Felix the Cat – Review
SOME HISTORY:
Felix the Cat is a famous cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer.
At that time the films was still silent but as he got a voice as soon as it became possible but at that time, Felix the Cat popularity was falling.
Joe Oriolo bring the character to life in 1953 with some modifications (with no teeth, longer legs, a much smaller body and a larger rounder head with no whiskers).
Don Oriolo (Joe Oriolo’s son) later assumed the creative control of Felix until 2014.
Today Felix the Cat rights belongs to DreamWorks Animation.
The development of this CD-i prototype I am going to review was at that time under the supervision of Don Oriolo himself… let’s go!
SOME FACTS:
Created by EMG Publishing, this game actually never got released to CD-i but Philips Media did gave the catalogue number 8100250 to the title, so it was meant to be released in 1995, but for some reason, he didn’t make it. Only the PC-CDROM got published by Philips Media in the same year, still a CD-i prototype version exists but was very well kept!
The Adaptation for CD-i was in charge by Gary McGroarty and the CD-i programmer was David Armstrong.
The complete game’s name is Felix the Cat’s Giant Electronic Comic Book.
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
An Extra Special Thanks to Steep Haywire, without his charity and good graces the world would never be able to play this unreleased CD-i title! Not only did he share it with us, but he jumped through all of the hoops to try to get the best dump possible.
Also a Very Special Thanks to Seventy7 and his Preserve CD-i website for sharing every time with us titles in first hand.
THE GAME:
I am testing prototype v1.1, fully working.
We are talking about a kid’s game for ages between 4 to 8. It is a 1 player only and no Digital Video Cartridge (DVC) is needed.
I gave the roller controller to my daughter (who else better than a kid to tell how the game is?) and she got a lot of fun, even if she don’t understand English.
The game starts with an horizontal scrolling animation that shows you a beautiful landscape and takes you to Felix the cat. He is waiting for you under a tree, reading a book… the same book as you are going to play!
You will hen see the front page of this Giant Electronic Comic Book with a female voice explaining what to expect from it. Once explained, the book will open and you will reach the contents pages.
What surprised me is the number of activities available… 20, yes twenty!
On the contents you can see two lines on each color, that means 1 activity for each pages.
They are:
- A message from Don Oriolo
- The Magic Paintbrush
- Making Faces
- New Kit
- Love this Planet
- Did you see?
- Mix-Ups!
- Felix Movies
- Join the Dots
- Dewey Do-It
- Nature Boys
- Magic Squares
- Lemonade Story
- Lemonade Song
- Fan Fare
- A penny for your Thoughts
- A Fish Story
- A Fish Song
- Draw Felix
- Trans-Dimensional Trouble
- Farewell
-
You can choose anyone of your choice and then turn the pages to the left or to the right, just like a real book.
At any time you can reach the contents page by clicking on the white book (top left of the right pages). Also, click on Felix head (top right of the left pages) to get help.
Let’s see all of them one by one, starting from the 1st activity.
1. A message from Don Oriolo (video)
Don Oriolo, as I said before, was at that time the owner of Felix the Cat. He will talk in a windowed screen (inside a TV) for a few seconds about who he is and what to expect from this title.
2. The Magic Paint Brush (animation)
You will watch an animation in full screen about Felix getting a mysterious magic brush from an old man. This brush will draw anything just like a professional artist, but… someone will bake it…
3. Making Faces (activity)
You can create different Felix faces expressions, choosing between pre-drawn heads, eyes and mouths.
4. New Kit on the Block (comic animation)
You will watch a comics story, using still pictures and listening to the voices reading the characters texts.
You can stop it at anytime and click on any bubble to listen it as many times as you want.
5. Love this Planet (animation)
Choose between the 4 available animals (a rabbit, a fox, a duck and a fish) and watch the still pictures animation commented by Felix. It will talks about pollution and recycling.
6. Did you See? (comic animation)
You will watch a comics story, using still pictures and listening to the voices reading the characters texts.
You can stop it at anytime and click on any bubble to listen it as many times as you want.
7. Mix-Ups (activity)
You can change the upper, middle and downer Felix’s clothes. Listen to him as he will tell you what he want to do, then, you have to choose the correct clothes for it.
8. Felix Movies (videos)
Watch 2 white and black old Felix movies in a windowed screen.
The available movies are “Astronomeous” and “April Maze”.
9. Join the Dots (activity)
This one will make your kids really happy!
Just join the numbered dots and see the final result! The image will get animated.
10. Dowey Do-It (activity)
You will learn how to do things using recycling stuff, step-by-step with commented still images.
11. Nature Boys (comic animation)
You will see a comic animation, but this time you can choose between listen to it, or play a role on it and do the characters talks (except Felix).
12. Magic Squares (activity)
Slide the squares to get a complete image.
13. Lemonade Extravaganza (activity)
Paint the next still animation pictures and then, watch it with your very own painting.
14. Lemonade Song (karaoke)
Based on the Lemonade Extravaganza animation, you can listen to the music, remove the voices, remove the drums, choose the specific character voice you want to remove, always with the music lyrics at the bottom.
15. Fan Fare (information)
If you want to send a letter to Felix Fan base, here you will get all the information.
Mail box and internet website.
16. A Penny for your Thoughts (animation)
You will watch an animation in full screen about Felix finding money falling from a rainbow… he will get 3 wishes… see what will happen…
17. A Fish Story (activity)
Just like on Lemonade Extravaganza, paint the next still animation pictures and then, watch it with your very own painting.
18. A Fish Song (karaoke)
Based on the A Fish Story animation, you can listen to the music, remove the voices, remove the drums, choose the specific character voice you want to remove, always with the music lyrics at the bottom.
19. How to Draw Felix (activity)
Don Oriolo voice will explain how to draw Felix body.
20.Trans-Dimensional Trouble (comic animation)
You will see a comic animation, but this time you can choose between listen to it, or play a role on it and do the characters talks (except Felix).
21. Farewall!
Leave the title and watch the credits.
CONCLUSION:
You will find some pretty interesting, some of them unseen on other kid’s titles.
A shame this never got released, your children would really enjoy it, just like my daughter. She especially loved Join the Dots and Mix-Ups.
Felix the Cat’s universe is there, pretty good animations with the original character voices.
A good way to show how an electronic book should be.
Congratulations!
Look at the PC CD-ROM covers, the final CD-i ones would also like the same but with “Compact Disc Interactive” on the red bottom line.
Other information:
– 1 player.
– No Digital Video Cartridge required.
– Roller Controller recommended.
– No memory used in the CD-i player storage.
CD-i Emulator Compatibility:
Not tested.
Good Points:
– Good intro.
– Good music all along the game.
Bad Points:
– No full screen video (no DVC).
– Never published.
EVALUATION:
Graphics 8/10
Music 7/10
Gameplay 7/10
TOTAL 7,3/10
Contact: omegalfa@theworldofcdi.com
Twitter: @omegalfapt
Written by omegalfa, © 23/07/2021