Felix in Hollywood

A so-so Felix the Cat cartoon which is primarily of interest for the parodies of stars of the day such as Charlie Chaplin and Ben Turpin rather than its humour.

A clever black and white Felix the Cat cartoon from 1923. While things are minimalist, the drawing is excellent. Felix is a versatile character. He is able to adapt to anything. He is with a movie director who is broke. Felix uses his wit to help ad depressed shoe store owner get his shop back. Later, in Hollywood, he works like crazy to get a role in the movies. We meet some of the stars of the silent screen at the time. Felix generally finds himself in a world that is unfair. When he tries to do good, he isn't respected. Here, he does battle with mosquitos. Once again, his ingenuity and self reliance reign supreme. I think the pen and ink drawing here is really startlingly bright and works quite well. Being a black and white cat helps Felix pull it off.

Felix is watching an actor rehearse his lines: "A ham, A ham! My kingdom for a ham sandwich!!!" The dramatic guy that tells Felix he'll "have to sacrifice my art and go into the movies." He's in tears. Felix just looks at him like he's nuts, and shrugs his shoulders. The old guy tells Felix to "go ye forth" and find money to finance a trip to Hollywood. Felix thinks, "How does he expect me to get the money?"

In minutes, of course (this is a cartoon), he spots a shoe business owner putting up a "bankrupt" sale on his store. Felix comes up with a plan to bail him out and the man promises the cat $500 if it works.

Well, it does but the man wants to go alone and leave Felix at home. In an outrageous scene, Felix transforms himself into a briefcase and that's how he gets to Hollywood, transforming himself back to cat when they get there.

We then witness Felix's attempts at getting into show business. His audition scenes are very funny, especially with his imitation of Charlie Chaplin. In addition there are caricatures of some famous silent film stars and executives. In all, quite a bit of material is in this 9.5- minute cartoon. It's amazing how much more you can get in an extra 2.5 minutes, assuming most animated shorts are seven minutes in length.

At any rate, there were a number of laughs in here and more zany things you could only see in a cartoon, like Felix have a sword duel with giant mosquitoes! Crazy stuff.

Celebrity cameo formats were becoming so popular in 1923 that Felix The Cat couldn't help going to Hollywood and meeting the stars. Producer Pat Sullivan, with the help of Otto Messmer, created the first animated cartoon featuring famous drawn filmmakers, in their July 1923's "Felix In Hollywood." The ten-minute film began a long list of animated shorts where caricatures of big screen performers popped in to interact with featured cartoon personalities.

"Felix in Hollywood" has Felix as the pet cat of a jobless actor who thinks a trip to the California film capital could change his luck. A lack of funds for the trip gets Felix on a scheme to sell shoes by a local store owner who's offering him gobs of cash if he can get customers lined up outside his door. Scattering fresh gum all over the city streets, Felix accomplishes his goal before he heads out to Hollywood. There he encounters the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Ben Turpin and Douglas Fairbanks, while Cecil B. DeMille and even chief movie censor Will Hays encounters the mischievous feline.

Much acclaimed by animated critics, "Felix In Hollywood" was named #50 in Jerry Beck's Fifty of The Greatest Cartoons of all time, Felix's only appearance on the list.

This short is one of the best of all time and is proof (just like most of Charlie Chaplin's work) that sound and color are not requirements for quality work. In fact, this cartoon uses (and may have started) some of the gags and devices that became standard in animation in later years, like caricatures of celebrities (including the afore-mentioned Chaplin. While the characters are silent, they do "speak", by use of word balloons, just like in the comics. Given that Felix started out in newspapers as a comic strip, this device is a natural. The atmosphere and style of the short is completely harmonious with that of the comic strip while adding another dimension (literally and figuratively) and makes this short a delight to watch. Well worth taking the time and effort to get. Most highly recommended.