Felix the cat paul whiteman biography

Felix the Cat is an animal cartoon character developed in the silent film era. The anthropomorphic black cat had a black body, white eyes, and giant grin.

His biggest hit came in when he and animator Otto Messmer debuted Felix the Cat. The original Felix and his expressive tail.

These features coupled with the surrealism of the scenarios in which his cartoons place him, combine to make Felix one of the most famous cartoon characters in the history of film. Felix was the first character from animation to obtain a level of popularity sufficient to intrigue movie audiences. Aside from the animated shorts, Felix starred in a comic strip developed by Sullivan, Messmer and later Joe Oriolo beginning in His image soon could be identified upon merchandise such as ceramics, toys, and postcards.

Several manufacturers made stuffed Felix toys. The new Disney shorts of Mickey Mouse made the silent offerings of Sullivan and Messmer, who were then unwilling to move to sound production, seem unequipped and outdated. In , Sullivan concluded to make the transition and started distributing Felix sound cartoons through Copley Pictures.

Felix the Cat is an animal cartoon character developed in the silent film era.

The sound Felix shorts revealed to be a failure and the operation came to a stop in Felix saw a brief three cartoon resurrection in by the Van Beuren Studios. Felix cartoons began being aired on American TV in The cat has since starred in other various television programs and in two other feature films. As of the s, Felix is featured on a variety of merchandise from clothing to toys.

In Otto Messmer retired from the Felix daily newspaper strips, and his assistant Joe Oriolo, the co-creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost, took control.