Character

Felix the Cat

Felix the Cat was a global celebrity before most people had a word for “cartoon star.” Appearing in 1919 and refined by Otto Messmer, he paced, plotted, and grinned through silent shorts whose gags were graphic: a question mark that became a hook, a tail that became a tool.

The design is ink reduced to a walk cycle. Black body, white eyes, a smile that reads at postage-stamp size. Merchandise followed — dolls, clocks, a face on the side of a plane. Animation learned it could sell a personality, not just a trick film.

He opens this hall’s timeline. Later mice, rabbits, and robots inherited his job: make a simple figure think on screen. When sound arrived, other characters took the spotlight, but Felix had already proved a drawn animal could hold an audience without a single spoken line.