It’s time to speak in regards to the smiling, black-bodied critter that had a large impact on the way forward for animation, and it’s completely not Mickey Mouse.
Felix the Cat debuted years earlier than Mickey Mouse, within the yr 1919, with the cartoon Feline Follies as a part of a Paramount assortment that aired earlier than function movies. He was created by Otto Messmer of Pat Sullivan Studios, a studio with a namesake who was all too comfortable to seize the credit score and declare Felix his creation for many years. I don’t really feel significantly pressed to present Sullivan the good thing about the doubt, although, on condition that he was seemingly a large piece of shit.
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Regardless of the identify on the tin, Felix grew to become a beloved cartoon character by all the nation. A lot in order that his appearances prolonged outdoors the display screen. In reality, he acquired the consideration of being the primary cartoon character float ever launched on the Macy’s Day Parade — even when his balloon did instantly catch on fireplace.
With Felix a success, Sullivan capitalized, in all probability barking drunken, slurred orders at Messmer to “draw the cat extra.” From 1919 to 1921, Felix would star in 30 separate shorts, and Messmer seemingly laid the premise for a hell of a case of carpal tunnel. Come 1922, demand for Felix hadn’t fallen, however Sullivan wanted a brand new distributor, and located one in Margaret J. Winkler. The cats saved coming, and over the following 4 years, 50 extra Felix shorts have been launched, with Felix’s look transferring to the extra rounded, iconic cartoon look.
Sullivan, ever the picture of enterprise acumen and foresight, undid his cope with Winkler in 1925, leaving her in want of one other animator. She discovered one, and also you may not know her identify, however you positively know his: Walt Disney. How did Winkler know Disney was as much as the duty of filling Felix’s paws? Effectively, she had fairly direct proof: a blatant knockoff of Felix that Disney had already churned out, known as “Julius the Cat.”
In fact, this was the late Nineteen Twenties, and suing Disney wasn’t but a pursuit about as fruitful as milking a bull, so Winkler balked at producing principally “Not Felix” proper after the break up. As a substitute, she had Disney prepare dinner up a really completely different, utterly dissimilar character known as Oswald the Fortunate Rabbit. He was completely different from Felix, you see, as a result of he was a rabbit, and fortunate. If Sullivan managed to note the resemblance by means of his gin-soaked eyes, he’d have realized that Oswald’s ears have been far too lengthy to be primarily based on anybody.
Oswald made his debut in a brief known as Trolley Troubles in 1927, and fortuitously sufficient, their large wager on “Felix With Humorous Ears” additionally resonated. Sadly, Disney didn’t get to journey the Oswald treasure trolley for lengthy, and the rabbit was scooped out from below him by Common solely a yr later in 1928. Filled with what appears like hypocritical rage over the theft of his character, Disney returned to his roots: altering present character’s ears, and with triangle and oval already taken, he settled on circles, making a mouse named Mickey.
Mickey Mouse turned out to be a fairly profitable character for Disney, in that his world recognition to at the present time hovers someplace across the stage of “Jesus.”
So the place was Felix whereas this species-swapped impostor cashed his ticket to countless fame? Effectively, Disney occurred to debut Mickey on the good time, together with the inclusion of sound in animated movie. Felix, rickety 10-year-old cat that he was, might by no means fairly get the hold of talkies, whereas Mickey was a direct audiovisual success with Steamboat Willie. Felix remained profitable on some stage for a few years, particularly below the steering of latest producer Joe Oriolo, who additionally lastly gave Messmer the creator’s credit score he deserved, however was soundly lapped by his bastard rodent offspring at each flip.
By the flip of the twenty first century, in what needs to be a stinging insult, individuals unfamiliar with Felix in all probability noticed his face and thought he was a knockoff Mickey as an alternative of the opposite means round.
All of which is to say, when you name your self an animation lover, it’s best to salute Felix for paving the way in which for a lot of contemporary animation. The animation monolith that’s Disney won’t ever (and doubtless legally can’t) admit it, however Felix is interwoven into their basis as properly.
Each, after all, are constructed off of racist minstrel stereotypes, as a result of that is America and our historical past is a tower of individuals climbing to success utilizing these much less lucky’s faces as a foothold, all the way in which down. We’ll go away that topic for a special article, although.
