lettering in Feline Follies have been identified as Pat Sullivan's work, whereas Messmer's claim completely excluded Sullivan from the animation. What is certain is that Felix emerged from Sullivan's studio, and cartoons featuring the character enjoyed success and popularity in the 1920s. In the early 1920s Felix enjoyed enormous popularity in popular culture. He got his own comic strip (drawn by Messmer) beginning in 1923, and his image soon adorned all sorts of merchandise such as ceramics, toys and postcards. Several manufacturers made stuffed Felix toys. Jazz bands such as Paul Whiteman's played songs about him (1923's "Felix Kept On Walking" and others). By the late 1920s with the arrival of sound cartoons Felix's success was fading. The new Disney shorts of Mickey Mouse made the silent offerings of Sullivan and Messmer, who were then unwilling to move to sound production, seem outdated. In 1929, Sullivan decided to make the transition and began distributing Felix sound cartoons through Copley Pictures. The sound Felix shorts proved to be a failure and the operation ended in 1930. Sullivan died in 1933. Felix saw a brief three cartoon resurrection in 1936 by the Van Beuren Studios. |
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Felix the Cat