FELIX CAT

Felix the cat (in the American original Felix the cat) is one of the longest-lived and most loved cartoon characters and comics in the world, think that it was created in 1919 by Otto Messmer for Pat Sullivan's studio, so many years before the birth of Mickey Mouse of 1928, indeed it is believed that this character has greatly influenced Walt Disney for the realization of the famous mouse. The first appearance of the Felix Cat as a cartoon dates back to a small five-minute short film entitled "Feline Follies" and his first cartoons helped to spread the animation technology that was appearing at the beginning of the century along with the first silent cinema films throughout the world. The first comic strip appeared in England, on 1 August 1923 and was drawn by Otto Messmer until 1954. The success of the Felix cat as a cartoon it lasted until the end of the 20s, until other cartoons much more technically equipped and with new ideas (see Walt Disney) began the road to success. After a long hiatus lasting 20 years, also due to the disappearance of Pat Sullivan, in the 50s the Felix cat resumed the road to cartoons thanks to Joe Oriolo, a student of Messmer, who made some graphic changes to adapt it to the needs of children's television, characterizing him as a cute smiling and optimistic cat.

In Italy the cat Felix was renamed with the name of Mio Mao, but only after several years did they want to call this character with its original name. Felix the cat is certainly one of the most imaginative and unpredictable characters, characterized by simple storieslikeable but very poetic that have always managed to capture the attention of the little ones. In fact, in his world everything is possible, it seems that the reality that surrounds him can be manipulated at will. The sequence of cartoons is famous, where we find him fighting against the freezing winter cold, to the point that when he whistles some tune, even the notes written on the balloons freeze, but it is precisely those notes taken from the comic that allow him to turn on the fire and get warm. In another strip we find him struggling with a newborn who cries and screams as much as possible, but the Felix cat, to solve the problem, he takes the quarter moon and uses it as a cradle. In other circumstances it happened that he turned a little girl's hair ribbon into a helicopter, or a tree and two clouds into a bicycle, etc. In the comic stories, Felix the Cat was always involved in funny adventures, for the defense of his animal friends all over the world.

Il Gatto Felix and all names, images and registered trademarks are Copyright © Pat Sullivan - Otto Messmer, and are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.