"Well, what's your name?"
"I'm Felix the Cat! Who are you?"
"I'm Old King Cole, the merry old soul! And not afraid of anything!"
"Not even lightning?"
"Not even lightning!"
—Felix and Old King Cole meeting each other
Bold King Cole is a 1936 Van Beuren Studios cartoon, starring Felix the Cat and directed by Burt Gillett, and released as part of the Rainbow Parade series of cartoons. It is the third and last of the short lived Van Beuren Felix the Cat cartoons, and the last of the theatrical Felix the Cat cartoons. It wouldnt be until 23 years later, in Joe Oriolo's made-for-TV revival, that Felix would appear in a new animated cartoon again.
The cartoon is in the Public Domain and can be seen here.
Tropes:
- Chekhov's Gun: Early in the cartoon, a bolt of lightning turns Felix's head into a lightbulb. Later on, another stray lightning bolt destroys a ghost that was about to capture Felix, and Felix gets the idea to use a suit of armor as a conductor for the lightning, which allows him to destroy all of the ghosts that are tormenting King Cole.
- Disproportionate Reward: For saving him from the ghosts, King Cole immediately gives Felix a royal title, Prince Felix, as a reward.
- Glove Snap: The Torture Technician ghost that straps King Cole to the operating table does this with long red latex gloves before attaching a ventilator to King Cole and turning on the abdominal compression machine that forces his "hot air" out through his mouth.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: After all the "hot air" is squeezed out of King Cole's stomach and stored into a pressurized gas container, the Torture Technician ghost forces him to breathe it as punishment, complete with his incessant and distasteful boasting of courage he doesn't have. That King Cole has been reduced to a physically feeble and shivering state by the procedure lends the situation a sadistic irony.
- Haunted Castle: King Cole's castle has ghosts living in it, who get tired of the King's bragging and decide to take the wind out of the windbag, so to speak.
- Lightning Can Do Anything: In the opening, a lightning bolt saws open a storm cloud like a loaf of bread, spilling out a heavy rainstorm on Felix, and then turning his head into a lightbulb. Later on, Felix uses lightning bolts (conducted through a suit of armor) as a way of destroying the ghosts. The bolts even knock on doors and play a piano to lure ghosts out so they can strike them.
- Miles Gloriosus: King Cole is a braggart and full of hot air, and the ghosts of his ancestors decide to teach him a lesson, forcing Felix to save the day.
- Mood Whiplash: The opening of the cartoon is a peaceful, spring like setting where Felix sings a lively ditty of "Nature and Me", only for a flash storm to pop up and drive him away, leading him to King Cole's castle for shelter.
- Public Domain Animation: Because Van Beuren went belly up in 1936, the same year this was released, the cartoons copyright was never renewed, making it a public domain cartoon staple.
- Public Domain Character: Old King Cole.
- Standard Snippet: When Felix is stuck inside a knight's armor while King Cole is being tortured by the ghosts, he tries to get out of the armor by moving it around to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw".
- Strapped to an Operating Table: The ghosts strap Old King Cole into a wooden chair after taking him to the dungeon, which then reclines out into an operating table.
- Torture Technician: The ghost who dons a surgical mask and elbow-length rubber gloves and straps King Cole to a "de-respirator" torture device.
- Villain Song: The Ghosts "You Talk Too Much, You Never Shut Up" number.
