October 27th is National Black Cat Day. We have done some research and wanted to share with you a few of our favorite Black Cats that are in pop-culture! The list is in no particular order and if we left one of your favorite black cats off the list, let us know! We will be starting with black cats that have been featured in motion pictures and as well as TV shows:
Felix the Cat
Felix was brought to life by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer all the way back in 1923 as a comic strip. Felix was becoming very popular throughout the 1920s but along came a certain mouse named Mickey who would end up stealing the spotlight from Felix. It wasn't until the the early '50s that cartoons of Felix started airing on American TV, which helped Felix regain some of his popularity. November 9th is the official "Felix the Cat Day" which was started by Universal Pictures. You can find Felix on clothing, a Pop! Figure and even has his own PEZ Dispenser.
Cat in the Hat
Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated the children's book in 1954 and was published in 1957. The story behind how he wrote the book is that he scanned word lists and when he found two words that rhymed he would start writing the book. Those two words? Cat and Hat. By 1960, the book had already sold more than a million copies. This book is one of Dr. Seuss' best selling books of all time. Due to the great success of the book, this led to the creation of Beginner Books, a publishing company, whose main focus was creating books for beginning readers. There have been many adaptations of the Cat in the Hat, many TV shows, plays, and animated films. However, in 2003 a live action film was made that stared Mike Myers as the Cat. Due to the film failing badly, Dr. Seuss' widow, Audrey Geisel, would not allow any more live action adaptations be created of his work.
Figaro
Figaro is the beloved cat of Geppetto in the animated film Pinocchio which was released in 1940. However, Walt Disney loved the cat so much, he wanted to put Figaro in as many productions as possible, that is why Minnie Mouse is also Figaro's owner. Figaeo has made many appearances in feature films and in multiple Disney Shorts.
Snowball II
Snowball II is the Simpson family cat. Snowball II was named after Snowball I, who had white fur, where Snowball II has all black fur. She made her first appearance on the show in 1989 during the episode titled "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". She could be best know for when she saves Homer from a burning tree house.
Salem Saberhagen
Salem is a witch who is a roughly 500 year old black cat that is sentenced to live with Hilda Spellman, the aunt of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Salem's life before becoming a cat was to take over the world! As the series goes on, you can notice that Salem is actually a kind hearted friend to Sabrina. A fun fact about Salem, is that he appeared on every single episode just like Sabrina. There was also four trained cats that were used when Salem didn't have a speaking part. If Salem did have to speak, there were three separate puppeteers that were used to move the robotic Salem.
Thackery Binx
What might be one of the best Halloween movies all time is Hocus Pocus, enter Thackery Binx. The movie opens to a 17th Century village and Thackery is trying to save his sister from a group of witches. He insulted the head witch Winifred, who then changed him into an immortal black cat. It is then his mission to guard the house every Halloween to make sure the Sanderson Sisters do not return. Binx acts as a guide to help Max Dennison, his sister Dani, and Allison - his crush, to take down the Sanderson Sisters on one Halloween night!
Today’s culture somewhat revolves around how many followers and likes you get on social media. You don’t have to be just a human to be a social influencer. Here are a few Black cats who have built a very large following on Instagram.
Rover the Cat
Rover the Cat has 353k followers on Instagram
Image via @rover_thecat on Instagram
Toothless.Soh
Toothless.Soh has 59.1k likes on Instagram
Image via @toothless.soh on Instagram
Black Cat Crew
Black Cat Crew has 49.4k likes on Instagram
Image via @black_cat_crew on Instagram
Odin the Black Cat
Odin the Black Cat has 38.3k followers on Instagram
Image via @odin_the_black on Instagram