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Crusader Rabbit is identified by the Television Academy as the first animated series made expressly for television. It debuted on Los Angeles station KNBH on August 1, 1950. Felix the Cat is part of the story too—but the Felix seen in RCA’s 1928 television test was a stationary doll, not an animated cartoon.
Why there are two answers
“First cartoon on TV” can mean different things: the first image shown in a television experiment, the first animated motion transmitted, or the first animated series created for television. The documented Felix and Crusader Rabbit milestones answer the first and third questions; they do not establish which moving animated film was transmitted first.
![Felix the Cat: Mischief and Mayhem [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51rSlpJ2muL._SL160_.jpg)
![Felix the Cat: Early Cartoon Classics, Volume 4 [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51VNNgCEVFL._SL160_.jpg)
| What “first” means | What the sources establish |
|---|---|
| Early television image | A Felix the Cat doll appeared in an RCA experimental television broadcast in 1928. The Television Academy and Fleischer Studios describe the test. |
| First animated series made expressly for television | Crusader Rabbit, which the Television Academy identifies as TV’s first animated series. |
| First moving animated film ever transmitted | Not established by the sources cited here. |
What happened in RCA’s 1928 Felix test?
RCA used a Felix the Cat figure as a test image during experimental television transmissions. The figure was a doll placed on a turntable, not a cartoon film. Calling it an early television image is accurate; calling it the first animated cartoon broadcast confuses a test subject with animated motion.
Fleischer Studios’ TV history discusses the Felix test, and the Television Academy also distinguishes the doll from characters later created for television.
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When did Crusader Rabbit first air?
The Television Academy identifies Crusader Rabbit as the first animated series created expressly for television. It first appeared on KNBH in Los Angeles on August 1, 1950, and aired during the 1950–51 season on several NBC-owned and operated stations. These details make it a stronger answer than Felix when “first cartoon on TV” means a television-made animated series.
The show followed Crusader Rabbit and his friend Ragland T. “Rags” Tiger in serial adventures. Its episodic, cliffhanger format was distinct from a single experimental image or a theatrical cartoon later shown on television. The Television Academy’s anniversary history provides the series’ debut and broadcast context.
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![Felix the Cat: Early Cartoon Classics, Volume 3 [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41p3QDVi+VL._SL160_.jpg)
- Felix the Cat: Early Cartoon Classic Volume 3
- PHYSICAL_TV_SERIES
When did Felix cartoons reach American television?
The 1928 test did not mean Felix cartoons were already airing as television programs. The State Library of New South Wales dates the start of Felix cartoons on American television to 1953. That is a later milestone than the RCA test and follows Crusader Rabbit’s 1950 debut as a series made for television. The State Library’s Felix the Cat history gives the 1953 date.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The most accurate short answer
If you mean an early image broadcast during television experiments, it was a Felix doll in 1928. If you mean the first animated series created for television, the supported answer is Crusader Rabbit, first shown on KNBH on August 1, 1950. The available sources do not identify the first moving animated film ever transmitted, so that broader claim should remain open.
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