Rare Cinematic Gems Exploring the Legacy of Musical Mews: Cult Guide

Dir: Otto Messmer

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Otto Messmer

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.

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

Dir: Otto Messmer

Felix the Cat helps an animal trainer get back his circus elephant and catch the mouse that chased the animal away.

Dir: Otto Messmer

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.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Frolics at the Circus perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Otto Messmer

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

Dir: Otto Messmer

Felix strikes up a friendship with a small boy, but the boy's father won't let him keep Felix as a pet. Every time Felix tries to sneak into the house, the father throws him out, finally chasing him out with a shotgun. To get his revenge, Felix plants some very old cheese in the house, then waits for all the mice to smell it and swarm into the house.

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

Dir: Otto Messmer

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

Dir: Otto Messmer

Felix lets a mouse out of a mousetrap. The mouse then offers to do Felix a favor--to help him sneak his friend out of the house so they can go swimming.

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

Dir: Otto Messmer

Felix goes to the county fair and falls for Marie, the dancing cat and the fair's star performer. However, he gets on the bad side of Razoo the snakecharmer. He schemes to find a way to convince Marie to leave the circus and marry him.

Dir: Otto Messmer

Felix and his friend little Sammy Johnson are playing baseball when they discover a map that leads to the undersea treasure of Lizzie the Pirate Queen. Building their own submarine, they slip beneath the waves in search of the treasure, and meet up with a variety of undersea creatures, including the most dangerous of all--the loan shark.