Felix in Hollywood (1923) - a Felix the Cat cartoon

Felix is watching a jobless actor rehearse his lines: "A ham, A ham! My kingdom for a ham sandwich!!!" The penniless dramatic guy 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 starving 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?" So his owner sends him out to get a job. Felix 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. He plans on bringing in customers by forcing them to step in bubble gum. His scheme is successful and he earns $500, which he hands over to his owner. 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. When they arrive in Hollywood, Felix dumps his owner to pursue his own career in acting at Static Studio, where he is more than happy to display his acting skills, showing both joy and sorrow for the studio boss. Soon after, he hears someone yelling for help, and to his surprise, finds Douglas Fairbanks being attacked by giant mosquitoes. Also standing nearby is William S. Hart, whom he grabs a gun from and shoots the mosquitoes. This act of bravery amuses Cecil B. DeMille, who then signs him to a contract. Felix also runs into Charlie Chaplin, Will Hays, Snub Pollard, Ben Turpin and Gloria Swanson by peeping through the keyhole of her dressing room. A 1923 American Black & White silent short film directed by Otto Messmer, produced by Pat Sullivan, animation by Bill Nolan and Otto Messmer, starring Felix the Cat. Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivan's Felix the Cat was the first widely popular cartoon character in film history. This short film was partly responsible for the creative idea of placing Hollywood celebrity cameos into cartoons, which can be seen in later films from other animation studios including Disney and Warner Bros., and is something Looney Tunes later became famous for. This is the first animated cartoon to feature caricatures of Hollywood celebrities. In the film, when Felix performs an accurate impression of Charlie Chaplin's walk, where he turns his tail into a walking cane to mimic Chaplin, Felix is accused by Chaplin of "stealing my stuff". This short sequence was an inside joke inserted into the cartoon by Otto Messmer. Chaplin reportedly told Pat Sullivan: "I have only one rival - Felix". 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. Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic young black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he is often considered one of the most recognized cartoon characters in history. Felix was the first fully realized recurring animal character in the history of American film animation. Felix originated from the studio of Australian cartoonist-film entrepreneur Pat Sullivan, and cartoons featuring the character became well known in popular culture. Felix starred in a comic strip (drawn by Sullivan, Messmer and later Joe Oriolo) beginning in 1923. As Disney would similarly capitalize on later creations, the image of Felix was marketed extensively. It soon adorned merchandise such as ceramics, toys, postcards, and in newspaper comic strips. Several manufacturers made stuffed Felix toys. Jazz bands such as Paul Whiteman's played songs about him (1923's "Felix Kept on Walking" and others). By the late 1920s, with the arrival of sound cartoons, Felix's success was fading. The new Disney shorts of Mickey Mouse made the silent offerings of Sullivan and Messmer, who were then unwilling to move to sound production, seem outdated. In 1929, Sullivan decided to make the transition and began distributing Felix sound cartoons through Copley Pictures. The sound Felix shorts proved to be a failure and the operation ended in 1932. This short was named number 50 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time in a 1994 survey of animators and cartoon historians, making it the only Felix the Cat cartoon on the list. A wonderful, creative little period piece captures Roaring 20's spirit. This cultural gem of a cartoon is well-orchestrated as well as seriously engaging. Primarily of interest for the parodies of stars of the day such as Charlie Chaplin and Ben Turpin rather than its humor. This story surprises with its quick, adult presentation that life is not always fair but quick thinking can often rectify many wrongs. Great work for all involved in producing this movie. Primitive but fun and seminal. A must for any silent film or animation enthusiast.