Breaking News: Mickey Mouse Found Guilty for Murder

Keira Nobis

US History 1877

Professor Lee

December 22, 2017

Breaking News: Mickey Mouse Found Guilty for Murder

1927, the year family entertainment changed from playing outside on the farm to finding

enjoyment on the “big screen”. Not soon after 1927, the year 1950, marked the beginning of

seeing world renowned superstars like, Felix the Cat in black and white or in color. All of a

sudden, Felix the friendly, feline cartoon could be found on the television of every household in

the nation. Felix featured on newspapers, commercials, and even on the shelves as merchandise.

The name Felix the Cat could be quickly mentioned in a room full of all ages and not one person

wouldn’t have a place in their heart for the round, big-eyed, precious cat. Felix is recognized for

its contributions in family entertainment, future cartoons, advertisements, and for being a friend

to any age. 1

The Pioneer Edition of Felix and Description

The Kinney Pioneer Museums, particular model of Felix the Cat, in Mason City, Iowa, is

around 4 inches tall. The Felix doll is handcrafted out of a grayscale acrylic painted wood. The

merchandise looks to have movable joints connected by string and glue, very much similar to an

old fashioned baby doll. 2 Models like the museums Felix can be sold on Ebay for a cost of $470

to $700 apiece. 3 Though small in size, the museums memorabilia must have made a huge impact

on the hearts of Felix fans to be sold at such a high price.

1 “Felix History - Felix the Cat." Accessed December 15, 2017. http://www.felixthecat.com/history.html.2 Keira RM Nobis. Felix the Cat. September 20, 2017. Dolls and Toys, Kinney Pioneer

Museum, Mason City Iowa.3 Unimay. "Very Rare Original 1925 Felix the Cat Schoenhut 8 inch articulated doll." EBay. Accessed December 10, 2017.

Figure 1. Felix the Cat.

(Photograph courtesy of

Kinney Pioneer Museum) 4

Figure 2. Felix Foot.

(Photograph courtesy of Unimay

from Ebay.com) 5

4 "The Irrepressible Felix the Cat, 1924–1928 | Silent Film Festival." Accessed December 15, 2017. http://silentfilm.org/archive/the-irrepressible-felix-the-cat-19241928.5 "Felix History - Felix the Cat." Accessed December 15, 2017. http://www.felixthecat.com/history.html.

The word “Felix” appears to be wore out, making it hard to read on the chest of this

Schoenhut doll. 6 The rest of the body is also aged in its color. Many of the Felix look alikes

online, feature a sign on the bottom of the left foot , reading “FELIX Copyright 1922, 1924 by

Pat Sullivan PAT APPLIED FOR” (See figure 2). 7 There is no certainty on the exact year of the

creation of the Felix doll in the Kinney museum, but based off of the other examples, it appears

that the museums Felix is slightly older in its age. Kinney’s Felix was is antiquied and seems to

have been created closer to 1922 than 1924.

The Beginning of Felix- Otto Messmer and Joe Oriolo’s Story

Pat Sullivan, often the only name recognized for producing all of the Felix products and

the only name featured in the credits of many Felix films. Though little is known about the

situation, it is known Sullivan hired a cartoonist by the name of Otto Messmer (see figure 3) to

work for his production company.8 Messmer thought up the original design of Felix the Cat, for

the sole purpose of doing, just what he loved best; art. Messmer never envisioned his artwork to

become such a sensation amongst the generations and for that reason he sat in the shadows,

while Sullivan took all the glory. Eventually, Otto hired an assistant named Joe Oriolo. Together

Messmer and Oriolo changed Felix’s original design of pointy-knees, thicker body mass, and

unrealistic facial features to the “New Felix”, of a slimmer, rounder, more recognizable art

6 "The Irrepressible Felix the Cat, 1924–1928 | Silent Film Festival." Accessed December 15, 2017. http://silentfilm.org/archive/the-irrepressible-felix-the-cat-19241928.7 Unimay. "Very Rare Original 1925 Felix the Cat Schoenhut 8 inch articulated doll." EBay. Accessed December 10, 2017. 8 Keira RM Nobis. Felix the Cat. September 20, 2017. Dolls and Toys, Kinney Pioneer

Museum, Mason City Iowa.

model (see figure 3). Not to mention, the addition of a “new personality and new characters,

including The Magic Bag of Tricks, Poindexter, The Professor, Rock Bottom and Vavoom.” 9

Oriolo and Messmer, single handedly drew every issue of the Felix Sunday Comics. The

only extra addition to the family business included Joe’s son, Don. Near the end of the 1950s, the

two had created over 264 five-minute episodes featuring the “new Felix”. Messmer and Oriolo,

then spent the next twenty years keeping up the continuously running Felix cartoon series. After

Joe spent entire life helping to make Felix the Cat a popular sensation across the globe, he asked

his son, Don, to take on Felix and carry him into the twenty-first century. Don’s passion for Felix

was strong, and to take on his Uncle Messmer and father Oriolo’s wishes, he signed contract

with FTCP, a toy company, to co-caption for still growing love of Felix world-wide.

