When was Felix the Cat created?
Somwhere around 1918-1919 by Otto Messmer. Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created by cartoonist and animator Otto Messmer. His squat, black body and huge, white eyes and grin are instantly recognizable worldwide, due largely to the fact that this anthropomorphic cat was the first true movie cartoon star. While working at the animation studio of Pat Sullivan, Messmer produced a series of shorts starring an animated version of Charlie Chaplin. Messmer painstakingly analyzed Chaplin’s films, and he would later inject a good deal of Chaplin into the as-yet-unnamed Felix in “Feline Follies”, created on a freelance basis for Paramount Pictures in 1919 immediately after the end of World War I. This early Felix was blockier and longer-snouted than today’s version of the character, but his familiar black body was already established since Messmer found solid shapes easier to animate. The film was a success, and Paramount ordered more. Paramount producer John King named the character “Feli
