D. J. David B. Spins Comics-Tunes: Felix The Cat
Felix the Cat was one of the earliest animated cartoon characters (dating back to 1919), the very FIRST character to appear on television (in a decidedly unanimated role as a test pattern) and the first balloon in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927. So then why has it taken this long for Felix to make hit first appearance on DJ David B’s Comics Tunes Tuesday? I am so ashamed.
It is believed that Felix was created by cartoonist/animator Otto Messmer, although producer Pat Sullivan claimed credit.
Felix, the first TV star.
(This parade was actually in Toronto, but you get the idea.)
This 1958 cartoon theme song should resonate with all you Arf-loving baby boomers who grew up messmer-ized by Felix as he rooted around in his bag of tricks to find a way out of a jam with The Professor and Poindexter.
It’s a long road from the silver screen of 1919 to the internet of 2008, but you finally made it, Felix. That’ll do, cat. That’ll do.
To relive this musical memory, click on the bar below…
(if no bar appears please click here to listen)
— C. Yoe (in the funny papers)
My heart is going pitter-pat, but I think it’s some form of cardiac arrhythmia.
It’s been a while since I’ve heard that…
You may want to have that looked at.
But I hope you enjoyed the Felix theme. This of course, was from the later TV series, not the silent films of the 1920′s.
Hey Mr. DJ, didje gets my request last week? Not that I don’t appreciate Felix or anything…
Ryan: Yes, I saw your request and I replied on last Tuesday’s post.
We aim to please here at Arf headquarters!
Grand, yes, I’ll get to the reading of that reply right now. Cheers
[...] mentioned Felix The Cat on this blog several times before, including here, here and here. Felix was there at the very beginning, even before Mickey Mouse. And Felix continues to [...]
The red poster up here is a fake - poorly drawn of course and copy/paste poses. Very often seen on Ebay as official one but it isn’t