Family Favorites

Since the images of Wain and Steinlen, there have many other cartoon cats to delight us. The prototype was the cheeky rogue Krazy Kat , by American cartoonist George Herriman (1880-1944), who first appeared in 1910.

Krazzy Kat paved the way for the highly successful Felix the Cat, penned by Otto Messmer (1892-1983). Felix's character was that of a resilient survivor in a hostile world, conveyed with a subtle but clever comedy.

For example, when he stole the moon, which was made of cheese, for the philanthropic purpose of giving it to a destitute grocer to sell, he was arrested because people were left in the dark.

Eventually, Felix and Krazy Kat were animated, which led to a whole host of popular screen favorites such as Tom and Jerry, Top Cat, and Sylvester and Tweetie Pie.

Other best-selling cat cartoons include the cleverly illustrated cat words, such as "cat alog" and "platy puss," of the French visual joker Sine (1928- ), the signatory Kliban cat - a strongly striped and round-eyed feline - by American Bernard Kliban (1935-1990), the inimitable cat creations of Englishman Ronald Searle (1920- ), and the blatantly sexual exploits of Fritz the Cat, created by the artist Robert Crumb (1943- ).

But no cartoon cat has been as successful as the slovenly, lazy, cantankerous, self-centered, not to mention fat Garfield by Jim Davis (1945-). People the world over recognize both their cats and themselves in the character of Garfield, and love him all the more for it.