Paul Terry (cartoonist)
Encyclopedia
Paul Houlton Terry was an American cartoonist
, screenwriter
, film director
and one of the most prolific film producer
s in history. He produced over 1,300 cartoons between 1915 and 1955 including the many Terrytoons
cartoons.
, to a weekly comic strip about a dog titled "Alonzo" at the San Francisco Call
. He later transferred to the New York Press
, a newspaper in New York City.
In 1914, Terry became interested in animation after seeing Winsor McCay
's Gertie the Dinosaur
. While still working for the newspaper, he made his first film, Little Herman, which he completed and sold to the Thanhouser
film company of New Rochelle
, New York
in 1915. Later that year, he completed his second film Down on the Phoney Farm. There is a story, perhaps legendary, that Terry attempted to sell his cartoon to a producer who made a small offer for the film. When Terry told him that the offer was less than his production costs, the producer supposedly replied, "I'd had paid more if you hand't put those pictures on there!"
films. Before the end of the year, Terry left Bray, taking the rights to Farmer Al Falfa with him.
.
as well as new Farmer Al Falfa films. Terry experimented with sound process in a Fable Cartoon called Dinner Time
, released in September 1928, two months before Disney's Steamboat Willie
was released in November 1928. Terry's partnership with Van Beuren lasted until 1929, when Terry and Van Beuren disagreed over the switch to producing films with sound. Terry and much of his staff started up the Terrytoons
studio in suburban New Rochelle, New York
. Van Beuren retained "Fables Studios" and renamed it "Van Beuren Studios
."
produced a large number of animated films, including Gandy Goose
, Mighty Mouse
, Heckle and Jeckle
, Little Roquefort, Barker Bill and many other lesser known characters. Theatrical distribution was at first through Educational Pictures
, then, after it was acquired in 1937, through 20th Century Fox
.
Paul Terry was quick to adopt techniques that simplified the animation process, but resisted "improvements" that complicated the production. He was one of the first to make use of "cel animation" including animation of separate body parts. His studio was slow to switch to synchronized sound tracks and to color. While this may have sometimes prevented his films from achieving the technical excellence of Disney or Fleischer Studios
, he did manage to keep his studio profitable, while others went out of business. Terry was once quoted as saying, "Disney is the Tiffany of animation. I'm the Woolworth."
in 1955. CBS appointed Gene Deitch
, who replaced the old characters with new ones such as Sidney the Elephant, Gaston LeCrayon, Fleibus, Hector Heathcote
, and John Doormat. Deitch departed after three years. After Deitch's departure, Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle returned, as well as new characters such as Deputy Dawg
. CBS made the Terrytoons library of films a mainstay of its Saturday morning programming and continued operating the studio making both new theatrical films and series for television until the late 1960s.
, Alex Anderson, was a producer
of Crusader Rabbit
, and is the creator of the Rocky the Flying Squirrel
, Bullwinkle
, and Dudley Do-Right
characters even though Jay Ward
is usually given credit.
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and one of the most prolific film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
s in history. He produced over 1,300 cartoons between 1915 and 1955 including the many 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...
cartoons.
Early life
Terry was raised in San Francisco and in 1904 he began working as a news photographer and did newspaper cartooning. He contributed, along with his brother John TerryJohn Terry
John George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League...
, to a weekly comic strip about a dog titled "Alonzo" at the San Francisco Call
San Francisco Call
The San Francisco Call was a newspaper that served San Francisco, California. Because of a succession of mergers with other newspapers, the paper variously came to be called The San Francisco Call & Post, the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, and the News-Call Bulletin...
. He later transferred to the New York Press
New York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
, a newspaper in New York City.
In 1914, Terry became interested in animation after seeing Winsor McCay
Winsor McCay
Winsor McCay was an American cartoonist and animator.A prolific artist, McCay's pioneering early animated films far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set a standard followed by Walt Disney and others in later decades...
's Gertie the Dinosaur
Gertie the Dinosaur
Gertie the Dinosaur is a 1914 American animated short film by Winsor McCay. Although not the first feature-length animated film, as is sometimes thought, it was the first cartoon to feature a character with an appealing personality...
. While still working for the newspaper, he made his first film, Little Herman, which he completed and sold to the Thanhouser
Thanhouser Company
The Thanhouser Company was one of the first motion picture studios, founded in 1909 by Edwin Thanhouser.-See also:...
film company of New Rochelle
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1915. Later that year, he completed his second film Down on the Phoney Farm. There is a story, perhaps legendary, that Terry attempted to sell his cartoon to a producer who made a small offer for the film. When Terry told him that the offer was less than his production costs, the producer supposedly replied, "I'd had paid more if you hand't put those pictures on there!"
J. R. Bray Studios
In 1916, he began working at the J. R. Bray Studios, directing and producing a series of eleven Farmer Al FalfaFarmer Al Falfa
Farmer Al Falfa , the quintessential grizzly old farmer type, is an animated cartoon character created by American cartoonist Paul Terry. He first appeared in 1916 in a series of shorts produced by the John R. Bray Studios...
films. Before the end of the year, Terry left Bray, taking the rights to Farmer Al Falfa with him.
