Product Details

• Actors: Cartoon
• Directors: Multi
• Format: Restored, NTSC
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Digiview
• DVD Release Date: April 4, 2004
• Run Time: 61 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0008037UW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #216,444 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Although it may have been someone's joke for the DVD artwork cover of Felix appearing as he's 'giving the finger', (actually his index finger) that prepares you for some laughs with great classic animation. Parents warning.. Felix becomes intoxicated/drunk in the first film short. 1. Woos Whoopee 2. Forty-Winks 3. Arabianantics 4. False Vases 5. Futuritzy 6. Sculls and Skulls 7. Outdoor Indore

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Felix, May 4, 2005

By 

Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Felix the Cat Woos Whoopee (DVD)

The stark simplicity of the early Felix the Cat cartoons, created by Otto Messmer for the Pat Sullivan Studios starting in 1919, bring you back into the imaginative world of one's own childhood, where an object was transformed into something else (less so in modern times, where toys are big business, and the broomstick "horse" is a rarity). In Felix the Cat, it is an endless stream of transformation, and purely visual, although sound effects of "meows" and other noises are added.
It was the emergence of sound that drove the Sullivan Studio out of business in '33, because Sullivan misjudged its eventual popularity.

The drawings are almost primitive, but have fantastic energy, expressiveness and character, and in many instances are not "politically correct," a warning for those who get offended. Messmer of course went on to draw the comic strips of Felix, that mighty cat who has been a part of history in many ways, not only as a great comic creation, but Felix was Charles Lindbergh's lucky mascot on his famous flight, and Felix was also the very first image transmitted through television in 1936.
Anyone who likes early animation will love Otto Messmer's Felix. Sadly, Messmer is not given credit in the films, and total running time for this DVD is 61 minutes.

1: "Felix Woos Whoopee" (1928), an inebriated Felix stays too long at the dance hall, while his wife waits and paces, with rolling pin in hand. He starts to hallucinate on his way home, starting with the street lamp that takes on many forms.
2: "Felix in Forty Winks" (1929), Felix tries to get some sleep, and this is a marvelous example of the "noise tracks", as it starts with a chorus of yowling cats.
3: "Felix in Arabianantics" (1928), Felix finds a flying carpet, and it takes him on an Arabian journey. He trades the carpet in for a bag of jewels, which are stolen, and his expressive anger is marvelous. The soundtrack includes a jazzy version of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade."
4: "Felix in False Vases" (1929), Felix breaks his wife's vase, gets a dog to dig a deep hole (telling him there's a bone in it) and they both end up in China, so Felix can replace the vase, with many adventures along the way.
5: "Felix in Futuritzy" (1928), here Felix meets Professor Whoozit!
6: "Felix in Skulls and Sculls" (1930), this has a slightly different style, and is very creatively drawn, and there's a mouse that looks a lot like the early Mickey.
7: "Felix in Outdoor Indore" ( 1928), Felix takes the stripes from a tiger, in this trip to India.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The 1920's ORIGINALS! Great surreal cartoon collection., May 29, 2006

By 

Paul J. Mular (San Carlos, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Felix the Cat Woos Whoopee (DVD)

Don't let the cheap price fool you, this collection looks very good! I would have given this collection five stars, but there seems to be some cropping on the left side of the picture. Otherwise it looks nice, mastered from 16mm film prints (not video tapes).

This Disc collects the Felix cartoons included as part of the other Cartoon Craze Felix DVDs. This is the disc to get.

Overall, there are only three Felix DVDs worth getting and this is one of them. The other two are out of print and bring high prices on the secondary market: "Presenting Felix The Cat" from Bosko Video and "Felix! Feline Follies 1919-1930" from Lumivision. Everything else is either the color Felixes from another studio in the mid 1930's or the TV Show cartoons.

Felix lives in a different world from ours, his world is surreal where anything can become something else. It is no wonder Felix was the most popular silent cartoon star!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Expect the Impossible!, July 20, 2005

By 

John G. Geier (Sherman, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Felix the Cat Woos Whoopee (DVD)

In the black-and-white, pen-and-ink world of classic Felix anything could happen and frequently did. Otto Messmer's Felix the Cat cartoons were known for their surreralism and this collection is a fine example.
In these episodes Felix is expressive and appealing. The cartoons are loaded with the morphing images and visual tricks which made Felix the most popular cartoon character of the 1920s and are still entertaining today.
The simplicity of the backgrounds and supporting characters enhance Felix's presence on the screen and add to the surreal atmosphere of the cartoons.
The cartoons were made during the silent era and have added music and sound effects (not always synchronized and sometimes annoying) from theatrical rereleases and early television distribution.
This DVD collection is easily affordable and would serve as a good introduction to classic Felix and the imaginative artistry of Otto Messmer.