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Felix the Cat: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Felix_the_Cat.jpg|frame]]
{{quote|''Felix the Cat,''
''The wonderful, wonderful cat.''
''Whenever he gets in a fix,''
''He reaches into his bag of tricks...''
''Felix the Cat,''
''The wonderful, wonderful cat.''
''You'll laugh so much, your sides will ache,''
''Your heart will go pitter pat,''
''Watching Felix, the wonderful cat!''|''Felix the Cat'' [[Theme Song]], 1950s}}
One of the oldest and [[Long Runner|longest lasting]] animated cartoon characters, '''''Felix the Cat''''', created by animator [[Otto Messmer]] <ref> Pat Sullivan claimed credit for Felix's creation during his lifetime, but Messmer revealed after Sullivan's death that he [Messmer] was the creator of the character--this claim is also backed by former employees of the Pat Sullivan studio</ref> made his [[The Silent Age of Animation|1919]] theatrical debut as one of several cartoon components in ''Paramount Screen Magazine'' split-reels, then graduated to a standalone series in 1922. He was the star of an experimental TV broadcast in 1928 (leading [[The Other Wiki]] to call him the first television star), and the basis for a classic (but unauthorized!) wall-clock design. Felix's adorable appearance, witty personality, love of high living, and comically versatile tail helped him achieve a level of popularity that he maintained until 1929, when studio founder/CEO Pat Sullivan refused to produce sound films.
After a failed attempt at a Felix revival via sound and color during [[The Golden Age of Animation]] via [[Van Beuren Studios]], the cat eventually migrated to a hit TV series in the very late 1950s. Despite having [[In Name Only|virtually nothing in common with the original cartoons]], these TV shorts were a smash hit, and ultimately immortalized Felix as a pop-culture icon. Jack Mercer, better known as [[Popeye]], did all the character voices in the Trans-Lux Felix series.
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Apart from Messmer, the best-known Felix developer was Joe Oriolo, Messmer's assistant from the 1940s onward. Oriolo took over production of Felix comics and managed the Trans-Lux TV series himself, creating Felix's Magic Bag of Tricks and beloved bad guys such as The Professor, Rock Bottom and Master Cylinder.
During the mid-1980s, Felix co-starred with fellow cartoon icon [[Betty Boop]] in a short-lived comic strip written and drawn by Mort Walker (better known as the creator of ''[[Beetle Bailey]]'') and his sons. Felix also starred with his friends and foes in cartoon creation software shipped with [[Apple Macintosh]] Performa computers. In 1991, he got his big screen break in ''[[Felix the Cat: The Movie]]'', and in 1995, the Film Roman series ''[[The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat]]'' was shown on [[CBS]] Saturday mornings after Felix appeared in commercial bumpers on that network.
Since then, Felix has had on-and-off revivals, from the Japan-only ''Baby Felix'' to the 2004 direct-to-video special ''Felix the Cat Saves Christmas''. Don Oriolo, the current owner of the series, claims that another cartoon series is planned, being done entirely in CGI, due by 2013.
[[I Thought You Meant|Absolutely no relation]] to [[Fritz the Cat (
Has a [[Felix the Cat
----
== Available Filmography ==
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* [[Bankruptcy Barrel]]: In "Felix in the Swim", after Felix and the kid's clothes get eaten by a goat, they go home in barrels. It's pretty odd, since [[Fridge Logic|they had both been in swim trunks when their clothes got eaten, and Felix hadn't been wearing clothing to begin with]].
* [[Big Bad]]: The Professor and Master Cylinder
* [[Captain Ersatz]]: Felix probably has the [[Bosko the Talk Ink Kid|most]] [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit|ersatzes]] [[Lady, Play Your Mandolin|of any]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20111019201957/http://www.cartoonbrew.com/cartoon-culture/swing-you-sinners.html fictional character]. Ironically, [[Mickey Mouse|one of them]] would totally dethrone Felix in popularity.
* [[Card-Carrying Villain]]: The Professor and Rock Bottom in the Trans-Lux cartoons.
* [[Cash Cow Franchise]]: One of the earliest examples of this trope-Felix was popular enough to spawn lots of this-until [[Mickey Mouse]] came around and unsurped the silent stars popularity. Nowadays he's more or less known only because of his merchandise, since he hasn't had a truly popular cartoon made since the 1950's.
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* [[Downer Ending]]: Felix's first theatrical short ends with {{spoiler|him sucking on a gas pipe(!?) after he gets kicked out of his home and finds out his girlfriend already has kittens.}}
* [[Efficient Displacement]]: In "Felix Goes West", this happens when Felix is thrown through a door by an angry house owner.
* [[Everything's Better
* [[Expository Theme Tune]]
* [[Fountain of Expies]]: See "Captain Ersatz" above.
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* [[Missing Episode]]: A huge chunk of Felix cartoons from the silent era are currently missing.
* [[Mood Whiplash]]: The opening of "Bold King Cole", where after the first few seconds of Felix singing a very upbeat song, backed up by some very colorful scenery, suddenly cuts straight into a nasty storm scene.
* [[The Movie]]: ''[[Felix the Cat: The Movie]]''
* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]: Felix is heavily based off of [[Charlie Chaplin]], and The Tramp himself appears in ''[[Felix in Hollywood]]''.
* [[No Indoor Voice]]: Vavoom in the Trans-Lux cartoons. He was a pint-sized eskimo who's shout of "VAVOOM!!!!" could cause an avalanche.
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* [[Villain Song]]: "You Talk Too Much, You Never Shut Up" from "Bold King Cole".
** Captain Kidd and the rest of the pirates in "The Goose That Laid The Golden Eggs" get a particularly good one:
{{quote|
''For we’re pirates out hunting for treasure!''
''If we need any gold, we steal it away,''
''Robbing widows and orphans of pleasure!''
''We fight with our hands, we cuss and shoot,''
''We’re mean and we’re bad from our hats to our boots.''
''We take what we want and we want what we take''
''For we’re pirates out hunting for treasure!'' }}
* [[What Happened to
* [[Write What You Know]]: Otto Messmer based the events of "Felix Turns the Tide" off of his own memories of friends and allies getting gunned down around him when he served in World War I.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Animal Title Index]]
[[Category:Animated Films]]
[[Category:Anime of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Films of the 1920s]]
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[[Category:Saturday Morning Cartoon]]
[[Category:The Golden Age of Animation]]
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[[Category:The Renaissance Age of Animation]]
[[Category:Western Animation]]
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[[Category:Western Animation of the 1920s]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 1930s]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 1950s]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 1960s]]
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[[Category:Western Animation of the 1990s]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Newspaper Comics]]
[[Category:Anime]]
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