Evolution of FELIX THE CAT - 100 Years Explained | CARTOON EVOLUTION
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- CARTOON EVOLUTION #6
To celebrate his centenary, I take a look at the 100 year history and evolution of FELIX THE CAT, the world's first cartoon superstar and the first licensed and mass-merchandised character in history.
Created by Australian cartoonist Pat Sullivan and artist Otto Messmer, Felix debuted in 1919 and quickly won world-wide acclaim, breaking ground as the first licensed and mass-merchandised character - thus becoming the debut cartoon superstar.
With almost 200 shorts to his name by the end of the 1920s, Felix fell out of audience favor with the arrival of a slew of revolutionary sound-and-colour characters, including Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, and found himself struggling to reclaim his title. With numerous ‘reboots’ launching over the decades to varying degrees of success, it’s a struggle he still faces today.
I take a look at how Felix has evolved over hundreds of shorts and numerous television series and films, discussing the most important changes in his design and personality and in the stylistic and narrative structures of his productions prevalent across a century of media.
Here's my look at Felix the Cat through the years!
Felix Media discussed and featured:
CLASSIC FELIX SHORTS
Feline Follies
Felix Frolics at the Circus
Felix Saves the Day
Felix Turns the Tide
Felix Comes Back
Felix Gets Revenge
Felix Finds Out
Felix in Fairyland
Felix Tries For Treasure
Felix Monkeys With Magic
Felix Lends a Hand
Felix Dopes It Out
Felix Gets Broadcasted
Felix Goes A-Hunting
Felix Out Of Luck
The Oily Bird
Japanicky
Futurizity
Felix Pinches the Pole
Felix Finds ‘Em Fickle
Felix Follows the Swallows
Felix In Hollywood
Felix Doubles For Darwin
Two-Lip Time
Flim Flam Films
One Good Turn
Eskimotive
Arabiantics
False Vases
Romeeow
April Maze
Tee Time
Forty Winks
The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs
Neptune Nonsense
Bold King Cole
OTHER FELIX MEDIA
Felix the Cat: The Series (1959 - 1962)
Felix the Cat: The Movie
The Twisted Tales of Felix
Baby Felix (ベイビーフィリックス Beibī Firikkusu)
Felix Saves Christmas
OTHER ANIMATED SHORTS
Gertie the Dinosaur
Little Nemo
Colonel Heeza Liar st the Bat
Mutt and Jeff - Domestic Difficulties
Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse at the Circus
Out of the Inkwell - The Tantalizing Fly
Dud Leaves HomeHow Animated Cartoons Are Made
Raoul Barre’s Cartoons on Tour
Charlie Chaplin - Charley on the FarmCharlie Chaplin - Charlie in Turkey
Krazy Kat - Scents and Nonsense
Laugh-O-Grams - Puss In Boots
Mickey Mouse - Plane Crazy
Looney Tunes - Porky in Wackyland
Looney Tunes - Porky’s Duck Hunt
Fleischer’s Sound Car-Toon - My Old Kentucky Home
Mickey Mouse - Steamboat Willie
Silly Symphony - Flowers and Trees
Silly Symphony - The Three Little Pigs
Mickey / Donald / Goofy - Moving DayFILMS
D.W. Griffith’s Broken Blossoms
The Jazz Singer
DOCOS
John Canemaker’s Otto Messmer and Felix the Cat
#FelixTheCat #Felix #Cartoons #Cartoon #CartoonEvolution
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Opening Music -
HYPERFUN Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - other music featured in this video also by Kevin MacLeod.
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Between 2016/17, channel was previously: Disney Dave Down Under
Felix the Cat & Pac-Man: The first mascot and star, but now simply an icon.
Mickey Mouse & Mario: The happy-go-lucky hero that had an early history of animal abuse.
Bugs Bunny & Sonic the Hedgehog: The mischievous animal that plays tricks on those who disrupt nature.
SpongeBob SquarePants & Crash Bandicoot: The one that had a really great trilogy, but went downhill when the original creator was no longer involved.
Very accurate, a great film to game translation
Wow i did not know the similarity the characters have i know with felix and pac man but with bugs bunny and sonic and spongebob and crash have simplicity as well the more you know
Oh so THATS why I don’t like crash.
Minions & Rabbids: The speechless group of troublemakers who do nothing but scream, laugh, and cause mayhem to adults everywhere.
Is the Spongebob thing a reference to the first 3 seasons being good but then it goes downhill at the time of the 4th one?
Mickey; Who are you?
Felix: I'm you but older
Thats deep
Cuphead is the true mickey
Guillermo Gazañol no he’s not
And Oswald is still younger than Felix. (though people make terrible umm... "Pictures" of them.)
@@izzyint cuphead is based on him
I thought nobody cared about this guy anymore.... looks like I was wrong!
