Felix the Cat heirs claim they were cut out of $100M in business from popular cartoon feline

New York Post

2 days ago

There was no cash in this magic bag.
The Australian descendants of one of the creators of Felix the Cat claim an upstate New York man cut them out of the business for decades and controlled the rights to the cartoon feline — setting them back $100 million.
Felix, the distinctive black and white cat with a big grin whose catchphrase is 'Righty-O!,' was co-created by a team of cartoonists, including Patrick Sullivan, in Manhattan in 1919, nearly a decade before Mickey Mouse was born.
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Later, he became a TV cartoon character with an iconic song and a 'magic bag of tricks' that could transform into any shape.
Three heirs of Sullivan claim Donald Oriolo, of Pine Island, NY — whose cartoonist dad Joseph helped bring Felix back to prominence in the 1980s and created Felix's scientist pal Poindexter — failed to inform them of the character's modern day resurgence and spent decades 'siphoning off revenue and assets for his sole benefit.'
After struggling through bankruptcy in the '70s, Felix bounced back to become a cult hit in Japan.
He was licensed to brands like Sony, Chevrolet, Wendy's and others and eventually sold for an undisclosed sum to Dreamworks in 2014, they said in a lawsuit against Oriolo.
Felix the Cat's earning power over the years was thought to be in the 'billions,' according to a January report in Animation Magazine.
But there's no legal catfight to be had, insisted Oriolo's lawyer, who denied his client cheated anyone.
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Oriolo, whose dad helped create the 'Felix the Cat' animated series, took control of the business after his mother Dorothy died in 2004.
He long believed all the other shareholders were bought out decades ago, attorney Robert Meloni told The Post.
'Nobody knew about them,' Meloni said, noting the Sullivan trio were children when they inherited their shares.
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'It was an honest mistake. We thought they had been bought out.'
Oriolo 'intends to engage in good faith discussion with the three Sullivan heirs to make sure they're treated right and fairly,' the attorney pledged, while noting, 'What they're entitled to remains to be seen.'
A lawyer for the Sullivan heirs disagreed.
'We are confident that the evidence will show Mr. Oriolo was well aware of our clients' ownership interests in the company,' attorney Evan Michailidis said.