Paul Terry and much of the Terry-Toons staff began their careers at the Aesop's Fables studio (Whose cartoons bore little to no relation to the Aesop's Fables stories that provided their namesake). These were shorts from the silent era that were very much a part of that time period. The however have oftentimes not dated as well as the Felix The Cat or Out Of The Inkwell shorts from the same time period. They remained silent for a good year after most cartoons had turned to sound. The early Terry-Toons were pretty much Aesop's Fables with some sound added. The cartoons have not adapted to the world of sound yet though, They are essentially silent films with a little bit of sound added. In fact some of them might have even worked better as silent films. These cartoons however do have their own charm. The following film is a perfect example of an early Terry-Toon. This also features the character of Farmer Alfalfa, who Paul Terry created back in back in 1915 for the short Down On The Funny Farm made for The Thanhouser Film Corporation. He carried this character over into his shorts for Aesop's Fables and to his Terry-Toons. The animation on the mermaid was animated by Disney legend Bill Tytla who played an important role in animating the dwarfs for Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, as well as the Night On Bald Mountain sequence in Fantasia. So, from 1933 and directed by Frank Moser here is Tropicial Fish.
Next up is an early cartoon in the career of Terry-Toons most famous star, Mighty Mouse(His 3rd cartoon in fact). Here though he is called Super Mouse as he was in his first 7 films. The name was later changed because there was a comic character called Super Mouse at this time and Paul Terry decided that it would not be right to compete with a character with the same name, You can easily see the changes in the style of Terry-Toons that occurred between this cartoon and the last film. This cartoon has stood the test of time better (not that the last one was bad by any means). So From 1943 and directed by Eddie Donnelly, here is He Dood It Again.
Last for today is one of the best and most creative Terry-Toons, The Magic Pencil. This Cartoon stars Gandy Goose and Sourpuss, Terry-Toons was found of giving their characters voices of popular actors of their day. These voices were not done by the actors themselves but were of course intimations. Gandy Goose was given an Ed Wynn voice, and Sourpuss was given a Jimmy Durante voice. Gandy's voice was supplied by Arthur Kay, and I do not know who did Sourpuss' voice. This cartoon was directed by Voleny White, who was an animator for some classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies as well as a director for Terry-Toons. So from 1940 and directed by Voleny White here is The Magic Pencil.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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