The title 'False Vases' is a (very contrived) pun on 'False Faces'. This Felix the Cat cartoon looks a little better than most from the Messmer period, thanks to a palette of grey tones offering some variety from the usual stark black and white of the Felix toons.
This Felix cartoon isn't particularly funny (and is arguably racist, with some Chinese stereotypes), but I was very impressed by two different visual devices to indicate characters' thoughts. Early on, when Felix accidentally breaks a vase, we see a thought bubble forming over his head ... and inside this is an image of Mrs Felix brandishing a rolling pin. Later in the same toon, an image of a bone coalesces over the head of a hungry dog.
Hoping to replace the broken vase, Felix hies himself to a nearby shop run by a Chinese man. I was impressed by the soundtrack here. The Messmer Felixes were filmed silent but released with post-dubbed tracks of unsynchronised sound effects. Since the budget didn't allow for synchronised dialogue, the Felix toons employed 'rhubarb' dialogue: incoherent muttering by voice artists, conveying emotions without distinct words. In 'False Vases', we get what I guess would be Chinese rhubarb: an actor speaks incoherently, but the rhythm of his gibberish manages to suggest the clichéd "ying-tong" dialogue of Chinese stereotypes.
In a caption, the Chinese merchant explains to Felix that vases of this sort can only be found in China. Well, as we all know, the easiest way to get to China is to dig a hole straight down. I was impressed by some cycle animation here, as Felix follows a burrowing dog through various grey-hued strata in the Earth's core.
In China, Felix steals a lookalike vase from a Chinese conjuror's act. Felix acquires this in his usual fashion, by cramming the vase into a convenient pocket in his skin. (Was Felix a marsupial?) Then he scurries back home.
Since the vase was part of a magic act, I was expecting this cartoon's payoff to be that all sorts of magic tricks would come popping out of the vase. Instead, the final gag was something entirely different ... and a genuine surprise to me. I'll rate this Felix cartoon 6 out of 10.
This Felix cartoon isn't particularly funny (and is arguably racist, with some Chinese stereotypes), but I was very impressed by two different visual devices to indicate characters' thoughts. Early on, when Felix accidentally breaks a vase, we see a thought bubble forming over his head ... and inside this is an image of Mrs Felix brandishing a rolling pin. Later in the same toon, an image of a bone coalesces over the head of a hungry dog.
Hoping to replace the broken vase, Felix hies himself to a nearby shop run by a Chinese man. I was impressed by the soundtrack here. The Messmer Felixes were filmed silent but released with post-dubbed tracks of unsynchronised sound effects. Since the budget didn't allow for synchronised dialogue, the Felix toons employed 'rhubarb' dialogue: incoherent muttering by voice artists, conveying emotions without distinct words. In 'False Vases', we get what I guess would be Chinese rhubarb: an actor speaks incoherently, but the rhythm of his gibberish manages to suggest the clichéd "ying-tong" dialogue of Chinese stereotypes.
In a caption, the Chinese merchant explains to Felix that vases of this sort can only be found in China. Well, as we all know, the easiest way to get to China is to dig a hole straight down. I was impressed by some cycle animation here, as Felix follows a burrowing dog through various grey-hued strata in the Earth's core.
In China, Felix steals a lookalike vase from a Chinese conjuror's act. Felix acquires this in his usual fashion, by cramming the vase into a convenient pocket in his skin. (Was Felix a marsupial?) Then he scurries back home.
Since the vase was part of a magic act, I was expecting this cartoon's payoff to be that all sorts of magic tricks would come popping out of the vase. Instead, the final gag was something entirely different ... and a genuine surprise to me. I'll rate this Felix cartoon 6 out of 10.
