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Felix
the Cat
©
Felix the Cat Creations Inc.
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Felix
the Cat is the second oldest animated film character
in the world with an original personality of his own. The
screenings at the Tampere Film Festival demonstrate the
development of this character which was created by Otto
Messmer and Pat Sullivan. When Mickey Mouse was
born, Felix the Cat had already been the star of dozens
of animated films drawn by Otto Messmer and produced by
Pat Sullivan.
The
first film of the Tampere screening is the first-ever Felix
the Cat film Feline Follies (1919), in which the
cat was still called Tom. The four-minute film ends with
the cat committing suicide, devastated by a broken heart.
Contrary to the film-makers' expectations, the movie-going
public was excited by the vivacious and briskly moving cat,
so Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivan carried on, producing a
series of animations with Felix the Cat.
| FELIX
THE CAT |
| Fri
10.3. Tullikamari Pakkahuone 18.00 |
|
1.
FELIX SAVES THE DAY, United States 1922
2. FELIX MINDS THE KID, United States 1922
3. FELIX IN HOLLYWOOD, United States 1923
4. THE COLD RUSH, United States 1925
5. EAT´S ARE WEST, United States 1925
6. TWO-LIP TIME, United States 1925
7. FELIX SWITCHES WITCHES, United States 1927
8. WHYS AND OTHER WHYS, United States 1927
9. COMICALAMITIES, United States 1928
10. SURE-LOCKED HOMES, United States 1928
11. ARABIANTICS, United States 1928
12. FORTY WINKS, United States 1930
13. OCEANTICS, United States 1930
14. FELIX WOOS WHOO PEE, United States 1930
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A new
era started with Felix Saves the Day (1922), resulting
from demands for higher quality animations by a new distributor.
The reasons for Felix's popularity are clearly visible in
this film: unexpected visual gags and the cat's trademark
moment of contemplation, walking back and forth with hands
behind his back. Felix in Hollywood (1923) takes
our animated film star inside film studios where Felix meets
up with Charlie Chaplin.
Just
like Chaplin and Buster Keaton, Felix was a star of the
silent era, celebrated and loved by the general public.
Soon Felix's popularity spread all over the world: he could
be seen in magazine covers and comic strips published in
more than 60 papers world wide, and the character was turned
into a number of different merchandise.
The
arrival of the sound film in 1927 brought an inevitable
end to the Felix animations, while for Mickey Mouse it marked
the beginning of his career with Steamboat Willie
(1928). Still, a number of fabulous Felix episodes were
produced at the end of the decade, like Felix the Cat
Woos Whoopee (1928 / 1930) in which Felix wanders drunkenly
in a nocturnal city.
Fritz
the Cat
Fritz
the Cat
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The
naughtiest representative of the extensive herd of cartoon
cats must be Fritz the Cat, drawn by Robert Crumb,
with its first episodes published in 1964. The cat, who
has had more than his share of censorship, ended up on the
silver screen in 1971 with the full-length animation Fritz
the Cat, directed by Ralph Bakshi. Fritz's adventures
in the late 60's hippie scene are a rollercoaster of outrageous
parody and gleeful obscenities.
| FRITZ
- THE CAT |
| Fri
10.3. Tullikamari Pakkahuone 22.00 |
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Ralph
Bakshi: FRITZ THE CAT, United States 1972
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D
= documentary
| FEDOR
HITRUK: Animations |
| Sat
11.3. Tullikamari Pakkahuone 20.00 |
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1.
ISTORIJA ODNOGO PRESTUPLENIJA, Soviet Union
1962
2. TOPTYZKA, Soviet Union 1964
3. TSELOVEK, Soviet Union 1966
4. FILM FILM FILM, Soviet Union 1968
5. OSTROV, Soviet Union 1973
6. DARJU TEBE ZVEZDU, Soviet Union 1974
7. IKAR I MUDREZY, Soviet Union 1976
8. LEV I BYK, Soviet Union 1983
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ALDER:
THE SPIRIT OF GENIUS -
Documentary on F. HITRUK |
| Sat
11.3. Tampere-talo Studio 18.00 |
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Otto Alder: THE SPIRIT OF GENIUS - FEDOR
HITRUK, Germany 1998, D
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Fyodor
Khitruk and animated satire
The
festival's Guest of honour from Moscow
Fyodor
Khitruk: The Island / Ostrov (1973)
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Fyodor
Khitruk (b. 1917) began his career as an animator, and
came to be one of the pioneers of Soviet animation. Apart
from animated satires of topical issues that sharply criticise
everyday phenomena and are directed towards adult audience,
Khitruk has also made many lovely children’s animations.
