Felix the Cat

Felix the Cat is a cartoon character from 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, combined to make the Felix one of the most recognizable cartoon characters in the world. Felix was the first character from animation to attain a level of popularity sufficient to draw movie audiences based solely on his star power.

From silent to sound

With the advent of The Jazz Singer in 1927, Educational Pictures, who distributed the Felix shorts at the time, urged Pat Sullivan to make the leap to "talkie" cartoons, but Sullivan refused. Further disputes led to a break between Educational and Sullivan. Only when Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie made cinematic history as the first talking cartoon with a synchronized soundtrack did Sullivan see the possibilities of sound. He managed to secure a contract with Copley Pictures to produce new sound Felix cartoons. The results were disastrous. More than ever, it seemed as though Disney's mouse was drawing audiences away from Sullivan's silent star. Not even the addition of new characters, such as Felix's nephews Inky and Winky, his girlfriend Kitty, and a foil named Skiddoo the Mouse, could regain the franchise's audience, and Copley eventually cancelled their contract. Sullivan announced plans to start a new studio in California, but such ideas never reached fruition. Things went from bad to worse when Sullivan's wife, Marjorie, died in March, 1932. After this, Sullivan completely fell apart. He slumped into an alcoholic depression, his health rapidly declined, and his memory began to fade. He could not even cash checks to Otto Messmer because his signature was reduced to a mere scribble. He died in 1933, leaving his studio in shambles.

Related Topics:
The Jazz Singer - 1927 - "talkie" - Steamboat Willie - Inky and Winky - Skiddoo the Mouse - California - March - 1932 - 1933

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Sullivan's brother licensed Felix to the Van Beuren Studios in 1936 with the intention of producing Felix shorts both in color and with sound. The studio did away with Felix's established personality and made him just another funny-animal character of the type popular in the day. The new shorts were unsuccessful, and after only three outings Van Beuren discontinued the series.

Related Topics:
Van Beuren Studios - 1936 - Funny-animal

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