The film began development in the late 1980s, when Don Oriolo (the son of Joe Oriolo, creator of the TV series) began work on a feature-length television special intended as apilot.[3] After Oriolo took the project to Europe, it ended up with director Tibor Hernádi and his Hungarian crew, at a cost of US$9 million.[1]
The film opens with an introduction by Felix, who is rendered in CGI using then-new motion capture technology; this model also appears throughout the end credits. The rest of the film, however, is rendered in hand-drawn animation.[4] The animation was produced at Pannonia Film Studio in Hungary, with some parts subcontracted to studios in Poland and Bulgaria.
New World Pictures picked up the film in May 1987, some time after completion, and premiered at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles in January 1989 as the opening selection of the third Los Angeles Animation Celebration.[5]
Originally slated for a Thanksgiving 1988 release,[1] it was pushed to April 1991[4] and was a box office bomb, grossing $1,964,253[citation needed] based on an estimated $9 million budget.[1]
Critical reception[]
Felix the Cat: The Movie has been widely panned by critics and viewers upon its release. The staff of Halliwell's Film Guide called it a "laboured attempt to update the classic cartoon figure."[6] Philip Strick of MFB commented that it was "more likely to bury the ingratiating Felix beyond revival than to stimulate fresh legions of fans".[6] In his 2005 bookTelevision Cartoon Shows, Hal Erickson noted that it "managed to salvage whatever marginal charm the 1960 series has had by dressing it up with first class animation and character design."[3]