Paul Terry Productions
In 1917, Terry formed his own production company, "Paul Terry Productions" and produced nine more animated films, including one Farmer Al Falfa film. Paul Terry closed his studio to join the Army and fought in World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Fables Studios
In 1920, Terry entered into a partnership with Amadee J. Van Beuren, and started the "Fables Studios." During this time, he began producing a series of Aesop's Film FablesAesop's Film Fables
Aesop's Film Fables was a series of animated short subjects, created by American cartoonist Paul Terry. Terry came upon the inspiration for the series by young actor-turned-writer Howard Estabrook, who suggested making a series of cartoons based on Aesop's Fables. Although Terry later claimed he...
as well as new Farmer Al Falfa films. Terry experimented with sound process in a Fable Cartoon called Dinner Time
Dinner Time
Dinner Time is an animated short subject produced and directed by Paul Terry, co-directed by John Foster, and produced at Van Beuren Studios...
, released in September 1928, two months before Disney's Steamboat Willie
Steamboat Willie
Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black-and-white by The Walt Disney Studio and released by Celebrity Productions. The cartoon is considered the debut of Mickey Mouse, and as his girlfriend Minnie, but the characters...
was released in November 1928. Terry's partnership with Van Beuren lasted until 1929, when Terry and Van Beuren disagreed over the switch to producing films with sound. Terry and much of his staff started up 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 in suburban New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
. Van Beuren retained "Fables Studios" and renamed it "Van Beuren Studios
Van Beuren Studios
Van Beuren Studios was an American animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons from 1928 to 1936.Producer Amedee J. van Beuren first became involved in the animation industry in 1920, when he formed a partnership with Paul Terry and formed the "Aesop's Fables Studio" for the production of...
."
Terrytoons
Paul Terry's TerrytoonsTerrytoons
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...
produced a large number of animated films, including Gandy Goose
Gandy Goose
Gandy Goose was a classic Terrytoons cartoon character. He was frequently paired with Sourpuss, a cat, beginning in the 1939 short The Owl and the Pussycat. Gandy spoke in a lyrical vocal parody of radio comedian Ed Wynn while Sourpuss vocally impersonated an impatient Jimmy Durante...
, Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse is an animated superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox.-History:The character was created by story man Izzy Klein as a super-powered housefly named Superfly. Studio head Paul Terry changed the character into a cartoon mouse instead...
, Heckle and Jeckle
Heckle and Jeckle
Heckle and Jeckle are cartoon characters created by Paul Terry, and released by his own studio, Terrytoons for 20th Century Fox. The characters are a pair of identical magpies who calmly outwitted their foes in the manner of Bugs Bunny, while maintaining a mischievous streak reminiscent of Woody...
, Little Roquefort, Barker Bill and many other lesser known characters. Theatrical distribution was at first through Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures was a film distribution company founded in 1919 by Earle Hammons . Educational primarily distributed short subjects, and today is probably best known for its series of 1930s comedies starring Buster Keaton, as well as for a series of one-reel comedies featuring Shirley...
, then, after it was acquired in 1937, through 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
.
Paul Terry was quick to adopt techniques that simplified the animation process, but resisted "improvements" that complicated the production. He was one of the first to make use of "cel animation" including animation of separate body parts. His studio was slow to switch to synchronized sound tracks and to color. While this may have sometimes prevented his films from achieving the technical excellence of Disney or Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...
, he did manage to keep his studio profitable, while others went out of business. Terry was once quoted as saying, "Disney is the Tiffany of animation. I'm the Woolworth."
Retirement and legacy
Paul Terry retired after selling his animation studio and film library to CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in 1955. CBS appointed 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...
, who replaced the old characters with new ones such as Sidney the Elephant, Gaston LeCrayon, Fleibus, Hector Heathcote
Hector Heathcote
Hector Heathcote was a was a Terrytoons cartoon character. Created by Eli Bauer, he first appeared in 1959 in The Minute and a Half Man.Hector started out as a scientist who invented a time machine to take him back to the American War of Independence....
, and John Doormat. Deitch departed after three years. After Deitch's departure, Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle returned, as well as new characters such as Deputy Dawg
Deputy Dawg
Deputy Dawg is a Terrytoons cartoon character featured on the animated television series of the same name in an original TV weekly run from 8 September 1962 to 25 May 1963, with no episodes on 8 December to 29 December 1962, resuming on 5 January 1963. The cartoons are between four and six minutes...
. CBS made the Terrytoons library of films a mainstay of its Saturday morning programming and continued operating the studio making both new theatrical films and series for television until the late 1960s.
Alex Anderson
Terry's nephewNephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
, Alex Anderson, was a producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
of Crusader Rabbit
Crusader Rabbit
Crusader Rabbit is the first animated series produced specifically for television. The concept was test marketed in 1948, while the initial episode - Crusader vs. the State of Texas - aired on KNBH in Los Angeles, California on August 1, 1950....
, and is the creator of the Rocky the Flying Squirrel
Rocky the Flying Squirrel
Rocket J. Squirrel, usually called by the nickname "Rocky", is the name of the flying squirrel protagonist of the 1959-1964 animated television series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show , produced by Jay Ward. Rocky's sidekick is the cartoon moose, Bullwinkle...
, Bullwinkle
Bullwinkle J. Moose
Bullwinkle J. Moose is a fictional character in the 1959–1964 animated television series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, often collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle, produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott...
, and Dudley Do-Right
Dudley Do-Right
Dudley Do-Right, created by Alex Anderson, is the eponymous hero of a segment on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show which parodied early 20th century melodrama and silent film in the form of the Northern genre....
characters even though Jay Ward
Jay Ward
J Troplong "Jay" Ward was an American creator and producer of animated television cartoons. He produced animated series based on such characters as Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Peabody and Sherman, Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, and Super Chicken...
is usually given credit.