I remember seeing, way back in 2010, a copy of the Felix the Cat cartoon Forty Winks (1930) on YouTube that was at a faster speed than every other copy is at. I recall the description saying that this was the correct speed. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find said video anymore.

If you look at the original Felix sound cartoons distributed through Copley, like Oceantics  and the aforementioned Forty Winks , you can see that Felix’s voice is very low-pitched. Compare those with any Copley sound reissue of any Felix cartoon, like Futuritzy. Notice that the action generally moves quickly, and Felix’s yowls are higher-pitched and more in vogue with how an actual cat sounds. In the copy of Woos Whoopee  you can find on YouTube, the audio is more in vogue with the sound reissues. Also note the running time-it’s 6 minutes and 40 or so seconds long, whereas the print for Forty Winks is nine-and-a-half minutes long. 6 minutes and a half also matches up with the running time with the other Felix sound reissues at the time. This seems to support my theory that current prints of 1929-1930 Felix sound cartoons are run at too slow a speed.

What do you think?

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