Today’s Zippy takes us back in comics history:
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Felix the Cat. And Felix Chevrolet, 3330 S Figueroa St in L.A.
On the dealership, from its website:
The Felix character was borrowed from the popular 1920s cartoon “Felix the Cat” by pioneering L.A. automobile dealer Winslow Felix, who opened Felix Chevrolet in 1921 at 12th Street and Grand Avenue. Felix was a friend of filmmaker Pat Sullivan, whose animation studio created the mischievous feline character.
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And one of Pat Sullivan’s comics:
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The Felix character goes back into the uncertain mists of time. Here’s Wikipedia on the history, being cagey about the beginnings:
Felix the Cat is a funny-animal cartoon character created in the silent film era. The anthropomorphic black cat with 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 in film history. 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 also been credited as such. What is certain is that Felix emerged from Sullivan’s studio, and cartoons featuring the character enjoyed success and popularity in the popular culture. Aside from the animated shorts, Felix starred in a comic strip (drawn by Sullivan, Messmer and later Joe Oriolo) beginning in 1923, 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Mouse made the silent offerings of Sullivan and Messmer, who were then unwilling to move to sound production, seem outdated.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 TV in 1953. Joe Oriolo introduced a redesigned, “long-legged” Felix, 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. Oriolo’s son, Don Oriolo, later assumed creative control of Felix.
There’s an “Official Home Page for Felix the Cat and Friends” (here) — Felix steams on, well after a hundred years. And here’s a Deviant Art piece, “Felix The Cat’s Different ‘Friendly’ Styles 2” by FelixToonimeFanX360, which purports to show the evolution of the visual Felix, but mostly the development is of the long-legged Felix with his Magic Bag of Tricks:
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March 21, 2018 at 2:43 am |
Even dog lovers have to love “Felix the Cat” !
March 21, 2018 at 2:49 am |
Some years back, Saturday Night Live had a skit about Tunces “The Cat”, the cat that could drive a car. But the car was always a limo for an old lady (I believe the guy who played “Church Lady”. Each episode at the end Tunces and passenger would drive off a cliff! The theme background music confounded me until I remembered it from the Felix The Cat cartoons! Felix will never DIE!