Glad to see him get the love and respect he is due!
He's my favorite cartoon character. Drew him a bit when I was younger and have nostalgic memories of watching reruns at my grandparents.
We'll said, and I love ur Making Feinds advatar
@@kdmusic10 same
@@Zawfee Same, or at least in my top 10
i might respect him if he stops being cartoon cat and killing people just because his show died off
Felix could have just eaten Mickey mouse to get his fame back, he is a cat after all.
Only one problem though
It would turn into a deviantart horror
Lol
You mean Tom and Jerry-
#CancelFelix
@@silkworm2595 #NO
*_The moment when you realized that the Felix's Magic Bag has more power than the Reality Stone._*
Here before this comments hits 1mil
@@reliomese2873 same
W H E E Z E
Bruh i haven't seen you in 2 months. How's it going Daddy
lol! 😹😹
Felix should do what Mickey does, have a series of animated shorts instead of going for big productions, revitalizing the character in process. Bring back his changing tail and magic bag and I think we got a winner.
Someone really should listen to you. This would allow for a relatively painless, and cheap, way to re-introduce the character and play with how it is presented before dumping huge bucks into a format just hoping it works.
@@Tardis yeah, bring back the entire cast of Felix. both old and new characters. but most importantly, they should bring back Felix's more mischievous and spunky attitude. I think part of what has damaged Felix's modern popularity is that he is being written to be too similar to mickey mouse, which hurts his unique characteristics. Felix is at his best when he is written with the combination of being a caring, helpful friend, while also being a bit crass and rowdy, kinda like bart simpson.
@@awesomesauce94 I agree.
It's all up to Don Oriolo for that, but unfortunatly as much as he's involved he sold Felix's rights to Dreamworks in 2014, but I have no idea how much control over the character he has now since then. :/ He used to own everything towards the character, but ever since then I'm not entirely sure, Dreamworks is really doing NOTHING with him, and I think Don should take the rights back to do his own stuff with Felix like he used to, you know? However, there's is a rumored Felix TV series in the works though, and I think Don is involved with that. :) )
I loved Felix when I was growing up. Him and his magic bag were so much fun to watch. You never knew what he was going to pull out to save his fuzzy tail! Cartoons now are crap. Even the comic book industry has lost its way. They forget who is purchasing their products.
They should have made something for his 100th year anniversary.
I totally agree!
I went to a Soccer game and I saw him on some flags
DreamWorks Animation now has the rights to the character and I heard they are planing to make new show with him so more stuff of it could be announced on his 100th anniversary.
@@Collageman90 His 100th anniversary was yesterday (Nov. 9th). Too late.
I mean, this was released the day before it so it may be kinda like that.
I named my cat Felix and ever since he was a kitten Id sing, "Felix the Cat, the wonderful wonderful cat, Whenever he gets in a fix he reaches into his bag of tricks!" To this day he'll purr and get really happy when I sing it ☺️😻
😍😭😭
Aww
How cute!❤
❤
Man I wish we got a black kitten and not a white one
I remember coming across Felix when I was young, thinking it was "a cartoon for old people". I watched the cartoons years ago and I really enjoyed them. I really wish they could make another cartoon or something, especially for the 100 year anniversary.
Geez you were harsh on Felix as a child 😂😂
Felix: 100 years old
Mickey: 91 years old
Ha
Felix: 101 years old Mickey: 92 years old
I hate Mickey. Felix gang rise up!!!!
@@cheesesteak983 Reject Mickey, Embrace T & J
Mickey is old but young
Wow I had no idea there was so much controversy behind Felix’s creation thanks Dave! Keep up the awesome work!!
Thanks as always!
It’s true that the Japanese audience loves Felix. They even created a dog character in 1931 called Norakuro, short for his name, Norainu Kurokichi (meaning lucky black stray dog) that really strongly resembles Felix.
Norakuro was created by Suihou Tagawa, a comedian and comic artist, and Norakuro’s storyline draws inspiration from Tagawa’s own life, such as growing up as an orphan and his military experience. Even after the comic artist’s death, other artists took over continuing the comic series, rebooting Norakuro as recently as 2013. The main storyline ends in 1981 with Norakuro returning to civilian life after his time in the military, when he meets his wife and opens a café together, realizing he’s finally no longer a stray.
It’s amazing how much influence Felix had on animation and comic industry. I love the quote on Mickey, how under the mouse, there’s a cat. And under a dog, there’s also a cat!
And under a hedgehog, there's a cat... and a mouse... and an 80s pop star.
@@MadameSomnambule And a 90s President of the United States of America.
The Twisted Tales is actually one of my favorite takes of him.
Felix the Cat is absolutely one of my favorite cartoon characters of all time.
"Felix the cat, the wonderful wonderful cat!" still remembers this intro song
Me too.
