Cheap Felix the Cat (1919-1930 Collection) (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Felix the Cat (1919-1930 Collection)

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.

An evolution of Felix in his silent days.
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!

Vintage Felix
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.