Universal Celebrates 100 Years of “Felix The Cat”

Universal Celebrates 100 Years of “Felix The Cat”

October 28th, 2019

Jerry Beck

Felix the Cat, the first animated movie star, is having a centennial celebration: November 9th, 2019 marking the 100th anniversary of Felix’s debut, which Universal Pictures has officially dubbed “Felix the Cat Day”! To celebrate, Universal Brand Development has released all-new Felix the Cat clothing, products and accessories through collaborations with Loungefly, Funko, Skechers and more.

The character, created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and animated by Otto Messmer, was acquired in the late 1950s by animator Joe Oriolo, who transformed Felix into a TV superstar. Oriolo’s estate sold the character several years ago to Dreamworks, which is now owned by Universal Pictures. King Features handled licensing and merchandising before now. The 100th birthday of this iconic character, it was hoped, might have brought forth a restoration of the classic silent cartoons that took the world by storm ten decades ago. Instead, we have a plethora of fresh items: toys, clothing, household furishings. Here’s a look of what’s now available (just in time for Christmas):

Three of six new designs from Skechers

NJCroce is making the Felix clocks – Funko designed the Felix dispenser for PEZ candy

The grey T-Shirt on the left is a limited edition that will come in a box with a metallic Funko Pop, available on December 5th; Tillys designed the one of the right.

Felix Pomade – by Sally Beauty

A Felix pillow via Aliquantum

Magic bags of all sorts by Loungefly

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Jerry Beck

Writer, cartoon producer and author of more than 15 books on animation history. A former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney; currently on the faculty at both CalArts in Valencia and Woodbury University in Burbank, California.

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