Felix Revolts is a 1923 Felix the Cat cartoon, directed by Otto Messmer, produced by Pat Sullivan and distributed by Winkler.
The cartoon starts with Felix digging through a barrel for food, but coming out empty handed. Annoyed, Felix walks on, passing by a fish market. He sees fish in a barrel near the door, and looks around to see if no one is watching. He sneaks up and grabs a fish, but is quickly caught by the shopkeeper and beaten up. Felix is kicked away, and lands near a restaurant. Felix thinks his luck will improve there and crawls inside. He finds a man sitting at the bar, eating a plate of spaghetti. Felix tries to convince him to share some of his food, but the man refuses at first. Felix persists, and the man decides to find a way to get rid of him. He takes a strand of spaghetti and dips it in a nearby jar of hot mustard. Felix eagerly eats the spaghetti, but is sent reeling from the spiciness and runs out of the eatery. He runs to a pond and drinks the whole thing dry. Felix, angered at how he was treated, remarks that they treat cats like dogs, and walks around to think. He comes across the town hall, where he hears the people inside making disparaging remarks about cats. Felix looks inside and sees the Mayor making a decree—”There be it resolved that we starve these feline pests out of our town!” Felix, outraged at this outcome, decides to gather his fellow cats and tell them about this. Felix runs to the town square, standing on a water pump, and whistles for any and all cats nearby. Suddenly, hundreds of cats come to his call, pouring out from under houses and rain drains, pipes and barrels. With numermous cats rallied together, Felix rhetorically asks “Are we going to stand for starvation?” which is met with unanimous nos from the crowd. Felix yells that “We've had a dirty deal long enough!” which is met with unanimous yes. So Felix tells the cats “So let's make life miserable for them!”
That night, they got right to work—Felix starts his revolt by conducting a choir of cats, who sing badly enough to wake up the entire town. The next day, Felix digs up some dirt, and plucks worms out of the pile, putting them in a tin can and carrying them off. He goes back to the fish market, where he sees the owner sleeping. Deciding to get revenge, Felix leaves the can of worms there. The fish nearby notice the worms and spring to life, chasing after them. Felix has a laugh at the shopkeepers expense, and walks off. The worms leap into a dock, with the fish following them into the water. Felix walks up to a house where three rats have gathered. The rats flee at the sight of Felix, but Felix pulls out a white flag, convincing them he's not going to harm them. Felix tells the rats “The town is yours—we're all on strike!” as Felix points to all of the cats laying around, sleeping. The head mouse whistles, and he and a legion of rats start pouring into the town as Felix and the other cats look on. The mice pour in a market and steal whole wheels of cheese, with the owner panicking at the sight of them, children are pouring out of a nearby schoolhouse as the rats pour inside it, two rats pull on a mans coat as a few other rats run rings around a baby, and a cop is chased by a whole pack of the vermin. The townsfolk finally decide they need the cats, and Felix decides to take advantage of the situation. He and the other cats march up to the town hall, and the Mayor hands them a new decree—that once the rat problem is resolved, that all cats would be treated with respect and have free access to all kitchens, garbage cans, etc. Felix and his fellow cats cheer in victory as the film closes out.
The cartoon is in the public domain and can be seen here.
Tropes:
- Cat Concerto: Felix conducts a choir of cats to sing badly so they can annoy the city folk.
- Traveling-Pipe Bulge: A whole bunch of cats come pouring out of a rain drain like this.