OML i watched felix the cat at the age of 3 years old (my parents told me) but i always forgotten the theme song ;-; sorry felix!?
@@BunXx_.s I must have been 5 or 6 at the time.
I was not not born
Felix the Cat is my favorite cartoon (animal) character. I remember growing up and watching his shorts (which helped me get into silent films and cartoons). My favorite short would be “Felix Finds Out” because of the play on words of moon shine and moonshine.
It’s sad that he wasn’t able to be as popular cinematically as Mickey and Bugs. :( But I think because Felix relies so much on rubber hose animation, he’s really a product of his time. I love rubber hose animation so that’s probably another reason why he’s so dear to me.
Zenobia Fenrick good afternoon: I fondly remember the cartoons and the voice of Felix the cat.
1 century
10 decade
100 years
Wow, I’m old
Felix the Cat wow :3
Felix the cat I'm a fan your so adorable
happy 101 anniversary!!!!
Felix the Cat Yep, Felix. You are
Good old Felix! Here’s wishing my own feline companion will love that long 😆
So sad that it's Felix's 100th anniversary and his current owner isn't even acknowledging it.
HET
Felix: *brutally rips face off*
Лол, русские слова посреди английских комментов - как скример (хотя, тут дело в отсылке к тому самому хаку игры про Феликса, но все равно как снег на голову).
From Russia with love
Now i see....why he did it (still tramazing)
@ROWAN MAST Oh, yeah! Thanks for the correction; been a long time since I watched the stream that was from so I don't remember what Joel really said afterwards.
I, actually, loved watching the Felix the Cat movie as a kid! (I loved Princess Oriana) It was super weird and dark but, it still sucked me in for some reason. Looking back, I think that dark weirdness is, actually, pretty appropriate for Felix (a lot of his shorts seemed to have a surreal edge to them). And Felix's theme song is so darn catchy!! "Felix the Cat, the wonderful wonderful cat..."
I love 😻Felix's theme song 💝
I loved the Felix the Cat movie, sad to see a lot of people hate the movie.
Felix : Who are you?
Cartoon Cat : I'm you in the next 100 years.
I grew up watching The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat and I was instantly a fan of the character. He's a more wacky version of Mickey Mouse that bends reality whenever it suite him to do so via his expressive tail or that bag of tricks.
It's a real shame that he's not gotten much of a return to the screen. But hey, they made the Peanut's into a movie and that looked amazing. So maybe if someone came with the right script, Felix could return to popularity. But I'd say give him a slow return. He's 101 years old and deserves more recognition since he helped to create characters like Mickey.
now way its thomas guy I knew
My great grandma was born in 1919, she's still alive too.
That’s awesome!
Does she know felix the cat?
@@totymar1654 I'm not sure
Best wishes and happy birthday to your great grandmother and Felix, too
same here : D
I never saw any Felix cartoons on television, but it's honestly tragic that such an iconic character goes unrecognized! I'd love to see a modern reboot for it, in similar style to classic Loony Tunes episodes, or something! There's plenty of room for improvement and opportunity for a renewed show.
Evolution of Felix the Cat
50% of the video: Sullivan stole the rights, or did he?
As an extreme cartoon nerd, it saddens me how little attention Felix's 100th anniversary has gotten. This should be a big deal, imo
I guess this means *Felix* is the oldest cat in the world.
@the epic gamer cats can live up to 20 years
@@laylagamezone3621 that's true.
Krazy Kat was before him, but guess Felix is more popular now
@@salomeheredia9885 at this point, people have forgotten Krazy Kat, to the point where she doesn’t exist anymore.
@@Coco_1958 welp that's sad
But at least, her name is recorded on the internet
Before Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy Duck, Pluto, Goofy, Bugs Bunny and his Looney Tunes friends, the Disney Prince and Princesses, Simba, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Shrek, Gru, Gabby Gabby, Duke Caboom, Forky, and lots of TV animated characters such as SpongeBob and Patrick from SpongeBob SquarePants, there was Felix the Cat. Happy 100th Birthday to the Cat that Started It All!
Felix was not the first
You didn't had to put that much characters
Oh, and Steven Universe, The Minions, The Disney Princess and Finn and Jake?
That's a very strange selection of characters.
@@TheSmart-CasualGamer a little too specific aswell
In the right hands, Felix could make a big come back.
Seeing Felix in a new era. Its why I like The Twisted Tales of Felix. It feels like classic Felix trying to live in cartoons of the time of the 90s. He was the most normal one out of that whacky and crude world.
I recall the Twisted Tales having a TV rating of ages 10-up for its crude humor at some points. Is this true?
I also hear that Twisted Tales was one of the most expensive cartoon to produce at that time.
I would love to see Felix make a return in some kind of animation.
