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Chapter 14: The Terry-fying Challenge
I also saw an article in Time magazine about Tom Cruise, which was headlined, "Tom Terrific!" Famous baseball star Tom Seaver also got the "Terrific" nickname, as apparently have many Toms in the world.Most amazing of all, in the year 1999, over forty years after TT went on TV, a box of Safeway generic Raisin Bran cereal had a "match-the-dog-to-its-owner" puzzle on the box, and among the pairs were Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog and Tom Terrific! Though the films were in black & white, the Tom Terrific comic books were in color, and at least I can show you how he would have looked on color TV:
Well, I am delighted that a name I made up has become a household phrase, but not so delighted that no one has actually revived the original serial, (which would require colorizing, I suppose), nor attempted a new version. Perhaps my Tom Terrific, which was after all a technically crude production, lives best as an icon of nostalgia for those who were raised with it on the CBSTV Captain Kangaroo show. Who knows if it would be tough enough for today's kids; Crabby Appleton would have to be REALLY rotten to the core!
Even if it were to be revived, I would doubt very much that I would be brought into it. After all, I created it as a CBS employee and have no rights in it. CBS did give me a golden handshake for it when I left Terrytoons, but it was peanuts by today's standards. So it was just another failure...
The lesson for animators: Always insist on copyright ownership of characters you create! Easier said than done. It wasn't possible when I worked for CBS-Terrytoons, but today it would be a must.
Silly Sidney: Sidney was originally the "sick, sick, sick" elephant character in a Tom Terrific episode. I had drawn an elephant with a fat trunk, that he sucked on like an overgrown baby. Lional Wilson, who did all the voices for TT, had a funny Ed Wynn (The old "Texaco Fire Chief" radio comic) voice take-off for Sidney, and we decided to make him a new Terrytoons character. His film, "Sidney's Family Tree" became and extremely rare Terrytoon, actually nominated for an Oscar! And of course it was my own first nomination... I thought! The morning after the nomination was announced, Bill Weiss was waiting for me in the Terrytoons parking lot as I drove in to work. As I got out of my car, he strode up to me and said, "Gene, I want you to understand that if Sidney wins the Oscar, I will be the one to pick it up!" I could hardly restrain an ironic laugh. Weiss wanted to catch me before I got inside the studio and received congratulations from the staff! If it hadn't been clear before, it was then: Weiss was my enemy. Sidney was continued after I left, my most successful Terrytoons theatrical character, with 19 films.
Gaston LeCrayon: A parody on an exuberant, flamboyant, but untalented French artist. Eli Bauer drew the ultimate model for him. I originally wanted to call him "Gaston le Garbage," pronounced as a French word, "Gar-BAZH," but Weiss nixed it.
Foofle. Foofle was my original character, based on my own clumsiness, and of course descending from a long line of pantomime, loser-type characters. One day, only because some important visitors were coming, I was unusually wearing a necktie, and while leaning over the moviola, my tie became threaded into the sprocket wheel, yanking me downward and almost knocking my teeth out. This was hilarious enough to get me started on a disaster-prone character. Anyway, I had the reputation around the studio as a clumsy, arm-waving enthusiast, dangerous to be near. When I entered a directors's room each morning for discussion, he would automatically move his coffee cup out of harms way. So was born in my mind, Foofle, and Eli Bauer refined my original sketches of him. The character continued after I left, but they turned him into a bear. Years later, in Prague, I redeveloped the idea for Paramount, and called my new character Nudnik. We made 12 episodes for Paramount theatrical release. The first one was nominated for an Oscar. When theatrical cartoons died, Nudnik languished in a dark vault for 25 years, but has been revived and packaged by Sunbow Entertainment as "Gene Deitch presents the Nudnik Show." It is now in the process of being sold into international syndication. Stay tuned.
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.
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