Tom Terrific
Encyclopedia
Tom Terrific was an early animated series on American
television
, presented as part of the Captain Kangaroo
children's television show.
Created by Gene Deitch
under the Terrytoons
studio (which was a subsidiary of CBS, the network that broadcast Captain Kangaroo), Tom Terrific ran in a series of five-minute cartoons created specifically for the Captain Kangaroo
show from 1957
-1959
, and was rerun on Kangaroo for years thereafter. For several years after 1962, Tom Terrific would be broadcast every other week, alternating with Lariat Sam, another Terrytoons creation.
All the voices were done by Lionel Wilson
.
Drawn in a simple style, it featured a gee-whiz boy hero, Tom Terrific, who lived in a treehouse
and could transform himself into anything he wanted thanks to his magic, funnel
-shaped "thinking cap," which also enhanced his intelligence. He had a comic lazybones of a sidekick
, Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, and an arch-foe named Crabby Appleton, whose motto was "Rotten to the core!" Other foes included Mr. Instant, the Instant Thing King, Captain Kidney Bean, Sweet Tooth Sam, the Candy Bandit and Isotope Feaney, The Meany.
Terrific was ranked number 32 by TV Guide
magazine among its "50 Greatest TV Cartoon Characters". There has never been an authorized VHS
or DVD
release of the series.
Crabby Appleton's theme also had a variation:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, presented as part of the Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running children's television program of its day...
children's television show.
Created by Gene Deitch
Gene Deitch
Eugene Merril "Gene" Deitch is an American illustrator, animator and film director. He has been based in Prague, capital of Czechoslovakia and the present-day Czech Republic, since 1959. Since 1968, Deitch has been the leading animation director for the Connecticut organization Weston...
under the Terrytoons
Terrytoons
Terrytoons was an animation studio founded by Paul Terry. The studio, located in suburban New Rochelle, New York, operated from 1929 to 1968. Its most popular characters included Mighty Mouse, Gandy Goose, Sourpuss, Dinky Duck, Deputy Dawg, Luno and Heckle and Jeckle; these cartoons and all of its...
studio (which was a subsidiary of CBS, the network that broadcast Captain Kangaroo), Tom Terrific ran in a series of five-minute cartoons created specifically for the Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running children's television program of its day...
show from 1957
1957 in television
The year 1957 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1957.-Events:*January 6 – Elvis Presley makes final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show....
-1959
1959 in television
The year 1959 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1959:For the American TV schedule, see: 1959-60 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, and was rerun on Kangaroo for years thereafter. For several years after 1962, Tom Terrific would be broadcast every other week, alternating with Lariat Sam, another Terrytoons creation.
All the voices were done by Lionel Wilson
Lionel G. Wilson
Lionel G. Wilson , was an American voice actor from New York City. Wilson started acting in 1949 on the series The Aldrich Family as George Bigalow...
.
Drawn in a simple style, it featured a gee-whiz boy hero, Tom Terrific, who lived in a treehouse
Treehouse
A treehouse, tree house, or treefort is a habitable structure built in trees. "Treehouse" may also refer to:*Tree House, Crawley, a listed 14th-century building in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom; originally the manor house....
and could transform himself into anything he wanted thanks to his magic, funnel
Funnel
A funnel is a pipe with a wide, often conical mouth and a narrow stem. It is used to channel liquid or fine-grained substances into containers with a small opening. Without a funnel, spillage would occur....
-shaped "thinking cap," which also enhanced his intelligence. He had a comic lazybones of a sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
, Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, and an arch-foe named Crabby Appleton, whose motto was "Rotten to the core!" Other foes included Mr. Instant, the Instant Thing King, Captain Kidney Bean, Sweet Tooth Sam, the Candy Bandit and Isotope Feaney, The Meany.
Terrific was ranked number 32 by TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
magazine among its "50 Greatest TV Cartoon Characters". There has never been an authorized VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
or DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release of the series.
Episodes
- Each episode was shown in five installments, one per day, Monday through Friday.
Episode Title 1 |Nasty Knight 2 The Pill of Smartness 3 Sweet Tooth Sam 4 Snowy Picture 5 Crabby Appleton Dragon 6 Captain Kidney Bean 7 The Gravity Maker 8 Scrambled Dinosaur Eggs 9 Who Stole the North Pole 10 Instant Tantrums 11 Track Meet Well Done 12 Great Calendar Mystery 13 Elephants Stew 14 Missing Mail Mystery 15 The Prince Frog 16 Isotope Feeney's Foolish Fog 17 Moon Over Manfred 18 The Silly Sandman 19 Crabby Park 20 The Million Manfred Mystery 21 The Flying Sorcerer 22 Big Dog Show-Off 23 The End of Rainbows 24 Robin's Nest Crusoe 25 The Everlasting Birthday Party 26 Go West Young Manfred
Theme Song
Crabby Appleton's theme song:
My name is Crabby Appleton,
and I am simply awful.
It does my heart a lot of good
to do a deed unlawful!
I'm fond of gloom, impending doom,
I think good deeds are sappy!
I laugh with glee, it pleases me
when everyone's unhappy.
– (last verse sung in a low voice)
Crabby Appleton's theme also had a variation:
My name is Crabby Appleton,
I'm rotten to the core.
I do a bad deed every day,
and sometimes three or four.
I can't stand fun for anyone,
I think good deeds are sappy,
I laugh with glee, it pleases me,
when everyone's unhappy.
– (last verse sung in a low voice)
Production
There were 26 stories produced, the first thirteen filmed in 1957, the remaining thirteen filmed in 1958. Each story was split into five parts for broadcast each weekday morning. During the years that Captain Kangaroo was also broadcast on Saturday mornings, the episodes would be re-edited into two parts (with cliffhangers and recaps from the daily versions eliminated), the first part broadcast during the first half-hour, the conclusion during the second half-hour.In popular culture
- The character also appeared in a comic book for six issues in 1957 from Pines Comics, with some stories drawn by Ralph BakshiRalph BakshiRalph Bakshi is an Israeli-American director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote...
. - Tom Terrific appeared in a few Wonder Books, an imitation of Little Golden BooksLittle Golden BooksLittle Golden Books is a popular series of children's books. The first 12 titles were published on October 1, 1942:#Three Little Kittens#Bedtime Stories#Mother Goose#Prayers for Children#The Little Red Hen#Nursery Songs...
. - Crabby AppletonCrabby AppletonCrabby Appleton was an American early 1970s band who scored a Top 40 hit with their first single, "Go Back."The group is named after a character from the Tom Terrific cartoon.-History :...
was the name of a rock group, which used the character's image on a 1971 album, ROTTEN TO THE CORE.