Reclaiming Felix the Cat

Felix the cat! The wonderful, wonderful cat. You’ll laugh so much your sides will ache, your heart will go pit-a-pat, watching Felix the wonderful cat!

We went to see an exhibition called Reclaiming Felix the Cat at the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney. Felix was on TV many years ago, but I remember him from my childhood — I think the New Zealand TV stations were a little behind the times. I always preferred Felix to that mouse character, for some reason. Maybe because he wasn’t so nice all the time.

Anyway, the reason for the exhibition is that Felix the Cat was created by an Australian, Pat Sullivan, living in New York early last century. I had always assumed Felix was European, probably because of the name. But here is this exhibition in downtown Sydney, featuring lots of books and comics, toys, and some very amusing short films from the 1920s. They just don’t make ’em like Felix any more.