{"id":55248,"date":"2020-01-01T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2020-01-01T08:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=55248"},"modified":"2020-01-01T00:00:52","modified_gmt":"2020-01-01T08:00:52","slug":"countdown-to-2020-better-late-than-never","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/countdown-to-2020-better-late-than-never\/","title":{"rendered":"Countdown to 2020: Better Late Than Never"},"content":{"rendered":"
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from “The Wabbit Who Came To Supper” (1942)<\/p><\/div>\n

I have no idea how many of you may be taking time away from your New Year\u2019s celebrations to check out this site – but I know that if all computer systems are go, this article may be appearing precisely at the stroke of midnight (Pacific Time). So, if possible, let me the first to wish the hardy few of you who are the first to read this post – HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! For all you latecomers – well, there\u2019s still plenty of cheer below to fill up your new day of festivities (if you can tear yourself away from all those football games!)<\/p>\n

\tAll the clocks are ringing in celebration. From Big Ben down to microchip timers. Let\u2019s mosey along with Father Time through the end of the present trail, and follow the later entries in animation\u2019s love-affair with clockwork up through the present day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Stone Age Felix<\/em>, an episode of the television version of Felix the Cat<\/strong> from about 1960, appears to be the only episode of the series that attempts to adapt to modern form ideas from two Pat Sullivan silent Felixes of the 1920’s – Felix Trifles With Time<\/em>, discussed in part one<\/a> of this article, and Felix In the Bone Age<\/em> (12\/15\/22), In this reworking, Felix awakes to his alarm clock, complaining that it seemed like a short rest, then realizing he\u2019s got to hurry to make it to work. Racing through morning routine, he arrives at work only one minute late – and is promptly fired, and booted out an upper story window. Landing on the street below, he observes traffic, fire and police vehicles zipping past, and jets streaming through the sky. He remarks to the audience that time is moving too fast to suit him, and that at this rate, he\u2019ll be old before he knows it (illustrated by images of him with a progressively-growing white beard). On his way home, he passes a large building with numerous clock faces upon it. Looking through the window, he discovers it\u2019s the work station of Father Time, who kicks at a master time mechanism, pushing it into gear to go \u201cfaster\u201d. Deciding that Time is the one to blame for all of Felix\u2019s troubles, Felix sneaks into the building while Father Time takes a break in an easy chair. Felix pulls on the master control in attempt to shift it to slow – but pulls too far, jamming the machine into \u201cReverse\u201d gear. Father Time awakens, but realizes that with time going backwards it\u2019s too late for him to do anything about it – as he rapidly shrinks down to a baby. Felix runs, but the years roll rapidly backward past him, as he meets wild West Indians, Benjamin Franklin, a knight in armor, and finally finds himself in the stone age. <\/p>\n

He is pursued by a brontosaurus. Felix ducks through a small hole in a rock wall. The bronto sticks his head through, and Felix tosses a boulder into his mouth, which he swallows – trapping the bronto\u2019s neck so he can\u2019t pull it out of the hole (a similar gag was used in Warner Brothers\u2019 The Rattled Rooster<\/em> (6\/26\/48), with swallowed golf balls to trap a snake in a fence). Felix is next chased up a tree by a fire-breathing lizard, who uses its serrated scaly tail to saw down the limb of Felix\u2019s tree, only to get pinned to the ground by the falling limb. Another dino nearly eats Felix while consuming another tree Felix climbs. Then (borrowed from \u201cBone Age\u201d), Felix encounters a caveman trying to please his girlfriend with a new fur, but she doesn\u2019t care for the usual saber-toothed tigers, and wants something more sporty – pointing at Felix! Felix hides in a mound of dirt. \u201cCaddy, my clubs\u201d, calls the caveman. A boy brings in a bag full of wooden clubs, one of which the caveman uses to take aim at the mound and golf Felix out of the dirt. Felix appears trapped inside a rock enclosure, but sneaks out a small hole to grab the caveman\u2019s club from behind and knock him out. But another, more fierce looking caveman, and a mammoth, surround Felix from both sides, and he is cornered. At this crucial moment, the scene dissolves back to Felix\u2019s bedroom, with the alarm clock ringing. Felix throws something at the clock to silence it, and says, \u201cBoy, what a dream!\u201d He settles back into bed, pulling the covers up. \u201cWho cares about time? It\u2019s Saturday!\u201d. he states with a wink for a curtain line, and falls asleep. <\/p>\n