Felix fights because Feline Lives Matter

Felix Revolts (1923)

Director: Otto Messmer

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

After the mayor and the city council resolves cats are useless and decides to drive all cats out of a city, Felix organizes his fellow felines to fight back.

"Felix Revolts" is a silent animated short film that has stood the test of time. The plot line feels like it mirrors the "social justice movements" that have been sweeping across western nations in recent years. It even captures the stupidity of extreme positions, with a "happy ending" that is the status quo that existed before the beginning of the cartoon is put in writing.

All that said, this cartoon is one of those that both adults and little kids can enjoy, perhaps even taking away different stories from what unfolds on the screen--but certainly taking away different lessons from the results. The best sequences are enjoyable no matter how old, mature, or immature the viewer is, and they all revolve around Felix organizing the cats, and, subsequently their normal enemies the rats, to squeeze the humans. My adult, logical mind couldn't help but wonder what a horrible place that city must be to live in--and how dumb the human population must be--but the kid in me is vastly amused by the protests Felix stages.

I might have given this a rating of Eight Stars if it had just been a couple minutes shorter. There's a sequence involving Felix sabotaging a seafood shop that is so nonsensical that it crosses the line from absurdism to just plain stupid. Since it was Felix's abuse at the hands of the fish-monger that triggered the events of the story, it makes sense that the character and his shop are among the targets the cats go after, but the way it's executed is just dumb. It's not funny, it's not dramatic... it just feels like time-filling nonsense.

Animation-wise, there's nothing particularly outstanding or bad about "Felix Revolts" in comparison to other films from the time, as well as other Felix films. It's cute and it gets the job done--although I could nitpick a couple points for what looks like excessive looping but they're funny so I can be forgiving.

"Felix Revolts" is one of ten early Felix the Cat cartoons contained on Alpha Video's "Felix the Cat: Early Cartoon Classics". The version featured was digitized from a copy held in the personal collection film historian and preservationist John Carpenter, and, although it's a little washed out, it's in far better shape that the ones you can find on YouTube (such as the one embedded below).

If you're not familiar with Felix's antics, and you enjoyed the sample above, I strongly recommend ordering yourself a copy of the Alpha Video collection. The price certainly is one that can't be beat, and your financial support will encourage the making of more such collections.