Cartoon a Day: Felix Dopes it Out

Felix Dopes it Out
1925
Directed by Otto Messmer
Available on: Youtube

There are so many stars of cartoons that we've looked at in the "Cartoon a Day" posts, but we've yet to look at one of the earliest stars of animation...Felix the Cat. Like Betty Boop, Felix's cartoons are in the public domain, so here it is direct from Youtube.





This short is a bit uneven but still enjoyable. A lot of work seems to be put into the animation of Felix. His movements are pretty smooth for such an early cartoon. However, the other characters, like the clown at the beginning, seem a bit jerky. There are some clever gags as well. Felix grabbing the question mark and straightening it to make the ship's mast was a favorite.

It is interesting to see a silent cartoon that approaches the dialogue like a comic strip, with the words appearing above the characters heads. This is really the first Felix cartoon I've really looked at, we'll have to check some more out soon.