Felix And Otto And Waldo And Kim And Ted

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Felix the Grouch Chaser, 1951.  This is the very picture of Kim Deitch's waking reality.  Kim, along with Robert Crumb, used animated cartoon talking animals in underground comics, something that blew me away as a teen.
  And that spot don't seem no gayer than anywhere else.  I won't say anything about Felix saying he feels drugged, I think the art speaks for itself.  Volumes.
 

These bears drink, get high, have sex, listen to old jazz records, get yelled at by a cop, are foul mouthed, and the guy bear is living with a bear not his wife.  To say the least I was interested. 



Toby Press, October 1951.  This short lived comics line lasted from 1949 - 1955, it was founded by Al Capp's brother, Elliot Chaplin.  Wikipedia says it fell victim to Dr. Wertham's groundless witch-hunt against the comics industry.  The artist is Otto Mesmer, the original animator for the Felix cartoons and who drew Felix most of his life.  While Mesmer is now credited with originating Felix, it seems that Pat Sullivan, the owner, created Felix.  Pat Sullivan makes Walt Disney look like Gandhi, but his claim is stronger than Messmer's.  Messmer kept the studio alive and seems to have almost the same relation to Felix that Ub Iwerks had to Mickey Mouse, but Ub created Mickey and Otto was drawing Sullivan's creation, no doubt about it.  Pat did have early cartoons featuring a Felix-like cat but Otto did all the work for the studio.  Pat did time for raping a 14 year old girl and drank himself to death, he was in an alcoholic haze during last years.  After his wife fell to her death from a 7th story window his drinking increased, if that's possible.  Dead at 47.


Kim Deitch, Waldo.  Mr. Deitch is a madman.  Waldo is the soul of Judas Iscariot re-incarnated into a silent movie era cartoon cat.  From the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, 2002.
 

 Another.  Kim grew up with a famous kid's animator for a father and I suspect that had something
 to do with his art.


Kim.  I bought my first underground in Austin, Texas circa  1975, a copy of Corn Fed comics.  That is when and where I started downhill.


I still have this.


First TV star, the original NBC transmission tester Felix that was bought from FAO Schwartz, 1928.



Felix won't be back because he never left.


Woos Woopee, 1928.

https://youtu.be/sxailD4Ofq4


So long...but wait!  Here is a bonus pic, please enjoy -
 
 
Waldo is the imaginary companion of animator Ted Mishkin in this very intriguing story.


Gene Deitch, August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020


This entire post is an example of the apple falling extremely close to the tree.

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