Howz He Do That?
October 24th, 2006
Just pondering Felix the Cat’s mystical ability to reconfigure his basic molecular structure into that of any object at will. I mean, sure, we take for granted he can mutate into — what ?— a satchel, a hat rack, a cannonball. And, of course, with the slightest provocation, his tail instantly simulates punctuation symbols (question marks, exclamation points, etc.)
But in “Felix Doubles for Darwin” the feline outdoes himself. Not only does transform his entirety into block letters — F-E-L-I-X, which, you know, sorta makes sense on an odd, literal minded level — but at one point he transmogrifies into morse code. Morse freakin’ code! That’s just plain creepy.
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On October 25th, 2006 at 12:00 am
As cinema had to learn a distinct way of communicating from the stage, I think early cartoons gave filmmakers a key to expression. Felix may well have given viewers of the ’20s a taste of the possibilities of film, direct communication of images and concepts independent of language. Like today’s blow-’em-up blockbusters, Felix probably played well in foreign countries.