The festival presents a comprehensive screening of Khitruk’s
films that are both cheerful and visually very inventive.
The screening includes Khitruk’s direction debut Story
of a Crime (1962), Man in Frame (1966) and The
Island (1973).
Otto
Alder’s documentary The Spirit of Genius (1998)
paints a vivid portrait of this renowned master of animation,
who has twice before been awarded at the Tampere Film Festival,
and whom the festival has the pleasure to receive as a guest
of honour this year.
Winnie-the-Pooh
from East and West
Disney:
Winnie-the-Pooh
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The
original Winnie-the-Pooh that we all remember from
our childhood is the star of two screenings. We are treated
to Pooh philosophy at its purest, from both the east and
the west, for both children and adults.
The
three charming Disney classics are based on the Winnie-the-Pooh
stories by A. A. Milne, and their animation follows the
original style of illustration of Ernest H. Shepard. Winnie
the Pooh and the Honey Tree was made in 1966. The second
animation, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day(1968)
came out after Disney’s death and won an Academy Award.
Based on an idea of Walt Disney’s, another animation, Winnie
the Pooh and Tigger Too was made in 1974. The modern
Winnie-the-Pooh that is currently in video circulation plays
in an altogether different league.
Fedor
Hitruk: Vinni-Puh
(1969-1972)
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At
the turn of the 70’s, the Soviet animation director, Fyodor
Khitruk, was inspired by the philosophical insight of
the Pooh stories. Khitruk’s first Pooh animation, that came
out in 1969, became an immediate success. Khitruk, as well
as Disney, made three Winnie-the-Pooh animations, and many
generations have grown up watching them. Khitruk’s Winnie-the-Pooh
has a completely different look than that of the Disney
animations.
The
animators of Disney's Pooh films have praised Khitruk’s
versions, even giving them the credit of being better than
their own. What might then be the truth? That we can all
decide for ourselves in these two unique screenings.
| WINNIES
THE POOH 1 |
| Sat
11.3. Tullikamari Pakkahuone 10.30 |
|
1.
Wolfgang Reitherman: WINNIE THE POOH,
United States 1966
2. Fedor Hitruk: VINNI-PUH, Soviet
Union 1969
3. Wolfgang Reitherman: WINNIE THE
POOH AND THE BLUTERY DAY, United States
1968
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| WINNIES
THE POOH 2 |
| Sun
12.3. Tullikamari Pakkahuone 10.30 |
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1.
John Lounsbery: WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGER,
United States 1974
2. Fedor Hitruk: VINNI-PUH IDJOT V
GOSTI, Soviet Union 1971
3. Fedor Hitruk: VINNIE-PUH I DEN
SABOT, Soviet Union 1972
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Wallace
and Gromit in full swing
Nick
Park: A Close Shave (1995)
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Nick
Park: A Close Shave (1995)
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The
animations directed by Nick Park have been the biggest
hit in the history of the Tampere Film Festival. Wallace,
an inventor who always finds himself in unusual circumstances,
and his forbearing canine companion, Gromit, have earned
Nick Park Academy Awards and the first prize at the Tampere
Film Festival for two films: The Wrong Trousers
(1993) and A Close Shave (1995). Whilst waiting
for Park’s first feature-length animation, The Chicken
Run (2000)... This is where it all began!
NICK
PARK RETROSPECTIVE
Animations |
| Wed
8.3. Tullikamari Pakkahuone 18.00 |
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1.
A GRAND DAY OUT, United Kingdom 1989
2. CREATURE COMFORTS, United Kingdom
1989
3. THE WRONG TROUSERS, United Kingdom
1993
4. A CLOSE SHAVE, United Kingdom 1995
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