Oceantics

I have seen many dozen of the early Felix the Cat cartoons and because I am missing a few, I am glad I got the new DVD from Alpha Video and the collection of John Carpenter, as it featured several shorts I haven't been able to find elsewhere. This is one of the shorts included in this collection.

In the early 20s, the Felix the Cat cartoons were the most popular ones available. They were very funny and very creative. But, over the years the quality never changed in an industry that saw huge improvements in animation quality. By 1930, the Felix cartoons STILL looked much like the 1920s ones....but with sound that was added post-production-- which was very sloppy. For example, a goat was about to butt a person but you hear the sound BEFORE the goat actually charges!

As far as the look of "Oceantics" goes, it is very typical--with simple line drawings and minimal backgrounds. Because of this, it has a rather cheap look.

Felix sneaks aboard a Navy ship and antics follow--mostly involving Felix and the mascot, a goat. Most of this is rather unfunny. What also many will find unfunny are the depictions of a black man and a Chinese man at the beginning---both are uber stereotypical for the era. I generally didn't enjoy this one, though the joke involving the birds at the end was kind of cute.