Disney without the mouse seems like nonsense in this world that has been dominated by Disney culture for almost a century. Anyone after May 1928 associated Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney, his righthand pal, his confidant, and the face that has carried on the Disney legacy once Walt passed on. Before Mickey, there was Oswald, the little mischievous rabbit that Walt and Ub Iwerks dreamed up together. He had come as a source of new inspiration to the duo who had been working on the Alice Comedies for several years. He also came about when Universal asked Disney to create a new character, one that would attract audiences and one that Universal had promised to distribute to theatres. Oswald became a major hit, with rave reviews, which ended up being the downfall for Disney when Universal claimed him as their own. Oswald would act as the gateway character that got Walt to create Mickey later on.

“Oswald comedies making biggest hit of any comedies I have ever run. ”

— Lion Theatre

However, before Mickey, and before Oswald, there was another gateway character that would open the door to them both. Julius the Cat, Disney’s first anthropomorphic lead character, would go down in history as the very first to do it all.

Little Red Riding Hood & Puss in Boots: Laugh-O-Gram Films

In the 1920s, Walt and Ub were running a studio in Kansas City called Laugh-O-Gram Films. They went through challenging obstacles to get their cartoons to screen, losing employees along the way due to shortage of money, and having creative differences between the team.

Laugh-O-Gram Films produced 10 cartoon shorts before they went under. As to keep the process simple and also give Disney a signature style, many of the characters reappeared on multiple occasions in each cartoon. The first time we see a cat character is in Little Red Riding Hood, which is the 2nd cartoon short they produced. Another time we see this same cat character was in the cartoon titled Puss in Boots, released in 1922 as the 7th short in their filmography. It had some grounding factors from Charles Perrault’s book of the same name, but Disney took creative liberties with this one. The film opens up with a cat walking on its 2 hind legs with an umbrella in hand, walking behind a man on their way to greet a lady and her car mechanic dog.

One of Walt’s favourite gags was the “nine lives” gag, where the cat character would have an accident and the cats spirit would exit its body 9 times. This gag first appeared in Little Red Riding Hood, and made a reappearance in the Puss in Boots cartoon, only this time, the man would pull one of the spirits back down to the cat before it would reach 9. The significance of these films is it is the first time a cat like Julius is introduced in the Disney canon, whether it was actually Julius or not, we’ll never know, as he was never exclusively named. However, the Laugh-O-Gram cat follows almost the exact same design as Julius does later on.

“I know how you can win the king’s favor... buy me those flapper boots and I’ll tell you!”

— Julius the Cat in Puss in Boots

The cat also stars in The Four Musicians of Bremen, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack the Giant Killer, Goldie Locks and the Three Bears, and Cinderella. It wasn’t until Cinderella that the cat really became a staple part of the cartoons, and would become a promising character for Walt’s new idea: The Alice Comedies.

The Alice Comedies

The most successful project that came from the studio was the Alice Comedies, a series of short films with both animation and live action actors. Walt had read the Alice in Wonderland books by Lewis Carroll during his time in school, and was inspired by the world of fantasy that was created. He pulled together a team to produce these shorts, along with a little girl named Virginia Davis who played Alice, and they released their first short in 1923. By the time they completed it though, the studio went bankrupt, so Walt needed to bring his new idea elsewhere.

Walt picked up and left to Los Angeles with the rest of his savings and lived with his uncle Robert, and brought the film to Margaret Winkler and Charles Mintz of M.J Winkler Productions. They needed a replacement for Felix the Cat and decided to screen the Alice Comedies for Walt. They created and released 57 short films about Alice, with 4 different actresses playing the title role.

Julius’s role in the Alice Comedies was to be Alice’s sidekick. He was the character that brought humour and gags to the series, which is what Walt was known for and what Charles Mintz was looking for. He appeared in the very first instalment of the series, Alice’s Wonderland in 1923, as an uncredited role. He started to become more of a prominent reoccurring character in 1924’s Alice’s Spooky Adventure.

Julius the Cat and others from the Alice Comedies. Image from: https://reelrundown.com/celebrities/The-History-of-Disneys-Alice-Comedies-1923-1927

Julius starred in 7 of the 10 Alice cartoons in 1924, one of them where he is called Mike instead, which is short lived. He starred 13 of the 15 1925 cartoons, and in Alice’s Egg Plant, he receives his permanent name of Julius. In 1926 he starred in all 14 cartoons, and in 1927 he starred in all but 3. It’s safe to say that he in fact was a lead character.

Julius the Cat and Pete the Cat

It’s classic humour to pit two rivaling animals against each other, so it’s not hard to believe that Disney rolled with this gag even in the early days. However, Pete’s cat-like appearance would take form after meeting Julius. On February 15, 1925, Disney released Alice Solves a Puzzle, which is the first time we ever see the infamous villain Pete. He is introduced as Bootleg Pete, “a collector of rare cross word puzzles”. He is a bear in this cartoon, or so it seems, but he still plays the antagonist. He is shown threatening Alice when trying to get her puzzle, and she slaps him across the face. He then chases her to the top of a tower, when Julius hears her cry for help. Julius then uses his tail as a spring to get to the top, and continues to smack Pete until he eventually goes flying off the edge of the tower. Pete doesn’t make an appearance again until the Oswald shorts, but his tie to Julius is notable here as Pete is the longest running Disney character of all time.

Pete in Alice Solves a Puzzle. Image from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015558/

Julius the Cat and Felix the Cat

It’s no secret that Julius bears incredible resemblance to Felix the Cat, one of the most popular children’s cartoon characters of the early 1900s. Felix was created by Pat Sullivan, and his cartoons were distributed by M.J Winkler Pictures. He was well known during the time of the silent film era, and when it came time for cartoons to begin using sounds, synchronized music, and voices, his character began to fade.

When Disney was picked up by Winkler Pictures, Charles Mintz began to favour Julius over Felix, even though the characters were so similar. Felix had been around since 1919, and with the Alice Comedies beginning in 1924, it had been a good 5 years of Felix. With the obvious favorability to Disney, Pat Sullivan pulled out of the distribution contract with Winkler Pictures. Felix finally phased out by 1930 once Mickey Mouse gained the public’s attention and Silly Symphonies were taking over.

The Legacy of Julius the Cat on the Walt Disney Company

This crazy black and white cat holds incredible significance for the Walt Disney Company, even today. He acts as the catalyst to the lead anthropomorphic cartoon characters, which in turn has given us Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto.

Julius also was the character to save the Alice Comedies from being pulled from the theatres, because his comedic charm would be the thing to draw audiences in. Without the Alice Comedies, Walt wouldn’t have continued on to make Mickey Mouse.

The funny cat is also the first to introduce us to 2 major characters: Pete and Mickey-like mouse. He is the first ever character to go to battle with Pete, and he is also shown in Alice the Peacemaker (1924) to be at odds with a mouse who is extremely similar to Mickey.

And finally, Julius is the very first named lead animated character Walt and his team ever created. His name graces the entrance to a gift shop in Disney’s California Adventure, Julius Katz and Sons.