The Old Pepper Gag

Felix the Cat probably wasn’t the first, but he was among the silent cartoon characters to drag out the pepper/sneeze gag that got good mileage in cartoons for decades into the sound era (ie. starting in 1928).

In Felix Gets Broadcasted, he winds up in Egypt and is chased by what was then described as a Nubian. He rushes onto the Sphinx. Trapped!

Some expressions.



He looks up at the Sphinx’s nose and gives his “Aha!” take. Two extremes are below.



He pulls out the you-know-what.



The gag works every time.



Felix thanks the Sphinx and it’s off to the next scene.



The M.J. Winkler studio was distributing the Felix cartoons on a State Rights system every two weeks. This one was released June 15, 1923. It was preceded by Felix the Globe Trotter and followed by Felix Strikes It Rich and then the fun Felix in Hollywood, according to the Motion Picture Booking Guide of Oct. 1923. Film Daily of Feb. 17, 1924 gives the date as Sept. 1, 1923. The Motion Picture News lists it on the bill at the Stanley Theatre in Philadelphia on the week of July 1, 1923. It was still being screened at theatres as late as 1927.