A character who tries to find himself in this modern time.
I thought it was good fun too. Unsure about the rating, and I'm not sure it was one of the most expensive cartoons of the time - but it was supposedly Film Roman's most expensive project ever.
@@DaveLeeDownUnder That must've been it. I know it wasn't cheap. Thanks!
I’d like a revival of Twisted Tales on Netflix...
I also heard Don Oriolo wanted it to be more like 50s Felix and everyone else who worked on it was like, "Nope, we're not doing that."
@Mr. Will I remember hearing that. Doesn't Sony hold the character right now?
I've known people that said Felix was a ripoff of Mickey. Yeah, a ripoff that came out nine years prior.
Jeiku Furame it’s because the Mickey Mouse fans watched the Felix cartoons of 1950s but it’s made in 1919
@Roller Gamer agree
Dude you should say Mickey was a rippoff of Felix and not the opposite because Felix is made in 9 years before Mickey mouse
@Freddy 69145 nobody was a rip-off of anybody, they’re all cartoon characters and if anything Mickey Mouse was inspired by the cat. If anything, Julius the cat (Disney’s first character) and Oswald rip-offs, not mickey. Do your research
@LUUSUSIAAP that actually makes a lot of sense. Because Felix’s cartoons were probably most popular in the 1950s and Mickey Mouse is largely known for being created in 1928, it gives off a very believable illusion that Mickey came first.
Universal should add Felix the Cat at their theme parks... his merchandise would sell!
Someone correct me on this, but I believe the initial inspiration for Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog was inspired by Felix, which makes sense from what I learned in this video, with Felix being popular in Japan.
Felix and Mickey, the person who created Sonic created him according to American culture
wrong. Sonic got his inspiration based on 80's pop idol michael jackson.... his girlfriend was named after madonna. The origins of Sonic can be traced farther back to a tech demo created by Yuji Naka, who had developed an algorithm that allowed a sprite to move smoothly on a curve by determining its position with a dot matrix. Naka's original prototype was a platform game that involved a fast-moving character rolling in a ball through a long winding tube... a fast moving ball [ sonic speedball? }
@@muddyduck64 Actually not wrong, Sonic was in fact inspired my many sources and while Michael Jackson inspired the premise that would soon be developed into sonic the hedgehog, he is based on more than just Michael's idea alone. I refrained from really going in depth with it because Sonic's character history would take a lot of time to explain. And most people have covered it to death already. Thanks for contributing to the discussion
kristian rikardsen yeah, both are real stinkers.
I never thought of that connection before. The characters' connections in inspiration, yes, but with Felix's popularity in Japan in mind? Interesting.
I think this character deserves another comeback.
Ur rigth, kinda sad the Turnd him into cartoon cat
@@mr.springtrap2183 which was a abomination.
If it wasn't for trever henderson, who made cartoon cat.
@@mr.springtrap2183actually i think most people believe cartoon cat came from Julius
Seriously tho we need an updated felix cartoon series
My favourite version of Felix is the "Twisted Tales" version. It was the closest in style and quality to the original series, but had an additional 70+ years of innovation in the industry to draw upon.
I also think Thom Adcox-Hernandez's voice was the best fit of any of Felix's voices. His original voice actor Walter Tetley, although technically good, sounded too innocent compared to the original silent version of the character, and most of the voice actors that followed him resorted to using blatant Mickey Mouse impressions. Adcox-Hernandez's performance was youthful but cunning and mischievous, much as I imagined the original character would've sounded like.
I didn't know Tetley was Felix. if you mean the TV version from 1959-60 that was Jack Mercer, (Though Tetlet was from the TV Felix's production base, New York!)
50s felix honestly sounded like Mickey on helium XD
@@SteveCarras Tetley voiced Felix in the Van Beuren short films of the mid-30s. He was the very first actor to voice Felix.
Poor Felix... I think he would have been a superstar had he kept up with the Looney Toons and Disney gang.
I agree, but Sullivan never really contributed much to the Felix shorts when he should have. Instead he was just drinking alcohol and turned down the chance to convert the Felix shorts from silent to sound as it obviously made sense especially since The Jazz Singer was what inspired Walt Disney to add sound to his Mickey Mouse cartoons. So my point is Sullivan is no better.
BRING FELIX THE CAT BACK NOW DAMMIT!
@@keesdriesen9256 i agree!
@@keesdriesen9256 NOW
THEY BETTER DO IT
Felix will always be my favorite cartoon character.
Tom and Jerry are my favorites
0:15 so, Felix's girlfriend was a "Karen"
such a bitch :D
So that's how he became cartoon all because of his girlfriend
@@applessiini988 Orange Chuize, More Orange Swears
It's kitty from felix the cat
I cant believe Feline Follies was released 100 years ago today, 9 November 1919 - 9 November 2019
Felix joins the list of classic cartoon characters being kept alive through merchandise.
