Felix Finds Out (1924)
Willie, Felix’s owner, gets an assignment to find out why the moon shines. Felix decides to help him get the answer, but winds up getting involved with bootleggers who are making “moonshine”.
The show did away with Felix’s previous supporting cast and introduced many new characters. These characters were performed by voice actor Jack Mercer. Oriolo’s plots revolve around the unsuccessful attempts of the antagonists to steal Felix’s Magic Bag, though in an unusual twist, these antagonists are occasionally depicted as Felix’s friends as well. The cartoons proved popular, but critics have dismissed them as paling in comparison to the earlier Sullivan-Messmer works, especially since Oriolo aimed the cartoons at children. Limited animation (required due to budgetary restraints) and simplistic storylines did nothing to diminish the series’ popularity.
Willie, Felix’s owner, gets an assignment to find out why the moon shines. Felix decides to help him get the answer, but winds up getting involved with bootleggers who are making “moonshine”.
A famished Felix reads an advertisement telling of a large reward for anyone that can give proof for the theory of evolution. He hurries to South Africa via Transatlantic Cable and interacts with the local animals. He angers a troop of monkeys by telling them why he’s there (they’re offended he would suggest they could be related to humans) and they chase him back through the cable to America.
Felix is hungry, but his owner won’t feed him until he’s finished his crossword puzzle! Only one word left — a 7-letter “chiefly found in Russia.” Felix goes all the way to Russia to find the answer, but he’s immediately accused of spying and has to run for his life.
Felix decides to go in for golf. Of course, Felix makes a hole in one the first time out. He also displays other talent seldom seen on the links. The end of his tail, with just the proper crook to it, makes a very effective club, and his drives are deadly.
Felix helps his actor owner get to Hollywood. The cat auditions for a film job himself, but he must perform celebrity impressions (including one of Charlie Chaplin) and save Douglas Fairbanks from huge, angry Jersey skeeters before he gets “one of those long-term contracts.”