Don Oriolo is an American artist, musician, and writer best known for his work in the music publishing industry and for overseeing the Felix the Cat cartoon character after his father, co-creator Joe Oriolo, died in 1985.
23 Facts About Don Oriolo
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Don Oriolo owns and operates the Oriolo Guitar Company, a guitar, bass, and ukulele manufacture company whose products often feature Felix and other Oriolo-designed artwork.
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Don Oriolo is the son of the co-creator of cartoons Felix the Cat and Casper the Ghost, Joe Oriolo.
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Don Oriolo says that he always thought of his time playing guitar during his mother's sewing circle meetings at the age of nine as the true first live performances of his musical career.
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Don Oriolo was a huge fan of Elvis Presley at this time, another artist he credits for his lifelong love of music.
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Joe Oriolo encouraged Don's artistic and musical talents throughout his childhood and into his adult life, and eventually introduced the younger Oriolo to Winston Sharples, Joe's colleague in the animation world.
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Sharples, who Don Oriolo refers to as "Win," became Don Oriolo's mentor in the entertainment and music arrangement businesses.
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When Joe Oriolo died in 1985, the Felix franchise was left to Don, who took the iconic cartoon and successfully shepherded it into the turn of the century with numerous licensing and merchandising business ventures in various international markets.
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Under Don Oriolo's watch, Felix was the number one licensed character in Japan in the late '80s and early '90s.
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When he was first starting out as an aspiring musician, Don Oriolo would skip classes at high school and ride a bus from New Jersey into New York City, with his guitar.
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Don Oriolo continued to have a successful career in the music publishing business, discovering and signing musicians such as Meat Loaf, Jim Steinman, and Lisa Lisa.
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Don Oriolo owned and operated his own music publishing companies, for which he received numerous ASCAP and BMI awards, as well as many gold and platinum records.
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In 1984, Don Oriolo started his own record label, Personal Records, which amassed 28 charted records in just three years.
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Don Oriolo continues to work in the music industry working with musical heavy hitters like Gloria Gaynor, as well as fostering the careers of budding musicians such as Bronx-based pop artist Qeuyl, and Nyah Jewel, of The Bronx.
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Don Oriolo has executive produced a series of cartoon television shows, including The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat, and Baby Felix, which was released in Japan in 2000.
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Don Oriolo created the brand for Baby Felix, including acting as a writer, style guide and overall character creator for the series.
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Don Oriolo had licensing deals with Dairy Queen, Carl's Jr.
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Don Oriolo wrote and produced the successful Felix the Cat and Hello Kitty musical production, Felix the Cat's Musical Journey, in association with Sanrio.
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Don Oriolo was the editor-in-chief, publisher, artist and contributing writer for Felix Comics, the publishing company behind the Felix the Cat comic books.
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In 2014, Don Oriolo entered into an agreement with DreamWorks Animation for the Felix franchise.
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In 2025, Don Oriolo appointed Surge Licensing to make licensing, merchandising and retail programs, as well as original content for Poindexter, the former character from Felix franchise where he still retains the rights to the character.
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Don Oriolo took the endeavor on using his personal resources.
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Don Oriolo spearheaded the biggest cat rescue of over 200 cats recorded in the history of the northeast, contracting a chronic airborne illness in the process.