And fan art...😻
And Animation Historians And Nostalgic People
I remember getting a Felix the Cat clock in a Christmas exchange, I traded that for a gumball machine.
@kristian rikardsen I guess I predicted the future somehow, lol
And, to a small extent, the het/game bootleg meme
Bravo, Dave, bravo!
Thanks so much for seriously making a video honored to Felix's 100th anniversary! :)
P.S.: I must share with everyone for understanding some days.
Righty-O and happy 100th birthday to Felix! ;)
Thanks for saying and thanks for watching!!
@@DaveLeeDownUnder no problem!^^
I'm surprised that you don't mention the cancelled 2011 TV show.
Even without that, this was a great look into Felix's life. I just wish that was some sort of media released in recent years. Especially with all this focus going onto old rubber-hose toons.
But a better question to ask: If Felix was able to talk, should he have a Australian accent?
One of Felix's most interesting stories is about how Todd McFarlane included Felix hidden as an easter egg in his comics so a friend of him who was a Felix fan would buy them.
Watched Felix the Cat in the 60s! Have a clock with a pendulum tail!! Thanks Dave!🐱
Mickey: who are you
Felix: came here to eat you
Mickey: no...
Felix: rrrrrrrrrr
Mickey: wait are we like Tom and jerry or like itchy and scratchy
Felix: yeah your right
Mickey: ummmmmm I’m going to go now
Felix: ok bye
Mickey: bye
*Mickey walks away*
Felix: oh wait rrrrrrrrrrrr I’m going get ya
Mickey: OH NOPE NOPE Nope nope noooooo way
Reality
Felix the Cat inspired the design of the classic version of Sonic the Hedgehog and if you compair them, they both have a round head, their body-shape and limbs are similiary shaped and their eyes have sort of a similiar shape (though Felix's eyes are more rounder to show his usually happy and optimistic personality while Sonic's "slight squint" making him look cool), so despite the fact that Felix never was as popular as Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny, it was thanks to him that we have one of the most popular and recgonizable video game characters (though at current status, his games as been going up and down since Sonic 3 and Knuckles, having lost the edge that made him for some years even more popular than Mario and since then haven't managed to rival Mario as he used to).
It's sad both of they're popularity is in decline like Heathcliff lost his popularity cus of Garfield
That's a long long long history... I feel that Felix is so similar to Mickey and still so unique
ok
Mickey: Ok I know Felix but who is that girl
Peg (peg+cat) I'm you but more a master of yelling
Felix was the first cartoon character? Mind blown.
My favorite Felixes' are the ones from the 1960s where he talked and "Twisted Tales".
Looks like Disney was a continuous thorn in Felix's side throughout the years.
Apexone And Van Beuren Preceded The Synchroization a Few months later
I had now idea Dreamworks bought Felix the Cat. I hope they do something with him in the future. I'd love to see him make a return to the screen.
How he's much older than Mickey Mouse
Wow, i had no idea that Felix had such a turbulent genesis regarding his creator's life! I also had no idea that he existed in Anime form either! It's sobering and ironic that he went from star status to being remembered in just merch as an icon given the fact that he was the very first cartoon superstar. Brilliantly researched Dave! Looking forward to Popeye and Woody Woodpecker!
Thanks as always!
I LOVED the Trans-Lux early '60s Felix series! The animation was simple, but the characters/voices really appealed to me. Especially Poindexter, the Professor, the Master Cylinder, and Va-Voom!
Va-Voom had to be the strangest cartoon character ever. I think he was in two cartoons.
Felix: I'm you but older
Mickey: ok boomer
Felix: gets gun from bag and shoots that Stupid rat
I am... Felix
*opens bag and sucks him into a black void lacking of any light*
Sci Brew
Bassoon Clef (my bassoon OC): Holy bassoons! Felix, please stop! (falls on his back) By the way, Happy 100th Birthday.
*mickey says hypocritically despite we all know fully well he’s also a boomer*
@@Mr.Tw1sty more realistically, Felix would eat Mickey alive.
I am genuienly shocked that no studio has rebooted Felix with a TH-cam series with questionable animation like they did with Woody Woodpecker and Popeye.
I saw Felix Saves Christmas a month ago back in November. That was the first time I ever seen Felix on TV and I can say it was great.
Felix:I’m the best cartoon character
Mickey Mouse:Hold my gloves
I used to watch the original Felix cartoons on DVD growing up, usually to pass the time when our WiFi wasn't working right or there wasn't anything good on TV. I am quite appreciative of this icon for getting me into animation as we know it.
I remember being obsessed with the silent shorts as a kid and finding the 50s series on TH-cam around middle school. I'm honestly partial to both versions and there CAN be a balance between them imo.
