Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #4 - Silent Edition

Happy Saturday morning again my friends. Of course you know that means it is time to look at more classic cartoons. Today let's try something a little different and look at some great silent cartoons. 

First up is a cartoon staring the most famous cartoon character of the silent era. This is of course Felix the cat. Felix as many of you know is turning 100 this year having debuted in 1919 with Feline Follies. By the cartoon we are going to look at today, Felix was as popular to movie going audiences as any of the great silent movie live action stars. Speaking of the great live action stars you will see animated versions of many of them here including William S. Hart, Douglas Fairbanks, Ben Turpin, Will Hays, Gloria Swanson and most delightfully Charlie Chaplin. Yes the scene with Charlie Chaplin is fantastic. When our hero shows Will Hays his acting ability, he does an imitation of Charlie Chaplin. Charlie accuses the feline of stealing his stuff and gives chase. There is some actual history behind this joke. Producer Pat Sullivan and animator Otto Messmer had previously made a series of animated shorts featuring an animated version of Chaplin's little tramp and this work with the tramp inspired much of Felix's personality and movements. This is maybe one of the most popular silent Felix shorts and certainly one of the best. In fact it received a spot in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons. So without further ado here is Felix in Hollywood (1923).




Since I mentioned them earlier, I feel this is a perfect time to share one of Pat Sullivan and  Otto Messmer's Charlie Chaplin cartoons. The story of having the Tramp as a farmhand was done in Chaplin's live action short, The Tramp (1915). Borrowed directly from that short is a gag involving milking a cow. So here is Charley on the Farm (1919).

The next film is one of Walt Disney's excellent series of Alice Comedies. This series was intended as a reversal on the Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell cartoons. Those films featured an animated KoKo the clown entering a live action world. The Alice comedies on the other hand featured a live action girl entering an animated world. The effect was fantastic and many of the Alice Comedies are just fantastic entertainment. The live action little girl was originally played by Virginia Davis. After her contract was not renewed because her parents were not happy with her being payed less, the part was taken over by Margie Gay who plays the role here. This is Margie's first time playing the lead in an Alice Comedy. It also marked another first, this was the cartoon debut of Pete, who would later be the nemeses of such Disney characters as Oswald the Rabbit and Mickey Mouse. The character is still in use today thanks to shows like Mickey and the Roadster Racers or video games like the Kingdom Heart series. So here is Alice Solves the Puzzle (1925).




Speaking of Walt Disney here is one of his classic Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons. The story of this film will seem familiar to Disney fans, as it was remade as the Mickey Mouse cartoon, Building a Building. I have written about that Mickey Mouse cartoon, here. Notice in both the Oswald and Mickey Mouse Pete is the villain. This however is an excellent cartoon in its own right, so here is Sky Scrappers (1928).




Last but not least is one of Earl Hurd's great Bobby Bumps cartoons. Earl Hurd is probably best remembered today for being one of the creators of cel animation. However he should be just as remembered for the Bobby Bumps cartoons, because they are fantastic. I love all the fourth wall jokes here as well as the gags that could only be done in silent cartoons. This is one of the best of the series and a must watch for all fans of silent cartoons. So here is Bobby Bumps Puts a Beanery on a Bum (1918).






So stayed tooned next Saturday morning for more cartoons. Until then peace love and cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland