Hidden Genre Gems for Fans of Feline Follies: Cult Guide

Dir: Otto Messmer

Newsreel segment on the popularity of cartoon character Felix the Cat.

Dir: Otto Messmer

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Felix Lends a Hand perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Trudging through the snow in his hometown, Felix sees a billboard advertising sunny Egypt, and says that he'd give four of his nine lives to be there rather than freezing in the snow. He then hears crying coming from his friend Abdul's carpet shop, and it turns out that Abdul's girlfriend has been kidnapped by an Egyptian sheik. Felix promises to rescue her, and hops on a magic carpet Abdul has lying around the shop, says the magic word and flies off to Egypt to keep his promise.

Dir: Otto Messmer

Master Tom (later known as Felix the Cat) helps a boy ditch his piano lesson to go swimming.

Dir: Otto Messmer

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Musical Mews perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A starving actor, reduced to trying his luck in the movies, travels to Hollywood. His cat, Felix, poses as a travel bag and comes along.

Dir: Otto Messmer

A wife throws her husband out of the house, telling him not to return unless he brings her a fur coat. Deciding that the only way he'll get one is to make his own, he grabs his rifle and goes hunting. All his efforts fail, though, until he meets Felix, who offers to help him shoot rabbits, and impresses the man with his marksmanship skills. However, it turns out that shooting the rabbits isn't quite as easy as they thought it would be.

Dir: Otto Messmer

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Felix in Hollywood perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Felix organizes a dance contest for hens, but runs afoul of the chicken farmer because the hens aren't meeting their egg quotas. The farmer captures Felix and makes him dig his own grave before he "does him in", but at the last moment an unexpected event results in Felix avoiding his death sentence.

Dir: Otto Messmer

Felix comes upon a caveman and his girlfriend. The girlfriend is crying, and when the caveman asks her what she wants, she points to Felix. The caveman chases Felix, who escapes by using the tails of some friendly monkeys to make his way down a steep cliff. Later he makes friends with a baby monkey, but winds up getting in a fight with a huge gorilla.

Dir: Otto Messmer

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Felix Goes A-Hunting perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Felix goes after a butcher's sausages and captures them, but the butcher catches him and sends him to the Arctic to get rid of him.

Dir: Otto Messmer

After unsuccessfully trying to steal food from a fish market, Felix is promised by a man that if he watches the man's child, he will be fed a great meal. Unfortunately, the baby swallows a balloon and floats out the window, and Felix has to find him and bring him back before the man gets home.

Dir: Otto Messmer

Felix the Cat becomes a soldier when the rats declare war on the cats.