Felix the Cat (TV series)

Felix the Cat is the first television series featuring the famous cartoon character Felix the Cat.^[2][3]

In 1954 Otto Messmer retired from the Felix daily newspaper strips, and his assistant Joe Oriolo (the creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost) took over. Oriolo struck a deal with Felix's new owner to begin a new series of Felix cartoons on television. Oriolo went on to star Felix in 260 television cartoons distributed by Trans-Lux and produced by King Features Syndicate and Paramount Cartoon Studios (formerly Famous Studios) starting in 1958 (incidentally, Paramount was one of the previous distributors of Felix's theatrical cartoons). Like the Van Beuren studio before, Oriolo gave Felix a more domesticated and pedestrian personality, geared more toward children, and introduced now-familiar elements such as Felix's "Magic Bag of Tricks", a satchel that could assume the shape and characteristics of anything Felix wanted.

Background

The show did away with Felix's previous supporting cast and introduced many new characters. These characters were performed by voice actor Jack Mercer. Oriolo's plots revolve around the unsuccessful attempts of the antagonists to steal Felix's Magic Bag, though in an unusual twist, these antagonists are occasionally depicted as Felix's friends as well. The cartoons proved popular, but critics have dismissed them as paling in comparison to the earlier Sullivan-Messmer works, especially since Oriolo aimed the cartoons at children. Limited animation (required due to budgetary restraints) and simplistic storylines did nothing to diminish the series' popularity.^[4]

Characters

• Felix the Cat - The main character and star of the show. He has many adventures with his secret bag of tricks that often helps in dangerous situations. No matter what the situation he always ends up laughing.

• The Professor - First introduced in 1959, he's Felix's archenemy or foil and always trying to seize his Magic Bag. He has a very amusing speech impediment and is quite eccentric. He is depicted as a bad guy scientist, very intelligent, yet very evil. He attempts many tricks such as the use of his inventions and many disguises to get Felix's magic bag, but always winds up failing in the end.

• Poindexter - First introduced in 1959, he is the nerdy young nephew of the Professor. He is depicted as a stereotypical scientist; he is very intelligent and always wears thick coke-bottle glasses, a lab coat, and a mortarboard. A button on the chest of his lab coat acts as a control for whatever device the plot calls for. He helps his bumbling uncle concoct elaborate schemes to get Felix and capture his Magic Bag, though at times both are depicted as Felix's friends. Whenever he talks to Felix, he refers to him as "Mr. Felix".

• Rock Bottom - The Professor's bulldog-faced, bumbling sidekick, he tries to help the Professor to steal the Felix's Magic Bag. Rock Bottom's full name is Rock Bottom Age.

• Master Cylinder - An evil, cylindrical robot who first appeared in the 1960 cartoon "Master Cylinder-King of the Moon." He is always trying to kidnap Poindexter so that he can use his intellect to build weapons and equipment. It is revealed that he was once a pupil of the Professor at an academy until an explosion destroyed his original body.

• Vavoom - A small, unassuming and friendly Inuit whose only vocalization is a (literally) earth-shattering shout of his own name "VAVOOM!" (but who is powerless if his mouth was taped shut). He first appeared in Felix and Vavoom

Theme Song

The program is also remembered for its distinctive theme song, written by Winston Sharples and performed by 1950s big band singer Ann Bennett.

Episodes

Notes

External links

• Felix the Cat at the Internet Movie Database
• Cartoon list at the Big Cartoon DataBase