Felix The Cat has been with me from the age of three when my father brought home my coveted NES games console. I remember Felix was one of the very first games I had ever played in my lifetime and it helped inspire me to want to become an animator and cartoonist. Without Felix however, the animation industry, from my point of view, would be a missing a fairly important chunk of history as Felix was one of those great characters that simply stick with you.
Felix, with his tonnes of appeal, was created in the silent era of film and was one of the first characters to attain a rather large and loving audience. Felix The Cat was a series of animated shorts and he often featured in many comic strips created by his designer, Pat Sullivan. Much dispute was made over who the original creator of Felix really was, as although we believe Sullivan to be the true creator, credit was often given to Otto Messmer, Sullivan's lead animator who worked on the shorts with Sullivan. Felix's first appearance was in "Feline Follies" in 1919.
Soon after the introduction of Disney's shorts and the popularity of Mickey Mouse, Felix's fame soon began to head south as the silent era was coming to a close. Music and sound effects were all the rage so Sullivan decided (although very much against it) to make the switch and give Felix a new lease of life... However this only made matters worse. Sullivan then died in 1933 and although a few resurrections were made of Felix, none of them really took off.
In October 1992 however, Felix The Cat soon made a revival! One that was very much crucial to me as my love of Felix sprung purely from this wonderful event: Felix The Cat the video game! Brought out for NES and Gameboy, the game has very simple mechanics and follows a plot very similar to that of Super Mario (save the girlfriend from the evil boss and adventure through 9 worlds type of thing). I really appreciate the creation of this awesome little guy, and think he's played a big part in my love of animation.
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