Imagine being the heirs to an American cartoon icon and waking up one morning to discover you’ve been locked out of a hundred million dollars in profits—by someone running the business like it’s their own private litter box.

At a Glance

• The Sullivan heirs allege they were excluded from $100 million in Felix the Cat business.
• Legal battle centers on decades of licensing, modern revivals, and a secretive sale to DreamWorks.
• Felix the Cat’s tangled legacy reveals chaos in protecting family ownership and American creative property.
• The case may set a precedent for the rights of heirs to classic entertainment icons.

A Family Fortune Lost to Animation Empire-Building

Felix the Cat—one of America’s first and most beloved cartoon characters—has been delighting audiences since 1919, a time when the only woke thing around was the neighbor’s rooster. Yet while Felix was out there dazzling the world, his real family, the Australian heirs of creator Pat Sullivan, claim they’ve been left to watch from the sidelines as one man, Donald Oriolo, turned the black-and-white feline into a global cash machine. The Sullivan heirs say Oriolo shut them out of the business, failed to inform them of the cartoon’s resurgence, and ultimately sold Felix to DreamWorks Animation—now owned by NBCUniversal—without so much as a meow in their direction. The price tag on this betrayal? Try $100 million in lost revenue.

For decades, Felix’s face has been plastered everywhere from Wendy’s kids’ meals to Sony ad campaigns, raking in money hand over fist. But according to the Sullivan family’s lawsuit, filed in 2024, the original creator’s descendants didn’t see a dime. Meanwhile, Oriolo—whose father Joseph revived Felix in the 1980s—claims he thought all other shareholders had been bought out or were simply lost in the shuffle of history. He says he had no idea the Sullivans, who inherited their stake as children, even existed. If you believe that, I’ve got an NFT of Felix’s tail to sell you.

How DreamWorks and Legal Loopholes Made a Mockery of Ownership

DreamWorks Animation acquired the rights to Felix the Cat in 2014, adding him to a stable of American icons alongside Shrek and Kung Fu Panda. By then, Felix’s image had already been licensed to just about every major brand this side of the Pacific, especially in Japan, where he achieved cult status and fueled a merchandising gold rush. Yet as the licensing deals multiplied, so did the questions. How exactly did Felix jump from the Sullivan estate to the Oriolos—and then off to Hollywood—while the original family watched their inheritance disappear like a cartoon pie in the face?

Oriolo’s attorney, Robert Meloni, insists his client did nothing wrong and is now prepared to negotiate in “good faith.” He argues that the Sullivans were unknown to Oriolo and that he believed all loose ends had been tied up. The Sullivan heirs’ attorney, Evan Michailidis, isn’t buying it. He’s confident they’ll prove Oriolo knew about their ownership and chose to cut them out anyway. And here we are: another American family’s legacy bulldozed by corporate gamesmanship, and a story as old as Hollywood itself.

Why This Lawsuit Should Worry Every American Who Values Property Rights

This case isn’t just about a cartoon cat and his lost millions. It’s a warning shot for every American who believes in the sanctity of property rights, inheritance, and the family values that made this country great. When a creative legacy can be shuffled between businessmen, lawyers, and multinational conglomerates—leaving the rightful heirs with nothing but memories and legal bills—what hope is there for protecting anyone’s hard-earned inheritance? Felix the Cat may have survived the Great Depression and World War II, but in modern America, it seems no amount of history can shield even the most iconic property from legal sleight of hand and corporate overreach.

The outcome of this lawsuit could set a precedent for the entire entertainment industry, especially as more old properties are revived for new generations. If the Sullivan heirs prevail, it could force DreamWorks and others to reexamine how they acquire and manage legacy intellectual property. If they lose, it’s a green light for anyone with a sharp lawyer and a long memory to rewrite history and leave families in the dust. Either way, American families will be watching closely—because if they can do this to Felix, they can do it to any of us.