Hopefully, Dreamworks stops sitting on this IP and does something with it. Hell, Don Oriolo was making a Felix series before the buyout and that got canned.
20:21 That VAN Thing Looks Familliar
I hope Felix gets a resurgence in the coming years. Such an iconic character deserves more than he is currently getting
If I was in charge of this resurgence, I’d say start with a series of short cartoons. Return Felix to his roots. Also make him a silent character again. I, personally, was never really a fan of his voice, nor him talking in general. You can keep his iconic laugh, but otherwise, make him a silent character.
I’d also say ditch the characters from the 60’s tv series. This may be controversial amongst fans, but I say give Felix a clean slate. Keep his magic bag though. That has become synonymous with the character and you can do a lot of creative and funny ideas with that
Another great episode of Cartoon Evolution!! These are always a treat and I look forward to seeing which cartoon icon you spotlight next
FELIX IS SILENT CHARACTER.
I want to revive Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat for Netflix, and bring back characters like Sheba Boopareeba, Roscoe, and Candy, so it can air in conjunction with The Cuphead Show. In my opinion, it’s the definitive version of Felix.
This is probably my favorite video in your "Cartoon Evolution" series so far. Very complete, very well edited, full of interesting facts, entertaining, and with the rigor of a true historical documentary. Congratulations! In general, it has made me feel true nostalgia for a time that has disappeared and is unrecoverable. After all, one hundred years! It really is another era and another world. For me, Felix the Cat also has nostalgic memories of my own childhood, when I saw it on TV in the 70s. I would have loved if you had included in your video for a couple of seconds Felix's little song, "Felix the Cat, the wonderful, wonderful cat… ”
But above all, I really liked the historical portrait of the time, with Felix's balloons in the Macy’s parade, the collectables of the 20s, and those crazy costume dances. Where was filmed that party that begins in the 16.34 minute mark, with people on the avenue wearing Felix costumes? It is really extraordinary.
Some other curious details that you could have included in the video is the well-known anecdote (well, at least for aviation enthusiasts) that Charles Lindbergh took Felix the Cat with him when he crossed the Atlantic in 1927, in the form of a Felix rag doll aboard the Spirit of Saint Louis, as a good luck charm.
And Felix the Cat also fought in World War II. He was chosen as a mascot by the U.S. Navy squadron VF3, later called Strike Fighter Squadron 31 (VFA-31) Tomcatters, whose fighter aircraft from the "Cats" series -the Wildcat, the Hellcat, etc., up until our days with the Tomcat and the F-18- carried Felix as an emblem of the squadron, painted on the nose of the planes, running with a large black cartoon bomb in his hands, with a lit fuse, just about to explode. This squad fought in the Battle of Midway and many other decisive battles in the Pacific. His call sign was precisely "Felix." After Midway, there was even a bitter controversy over three years with another Navy squadron, VF6, about which of the two squadrons legitimately had the right to use Felix the Cat as an emblem, which finally corresponded to VF3. The unit continues to operate to this day (it is the second oldest squadron still in operation with the Navy) and Felix is still its mascot. I remember very well the pleasure I felt as a child and teenager when building scale models of these Navy planes, and putting on the Felix the Cat's decals. It seemed great to be able to combine two of my great passions, airplanes and cartoons, and do it with historical rigor!
Thanks so much, I really appreciate that! I was quite happy with this one myself. I was well aware Felix isn't the most well known these days, so I wanted to experiment a bit with the editing to make it a bit more engaging -- I'm glad it worked!!
Was well aware of most of those facts, but sadly have to find the line between "too much" info. Granted - I probably could've dropped the Lindbergh fact in there, it is pretty neat.
The parade you see at 16:34 is a New Year's Eve Ball held by the Chelsea Arts group from the Royal College of Art in London, 1922! You can see the full clip here: th-cam.com/video/fRsrUfkFZjA/w-d-xo.html
@@DaveLeeDownUnder Thanks! I really loved that clip.
“You could not live with your own failures, Where did that bring you? Back to me”
-mickey mouse
Something you forgot to mention in the video:
There was a French CG animated Felix cartoon in the works ,and it was intended to be released around 2010 I think. Unfortunately, it never came to fruition.
But if you go to it's page on the Lost Media Wiki, you will find some leaked screenshots, concept art, and a model sheet for Felix and a drastically redesigned Poindexter. Most importantly, there's a very brief clip of it in the animation studio's, TeamTO, promotional reel. So there's evidence some animation work, in some form, had been done for it. From what very little is seen in that clip, I think the animation and art style they were planning to use for the series was pretty good. Despite it being CGI, it still had a very 2D look to it.
It's a shame this CG animated TV series never came to be. Not only because it looked like it could have at least been decent(especially seeing how the people who did the character design and aesthetic work for it apparently later went to do work on the Amazing World of Gumball), but the possibility of how it could have given Felix the Cat a revival.
