Who is credited with creating the character "Felix the Cat"?

Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan (22 February, 1885–15 February, 1933) and Otto Messmer (August 16, 1892–October 28, 1983) during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he is often considered one of the most recognized cartoon characters in history. Felix was the first fully realized recurring animal character in the history of American film animation.

Felix originated from the studio of Australian cartoonist Pat Sullivan. Either Sullivan or his lead animator, American Otto Messmer, created the character. What is certain is that Felix emerged from Sullivan's studio. The name was first used for the third film starring the character, "The Adventures of Felix" (released 14 December 1919). Sullivan claimed he named Felix after "Australia Felix" from Australian history and literature.

Felix starred in a comic strip (later drawn by Joe Oriolo) beginning in 1923, and his image soon adorned merchandise such as ceramics and toys.

By the late 1920s, with the arrival of sound, Felix's success was fading. The new Disney shorts of "Mickey Mouse" made the silent offerings of Sullivan and Messmer, who were then unwilling to move to sound production, seem outdated. In 1929, Sullivan made the transition and began distributing Felix sound cartoons. The sound shorts were a failure and the operation ended in 1932. Felix saw a brief three-cartoon resurrection in 1936 by the Van Beuren Studios.