Knight, Yoe, Terry, Whew!


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Hi Everyone! That beautiful background painting you see up there below Felix is by Milton Knight, one of the last of the rugged American independent Cartoonists! Please go to: http://kck.st/cLaFYo to see Milton’s Kickstarter presentation of his new cartoon: Caprice, Teen of Tomorrow! Milton created Hugo and Midnight the Skunk for independent comic books, and was a key director on the “Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat” TV show some years ago. If you can, give a dollar or two to the production fund for Caprice. The little samples of finished animation are tantalizing and have an unusual take on animated motion that is uniquely Milton’s. He isn’t afraid to exaggerate body parts such as necks, legs and arms to follow through an action. Sometimes the effect is unsettling, but I like it! Milton is cleaning up and inking the action on paper, and then it is put over his backgrounds by aftereffects, I believe. The result is a lot more like his print comics in motion, than traditional cel animation, which looks terrific. Head on over there right now! Give if you can!

My fan and friend, Craig Yoe, who reads this here blog has come out with a beautiful new book on FELIX! The front cover and a sample image (trade ad for the 1927 Felix Daily Strip!) are displayed upstairs. Go to  http://yoebooks.com and order up a copy for yourself. It contains beautifully reproduced selections from Felix’s comic BOOK career, drawn by our own Otto Messmer and Joe Oriolo. These range from the Dells, Tobys to the Harvey comics. Of course, I have a special love for the comic STRIP Felix, but I like the comic books too. It’s FABULOUS FELIX FRIDAY! Head on over there and take a look.

The Terry Picket Sign this time reflects what Paul Terry actually did during the strike, hired outside workers to replace his striking staffers. Can you imagine anybody in the industry today caring  if an animator has experience or not? Now it’s PRICE that determines everything! No seniority, no union, no nothing can protect the American animator from the relentless march of NAFTA, GATT and Outsourcing! And that goes for traditional AND digital! I love the use of barnyard animals and cute cartoon images on these picket signs, with their eye-catching layouts. It’s a “big-city” concept, illustrated by “hick” images. The last in the series next post.

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Felix is from 1-27 to 2-2-1936 this time. Danny Dooit and Felix invade the Chinese gang’s headquarters in search of the diamond and encounter a cobra! In the Sunday, Felix continues to interact with a nutty professor who can broadcast weather in the form of heat and cold. Beautiful Messmer UFA shadows in the 1/29.

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Krazy this time is from 7-15 to 7-21-1940. The action mostly centers around Mimi’s classroom and the connection between her school bell and Ignatz’s brick tossing. The 7-15 is not as clear a scan as the rest of the strips, it came from a different source, so please excuse. I love that odd gag in the 7/18, as Mimi grows “Devil Horns” as she keeps her errant pupils after class.

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Patrick is from 4/18 to 4/23/1966 this time. Suzy and Elsa do a pretty good exchange in the 4/20, and I love Patricks impassioned plea in the 4/23. Mommy saw through it, however. Enjoy your FELIX FRIDAY everyone, heck try Felix ANY day!

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