FELIX: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat

New York, New York, U.S.A. : Pantheon, 1991. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. As New/Fine. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Handsomely illustrated--with more than 150 black-and-white photos and full-color pages--FELIX is a stylishly written account of the scandal and intrigue behind the creation and marketing of the most popular, best animated, and financially successful cartoon of the silent era, as well as an illuminating study of film animation in the years before Walt Disney. Felix the Cat was the first cartoon character to exhibit an individual "personality" in moving pictures, preceding Mickey Mouse by a decade. From 1919 to 1933 Felix was internationally celebrated, as popular throughout the world as Chaplin and Buster Keaton. The producer of the films, Pat Sullivan--a journeyman artist, chronic alcoholic, and convicted rapist--claimed credt for creating and developing Felix, yet in truth it was Otto MesSmer, Sullivan's brilliant, self-effacing production manager who conceived, animated, and directed more than two hundred Felix films during the height of the cat's popularity. Messmer never saw any of the enormous profits from his creation, and until the mid-seventies--when John Canemaker uncovered his signal contribution--his importance to the art of animation was unNkown to all but a few. Canemaker is also the author of WINDOR McKAY: His Life and Art. As new, first edition, first printing, in fine, mylar-protected dust jacket. [Not remainder-mared or price-clipped] BUND