| Krazy Kat | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Krazy Kat |
|
First Appearance |
The Dingbat Family (June 20, 1910) |
|
Original Publisher |
King Features Syndicate |
|
Created by |
George Herriman |
Origin[]
'Krazy Kat' is a gentle, friendly, simple-minded and curious cat who drifts through life in Coconino County without a care. Krazy is completely smitten with the malicious Ignatz Mouse, often prompting a swift brick to the head in response. Despite the obvious warning signs, Krazy takes them as a sign of affection. Krazy is the object of affection of Officer Bull Pupp, an ever vigilant police officer dedicated to protecting them from Ignatz's death threats.
Krazy Kat is notable for not having any specific gender identity, oftentimes switching between a male or a female depending on the context of the strip. Krazy uses a lot of slang, but expresses profound and sincere interest in the world around them.
The world that Krazy inhabits is rather abstract and amorphous, filled with shifting scenery and surrealistic landscapes, giving the comic strips an almost dreamlike quality.
Public Domain Appearances[]
Public Domain Comic Strip Appearances[]
- The Dingbat Family (1910-1916)
- Krazy Kat (1913-1943)
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- All the Funny Folks (1926)
Public Domain Film Appearances[]
- Krazy Kat (1916-1917)
- Krazy Kat (Bray Productions) (1920-1921)
- Krazy Kat (Winkler Pictures) (1925-1930)
Public Domain Parade Appearances[]
- The 1st Annual Macy's Christmas Parade (1924)
Notes[]
- Krazy first appeared in Herriman's earlier comic strip series, The Dingbat Family (1910-1916) as a rather ordinary looking pet cat before spinning off into their own strip, set seemingly within its own continuity.
- When Frank Capra inquired about the character's true gender in an interview, Harriman reportedly regarded them as being "sprites" who had neither sex nor gender, feeling that such issues were outside the sensibilities of the strip at the time of publication. This makes Krazy one of the first gender fluid cartoon characters to exist in fiction.
- Most of Krazy's cartoons produced by Winkler/Screen Gems barely resemble the comic strip aside of the name, Krazy was presented as a Male Felix the Cat/Mickey Mouse Clone with a girlfriend and a pet, all other side characters were thrown away. The only exception was the 1936 short "Li'l Anjil" where the characters are reinstated, krazy's ambiguous gender was brought back and bricks were thrown, however it was not successful and the mickey derivative krazy resumed.