Felix the Cat

This article is about the cartoon character. For other uses, see Felix the Cat (disambiguation).

Felix the Cat
Felix the Cat hand-drawn by Otto Messmer
First appearanceFeline Follies November 9, 1919; 105 years ago (as Master Tom)
The Adventures of Felix (1919) (as Felix)
Created byPat Sullivan
Otto Messmer
Designed byPat Sullivan and Otto Messmer (1919–1924)
Bill Nolan (1924–1931; 1936)
Otto Messmer (1932–1955)
Joe Oriolo (1955–present)
Voiced byEnglish
Harry Edison (1929–1930)[1]
Walter Tetley (1936)
Jack Mercer (1959–1962)
Ken Roberts (1959)[2]
David Kolin (1988)
Jim Pike (1990)[3]
Thom Adcox-Hernandez (1995)
Charlie Adler (1996)
Don Oriolo (2000–2001)
Denise Nejame (2000–2001; Baby)
Dave Coulier (2004)
Lani Minella (2010)[4]
Japanese
Toshihiko Seki (2000–2001)
Yumi Tōma (2000–2001; Baby)
In-universe information
SpeciesCat
GenderMale
FamilyInky and Winky (nephews)
Significant otherKitty
(named Kitty White or Marie in the first 3 years of the silent cartoons)

Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic young black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he is often considered one of the most recognized cartoon characters in history. Felix was the first fully realized recurring animal character in the history of American film animation.[5]

Felix originated from the studio of Australian cartoonist-film entrepreneur Pat Sullivan. Either Sullivan himself or his lead animator, American Otto Messmer, created the character.[6] What is certain is that Felix emerged from Sullivan's studio, and cartoons featuring the character became well known in popular culture. Aside from the animated shorts, Felix starred in a comic strip (drawn by Sullivan, Messmer and later Joe Oriolo) beginning in 1923,[7] and his image soon adorned 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Mouse made the silent offerings of Sullivan and Messmer, who were then unwilling to move to sound production, seem outdated.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 1932. Felix saw a brief three-cartoon resurrection in 1936 by the Van Beuren Studios.

Felix cartoons began airing on American television in 1953. Joe Oriolo introduced a redesigned, "long-legged" Felix, with longer legs, a much smaller body, and a larger, rounder head with no whiskers and no teeth. Oriolo also added new characters and gave Felix a "Magic Bag of Tricks" that could assume an infinite variety of shapes at Felix's behest. The cat has since starred in other television programs and in two feature films. As of the 2010s, Felix is featured on a variety of merchandise from clothing to toys. Joe's son Don Oriolo later assumed creative control of Felix.

Early versions of Felix the Cat entered the public domain in 1994 under the Copyright Act of 1976.

In 2002, TV Guide ranked Felix the Cat number 28 on its "50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time" list.[8]

In 2014, Don Oriolo sold the trademark and remaining copyrights to the character to DreamWorks Animation via DreamWorks Classics, which is now part of Comcast's NBCUniversal division via Universal Pictures.[9]

  1. ^ The Talkies. University of California Press. November 22, 1999. ISBN 9780520221284. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  2. ^ ""Felix the Cat" on Records". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  3. ^ "Various Australian Commercials Part 33 (ATV-10, March 10, 1990)". Facebook. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  4. ^ "Lani Minella Resume" (PDF). Lani Minella. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  5. ^ Cart, Michael (March 31, 1991). "The Cat With the Killer Personality". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 11, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  6. ^ Barrier, Michael (2003). Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-516729-0.
  7. ^ "Goldenagecartoons.com". Felix.goldenagecartoons.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  8. ^ TV Guide Book of Lists. Running Press. 2007. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-7624-3007-9.
  9. ^ McNary, Dave (June 17, 2014). "DreamWorks Animation Buys Felix the Cat". Variety. Retrieved June 17, 2014.