King Neptunes' S.O.S. is a 1960 Felix the Cat cartoon, and the 35th episode of the Felix the Cat (Joe Oriolo) series.
Felix is working as a private detective again, looking over a wanted poster of Professor when he gets a phone call. He announces that he's going on vacation for two weeks, and stamps "Case Closed" on the poster. He grabs a hat and fishing net. Meanwhile, at a fishing exhibit, Rock Bottom and Professor are standing around, and Rock asks why they're there. Professor tells Rock to shut it as he gets an idea from watching an octopus catch a fish, they sneak out of there back to Professor's lab and get to work. Later on, Professor shows off his latest creation—a giant robotic octopus. They travel through an underwater ship graveyard and begin searching for treasure. Rock spots one of King Neptune's fish guards at his post, but the robotic octopus makes short work of him. The octopus descends into the ship, grabs the treasure chest inside and flees the area. The robot smashes the chest open and starts sucking it in through one of its tentacles. While Professor and Rock celebrate their victory, King Neptune is informed by his guards about the theft of his treasure. He grabs a clam phone and orders his men to get Felix the Cat on the line, only to find out he's on vacation and fishing. Neptune then orders his citizens to bring Felix to him. Felix just happens to be resting on his boat in the ocean when an eel grabs his fishing rod and drags Felix to Neptune, who tells Felix what's going on. Without a word, Felix hops on a seahorse and heads off to find the crooks stealing the treasure. He finds the mechanical octopus sucking up stolen treasure into it, and grabs the tentacle, shouting into it that whoever's inside is under arrest. Professor and Rock act fast, and wrap up Felix one of the octopus' tentacles, and a jellyfish subsequently arrives and traps Felix inside of itself.
In the second half, Professor and Rock taunt Felix's predicament and head off to steal more treasure. Despite Neptune doubling the guards, the octopus once again makes short work of them, and haul off more treasure chests to smash open and suck up into the machine. Felix forces the jellyfish to move along, and grabs the tentacle the octopus was using to suck up the treasure, placing it on the jellyfish. It sucks up the jellyfish, freeing Felix, while trapping Rock Bottom in the jellyfish inside the robot. Felix announces that Professor is under arrest, but Professor insists that he's fish bait instead, arming the octopus with a sword and subsequently chasing the cat. Felix does his best to evade it, but he can't find a way to fight back at the machine—until he gets creative and decides to grab all of the machines tentacles and tie them in a knot. Felix drags the machine to Neptune via a seahorse, handing the king his treasure back—along with Professor and Rock, who are both trapped in the jellyfish. The fish people and Neptune cheer on Felix, who laughs as the cartoon irises out.
Tropes:
- Busman's Holiday: Felix tries to take a two week vacation to go fishing, but he's immediately dragged into another adventure by King Neptune so he can stop Professor and Rock from stealing his treasure.
- Digital Destruction: The Youtube print uploaded on the official Felix channel has a lot of bad DVNR problems in it, mainly when characters are moving against a panning background.
- Humongous Mecha: The robotic octopus Professor builds.
- Public Domain Character: Neptune of Greek Mythology appears as a character here.
- Show Within a Show: When Felix is sleeping on his boat, he has a Felix the Cat comic book laying next to him.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: Felix is capable of breathing underwater just fine, as usual. Professor seems to be able to do it as well, since he pops his head out of the octopus unharmed.
- This Cannot Be!: Professor reacts "It can't be!" when he realizes Felix has caught them.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Felix's cabin has a portrait with his "Pa" on it, and he looks identical to Felix save for a long white beard.
- Your Size May Vary: The robotic octopus' size is very inconsistent throughout the episode. The outside varies between being large, just big enough to hold Professor, and then Bigger on the Inside.
