Felix Finds Out

The early Felix the Cat cartoons are classics and made him the most popular cartoon character in the world. Why? I think it's because the cartoons had a bizarre surreal quality about them. Plus, although Felix was generally a nice guy, he could also be mischievous--like he is her in "Felix Finds Out".

This cartoon begins with Felix trying to get his friend to come out and play. But the boy has school work to do. Felix doesn't care and gets the boy to abandon his work for a while--and they go get hot dogs (very strange ones at that). Because the boy didn't study, Felix tags along to school to help the kid cheat. Later the boy is given a stupid homework assignment--to find out what makes the moon shine. Felix once again offers to help--but soon learns firsthand about the wrong sort of 'moonshine'!

This episode isn't quite as crazy as some of the best ones, but the animation is much better--with more fine drawings and backgrounds than most earlier films. And, after nearly 100 years, it still hold up pretty well.

Felix Finds Out (1924)

** (out of 4)

A little boy wants to study for his school work but Felix makes him quite so that they can go and get hots dogs. The boy eventually fails his work and gets homework asking what makes the moon shine, so Felix sets out to find the answer, which leads him to a moonshiner. I really didn't find this short too entertaining, as I found the writing to be fairly weak and there weren't too many laughs to be had. The highlight of the film is when Felix calls the man in the moon down to answer the mystery but things don't work out as plan. Having the cat run into a moonshiner should have brought some mild laughs but that wasn't the case.

"Felix Finds Out" is a charming animated short film that reflects the unique relationship between the mischievous cat Felix and his human companion Willie Jones. The plot follows the classic Felix style, which offers a mix of physical comedy and humorous situations. The animation is simple but effective for its time, and the development of the plot provides light-hearted and hilarious moments, especially when Felix tries to solve a scientific mystery in a humorous way.

The narrative is based on Felix's brand of humor, with the cat using tricks and mischief to help Willie solve his problems, but there is also an unintentional comedic twist when Felix ends up drunk after trying to find the answer to the question about the moon. The interaction between the two characters is one of the most captivating parts of the film, showing their dynamic as a mix of friendship and confusion, which is always fun to watch.

Willie Jones' farewell in this short has a melancholic feeling, as it is the last short in which he appears as a supporting character. Its absence in future films leaves its mark on the series, as a milestone in the evolution of Felix's films. Despite its simplicity, the film is an example of how shorts of the time managed to entertain with basic concepts of animation and humor. For fans of the 1920s animation genre, this is a short worth watching, both for the nostalgia and the creativity that accompanied it.

We in the twenty-first century probably know Felix the Cat from the 1950s TV show where he has a bag of tricks that he has to keep away from the Professor (although depending on the episode, the prof is sometimes friendly with him). Therefore we might not have known that Felix originated in a cartoon series in the early twentieth century. In fact, I think that he may have been the most notable cartoon star before Mickey Mouse came along.

Anyway, "Felix Finds Out" is one of many entries in the series. In this case, Felix gets a boy to skip school but then has to help him answer questions. When a question involves moonlight, Felix gets the wrong idea.

The cartoons were nothing special but nothing harmful. In animation's infancy the cartoons tended to depict either bizarre imagery or characters doing "ordinary" things. It wasn't until the late '30s when cartoons started having complex - if silly - stories. This one is okay if you want to see all of Felix's old cartoons.