There is a 2019 Felix! I watched him when I was little!
My Grandmother loves Felix and wanted to name my dad after him.
@Alexis Duke lol no my dad's name isn't Felix
in my opinion, i think dreamworks should Revive the Felix the Cat property
and in a really interesting way
Howdy. I wanted to suggest a couple episodes for Cartoon Evolution and Explaining Disney
Cartoon Evolution Episodes:
•Sylvester & Tweety Bird
•Speedy Gonzales
•Elmer Fudd
•Popeye the Sailor
•The Flintstones
•Yogi & Boo Boo Bear
•The Jetsons
•The Smurfs
•Huckleberry Hound
•Quick Draw McGraw
•Thomas the Tank Engine
Explaining Disney Episodes:
•Mortimer Mouse
•Max Goof
•Ponchito the Rooster (the final member of the 3 Cabberos)
•Winnie the Pooh and Friends
I will do a majority of those Cartoon Evolutions over time. But it will take a while.
I won’t be doing Thomas the Tank as they are not cartoons.
Out of the Disney ones, Panchito is likely the only one I would do. Some of those characters are incredibly obscure and only have a handful of appearances. They would not work for this series.
Pooh and friends have barely evolved over the years, and I consider them movie characters - it will be some time until I consider making profiles on individual characters from the movies.
25:20 The scene that inspired the Russian HET screen in their bootleg game?
Don't worry if you never saw that. I would not recommend looking up that one.
I thought the same thing
Hope they just forget it...
lmao that's exactly what i was thinking
Joel's reaction to Felix the Het was priceless
that part scared me I won’t play the game
Happy 100th birthday to our first cartoon star in the animation medium, Felix the Cat! Our cat friend has gone through so many adventures and we should all be proud for him!!
This is my fav character! And I love you for this
Felix, today you have now turned 100 years old! You are now the first anthropomorphic cartoon character to make your unofficial debut in 1919 and your official debut in 1923 before Mickey Mouse, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Flip the Frog, and other classic Cartoon Characters!
Growing up in Germany there wasn't much Felix about but being a comic fan I knew about him. I think the only time Felix had a small fame over here was with the cartoon series in the mid 90s. Also thin comic magazines were published parallel to the show monthly. It was a time where not only the Maus had its mag but also Garfield every month. Being fan of both led me also to buy Felix and it had a nice gimmick with every magazine. Sadly this went for like a year or two and then also went away again.
im also coming from germany and its so rare to find anyone who knows this cartoon cat..thats so sad because he really started the animation trend in the 1920s. he deserve better in usual like oswald the lucky rabbit
Seriously, I'm not even old- I'm in my early teens, and my birthday is tomorrow. So this is a nice..i guess, birthday gift for me! I grew up watching the cartoon on DVD when I was, I believe about 6 or 7. I still remember the theme and I might even still have the DVD of the show, and it's the reason why I fell in love with old forgotten characters such as Felix himself, Oswald, and others!
Happy 100th Birthday, Felix the Cat!!!!
Great job making this video, I hope that DreamWorks Animation would make a feature film or a TV series for Felix in the future (for Netflix or NBCUniversal's upcoming streaming service) since he was the first cartoon star ever created in the history of animation rather than just on merchandise like Betty Boop and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He served as influence now only for fictional characters like Sonic, but also for Cuphead and Bendy from Bendy and the Ink Machine. I hope you can make a video of Betty Boop's evolution for her 90th Anniversary at next year since she was the first female cartoon star.
Thank you!
@@DaveLeeDownUnder You're welcome.
Amazing video can't wait to see what other cartoon character you're going to do a video on is any of the following are you going to do in the future :
Tasmanian devil
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Woody Woodpecker
Sylvester and Tweety
The Flintstones
Will be covering ALL of these characters eventually!
Happy 100th Birthday Felix
And I more inclined to believe Messmer played a much bigger role them Sullivan.
I did not know Felix The Cat was Australian!wow I learned something today!Thanks! 😁👍I just found out in a second when I was like eight I discovered Felix and watched him more than Mickey.But,I still like Mickey just like everyone else.Its too bad Felix couldn't be with the other cartoon stars.
I always loved Felix the Cat: The Movie as a little girl. Wikipedia says it was played constantly on Disney Channel so that's probably how I saw it. Shame it's not on DVD or BluRay stateside but at least there's TH-cam.
Thanks for this video Dave, I'm really enjoying it so far!
Thanks for watching!!
That film is horrible. Definitely one of the worst films ever made.
Actually, there was a DVD version of it released back in 2003, I think. I was able to snag a copy at a discount store. It's a pretty bare-boned released, but it's better than nothing.
