Into Outer Space is the 2nd episode of the Joe Oriolo Felix the Cat cartoons, aired in 1959.
The episode starts with Felix about to be crushed by a trap in the Professor's laboratory. Right above him, Professor gloats about how Felix is trapped—but then bemoans the fact that his Magic Bag won't work for him, only for Felix. Professor promptly bonks himself on the head with a mallet to make himself think, while Felix escapes the trap. Felix runs through the labyrinthe lab, trying to find an exit. Professor boasts that nobody escapes from him, pulling a lever. Felix almost reaches the exit door, but it's immediately sealed off with metal bars. He tries a window, another door, and then another window, all of which are quickly sealed off before he can exit them. Felix spots a mousehole and tries to squeeze into it, but that gets sealed off by bars too. Suddenly, a hole in the wall appears, and Professor pops in to tell Felix he has other plans for him. Felix is suddenly stuffed inside of a satellite, and Professor pushes a button that opens the floor up, revealing a rocket directly below Felix. Professor lights the fuse on it to launch it, sending the rocket flying out of the lab. The satellite quickly leaves the Earth's atmosphere and begins orbiting around the planet. Back on Earth, Professor has a laugh at Felix's expense, and decides to call Felix via long distance. Inside the satellite, the Magic Bag rings like a telephone, and Felix answers it, asking if Felix is suffering for it. But to Professor's surprise, he suddenly hears cheers of joy as crowds gather on the city streets outside, cheering on Felix as a hero for going into space. Professor, shocked, tells the news to Felix. Felix is surprised, looking down at Earth with a telescope as he modestly says he doesn't deserve this. Professor, agitated, indignantly says that it was his idea to launch Felix into space. Professor walks into the observatory and pulls a lever to arm a cannon to attack Felix's satellite.
On the satellite, Felix remarks what a dufflehead Professor was and how he made a world hero out of him. Back on Earth, Professor arms his cannon and pulls a lever to fire it—only for the cannonball to be a misfire, falling limp onto the floor as Professor has a temper tantrum. Back on the satellite, Felix wonders where he is now, and looks down, finding out the satellite is orbiting above Alaska. Since he's back in the atmosphere, Felix parachutes out of the satellite, but gets a hole torn in it by falling meteors. Fortunately, he safely lands and is given a hearty welcome by the local Eskimos. While this is happening, Professor grabs a bike with balloons attached to it and makes a hasty trip to Alaska with it. While Felix is busy being congratulated by the locals, Professor approaches Felix, disgusing himself as an old lady. “She” gives Felix a bouquet of flowers to distract him, and grabs the Magic Bag. Professor ditches the disguise and brags about how he has the bag at last. Felix finds a stick of dynamite hidden inside the flowers, remarking that it's too early for the 4th of July, tossing it in the direction of Professor. The stick of dynamite wedges itself onto the back of Professor's bike, popping his balloons and rocketing him away, making him drop the Magic Bag. Felix retrieves his bag of tricks as Professor goes careening off, smashing through a mountain and getting frozen solid. Professor eventually makes his way back to the lab, falling through the ceiling. Professor watches his monitor as Felix continues being praised by the world. Professor promptly has a temper tantrum, saying he wants to be a hero too, and builds a spanking machine to beat himself up for his failures. Back in Alaska, Felix quips “Righty-O!” and has a hearty laugh as the film irises out.
Tropes:
- Crazy-Prepared: Professor has every possible exit in his lab rigged so that it can be sealed off with metal bars, including a mousehole.
- Didn't Think This Through: Instead of getting the Magic Bag right when he had Felix trapped, Professor decides to launch him and the bag off into space, and then he decides to try and steal the bag from him anyway. Even he admits he was a fool for doing this in the end.
- Literal Ass-Kicking: Professor does this to himself in the ending.
- The Walls Are Closing In: Felix is almost crushed by three trap walls in the opening, but he escapes.
