John R. Bray's Colonel Heeza Liar cartoons are often considered to be the first cartoon series with reoccurring characters. The series began in 1913 and while one cannot say he enjoyed the same phenomenal success that Felix the Cat or Mickey Mouse would in the 1920's, the character and series certainly enjoyed quite a bit of popularity. In the 1910's, unlike today, audiences were amazed at the fact they could go to a movie theater and see drawings move. Many people wondered how this could be accomplished. The following 1916 article from Film Fun magazine attempts to explain how these films could come to be.
As a bonus here is one of the Colonel's best known cartoons, Colonel Heeza Liar At The Bat (1915).
Wish I had a curveball like that!
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