Pat Sullivan Studio was an animation studio owned by Pat Sullivan.
History[]
In 1916, Sullivan established his own animated studio, the Sullivan Studios. One of the company's first projects was an animated adaptation of William Marriner's newspaper comic 'Sambo', though retitled as 'Sammy Johnsin' to avoid copyright issues. This was followed by an animated series based on the popularity of Hollywood comedian Charlie Chaplin. Among the people who were once employed at Pat Sullivan's Studio were George Cannata, Al Eugster, Gerry Geronimi, Burt Gillett, Otto Messmer, Bill Nolan, Dana Parker, Hal Walker and Rudy Zamora.
Sullivan's work
On 9 November 1919, the Sullivan Studios finally scored a worldwide commercial hit with the creation of 'Felix The Cat'. While Winsor McCay's 'Gertie the Dinosaur' (1914) was the first cartoon to revolve completely around the personality of one character and J.R. Bray's 'Colonel Heeza Liar' (1913-1924) the first animated series overall, Felix was the first animated character to become an international superstar. The silent 'Felix' shorts were funny and creative. They took advantage of all the possibilities of the still young animation medium. Felix would, for instance, often use imagery from the scenery of his cartoons. He would also take words, punctuations, speech balloons or parts of his own anatomy, leading to very surreal moments. The little black cat also frequently broke the fourth wall. At the time, only 'Koko the Clown' by the Fleischer Studios rivalled them in popularity and inventiveness.
'Felix' was the first cartoon character to be globally merchandized, making him as recognizable as any live-action Hollywood star. He became the first cartoon character to be mass-produced in merchandising. Various sources have claimed that on 24 November 1932 Felix was the first comic character to be made into a giant balloon carried around during Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. In reality, that honor should go to Rudolph Dirks' 'The Katzenjammer Kids', who made their first appearance during the 6th edition, held on 28 November 1929. Felix can't even hold the honor of being the first animated cartoon character, taking in account the obscure 1915-1919 Katzenjammer Kids animated shorts made by International Film Service . Ed E. Bryant and Hubert W. David wrote a song about the cat, 'Felix Kept On Walking' (1923), which was covered by various musicians, including jazz legend Paul Whiteman. Bryant and David followed up with another song, 'Here He Is Again (Being More Adventures of Felix)' (1924). Other music inspired by Felix from the same period were the songs 'Let's All Follow Felix (That Dog-Gone Crazy Cat)' (1923) by Ralph Stanley and Leslie Alleyn, 'Fido Followed Felix' (1924) by Harry Tilsey and 'Felix! Felix! Felix the Cat!' (1928) by Alfred Bryan, Pete Wendling and Max Kortlander. Even famed composer Paul Hindemith wrote an entire score for the now cartoon 'The Circus' (1920) and in the 1990s house DJ Felix Stallings, Jr. adapted the pseudonym 'Felix da Housecat' as his stage name.
Eventually the success of 'Felix the Cat', became too much for Sullivan. He was an alcoholic and would often drink during the working hours. Several employees, like Otto Messmer, Shamus Culhane, George Cannata and Al Eugster, remembered that Sullivan was never sober. During his drunken rants, he would sometimes fire people, but nobody took this seriously, because the next day he didn't remember his behavior from the previous day anyway. The downside of Sullivan's drinking problem was that the studio didn't adapt to the changing times. By the late 1920s and early 1930s, he refused to make the transition to sound and color cartoons. This gave 'Felix the Cat' a major disadvantage, especially compared with the tremendous success of the Walt Disney Studios.
Controversy[]
Pat Sullivan's posthumous reputation has been tainted by his alcoholism, mismanagement, conviction for rape and anecdotes that he was racist against black people. According to former animator Rudy Zamora, Sullivan specifically didn't hire blacks. Some critics don't even give Sullivan credit for his major claim of fame: Felix the Cat. His main animator and comic artist Otto Messmer claimed that he was Felix' rightful creator. But he never received any official credit, nor a dime of the royalties. Many of Messmer's colleagues also acknowledged that Sullivan was hardly present - or sober for that matter - in the studio after 1925, while the rest of his staff kept all production running.
Gallery[]
