Felix All Puzzled
About Felix All Puzzled
Felix is hungry, but his owner will not feed him until a crossword is done. The last clue is a seven-letter word found chiefly in Russia, and a mule kicks Felix there. Taken first for a bomb and then for a spy, he is chased and bombed by two plotters until the last blast blows him home. He tells the owner that all he found was trouble. That word finishes the puzzle, and the owner dances.
Cast & crew
More about Felix All Puzzled
Otto Messmer directed and animated the short for producer Pat Sullivan. M.J. Winkler presented it. Silent Era also lists the title All Puzzled. It opened in the United States on January 15, 1925.
Themes
Background
American newspapers were in the middle of a crossword craze when the short was released in January 1925.
Making
Sullivan's name was the one usually sold to exhibitors. Messmer did the drawing. The cartoon is silent.
Music
The theatrical release was silent. Music heard on later copies was added afterward.
Preservation
Public domain in the United States. Silent Era reports 16mm reduction positives in private collections. The complete version known to Ray Pointer runs about seven and a half minutes; Kodascope copies run under three.
Notes
- The seven-letter answer is "trouble.
- Silent Era lists it as one reel, black and white, standard 35mm at 1.33:1.
- Most copies in circulation are shortened Kodascope home-movie prints of about three minutes. Databases that say three minutes are timing that cutdown.
- Animator Ray Pointer has called a print from Mark Kausler's collection the only known complete version. It was transferred for the 2006 DVD Before Walt.
- Steve Stanchfield later wrote that the same print crumbled while being scanned.
Scenes
- A mule kicks the hungry cat from the house to a hut in Russia.
- Two men plotting over papers take him for a spy and throw bombs.
- Back home, "trouble" completes the owner's puzzle.
Also available
- DVD Before Walt (2006), from a 16mm print in Mark Kausler's collection
Quotes
All I found in Russia was trouble!
