Felix Minds the Kid is a 1922 Felix the Cat cartoon, directed by Otto Messmer and produced by Pat Sullivan.
The cartoon starts with Felix walking up to a fish market, deciding to grab a meal inside of it. He tiptoes inside, only to catch the wrath of the owner who yells at him to get out, beating him up and throwing him back outside. The owner steps outside and yells at Felix that "You'll get the devil if I catch you around here again!" Felix shrugs and walks off as the owner goes back inside—only for Felix to run back and peek around the corner. Deciding it's too risky to go back inside the shop, Felix notices a barrel right near the door. Thinking it's too easy, Felix walks up to the barrel and tries to pull a fish out of it with his tail, only to get a nasty surprise when a lobster grabs his tail. Felix runs off in pain as the lobster continues clinging to his tail. Felix manages to break free of it by squeezing through a pipe that is too small for the lobster to fit through (even though Felix can somehow fit through it fine), forcing it to let go. Felix walks off, thinking about where he could get some food, stopping by a house with a baby carriage and a lone shoe. Felix is just about to eat the shoe out of desperation, only to hear the wailing of a baby from a window nearby. The father, desperate to calm him down, tries playing some music for him as four soldier toys come to life and march off, but the kid continues crying, forcing the dad to give up. Back outside, Felix finds the shoe is just too thick to eat, so it seems he's doomed to starve, so he starts crying. The father and kid notice Felix outside, and the dad whistles for Felix to come inside through the window. Desperate for help, the dad makes Felix an offer—mind the kid for an hour, and he'll give Felix a swell feed. Felix nods and says "It's a go!" and shakes hands with the dad.
The dad introduces the kid to Felix and walks off, and Felix decides to start entertaining the child. He grabs a toy ball and bounces it around in the air on his nose, and then bouncing around on his tail with it. Felix tosses the ball out the window and hopes it worked, failing to notice a toy soldier walking up behind him, which stabs him in the butt with its bayonet, much to the kids laughter. Felix is not amused, but the kid starts crying when Felix tries to lecture him. Felix quickly tries to make him happy again by blowing up a balloon. The kid grabs the balloon and sucks the air out of it, swelling up like a balloon himself and drifting out the window, to Felix's horror. Felix leaps out the window and ponders about how to rescue the kid. Felix grabs the baby carriage nearby and trails below the kid as he flies helplessly above in the clouds. Reaching the city, the kid grabs a pole on top of a building, and a crow right on top of it notices the kid. The crow pecks at the kid, popping him like a balloon and sending him tumbling down the building. Fortunately, Felix is at the bottom with the stroller, which catches the kid. Despite this victory, the kid starts shrieking again, which startles Felix. Felix continues pushing the kid in the stroller, stopping by the wall of a day nursery. Felix decides to get some candy for the kid, leaving him idle for a moment. Nearby, another kid pokes his head over the nursery wall and whistles for Felix's ward to come on inside. The kid nods, climbs out and crawls inside through a big hole in the wall. Felix arrives back with a candy cane, but notices the kid is gone. Worried, Felix assumes the kid sneaked back home and runs off. He looks inside and finds out that not only is the kid not home, but his father is angrily searching for him. The man yells "If that cat don't bring that kid back in five minutes, I'll skin him alive!"
Felix panics, and heads back to the stroller to continue searching for the kid. After looking around, he notices the nursery nearby, and correctly deduces that the kid is inside—but to his shock, he finds out there are dozens of children inside, all identical to his ward. Felix decides to use the candy cane he got for the kid to lure him out of the hole in the wall and lead him back home, which works—but the kid invites every other kid to tag along with him to get the candy. Felix arrives back at the window of the house, and the father angrily demands to know where his kid is. Felix merely points outside, where the father reacts with horror and faints at the sight of the dozens of identical kids, which Felix now takes notice of. Giving up, Felix turns the candy cane into an umbrella and flies away as the cartoon ends.
Tropes:
- Bratty Half-Pint: The eponymous kid, who gives his father and Felix a lot of grief and laughs at Felix's expense.
- Living Toys: For no reason, a bunch of soldier toys come to life and march off when the father is playing music for his kid. One of them decides to stab Felix in the butt with its bayonet for no clear reason.
- Painting the Medium: After Felix saves the kid from falling off the building, the kid screams a YOW!, which makes Felix jump into the air and hang off the word yow hanging in the air with his tail.
- Papa Wolf: The father is so angered at his kid going missing, that he threatens to skin Felix alive if he isn't returned safely.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After things go south with returning the kid to his father, Felix turns the candy cane into an umbrella and drifts away in the air.
- Too Many Babies: The ending punchline; there are so many identical kids, that the father can't tell his kid apart from any of them, and faints.
