 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
||
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Chapter 14: The Terry-fying Challenge
In adapting TT to TT, a great deal of simplifying was necessary, and also, a purely animation device. Whereas Terr'ble Thompson was an adventurous little boy, who just ran energetically into situations that needed to be saved, I felt that Tom Terrific needed to have something magic about him, that would take advantage of the possibilities of animation. I was always fascinated with metamorphosis, so I decided that Tom had the ability to quickly change his shape into any kind of form that could solve the problem at hand. I also gave him the sidekick I had not yet introduced into the comic strip, Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, an anti hero who was neither mighty nor wondrous, except in the eyes of his loving master. Tom gave Manfred credit for every idea that he himself thought of. Manfred was only interested in food and sleep. Hey, he was a dog, wasn't he? The cost and production time restrictions were formidable, and in those early days of drawn TV material for children, those problems were usually solved by eliminating animation, and going for paper cut-outs that moved like puppets. I wanted to use as much real animation as possible, taking advantage of the large Terrytoons staff of animators, and save money on the everything else. I went so far as to eliminate opaquing the cels, letting Tom and the other characters be transparent, and making the backgrounds simple enough so it wouldn't matter. I wanted to get the greatest possible dynamics out of the soundtrack - mainly the voices, as we also had to keep the music to a minimum. We used a harmonica, (which I hated, but it gave us a mini-orchestral sound,) and that was about it, except for plenty of sound effects, and using, probably for the first time on TV, a Trinidadian steel drum. Then I worked out every imaginable way to stretch out the animation time. With Tommy Morrison, I created a Tom Terrific song opening, to start off each episode. Taking a cue from the old Saturday movie serials, at the end of each episode, we made teaser previews, and at the beginning of each following episode, we made recaps of what happened yesterday. The previews and recaps were printed as negatives to separated them from the actual story sections. With all of those gimmicks, we were able to almost double the effecting playing time of most of the animation. The most cruel deprivation was that we couldn't do Tom Terrific in color. The Captain Kangaroo show was still in black & white, and no one seemed willing to look ahead during the mid-fifties. If the Tom Terrific material had been produced in color, it might still be running somewhere till today. After all, old animation never dies. Now it is fondly remembered, but that is all. But facing up to the crudity of the productions, perhaps it lives best in memory, and I am in fact delighted that so many people to remember it, and the name Tom Terrific does.
Just for fun, as I am writing this, in February, 1999, I looked up the name Tom Terrific on Yahoo! I was amazed to find there were 15,471 sites listed! Fifteen thousand four hundred and seventy one references!!! Of course approximately 99% had nothing to do with my serial, but it floored me how the name Tom Terrific has entered the language! There is an auction site offering Tom Terrific production drawings, picture books, and comic books, labeled, "extremely rare!" I'll say!
ICXbEx
gtHxTsM
Though your tenure at Terrytoons was not commercially successful, I think you did succeed in making some ground-breaking films. I remember seeing some of your Terrytoons with Clint Clobber, John Doormat, Sidney and others on cable well over a decade ago and I wish I could see them again. ("Another Day Another Doormat" I remember being particularly good.)It's a shame old treasures like these are not preserved on video or DVD. Maybe someday we'll all be pleasantly surprised.
Wow, I can thank you at last.
I grew up in Victoria BC, the usual Saturday morning cartoon fan.
I watched a LOT of cartoons, like most of my generation. There is none that comes close for me to John Doormat. I remember seeing two of them and howling through them. I've never seen them since and would buy them if I could.
You're a flipping genius mate.
Cheers
John deBoer
I GREW UP WITH ALL THE GREAT CARTOONS FROM THE LATE 50'S AND UP. I STILL LOOK FOR ANY OF YOUR WORK TERRY TO SHOW MY KIDS. BELIEVE IT OR NOT THE WATCH IT MORE THAN THE JUNK THEY MAKE TO DAY. IT'S HAD TO FIND ALOT OF THE OLD CARTOONS UP HERE IN BOOKS OR VIDEOS, SO WHEN I FIND THEM I GET THEM TO SAVE FOR THE FUTURE. I DO ALOT OF VOL. WORK AT 3 SCHOOLS AND I TRY TO REINTRODUCE THE OLDIES TO THE CHILDREN. DON'T EVER STOP MAKING THE CLASSICS,AND IN MY EYES YOU NEVER FAILED IN YOUR WORK. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE.
When I was 4 years old, I believed that *I* was Tom Terrific and could change into any shape and be anything I wanted to be. Your Tom Terrific cartoon was a wonderful gift to the world, and sparked the budding imaginations of countless children. I would love to see it again, how??
Just another Tom Terrific lover, chiming in. He's one of my fondest memories of childhood.
Jim
TOM TERRIFIC WAS APTLY NAMED, SINCE IT'S ONE OF THE MOST UNUSUAL, MOST ORIGINAL, MOST CLEVER CARTOONS EVER PRODUCED. THE OPAQUE CHARACTERS, THE VERBAL PUNS, THE MINIMALIST MUSICAL SCORE, AND THE "SERIAL" PACKAGE ALL ADDED UP TO ANIMATED NIRVANA. THE MIGHTY MANFRED WAS A WONDERFUL, LOVABLE SIDEKICK (AND CUNNING COMIC RELIEF), AND DO-BADDIE CRABBY APPLETON EVEN INSPIRED A SUCCESSFUL ROCK BAND OF THE SAME NAME. THANK HEAVENS NOBODY'S EVER MESSED WITH "TOM TERRIFIC"!! HE'S ONE OF THE ALARMINGLY FEW CARTOON STARS WHO HASN'T BEEN DEGRADED IN THE HANDS OF A NEW STUDIO OR A NEW CAMPAIGN. YOU SIMPLY CAN'T MESS WITH PERFECTION!!!
My first animating stint was on TOM TERRIFIC, Gene, and what a pleasure it was working with you and Connie Rasinski, Bob Kuwahara, and Jim Tyer directing. I pass the old Terrytoons building nearly every day here in New Rochelle...(it's now a huge fresh fruit and veggie outlet)...and I swear that on some beautiful terrific days I can hear Tom saying..."You're TERRIFIC, Manfred !!!" And Manfred of course responds, "No...YOU'RE TERRIFIC, TOM".
45 years later, I'm still animating, and I can't think of another character that I enjoyed working on quite as much as TOM.
Thanks for letting the world know about Bill Weiss. When I'd been working at TERRYTOONS for eight years, out of a clear blue sky (I had finished my animation apprenticeship and was due to be classified a "master animator" with a $30 dollar a week raise to $176...) he fired me on an overcast Thanksgiving Eve. What a thoughtful, considerate, wonderful guy !!!
It was a pleasure and an inspiraton working with you, Gene....and altho Eli, and Connie and Bob and Jim and Lars and Artie Bartsch are gone, I'm so glad to see that YOU are -- not only still around, but still full of the fire and enthusiasm of old.
Thanks, Gene !
"So it was just another failure..." TOM TERRIFIC? Never. That sentence cannot stand. Not in ANY context. Granted, in a just world, the character would be referred to as "Gene Deitch's TOM TERRIFIC," and Mr. Deitch would be receiving royalties from Viacom's extensive but tasteful exploitation and licensing of the character in new cartoons, vidcassettes, dvds, t-shirts, graphic novels and off-broadway musical. Believe me, though the world seems to be run by the descendents of Bill Weiss and Crabby Appleton, TOM TERRIFIC was no failure. Not possible. No way. I mean no disrespect, but please delete the sentence; it is misleading, offensive and disturbing in its inaccuracy.
Post new comment