Felix's Prize Garden is a 1960 Felix the Cat cartoon and the 38th episode of the Felix the Cat (Joe Oriolo) series.
The cartoon starts in a cozy neighborhood, with Felix and Rock Bottom now being neighbors. Rock goes out to fetch his Sunday paper, but he decides to play a prank on Felix, rigging his mailbox with a boxing glove and squirt gun, which annoy the cat when he opens it but amuses Rock. Felix goes off to his hammock to read his own comic, but Rock places a cactus under it and lights the rope with a cigar, which makes Felix fall on it and leap in the air in pain, which makes Rock laugh like crazy. Felix simply rebuilds his hammock, using chains instead of ropes, but before he can relax again, he hears a loud noise coming from Rock's backyard. He investigates, and finds out Rock is using a pile driver to crack open walnuts. Felix calls him nuts, and Rock tries to retort, but almost gets crushed by his pile driver, zipping out in time, but accidentally leaving his clothes behind to be crushed. Felix laughs at Rock's expense, and the flustered Rock kicks the lever to the machine. Felix tries to relax again, but hears more noise coming from Rock's yard, and he sees Rock has attached a pushmower to a tractor, with the dog announcing his plans to ride it through Felix's garden. Felix tells him to stop, but he smashes through the fence and ravages his cartoon, and then begins chasing Felix in it. Felix tries to outrun it, but trips on a string tied between two trees.
Fortunately, Rock drives over the trees, completely missing Felix, but still laughing at Felix's expense. Upset, Felix paces around, and decides to go for a swim, only to find his pool has been drained, and that Rock is using all the water for a little pool he can barely fit in. Fed up, Felix runs back into his house. Rock then hears his phone ringing and goes inside to get it. It turns out that it's Felix pretending to make a long-distance call (disguising his voice as a females by pinching his nose), who asks Rock to hold the line. While Rock is distracted, Felix pumps the stolen water pack into his pool. Rock eventually gets annoyed at the phone hold up, so he slams it back down and goes back to his pool, but dives headfirst into the empty hole. Rock is really angry now and hops back on his tractor, and tries to run down Felix again. Felix hides in a log, and Rock tries to lure him out so he can whack him with a club, but Felix sneaks back to his house. He then rushes out, carrying art supplies, and paints Rock's house to look like it's part of the background, complete with Felix himself standing in the middle. Rock sees the fake Felix and tries to run it down, but ends up destroying his house in the process. Felix cracks that Rock's house is now air-conditioned, and he goes back to his hammock to finally relax, laughing as the cartoon irises out.
Tropes:
- Disproportionate Retribution: Have a laugh at Rock's expense after he pulled mean-spirited pranks on you and wound up getting humiliated by something that was entirely his fault? Rock will lose it and personally destroy your garden, steal your water and try to run you down in a tractor!
- Deranged Animation: Even given its paltry budgets, Jim Tyer's animation in this episode is hilarious.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Rock's idea of a joke is pulling mean-spirited and harmful pranks on Felix.
- Evil Is Petty: Rock destroys Felix's garden and tries to run him down in a tractor purely out of spite for Felix laughing at his clothes getting destroyed by the pile driver, which was something Rock brought entirely on himself. And then he tries to run down Felix again and whack him with a club for taking his water back.
- Extendo Boxing Glove: Rock Bottom rigs Felix's mailbox with one to punch him when he opens it.
- Kick the Dog: Rock is at his meanest in this episode. He remorselessly ruins Felix's garden, tries to run down the cat in his tractor, and then laughs about doing it, glad that he scared Felix. All this for something that wasn't even Felix's fault.
- Mundane Utility: Rock Bottom uses a pile driver to crack open his walnuts.
- Pain-Powered Leap: Felix leaps in pain when Rock sabotages his hammock, making him fall on a cactus he placed below him.
- Running Gag:
- The line "Nothing like relaxing on a Sunday morning..."
- Felix is reading one of his own comics yet again.
- Sore Loser: To Rock, it's funny to pull mean pranks on Felix, but when he gets himself humiliated by his own hand, he gets flustered and decides to take revenge on Felix by destroying his garden, trying to run him over with a tractor and stealing his pool water.
- Thinking Tic: Felix does the usual thinking pace before deciding to go for a swim.
- Visual Pun: Rock does a swan dive (turns into a swan), half twist (turns into two ropes tied in a knot) and jack knife (turns into a pocket knife) in mid-air before diving into his pool. When he hits the bottom, Felix remarks "Wow, he sure hit Rock Bottom!"
- Who Needs Enemies?: Felix opines "With Rock as a neighbor, you don't need any enemies!"
