Felix Turns the Tide is a 1922 Felix the Cat short produced by Pat Sullivan.
Plot[]
Outside a meat shop, a butcher is reading a newspaper when he suddenly gets surprised at an article he reads. He calls Felix over to look at what it says.
EXTRA!
WAR
DECLARED!!!
RATS START
WAR ON CATS
Felix removes his apron and gestures his intentions to join the army. Felix shakes hands with the butcher, who tells the cat "Any time you need help, call on me!" Felix is about to leave, but shakes hands with the butcher a second time. The two shed tears before Felix leaves. The cat goes to the home of his girlfriend and shows her the newspaper. He points her to a recruiting office outside where cats are running inside and becoming soldiers. Felix tells her that he is joining the military. She envisions him as a hero. Felix then asks Kitty "Will you marry me when I come back!!" She nods yes, and the two kiss. Felix kisses the girl's hand before leaving. Felix walks into the recruiting office and gets a gun, then heads out into battle.
Cats and rats are shooting each other. Explosions occur over a battlefield. The cat general looks in a telescope and notices the carnage. He says "Curses!" and calls Felix over to look. Felix sees a rat shooting a cannon in a hot air balloon, then a bomb falling into a trench, killing several cat soldiers. Felix says "Don't worry general, I'll fix him!" Felix runs over to another area of the battlefield and notices the rat in a hot air balloon. He pushes a cannonball up to the rear of a cannon, then loads himself in through the top. The hind legs of the cannon load the cannonball in, and it fires Felix inside the hot air balloon. Felix picks up the now-unconscious rat and throws him off. The remaining rats are angry and one commands the rest to climb up the rope. Felix uses a knife to cut it, freeing the balloon and causing all of the rats to fall off. Felix hooks the balloon onto a cloud, then uses a parachute to float safely to the ground.
The general paces around, upset. When Felix gets back, he directs him to the bodies of many dead cat soldiers. The general says "We're licked unless we get re-inforcements!" Felix thinks and remembers what the butcher said to him when he left: "Any time you need help, call on me." Felix gets an idea. He runs over to a radio and sends an "S.O.S." to the butcher. Felix tells the butcher "Army shot to pieces! Send help at once!!" The butcher thinks until he gets the idea to have the hot dogs chase the rats. He whistles for two strings of hot dogs to travel through the radio and to Felix's radio. Felix commands the hot dogs toward the rats' base. After some fighting, the rats are licked, and the cats are victorious. The general gives Felix a medal.
Felix marches home, a marching band trailing behind him. The butcher is delighted to see this. Felix returns to the butcher and shows off his medal. The butcher kisses him. Felix then says "Now to claim my bride!" The butcher laughs. Felix is confused, but the butcher points out "Why she married your rival! Look!" Felix's rival is holding a carriage of kittens while his wife angrily berates and slaps him in the face. They are followed by many more kittens. Felix is, at first, surprised, but then he and the butcher start to laugh. Felix jumps onto the butcher's chest and says "Gosh I had a narrow escape!"
Trivia[]
- The war scenes are portrayed very brutally for a cartoon, with the cats deaths being played for drama instead of laughs.
- The cats win the war and Felix returns home as a hero, reuniting with his old friend the chef, but he finds out Kitty Kat had married another cat in his absence—for better or worse, neither Kitty or her husband are happy with their marriage or the fact that they have a large litter, so Felix is ultimately happy at the outcome.
- Other than the climatic and ending gags, the war scenes are played completely serious, with few gags at all. Apparently, Otto Messmer based the film off of his own experiences in World War I, where he saw his comrades getting gunned down right in front of him.
- The mouse in the balloon, who sadistically laughs as he kills numerous cats.
- Kitty Kat and her new husband are shown to have a litter of at least 16 kittens in the ending, and neither of them are happy with their marriage.
- The war is portrayed as brutally as a funny animal cartoon could get at the time, but there's thankfully no blood or gore.