This is a subject of reasonable debate, to the point where it has reached this forum before . I'd like to bring in some of my own observations about Messmer's and Sullivan's work to prove exactly why Messmer created Felix, and the fullest extent Sullivan may of played into the character's earliest appearances.

I'd like to first clear up a few things that people use as evidence for Sullivan being Felix's creator. I find it hard to believe 'LO MUM as proof; using a pre-created font (likely by Sullivan) for FOLLIES seems likely and he probably threw in the lines to appease his boss. There is also the lost THOMAS KAT cartoon, but it seems this cartoon may of also of been created in a gap period. Its not unlikely Messmer could've worked on it uncredited, but its hard to tell as of yet.

It should also be noted that Messmer's story of FELINE FOLLIES being created as a filler for the Magazine actually does hold up to period pieces. In July 1919, when the Paramount Magazine was getting organized and of the three animators mentioned, Pat Sullivan was the only animator listed without a series title in press,  suggesting that he may of only been contributing in an outsourced role and that a series idea hadn't formulated. John Terry and Earl Hurd would also create cartoons very quickly, but early press neglecting them suggests they hadn't arrived yet, creating a reason why an extra cartoon may needed to be created; to help keep the cartoon releases consistent. It should be noted that a Sullivan cartoon from early 1920 is not listed in most filmographies called THE MAGNETIC POLICE FORCE , which could've been the main cartoon Sullivan and Messmer were working on during the creation of Felix, albeit released later.

In FOLLIES itself, its easy to see that Messmer animates the entire picture, and does a few things unusual for the time that help to create more expression and personality in the characters. Most clear is this seen when Felix's owner arrives home, where she actively looks around in very clear movement before she throws out Felix. This sort of expression was uncommon for the time and lacks in Sullivan's CHARLEY cartoons. That said, its not unlikely that after FOLLIES, when Felix production was all that the studio did, that Sullivan contributed to the initial Felix cartoons before their huge success, but these films have yet to be uncovered to prove this. It is fair to understand why Messmer didn't get credit and didn't stand for the credit until much later; he knew he'd likely get fired if he tried, didn't have any special financial benefits since he did not own Felix, and he was too modest; all accounts paint him as someone modest with the character he created

Here are a few other creative points to consider as well:

Sullivan was not as creative or imaginative as Messmer: Messmer is credited on THE LOVE AFFAIR OF IMA KNUT, a rare survivor from the Universal cartoons. It is a nicely done cartoon for 1917, where Messmer does a lot of nice acting and expression for the characters, something missing from Sullivan's CHARLEY cartoons, where most of the characters beside Charley himself (a character that warranted the work for the gag of him acting like the real Chaplin) are much more mechanical and straightforward. For someone wondering why if Messmer got credit on this short, why he didn't on the Felixes, it seems to be different studio policies and because Sullivan was technically not apart of the Paramount cartoon studio the Terry brothers assembled. Its possible if Sullivan was truly apart of the studio, that Messmer may of actually received a credit!

Sullivan was too conservative of a filmmaker to of produced quality work: We all know the death spell of the studio was because Sullivan didn't put in the money and resources needed for the proper creation of sound cartoons (which should enough about him to explain why he didn't create Felix), but let's keep that in mind. Pat Sullivan would've probably never of tried moving past how Felix is drawn in FOLLIES, or earlier cats in the CHARLEY cartoons, and would've probably of not progressed past where he was in the 1910s, just focusing on animating and getting out a cartoon. Felix would've never taken off if Sullivan really did create him

Great post! I definitely agree that pointing to "Lo' Mum" as evidence that Sullivan authored Feline Follies is tenacious at best.

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Thanks Popcorn! To anyone reading, if you see someone discussing the BS that is "Sullivan created Felix", link them to this post. It should be enough big talk to prove why he couldn't of done 99.5% of the work

For the record, I was always on the just that Messmer did indeed created Felix. It doesn't seem like Sullivan was really that involved with the creation of the cat. At least, that's the impression I got from John Canemaker's book (although, I haven't read it in a while).

My current impression from an educated guess, Nic, is that Sullivan didn't have anything to do with Felix's creation and at best, animated on some of the earliest followups to FOLLIES until his success took off. This is more than likely what happened. And to be clear, I know everyone here already knows Messmer created Felix, but lots of Australians want to believe Sullivan did for the honor of having the character be created by Aussie blood (despite the fact that he was a POS). I felt this would be a good reference as to why exactly Sullivan couldn't of created Felix

Oh, a credit hog. Considering how toxic Pat was, I find it very hard to believe some people still thinks he created Felix.

Less of a credit hog and more what was expected of this period. No one besides the producer and sometimes the director got credit during the silent era. Seems Otto himself didn't care at the time, and he probably didn't most his life until the Felix cartoons became hailed as a piece of history in the 60s when the first animation historians began to properly document the history

A few years ago, I read an article that said that Pat Sullivan created Felix because the cat's personality seems to be based on the hero of the William Marriner comic book called Sambo and his funny noises on which Sullivan worked, this comic book presents the adventures of a young African-American boy who foils the traps of two silly white children, which was quite daring for the time. Later, when Pat Sullivan founded his own studio in 1916, he created a cartoon series around this character that he named Sammy. Sambo/Sammy also appeared in a few Felix cartoons even if for the moment I have only seen one.

Here is an example of a Felix cartoon presenting Sambo (unfortunately it seems that the end of the movie is missing):

The animated adaptation of Krazy Kat that Sullivan worked on has also been cited as a major inspiration for Felix, although I don't find that the two characters have much in common other than the fact that they are both anthropomorphic black cats.

Of course, this doesn't prove that Sullivan created Felix, which I don't think he did, but it's interesting in that Messmer may have been influenced by Sullivan's work to develop the cat's personality.

Sullivan was too conservative of a filmmaker to of produced quality work: We all know the death spell of the studio was because Sullivan didn't put in the money and resources needed for sound cartoons (which should enough about him to explain why he didn't create Felix), but let's keep that in mind.

I don't agree with this statement.

Sullivan's refusal to switch to sound did affect Felix's popularity considerably, but Sullivan's studio did not collapse because it survived for another two years. In my opinion, Sullivan's mistake was to save money by doing post-synchronization for his cartoons while all the other studios were doing pre-synchronization so that the animation would be more in tune with the music. The result was that the soundtrack of the cartoons was the worst ever, which pushed the last fans of Felix to abandon the series in favor of the other studios.

To be fair no cartoon until 1930 was being recorded until after the animation was complete, but you are right, the Felixes didn't give much thought into how the sound would be used, I'm sure Otto would've made a great jump if Sullivan put it in money. I still Sullivan was too conservative of a filmmaker to of created a character as charming as Felix and hope that popularity within the films

Re Sammy Jonsin, I cannot comment further because I haven't seen the one I know is around, but it seems those cartoons were about on par with Dreamy Dud (read the old Felix pages here and you'll see most of them are dream based). Messmer would've worked on those too, but again, I'd need to see more of that era to know. I believe that FELIX TRIES FOR TREASURE is the last use of the character ever, and you can find it restored on Tommy's FELINE FOLLIES set, which you should have (it even has a DVD with it!). I'm not sure if Sullivan ever worked on the early IFS Krazys, seems he already had his studio by then. I do think at the very least, Sullivan might've had a thing for using black cats at the studio, but it took Otto to truly give the cats a unique life, something Sullivan was clearly incapable of doing

Admittedly, I have never been proud about my initial writing on this thread. I've heavily revised the points I've made, along with some new information that should help to prove the point. Hope you all enjoy!

I had no idea there was any need for proof that Messmer created him. It's obvious he did.

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