Julius the Cat after Julius. The Julius character appeared in 47 of the 51 films of the "Alice Comedies" series. Julius the Cat Julius (the Cat) is a funny animal cartoon character, starring in the first animated series created by Walt Disney, the "Alice Comedies", making him the predecessor of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse. Julius is an anthropomorphic cat, appearing intentionally similar to Felix the Cat. A bold and inventive hero, he gradually became the primary focus of the "Alice Comedies", to the point Disney abandoned live action for pure animation on subsequent projects. Julius was the first of Disney's
Animated cartoon was "Gertie the Dinosaur" (1914) by Winsor McCay. It is considered the first example of true character animation. At first, animated cartoons were black-and-white and silent. Felix the Cat and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit are notable examples. From the 1920s to 1960s, theatrical cartoons were produced in huge numbers, and usually shown before a feature film in a movie theater. Disney (distributed by Pat Powers, then Columbia, then United Artists, then RKO, then independently), Fleischer (distributed by Paramount), Warner Bros., MGM, and UPA (distributed by Columbia) were the largest studios producing these 5- to 10-minute "shorts." Other studios included Walter