Felix Saves the Day

Felix Saves the Day (1922)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Felix the cat cartoon has him having to step into a baseball game to try and win it for a friend who has been thrown in jail. There's some live action mixed in with the animation, which doesn't look too good but on its own, the animation is pretty impressive especially one scene with tons of people getting off a train and entering the ballpark. There's some strong racial stuff where the opposing team, black people, are being played by monkeys so some might want to stay away from that.

From Kino's Reel Baseball set.

"Felix Saves the Day" marks a historic moment in the career of the iconic cat Felix, being the first short film distributed by Margaret J. Winkler, the first woman to distribute animated films in the United States. It is also the first Felix short since Felix Left at Home (1921) to be released outside of Paramount Pictures, highlighting the transition to a new phase for the character.

The plot mixes slapstick comedy and visual creativity, hallmarks of the Felix series. The story follows the cat trying to save a baseball game after his young friend is wrongfully imprisoned. The short features some of Felix's trademarks, such as his ability to use inanimate objects and even question marks as ladders to reach impossible places. In addition, there is surreal humor, such as the appearance of Jupiter Pluvius, the god of rain, who decides to interrupt the game after being hit by a baseball.

Despite its historical importance, Felix Saves the Day still carries racial stereotypes typical of the time, which may make it problematic for modern audiences. The short also relies on a relatively simple narrative and more situational humor, without any major innovations compared to other titles in the series.

Overall, this short is a significant chapter in Felix's evolution, being one of the first to solidify his status as a star of independent animation. Although it is not one of the most memorable in the series, it is worth watching for its historical value and the creativity characteristic of Otto Messmer's drawings.

This was my first-ever look at a cartoon that was made during the Silent Film Era. Boy, it was different. Dated? Sure, but there were some cool aspects to this film, made 85 years ago. If you think mixing live shots with animation is something that came along with "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," I have news for you - they were doing it (or trying) way back in the early 1920s.

They mixed some live footage - such as fans at baseball game or pictures of skyscrapers - in with the animation. So, we saw "Willie Brown," a little boy being chased up a skyscraper by a policeman. Yes, it wasn't exactly state-of-the-art graphics but it wasn't bad. Later, we see Felix get in a game, take a train, etc.

It was still crazy stuff you could only see in a cartoon, question marks coming out of Felix The Cat's brain and then Felix jumping on top of those question marks to get to the top of a building to visit Willie in jail, or other typically-impossible things only possible in animated movies.

The story simply involves the home baseball team, "The Nifty Nine" playing the "Tar Heels" (a black team. The cartoon is a little racist.). The game is at The Polo Grounds, where the New York Giants played for years. You see real-life shots, once again, of the fans and the stadium. Back to the animation, we see a a clever ending to this as Felix comes up with a plan on how to save the home team from getting clobbered by the opponents.

Overall, this was very entertaining. It's also a curiosity piece because it's primitive and different from stuff we saw in succeeding decades.

This cartoon was part of a collection of in the "Presenting Felix The Cat - The Otto Messmer Classics - 1919-1924" DVD, with original organ scores by Dave Wickersham. Thanks to the restoration job, the print quality is pretty darned good, too, considering the age of this animated short.

This is seldom seen these days, one of a number of cartoons through the fifties that has disturbing racial characterizations.

But its a remarkable piece of art notwithstanding. I'm not an expert on the work of Sullivan, so I can't say how this falls in comparison. I suppose that many from this period are the same.

What you'll see is all sorts of what I call folds. The process shifts from live action shots, to cartoons, to cartoons drawn on top of real photos. You'll see the same scenes rendered in both modes.

You'll see Felix with the hand and pen that draws him, with several types of associated jokes.

You'll also see some conflation of the Felix of the printed comic with the Felix of the animated cartoon, with drawn thought balloons, sightlines, and emotional signage.

All three of these sorts of folds will be reflected and extended in the jokes. The best for me is when Felix encounters a situation. He is puzzled and question marks appear overhead. They become part of the landscape like the drawn buildings, allowing him to climb them to solve his problem. Its a sweet joke, the expression of puzzlement being the solution to the puzzle.

The main joke structure in the story has to do with height, and various riffs on the idea.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.