Felix The Cat

On November 9, 1919, a short released by Otto Messmer through Paramount Pictures titled, "Feline Follies," the world was introduced to Felix The Cat for the very first time. He was introduced as, "Master Tom," but he later became Felix as we know him now. In accordance to britannica.com, "Felix is regarded as the first cartoon star...Felix's popularity during the 1920s led to his being the first such character merchandised via popular products such as stuffed dolls, key chains, and comic books." Felix was not only popular amongst children and audiences, but even the critics were enjoying the character and all of his quirks.With all this success and good fortune, there unfortunately is almost always a bit of a dark side or downside to this character and situation. There are many examples of stereotypes clearly aimed at black people during the early days of film and animation, and unfortunately Felix is no different in that regard. Jeet Heer from sanseverything.wordpress.com states, "Felix the cat is a feckless, happy-go-lucky trickster. Culturally, he's the missing link between Br'er Rabbit and Bugs Bunny: admirable in some ways but lacking in the 'white' qualities of respectability and responsibility."

There were many animals in animation that had resembling features or attributes that played into stereotypes regarding black people such as gorillas/monkeys. "Felix the Cat creator Otto Messmer has stated that his famous cartoon feline was based on a minstrel character." A minstrel character essentially is a character from a stage show that often had blackface makeup and exaggerated their voices. We have characters like Jim Crow, Gumbo Chaff, Mammy, etc. that all showcase examples of minstrel show characters.

In terms of social/political commentary, it is no surprise that Felix has its own nods and mentions to these subjects. Many of the earlier shorts of Felix in a way mirrored the "American" ways of the 1920s down to pop culture, and again those stereotypes that were common. Historical events being alluded to or outright referenced also played a role in to some of what was portrayed in animation. Donna Kornhaber wrote an article regarding some of the historical happenings referenced or show in some of the Felix shorts stating that, "But no doubt one of the strangest of those adventures, and certainly the most harrowing, comes in Felix Turns the Tide, wherein the most beloved animated hero in the world at that time ventures not into some adventurous jungle or exotic new city but onto the battlefields of World War I, battlefields that are depicted in horrifyingly gruesome detail replete with heavy machine-gun fire, high explosives, and staggering mass casualties-heaps and heaps of lifeless cartoon corpses piled up on screen."

 

This just goes to show how the time period had an impact as to what was portrayed within mainstream media because if this were made today, this could potentially be seen as an issue. There is a positive that could be seen through this though being that it helps spread a message to other people, especially children but just in a more simplistic and less apparent way. 

To this day Felix is still a recognizable character within pop culture as he has a countless amount of shorts, different iterations of television shows, comic books, merchandise, etc. While there may have been quite a few negatives throughout the process of his creation and early days of animation, Felix was a product of his time and had many impressive aspects to not only his personality that beamed through everything he was in, but also the impact he had on animation overall. 

Sources

Bondfield, M. (2019, May 11). Felix the cat: 1920s cartoons: NFSA. 1920s cartoons | National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/100-years-felix-cat#:~:text=Felix%20the%20Cat%20is%20widely,Disney’s%20Steamboat%20Willie%20(1928).

Crawford, N. (2019, November 3). Pat Sullivan, Otto Messmer and Felix the Cat. Animation, Race and Progress. https://animationprogress.home.blog/2019/11/03/pat-sullivan-otto-messmer-and-felix-the-cat/

Encyclopedia.com. (n.d.). ." st. james encyclopedia of popular culture. . encyclopedia.com. 11 Sep. 2024 . Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/felix-cat

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2024, August 12). Otto Messmer. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Otto-Messmer

Fandom, Inc. (n.d.). Felix the cat. Disney Fanon Wiki. https://disneyfanon.fandom.com/wiki/Felix_the_Cat

Heer, J. (2009, August 12). Felix the cat & blackface. sans everything. https://sanseverything.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/felix-the-cat-blackface/

Jump Jim Crow - blackface song and dance on make a GIF. MakeAGif. (n.d.). https://makeagif.com/gif/jump-jim-crow-blackface-song-and-dance-yFxSRN

Kay, L. (2017, July 24). Felix turns the tide (1922). Cinema Cats. https://cinemacats.com/felix-turns-the-tide-1922/

Kornhaber, D. (2020, January 6). Felix the cat gets shipped to the Front: Donna Kornhaber. Lapham’s Quarterly. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/felix-cat-gets-shipped-front

Sammond, N. (n.d.). Cartoon Minstrels. Birth of An Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation. https://scalar.usc.edu/works/birthofanindustry/cartoon-minstrels

Tim. (2019, November 10). 100th anniversary: Felix the cat - blog. The Film Experience. http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2019/11/10/100th-anniversary-felix-the-cat.html