Pat Sullivan

A vigorous entrepreneurial talent, responsible for the promotion and production of over 150 cartoon adventures of Felix the Cat, a beloved "star" in the Roaring 20s and the first fully developed animal character in the history of American animation. After working as a cartoonist for newspapers, Sullivan began the Felix series in 1919, employing Otto Messmer to draw the often risque antics of the frisky feline with a fondness for speakeasies. Sullivan's name, however, was the only one ever to appear in the credits and his claim to proprietary rights to Felix resulted not only in the relative effacement of Messmer from the history of cartoon cinema but also in bitter litigation struggles with Margaret Winkler, the first woman producer and distributor of animated shorts, who had done a great deal to bring about Felix's international popularity during the silent era.