Felix The Cat Silent And Golden Age Characters / Characters - TV Tropes (2024)

Skidoo

Debut: Feline Follies (1919)

Voiced By: Kevin Schon, Susan Silo (Twisted Tales)

A recurring mouse character (often seen alongside other mice) that Felix is friends with.

Tropes:

• Adapted Out: He doesn't appear at all in the Joe Oriolo cartoons, although the official website does have a character profile for him in that series style.
• Canon Immigrant: While Skidoo never appeared in the Oriolo cartoons^note, the official website for the series implies that he does exist in that universe, but just never got to appear.
• Depending on the Artist: His appearance in inconsistent due to him being a minor character in the series. Sometimes he has black fur, while other times he's depicted as having gray fur.
• Depending on the Writer: Sometimes, he's just a generic mouse in the silent cartoons, while on other occasions he's a mutual friend of Felix.
• Named by the Adaptation: He wasn't named in the original cartoons, but was given a name in Twisted Tales of Felix.
• Odd Friendship: With Felix the Cat.
• Punny Name: His name is a play on "23-Skidoo!", an antiquated phrase for "Leave somewhere quickly", or in layman's terms, "Get lost!", which is what many people would do to a mouse like him.
• Villain of the Week: He briefly becomes this in the Twisted Tales episode "The Petrified Cheese", where he instigates the conflict of the cartoon by stealing the cheese. That said, he's more of a pest than a menace, and he's in the same boat as Felix and Shamus H. Goldcrow in the end when they're attacked by mummies who want the cheese back.

Kitty Kat

Debut: Feline Follies (1919)

Voiced by: Ai Maeda (Baby Felix, infant, Japanese voice)

Felix's ladyfriend introduced in the first short, sometimes known as Miss Kitty White or Kitty Kat. She only occasionally appeared in the cartoons, and her most prominent appearances were in the comics and Baby Felix.

Tropes associated with Kitty:

• Adapted Out: She does not appear at all in the original Joe Oriolo TV cartoons, but she did appear in the comics drawn by Joe Oriolo from the same time period, and she was brought back in the NES tie-in game and Baby Felix & Friends cartoons that are in the same continuity as the Oriolo Felix. She is also absent from Twisted Tales, being replaced by Candy as Felix's focus of affection.
• A Dog Named "Dog": She's a cat who is named Kitty.
• Damsel in Distress: In the NES Felix the Cat game, Professor kidnaps her and Felix has to rescue her.
• Depending on the Artist: Sometimes she looks nothing like Felix◊, sometimes she looks as cartoony as Felix◊, and sometimes she falls somewhere in between like in the picture above.
• Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Depictions of her in the 1950's/1960's comics gave her a dress and skirt.

• Ms. Fanservice: In some of the later merchandise she appears in.
• Official Couple: With Felix, although the state of their relationship depends on the cartoon. In her debut, she was successfully wooed by Felix and had a litter of kittens. Other depictions include a hotheaded girlfriend, naggy wife, or even The One That Got Away.
• Satellite Love Interest: She is rarely seen acting on her own, almost always accompanying Felix.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Modern adaptations occasionally give her a pink bow.

Inky and Dinky/Winky

Debut: Felix the Cat Weathers The Weather (1926)

Felix's two inquisitive and ingenious nephews. They are obedient and treat their uncle with respect, although he is occasionally the brunt of their practical jokes. Their curiosity and impish charm endears them to almost everyone, and their simultaneous conclusions suggest the psychic link that many twins are supposed to have.

While they debuted in the silent cartoons as supporting characters, their appearances in them were infrequent, and later Felix cartoons abandoned using them altogether. The bulk of their appearances can be found in the Felix the Cat comic books. A third, unnamed nephew/son occasionally appeared in the silent cartoons too, such as in "Flim Flam Films".

Tropes Associated With Inky and Winky/Dinky

• Adaptational Name Change: When Joe Oriolo took over work on the Felix the Cat and later assumed ownership of Felix, he renamed Dinky to Winky. According to Don Oriolo, Joe just liked the name Winky better, and the name "dinky" had a connotation of being insignificant at the time, which didn't sound positive to Joe Oriolo.
• Adapted Out: They make no appearances at all in the cartoons beyond the b&w shorts, although they found a new home in the comic books and still pop up in merchandising. Their official character profile also depicts them in the style of the Oriolo era, suggesting that they do exist in that series, but simply don't appear in person.
• Art Evolution: Their designs frequently changed throughout the series to match the changing designs of their uncle.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Occasionally they like to make their uncle the butt of their jokes, usually in the comics.
• Breakout Character: They got their own comic book spinoff in the 50's, "Felix's Nephews Inky and Dinky", which ran for seven issues from 1957 to 1958.
• Chaste Toons: In their initial appearances, they were said to be Felix's sons, but from 1930's "April Maze" and on, they were retconned to be Felix's nephews.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: In their modern appearances, Inky wears red shorts with white buttons (an amusingly similar outfit to that of Mickey Mouse) and a hat, while Winky wears a blueish-gray hat and shorts.
• Suddenly Voiced: In "April Maze", one of the first Felix sound cartoons, they're given voices, although not very intelligible ones.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: They look almost identical to their uncle, except pint sized.
• The Unintelligible: In "April Maze", they are both voiced by uncredited actors, but are given no real dialogue, just childish, cat-like gibberish.

