Felix the Cat Live “Series”

FELIX THE CAT
While everybody is aware of the “Felix the Cat” cartoons, almost nobody is aware of the Felix the Cat live-action series, with human actors in makeup and costumes, playing the parts.

Some history: The late Joe Oriolo was a leading animator, best-known for creating or co-creating Felix the Cat and Caspar the Friendly Ghost cartoon series.   In 1972 Joe Oriolo partnered with Bert Hecht to form  Oriolo Film Studios. They jointly worked on a number of projects, including Choppy the Princess, and our live Felix series; Don Oriolo, Joe’s son, created the music for the live Felix series as a work for hire. 

In 1982, Hecht and Oriolo split up their partnership acrimoniously;  Hecht’s new company, “Albert D. Hecht d/b/a Production & Direction Services”, got all distribution rights for “the total Choppy project” for the U.S. and Canada, but with technical ownership remaining in Oriolo Film Studios.  Hecht also received all of the materials for the Choppy series and a Choppy feature film.  Oriolo received all rights to the Felix the Cat live series, and worked on completing it prior to his death December 25, 1985.  Larry Wehrhahn , Michael Wehrhahn and Jim Markovic the post producers provided post production services for the project as well as media services, and when the company funding was lost and went out of business, they were left with the incomplete series and the abandoned materials for it.  Wehrhahn and Markovic, New Cat Associates, Ltd.,  completed the Felix the Cat  live-action series from the ground up and finally released the series.

The series has been issued in nine volumes by Mr. FAT-W Video; the contents are listed below; the links under those listings will take you directly to Amazon.com to purchase the DVDs.

While the series was intended primarily for the young audience that watches series such as Sesame Street and Barney and other “PBS Kids” series, there is actually a sly tongue-in-cheek humor; the video promo below illustrates this, as well as giving you an idea of what the series looks like.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Cast:              Rick Davis
Bobby Lee
Gary De Lena
Katie Doyle
Coleen Davis
Carol Payne

Executive Producer:        Noel Paul
Producer/Director:       Marc Nathan, Michael Wehrhahn
Writer:                       Jack McDonnell
Associate Director:       Lesley Jake
Associate Producer:       Richard D. Levine
Musical Director:       Don Oriolo
Set Designer:       James Stewart
Lighting Director:       John Friborg
Stage Manager:               Mitchell Baum
Makeup/Wardrobe:       Paulette Aller
Post Production Facilities:     Carob Video
Devlin Productions Global Star Productions / Entertainment
Post Production Producers: Jim Markovic
Production Servides:      Vienek Corp.  A General American Company
Copyright: ©2017 New Cat Associates, Ltd.