Félix el gato: La película

Felix the Cat was the original star of animation going as far back as the late 1910s and early '20s, but his fame deteriorated by the '30s. It wouldn't be until the late '50s when animator & cartoonist Joe Oriolo revived the character for television and brought a whole new generation into the character's heart. Fast forward to the mid 80s, when Oriolo's son Don attempted to bring back the famous cat in a feature length pilot for a potential new series. After being released to dismal reviews and poor financial return, it spawned a minor cult following on TV and home video releases. Looking at the final product, there's too many reasons as to why.

The movie follows Felix the Cat who is suddenly put on a quest to rescue the princess of the ultradimensional kingdom Oriana. She has been taken prisoner under rule of her villainous scientist uncle the Duke of Zill and his mechanical, geometric army. Now even though this premise does sound fitting for Felix in his crazy adventures, the movie fails to properly establish much about the cat's origins from his series. Instead, it cuts right to the chase in showing the downfall of Oriana, thus sidelining Felix to more a hero needing to rescue the macguffin than a legitimate movie centered around a talking cat with a magical bag of tricks. As a result, any newcomers to Felix will more than likely be confused as to what's going on and even fans of the series will feel disappointed that the show's main antagonist, the Professor, is reduced to nothing more than an added plot convenience. Because the movie's pacing is all over the place, there's not much worth caring about Oriana, the princess, Felix or anyone else for that matter, so what we're left with is a jumbled plot with no proper cohesion.

To make matters worse, the ultradimensional land of Oriana is way too bizarre for its own good. While a lot of the creatures that inhabit the land are fascinating on their own, they're barely looked upon as anything more than nasty rough goons. Not to mention, since over half the movie takes place with our lead characters as prisoners in a circus, there's surprisingly nothing truly exceptional about what should be a unique land out of our world. The most we get are mouse-lizard crossbreeds, an appealing con artist for a ringmaster and a useless bore of a hillbilly minion. Also, it's really pathetic when your princess is so bland and unlikable that the Duke of Zill is a far more sympathetic character. Not even Felix is much to care for since he blabbers on way too much for anyone's tolerance and has the humor of a clown performing at a funeral. Speaking of blabbering, the movie has way too much ADR and gushy sound effects for its own good, even to the point where it feels like a tumor rotting in your brain. Never has one feature with a talking cat for a star ever felt so painful to bear.

If there's anything worth noting about the feature, at least the studio behind the animation, Pannonia, did the most with what they were given. Considering how insane this movie feels with its premise, the character designs and animation do fit with the cartoony and surreal aesthetic the film is attempting to go for. Even a lot of the effects animation and backgrounds are colorfully crafted, minus an unnecessary CG Felix model at the beginning. Also, with some exceptions, the soundtrack does slap on its own, as it utilizes hardcore 80s rock and experimental synthesizers to carry the tunes. Unfortunately, even with all of the talent showcased on screen, not even the trippiest visuals or the catchiest musical number can make up how messy the plot is. Because the film cannot focus on anything or anyone throughout its runtime, the cool and bizarre is only used sporadically and often feels more tacked on than charming. In other words, instead of feeling like we're witnessing something truly unordinary, the movie just goes through one fever dream after another.

Too bizarre to find appealing and too rushed to be a welcome introduction, Felix the Cat the Movie fails to revitalize the famous cat into a new generation. Despite a lot of talented artistry and songs sprinkled throughout, the clunky story, incorrigible characters, horrendous sound editing and insipid world-building are more than enough to keep this film at the bottom of the barrel. Unless you're a curious fan of the cat's filmography, the best advice is to stay away from this disaster at all costs. One can only wonder how such an ambitious project fell so drastically apart when it was passed down from one generation to another.

In general, this was an interesting movie, using some of the world's first computer animation for special effects. Made right after Czechloslovakia was ridding itself of Communism, this production had a wonderful team of voice actors playing a diverse cast of characters. Overall, the movie was good, although Felix himself, his personality, and his voice can all get really annoying. The animation was quite interesting, as well as the artwork gone into it. It may not be the best movie for everyone, but has always been one of my favorites. I suggest you at least try to see it.

I was interested in seeing this movie because Doug Walker ranked it as the worst animated movie ever reviewed by the Nostalgia Critic. Yeah, it's probably one of the worst I've ever seen too, but at least it's not in my Top 5. I remember back when this movie had a score of like 6.4. It seems like it went through massive down voting because of the Critic's review. Well, it really does deserve it. The worst thing about this movie is how bad the animation is.

Everything just looks so shoddy and the dubbing is horrendous. I believe this was a film made in Hungary? There's just so much going on and many of these scenes are completely pointless. Well, the plot is that Felix goes to another dimension to save a princess from the Duke of Zill. The most insane part is probably when the princess has tears that come to life and activate the interdimensional transporter. Maybe I would have to watch more of Felix the Cat, but I doubt this is loyal to the original character. *1/2

I watched the film on the official YouTube upload from the official Felix the Cat YouTube channel. It was a great watch even tho the plot didn't make sense. This movie deserves more love and I'm upset that it flopped, the animation had potential it's a great movie for Felix lovers, I suggest you watch this film it's good. Even tho Felix can be annoying the movie still works I think that the SG head of Felix at the start and the end credits of the film worked. Felix deserves more love, the second movie Felix saves Christmas didn't work but the first movie does work. This is the best movie for a character that has been around since 1919.

I watched Felix the Cat: The Movie for the first time today expecting it to be terrible, as I had heard people say it was bland, uninspired and an insult to children. After seeing the film, I was surprised at how much I liked it, even with its problems. As a lover of animated movies, I will say I have been better, but I have also seen a hell of a lot worse as well.

Felix the Cat: The Movie was overall an enjoyable if somewhat unexceptional animated film. There are some moments when the animation is nice, with some pretty colours and I liked the animation on the robots and Duke of Zill. And I thought Princess Oriana was absolutely beautiful. But it is also rather inconsistent as well, there are parts in the more dramatic parts when some objects become static and the lip synching is sloppy on occasions. I had no problem with the story, I loved the concept, it was original and quite unique and the film started off really well. But it is in the latter half when the film does drag, but the real bummer was the rushed, abrupt and misplaced ending that could have been so much more.

There are many good things though. The music is great, with wonderful haunting incidental music and the music with Oriana dancing in the bubble was gorgeous. The song "Who is the Boss" is also delightfully catchy, it is strange but in a good way and it is intriguing as well. The story moves along quickly, yes there is a plot even if it is rather strange in places, and there are some humorous moments whether visually or audibly. The dialogue is fun, it isn't bland or sappy it has humour and it made me laugh. I liked Duke of Zill's dialogue, and I liked the character as well. He was underused, but I loved how he was animated, how he was voiced and I loved his flashback back story explaining who he was and how he became to be the way he was. Felix is a protagonist who may grate to some, but I think he has a likable and endearing personality and the voice didn't grate on me. In fact, the voice acting was very well done, Peter Newman was superb as Duke of Zill and Wack(who you don't trust at first but you do sort of like later) and Maureen O'Connell at least emotes. Chris Phillips is good as well as Felix, and Alice Playton(Blix from the 1985 fantasy film Legend) is decent as Madam Pearl.

Overall, not a perfect animated film, but even with its problems, it was enjoyable. 7/10 Bethany Cox