Goldie the Goose

"Honk, honk!"

A friendly goose who is able to lay golden eggs that Felix can grind up into golden coins. She helps Felix run a relief business in her appearance, but becomes the target of the pirate Captain Kidd due to her valuable golden eggs.

Tropes:

• Damsel in Distress: She ends up getting captured by Captain Kidd for her golden eggs, and Felix has to rescue her.
• Meaningful Name: She's a golden goose who can lay golden eggs.
• Public Domain Character: She's the classic golden goose of Aesop's Fables fame.
• The Voiceless: She isn't capable of speaking, only communicating in honks.

Captain Kidd

A oneshot villain who appeared in the first of the three Van Beuren Felix the Cat cartoons. A pirate obviously based on the real life pirate Captain William Kidd, he kidnaps Felix's golden goose so that he can steal her precious golden eggs.

Tropes:

• Dog Face: His design is depicted like this.
• Expy: Of Disney's Pete in regards to his thuggish physique, voice and personality.
• Historical Domain Character: He's a cartoon animal take on a real life pirate.
• Pirate: Kidd is one of the classic swashbuckling, pillage and plundering type.
• Seadog Peg Leg: Captain Kidd has one. He duels ably with Felix at first, until his peg gets stuck in a knothole on the pirate ship's deck.
• Villain of the Week: He's a oneshot bad guy whose sole appearance was in the first Van Beuren Felix cartoon.

King Neptune

Voiced By: Jack Mercer (Trans-Lux Series), Jess Harnell (Twisted Tales)

The benevolent ruler of the sea that Felix encounters while trying to find his pet goldfish.

While Neptune only appeared in one of the classic era Felix shorts, other variations of the character have appeared in the Joe Oriolo series (i.e. Moo Moo Island Oysters, King Neptune's S.O.S.) and the Twisted Tales series (i.e. "The Underwater Kingdom").

• Adaptational Name Change: In Twisted Tales, he calls himself King Happy Neppy.
• Canon Immigrant: As mentioned above, variations of the character have appeared in two other Felix the Cat series despite only appearing in the very short lived Van Beuren branch of the series. The Joe Oriolo one isn't intended as the same character and just draws inspiration from the same mythical character, but the Twisted Tales Neptune is loosely inspired by his Van Beuren appearance, considering the plot of his episode is kicked into action by a fish watching "Neptune Nonsense" in-universe.
• Chivalrous Pervert: In Neptune Nonsense, he has a topless mermaid dancer by his side who flirts with him, much to his pleasure.
• Large and in Charge: He's a few stories tall in height and is the ruler of the sea.
• Papa Wolf: When he believes Felix is trying to eat the fish he rules over, he has Felix arrested and angrily grills him, rhetorically asking how he would feel if he was captured and cooked alive like his subjects. He changes his tune when Felix reveals that he doesn't eat fish and is just looking for a companion for his pet goldfish.

Old King Cole

Based on the classic Nursery Rhyme character, King Cole is a oneshot character whose sole appearance was in the third and last of the Van Beuren Felix the Cat cartoons. He's a pompous windbag who loves bragging, and this gets him into a pickle with the ghosts of his ancestors who live in his castle, forcing Felix to help him out.

Tropes:

• Disproportionate Reward: For saving him from the ghosts, King Cole immediately gives Felix a royal title, Prince Felix, as a reward.
• Miles Gloriosus: He brags about his supposed heroics but then runs and hides from anything he perceives as a threat. Eventually, the spirits of past kings get tired of his bragging and proceed kidnap him, strapping him to a machine to "knock the wind out of the old windbag", and Felix has to face his own fears to rescue him.

Butch the Bully Bulldog

Debut: Seeds and Proceeds (Felix the Cat #10, 1949, Dell Comics)

A oneshot crook who made a brief appearance in one of the Felix the Cat comics, robbing Felix of a wallet with Mexican Jumping Beans (which bounce right back to him as the crook walks off). Despite having an extremely small role in the story and only appearing in four panels, he's a precursor to Rock Bottom from the Joe Oriolo Felix cartoons per word of Don Oriolo.

• Alliterative Name: Butch the Bully Bulldog.
• Bully Bulldog: It's in his name.
• No Name Given: He's unnamed in his sole appearance, but Don Oriolo revealed his name in an interview.
• Villain of the Week: A oneshot crook who only made a very brief appearance in one of the old Felix the Cat comics. Rock Bottom is considered a spiritual successor to him.