Customer Reviews

Felix the Cat

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have long been a fan of the early, silent Felix cartoons. They have a life that few cartoons these days can match (even with sound).

There were many (relatively speaking) Felix complilations on VHS, but as that medium goes the way of the vinyl LP, I wondered if Felix would also be making the move (I doubt a ton of money is made off of silent animation these days, and since money seems to move most things...). Luckily someone did lead the charge, and now I can finally rid myself of the VCR.

This collection has a lot of good stuff in it, but what I found a little irritating is the removal of some of the original title sequences(i.e., the ink bottle sequence with Felix and a drawing hand; it does appear, but not before every toon like it would have originally). This could be seen as a tribute to Otto Mesmer and a slight to Pat Sullivan (Mesmer who is reputed to be the real genius behind Felix; Sullivan's name was splattered all over the titles as he took most of the public credit, but was mainly the PR man for most of Felix's run - see John Canemaker's book on Felix for more info), however, I felt like I was missing out, being a sort of purist when it comes to historical media. The titles of silent animation have as much character as the animations themselves - in the same way that old photographs have a character of their own even if the people aren't familiar. Other silent Felix collections are not edited in this manner (it's the first time I've seen it, at least).

Nonetheless, this collection is a good one, and there is much to be seen here. If you're not sensitive about missing titles (there are worse things in the world, after all), this compliation will view smoothly.

The footage of Otto Mesmer is very interesting, though it's what you would expect: someone sitting and drawing (and he's not drawing Felix; the footage looks like it could be from the 60s - it has a watered technicolor hue to it, and may be discarded footage from a documentary). It's not enthralling, but it's great to have any footage of the master behind Felix at work.

This DVD is an ideal companion to the excellent "Presenting Felix the Cat" DVD. Although it contains only 7 episodes, it does span from his debut to the end of his silent days.
The first 3 cartoons (Feline Follies, Felix Saves The Day, Felix in Hollywood are available on Felix's other DVD, but they are of a far stunning picture quality with better music.
The other cartoons are presented with added 1920's music and sound effects (when they were re-released), some of which are a bit crude (especially Felix's constant meowing in Futuritzy), but does serve up an idea of how desperate the cartoon studio was to bring Felix into the sound era after losing their lucrative distribution contract in the late 1920's.
All of the cartoons are well chosen, especially my favourite, Felix Woos Whoopee, in which a drunk Felix is constantly haunted by his booze-fuelled hallunications!
Also included is 1940/1950's colour fottage of Otto Messmer at work designing billboard animations.
This DVD is a must for the true animation fan, but will also serve as an ideal introduction to the early days of the timeless feline!

I read up on these cartoons at college several years ago and this is the first time I've been able to get to see them - it's fascinating to watch these as examples of the best and most popular cartoons of their time, in the years immediately before Mickey Mouse - primitive as they appear now, this only serves to highlight the impact that Disney's work must have had soon after these cartoons were made. They're still witty and entertaining in their own right, predating the insidious idea that cartoons are a kids' medium, but it goes without saying that they should not be judged by today's technical standards. The few minutes of film of Otto Messmer in his later years is a nice extra, but a page or two of text on the historical background, either on-screen or in a leaflet, might have been a good idea.

The music accompanying 7 of the 10 cartoons is not just SOME honkeytonk piano player. It is the incomparable JELLY-ROLL MORTON & HIS RED HOT PEPPERS! (16 tracks) There are also 4 tracks by Morton's Trio. All 20 Morton recordings date from 1929-30. They start with "Mint Julep" and "Mississippi Mildred" from a session recorded 11-13-29 and end with "Crazy Chords" recorded 6-2-30. Musicians in Morton's groups include Red Allen, Albert Nicholas, Barney Bigard, Paul Barbarin and Zutty Singleton. The sound quality is exceptional for recordings of that time; very little surface noise. The cartoons themselves mostly date from 1923-25.

Granted, the music has no direct relationship to the cartoon action but I found it greatly enhanced my enjoyment. Such uplifting, fun music. Different music was used on "All Puzzled," "Golden Goose" and "Neptune." Had Morton's music been used on all 10 cartoons I would have given 5 stars.

If you own other Felix dvd's, turn off that horrible organ music and put on some 1923 King Oliver or other early 1920's instrumental jazz recording. You'll be amazed!

FELIX IN HOLLYWOOD
Great! This could possibly be the greatest Felix cartoon ever!

FELIX DOUBLES FOR DARWIN
Hilarious, Felix TRIES to prove man evolved from monkeys, but finds out monkey comes after us, literally.

