Feline Follies (1919)

Tom and Kitty get their groove on

Directed by Otto Messmer
Produced by Paramount

A cat named Tom is hanging out in front of his house when he hears a "meow" from down the street.  His curiosity piqued, he runs off and meets Miss Kitty White and immediately professes his love.  Tom prepares for a night out on the fence with his new girl and woos her with his guitar by the trashcan.  But is he prepared for the consequences of his new relationship?  And what mischief will the mice cause while Tom is out on his dates?

Don't let the name fool you.  This is the first of the Felix the Cat cartoon shorts.  Tom will get a name change in later episodes.  This is the episode that kicked off a series of cartoons that ran from 1919 until 1936.

So is it any good?

Not really.

Feline Follies is the first animation during the marathon to remind me of The Simpsons episodes that show classic Itchy and Scratchy cartoons.  It has that repetitive style that I find grating.

As far as the story, there aren't any laughs throughout. There's nothing inventive from a modern audience perspective.  Every gag has been done better on episodes of Tom and Jerry or Looney Tunes.

SPOILERS! And the ending!  The closing shots are of Tom arriving to find his girl with a dozen kittens running around with our hero as the apparent father. Tom runs away to the gas plant, places a hose in his mouth and turns on the gas.  Fade out.

Is that supposed to be funny?  There are actually ways to pull off that joke, but you never get a moment to realize how Tom is reacting to the situation.  The dearth of laughs leading up to the final scene make the finale not funny, but horrifying.

The animation is okay (beyond my problems with the style) and it is only four minutes long, but I cannot recommend this one for anyone.

* out of *****

Watched on YouTube