Figure 3: Original Felix

(Picture courtesy of San Francisco

Silent Film Festival) 10

9 Unimay. "Very Rare Original 1925 Felix the Cat Schoenhut 8 inch articulated doll." Photograph on EBay. Accessed December 10, 2017. 10 Keira RM Nobis. Felix the Cat. September 20, 2017. Dolls and Toys, Kinney Pioneer Museum, Mason City Iowa.

Figure 4: Otto Messmer

(Picture courtesy of Carpe Diem)11

Felix and Silent Films:

Felix was arguably one of the most iconic moving picture stars of his time. The 1920s

marked the year the more modern version of the silent film was first shown. The films feature no

words with a “jazzy tune” in the background.12 A historical theory states, the invention of

projection was what lead to the Silent Era from 1891 to 1929. Around the same time period,

Felix's first boom came from comics in 1919. Then 1929, Felix had a boom in silent films.Critics

argued that Felix ruled early animation. Silent films were created with the purpose of

entertainment, and Felix was nothing short of an entertainer. 13

Pop Culture and Felix:

11 "Felix Finds a Way: Otto Messmer and Early Animation @ Light Industry ...." Accessed December 15, 2017. http://newyork.carpediem.cd/events/690149-felix-finds-a-way-otto-messmer-and-early-animation-at-light-industry/.12 "History of Silent Movies | Silent Film Resources - Octane Seating." Accessed December 15, 2017. https://www.octaneseating.com/history-of-silent-movies.13 "The Irrepressible Felix the Cat, 1924–1928 | Silent Film Festival." Accessed December 15, 2017. http://silentfilm.org/archive/the-irrepressible-felix-the-cat-19241928.

Whether considered a friendly figure, for humor, or visual appeal, Felix undoubtedly

dominated the nineteenth and twentieth century via popular culture. Felix even took a job as a

mascot of three biplanes for the company Fighter Squadron 2-B. A statue of Felix was the first

image to ever be broadcast over television. Felix soon became a sensation through his famous

clock memorabilia and many other important milestones in history. 14

Felix in All our Hearts:

Felix not only inspired the creation of some of the most well-known cartoon characters,

like Mickey Mouse, but he also continues to touch the hearts of all ages. After being asked the

question, “Do you know who Felix the Cat is?”, Mr. Gerdom, a substitute for the Mason City

Community School district, replied, “Of course! I remember watching Felix as a kid. In fact, I

believe I still have some old film projector copies of the early Felix that my mom recorded for us

to watch as kids. There were usually only about three channels for us to watch on TV and Felix

was almost always on. I remember all the early cartoons were aimed towards adults, however,

they were funny, so kids liked them too.” Felix provided a time for children an adults to come

together and bond over a common love for the big-eye, round, black cat.

Disney Brings the Death of Felix:

14 "Felix History - Felix the Cat." Accessed December 15, 2017. http://www.felixthecat.com/history.html.

Walt Disney first aired the now well-known Mickey Mouse 10 years after Felix the Cat

had already started flourishing among the public.15 Both the Mickey and Felix are alike in

personality and aimed towards all ages. Not to mention, Mickey, like the “New Felix”, is black

and white, based off the looks of a recognizable animal, such as a cat and mouse, round in shape,

and a friendly cartoon. Mickey and Felix authors created the two with a common sense on humor

for kids to relate to and with “friends” to go alongside their television journey. For example,

Daffy, Minney, and Daisy are a few of Mickey’s side-kicks, like Felix has the Bag of Magic

Tricks. Though, there is no substantial evidence to prove Felix was the complete inspiration for

Disney’s Mickey, it is not hard to find similarities between the two and many other cartoons of

today.

Mickey Mouse's birthday for becoming famous is on November 18, 1978. Conspiracy

theory or not, it’s no surprise that Mickey’s “big day” is the year that Felix started to die out

from his golden years. Felix ruled the silent films up until the late 1960’s, just before Mickey

stole the show.

The model of Felix at Kinney Pioneer Museum may only be an 8-inch model and

memorabilia of the Felix franchise, but it represents so much more. Felix the cat is admired for

contributions in the silent era and twentieth century. The cartoon cat proves to be significant at

just the mention of Felix’s name. Felix featured on many well-known comics, newspapers,

15 "Felix the Cat (Character) - Comic Vine - GameSpot." Accessed December 15, 2017. https://comicvine.gamespot.com/felix-the-cat/4005-28008/.

merchandise, and more. Though technically small in actual figure, Felix is big in the hearts of his

fans of all generations.