To this day, the Princess's dancing theme is still one of my favorite animated soundtracks. I just wish I could find a full version of it that included Felix's saxaphone solo.
When you think you about it, In a way it's really Sullivan's fault that Felix lost his popularity. Because as mentioned in this video the idea for Walt Disney to use sound in his Mickey Mouse cartoons was because of the first talking film made by Warner Bros. AKA "The Jazz Singer" and had Sullivan gone with through the same idea Felix still would have remained a star.
@@cameronjacobs7414 Duh
100 years and Felix is only on one of his 9 lives...
well he committed suicide in his first episode so really he’s on at least his second
Nah..Felix died already.
@@AJWRAJWR He Is Alive But Their's Only Merchandise Because *dreamworks animation 🌙*
Bit like Betty Boop, I love the idea of him, but I find it difficult to see him making a comeback. He's just a bit plain by today's standards.
Twisted Tales was my first time seeing Felix and I've gotta admit I have very fond memories of it despite being somewhat weirded out by it (at the time).
I'll pick Felix over the majority of the Disney's freaks any day.
Felix: who are you
Cartoon cat: I am you but scary
happy 100th anniversary felix the cat!!👍👏
Felix the Cat has duel nationality: he's an Australian American. Sullivan moved to the USA when the character was created. I think Felix had more than one creator so I think it's fair to say that Felix is both Australian and American. More Aussie than American but still both.
2:13 this footage really looks like it was smashed with a hammer
If you think thats bad, watch CCG88's Secret Logos of Universal to learn more about this exact logo .
Power Animations P. A. C. I already did i]a while ago
"...showed him comitting suicide" Wait hold up
*oh no*
Where?
He was just that ashamed herhjehsksvsjge
Felix the cat! The most wonderful wonderful cat! Whenever he gets in a fix he reaches into his bag of tricks!
I used to watch this on Netflix when I was little
Felix the Cat!
The wonderful wonderful cat!
He'll laugh so hard
Your sides will ache
Your heart will go pitter pat
Watching Felix the wonderful cat!
@Karleigh Johnson The 60s series is on Netflix. At least the first 11 episodes are.
@@jeremiahbooth423 i had no idea the first 11 episodes are on Netflix
My introduction to Felix actually _was_ Felix the Cat Saves Christmas. I became fascinated with the character when I dipped into the special features of the DVD as a kid, which showed off the history of the character including several of the classic shorts and, what I vividly remember most, footage from those experimental television broadcasts of the rotating doll.
In an alternate universe, Felix would be as popular as Mickey is today.
Yay Happy Birthday Felix!! I'm so glad someones acknowledging him!
He has always been my favorite classic cartoon character, and maybe just all around my favorite cartoon character in general. I grew up watching all the Felix cartoons from the 20s-30s so of course I'm bias and those are my favorite versions.
There was also a life action iteration of Felix with people in mascot suits from the 70s. Syndicated reruns still aired in the 80s that I remembered. Like many shows from that era, it was bizarre and obscure enough that I had to look it up to confirm I didn't just dream it, but it was there.
Felix is one of those odd franchises that I recognize the character, but somehow have never seen a cartoon of. The shorts must not have aired in my market as a kid, and I missed the later incarnations.
I vaguely remember seeing Felix cartoons as kid. I remember the merchandise though. I guess Flex was never truly meant for fame like Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny. Just like the Fleischer characters. I hope you'll touch on soon. Especially a certain one-eyed sailor whom I still love dearly.
Popeye is next!
@@DaveLeeDownUnder YES!!!
I KNEW IT!
I like how you kept it professional despite how horrifying all his earlier merchandise looked.
Imagine waking up one day and seeing that at the foot of your bed
If it wasn't for the old cat, the world of cartoons would never be the same. Although Walt Disney did boast about how it all started with a "Mouse", in reality, everything was all started by a "Cat".
I absolutely LOVE Felix.
Matter of fact, the Van Beuren shorts were among the first exposure I ever had to the character.
It was too bad Twisted Tales did not last, it was a very underrated reboot that did it's best to revive a classic character and put them in a modern setting, while still maintaining it's classical roots.
I loved the early 90's movie to be honest. And I remember always being blued to the TV to watch the series. He's still one of my favorite characters in cartoons.
“Maybe he was never destined to be a star and cannot adapt and stay relevant to modern days” don’t say that, man. There is hope for Felix the Cat to be a star once again, since he is “an icon around the world”. We just have to wait and see and never give up hope for the legendary grandfather of western animation.
If i ever had the chance to work with Universal i’d try to make a Felix cartoon or short anything to say hey he’s still here just with a new face as i really love Felix a lot and sure miss his cartoon days. Happy 100th birthday Younold Funny wise Black Cat
Are You Gonna Plan Something for The Simpsons' 30th Anniversary?