FELIX GOES WEST
Most Felix cartoons are great, and this is no exception.

FELIX FINDS OUT
This one is kind of forgettable. Felix tries to find out why the moon shines. The quality on this cartoon is average, but there is a little squiggle on the top right corner of the pool. It looks like a tornado is coming.

FELIX ALL PUZZLED
This is the worst cartoon on the disc. Felix goes to Russia. It's really short, which may be for the best, because it's boring as it is. The quality is really bad, too.

FELIX MONKEYS WITH MAGIC
The quality is also really bad on this one too. But the actual cartoon is funny.

FELIX GETS THE CAN
Great, as usual.

A FELIX COMIC
As you may suspect, the title ISN'T A FELIX COMIC, It's EATS ARE WEST.

FELIX THE CAT AND THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGG
With color and sound. Felix the cat's voice is awful, but the cartoon isn't so bad.

FELIX THE CAT IN NEPTUNE NONSENSE
This time Felix is even worse.

This DVD has attractive packaging, well designed menus and good background on the animations....BUT viewing the shorts is difficult. They are mostly grainy, dark in contrast, and some are so damaged they are painful to watch. There has been no attempt to restore these films on any level and the prints are as rough as I have seen in ANY silent era film on DVD currently available. The music score makes no attempt to compliment the action, but it's just honkytonk piano playing random songs in the background. I give this DVD 1 star for content and historic value, but for viewing enjoyment, its a dud.

This DVD mostly contains the Felix cartoons in his middle years (1924-25). This is probably a good choice, as recent DVDs tend to focus on either his earlier or later years. One highlight is the classic "Felix In Hollywood", where Felix aims to have a career in the movies. There are also a host of movie stars appearing in this cartoon (albeit in animated form), including Douglas Fairbanks, Ben Turpin, and Charlie Chaplin (he's impossible not to miss).
The quality of the silent shorts are acceptable considering their age, as these are probably the best-looking PD versions available. Despite the print damage, it is still watchable. What I don't like about these silents is the added music. With the exception of "Felix Finds Out", all cartoons have stock jazzy musical scores. These may sound authentic and fit into the era of these cartoons, but they just don't fit into the action, leaving some of the gags in "mid-air".
The DVD also contains two of the three colour Felix cartoons produced by the Van Beuren studio. It's not the Felix we know and love, but it is nice to see them included. However, the picture quality of these cartoons is poor. There are better looking prints available, with full original titles. It seems that Delta didn't look further into the PD archives enough.
The DVD presentation isn't one of the best, but when you consider the rare silents included in this DVD and the price, the complaints does sound rather petty. It is a worthwhile purchase.

Delta Entertainment's Felix collection is titled "The World's Most Wonderful Cat". It consists of eight silent, black-and-white cartoons created by Otto Messmer for the Pat Sullivan studio between 1923 and 1925, and two sound/color cartoons directed by Burt Gillett in 1936. They are all Felix classics and most of them are not available on other DVD collections.
The quality of prints used for the Delta collection varies greatly. "Felix Goes West" is remarkably good, "Felix Gets the Can" is acceptable, and "Felix Monkeys with Magic" is barely viewable. The Gillett-directed cartoons are available, in better condidion, on the GoodTimes collection.
The music selected to accompany seven of the silent classics sets a good Roaring-Twenties atmosphere but often does not match the action on the screen. "Felix All Puzzled" has a post-production music track which does not work any better and has deteriorated in sound quality with the passage of time. Original music, written to fit each cartoon, would have been more effective.
One cartoon, mistakenly titled "A Felix Comic", is actually "Eats are West" from 1925. The words "A Felix Comic" frequently appeared on closing title cards from the silent era.
Shortcomings notwithstanding, this is a good collection of classic Felix and comes at a good price. Buy it and see for yourself why Felix really is THE WORLD'S MOST WONDERFUL CAT!

Great stuff! Felix the cat is of course classic animation at it's best.Crazy stuff that has obviously been a big influence on the animation that came later... and still influences. This DVD is great news for any animation lover, although they could have thrown in a few extras.

Great animation is hard to come by these days, which makes this DVD collection of Felix the Cat cartoons worth having. However, one wishes the DVD had been longer than 51 minutes. Surely the producers could have thrown in a few additional cartoons or some supplementary material. As a result, the DVD leaves you wanting more gems such as "Felix in Hollywood" (1923) and "Felix Woos Whoopee" (1930). The print quality is quite good and the disc includes some color footage of animation pioneer Otto Messmer - the genius behind the cat.