Atomic Drive Explosion of Master Cylinder is a 1960 Joe Oriolo Felix the Cat cartoon, and the 51st episode of the Trans-Lux series.
The episode starts with Felix and Poindexter traveling in space in Poinsy's UFO, with Felix commenting that its fun flying in outer space. Poindexter agrees, and points out that with the saucers Atomic Drive, they have unlimited power. They almost arrive back to Earth, but Felix hears the sound of another rocket. Felix looks behind and sees Master Cylinder trailing them in a rocketship, intending to steal Poindexter's atomic drive. Poindexter tries to evade Cylinder, but his ship ends up capturing their flying saucer inside of his ship. Master Cylinder taunts them, but Felix snarks back that they're going back to earth. Cylinder is so insulted that he briefly shorts out from anger, but recovers. Cylinder then orders them to hand over the Atomic Drive. Felix, realizing the deck is stacked against them, reluctantly tells Poindexter to hand it over, and he complies, with Cylinder grabbing the device in his claws, examining it. Unfortunately, the device has only 17,000,000 Kilowatts, which is too small for him. Felix takes it that it means they can go home. Cylinder says yes—but only if Poindexter builds him a giant Atomic Drive first. Cylinder points Poinsy to the nearby lab and orders him to get to work right away. Poindexter immediately starts making a potion—which explodes right in his face, sending Felix flying out of the ship and flying right onto the surface of the moon.
Stranded on it, Felix mourns being separated from Poindexter as the film cuts back to Professor's lab back on Earth. Professor is concerned that Poindexter isn't home in time for supper, so he tries to contact him on his space scanner. The signal connects directly with the ship of the Master Cylinder, and Professor finds out Poindexter is in Cylinder's captivity. Due to the explosion, Cylinder has lost control of his rocketship, which is set on a crash course with the moon, and Professor decides to try and rescue his nephew and, with reluctance, Felix. Back on the moon, Felix looks on in horror as the ship crashes onto the moons surface, and he goes to investigate the wreckage to find Poindexter, calling out his name in desperation. He finds Master Cylinder, knocked out cold from the crash, and soon finds Poindexter, who landed away from the ship unharmed. And just in the nick of time, Professor arrives in his spaceship, and asks Poindexter if he knows his dinner is getting cold back home. Suddenly, they hear clanking sounds as the Master Cylinder emerges from the wreckage of his ship, broken but determined to catch Felix and Poindexter. They all pile inside the spaceship and take off immediately and head back to Earth, leaving Master Cylinder trapped on the moon, shaking his fist in anger.
Tropes:
- Deus ex Machina: Poindexter, in something of a trend in the series, accidentally makes yet another explosion with a potion. This time, Felix is sent flying away instead of Poindexter, but the explosion does cause Master Cylinder to lose control of his ship and crash land, which ends up getting Poinsy free anyway.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Cylinder bringing Poindexter onto the ship to try and exploit him ends up being his own undoing when the explosion Poindexter makes sabotages the ship and makes it crash land on the moon.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: When Master Cylinder boasts “Nobody escapes from me, the master cylinder!", Felix snaps back "Aw go oil your joints, we're going back to earth!” which insults Cylinder enough to briefly short him out.
- That Makes Me Feel Angry: After Felix insults Master Cylinder, which briefly shorts him out, he tells Felix that he's making him mad.
