Typically Terry

What can you expect to find in the average Terrytoon in 1931? Besides cycle and re-used animation, I mean.

Let’s take Razzberries for an example.

There’s the iris close-up.



There's the characters-run-into-the-background routine for fear or embarrassment.



There’s the scenery-changes-behind-character bit. These are consecutive frames.



And there’s a character being chased that glides in mid-air.



Razzberries doesn’t have two things they loved at Audio Cinema—marching bands and endless amounts of mice.

Basically, these Terry cartoons follow the Silly Symphony formula—singing, dancing, a few gags, virtually no plot. I don’t know if the song “Jungle, Jungle” (if that’s what it’s called) is a Phil Scheib original.

Profiles in Animation, 1924

One and two-reel shorts filled theatres in the silent era in huge numbers. In 1924, Pathé was not only releasing Aesop Fables made by Paul Terry, the studio’s schedule included shorts by Stan Laurel, Will Rogers, Charlie Chase, Mack Sennett (Harry Langdon and Ben Turpin), the Spat Family, Our Gang, Snub Pollard, the Sportlight series, Dippy Doo Dad, Leatherstocking, and others.

Other studios were just as busy, even in animation.

The Aug. 16, 1924 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review published feature articles on three of them. Conspicuous by her absence is Margaret Winkler, who was handling the Felix the Cat cartoons and the Alice Comedies of Walt Disney.

Comedy Gets a New Character
JACQUES KOPFSTEIN
Gen'l Manager Bray Productions, Inc.
SCENE — Bray Studios.
Enter Colonel Heeza Liar (illustration of Colonel Heeza Liar)
"Gee ! I've been working around the Bray Studios for twelve years now, and am the oldest cartoon in existence. I wish Bray would give me a rest.
"Look what's happened to the other Bray characters. Bobby Bumps has grown up, and is a big boy now; Goodrich Dirt, the famous tramp, became a war profiteer and is living on Fifth Avenue. He's quit the movies too. Dud Perkins and his gang who made "US FELLOWS" famous are all going to college now, and even "Jerry" is not on the Job any longer.
"Of all the Bray cartoons I am the only one that is still working, I wish Bray would give me a vacation."
J. R. Bray heard Colonel Heeza Liar's complaints and told the COLONEL that he would not send him to the Old Soldier's Home, or put him on a pension, but would just give him a short vacation, and then came the thought of another character which would bring joy and smiles to the international audiences that enjoy the Bray Cartoons, ever since they were invented many years ago by Bray himself.
A new cartoon which will come from the Bray Studios during the coming season at monthly intervals will be known as DINKY DOODLE. Dinky Doodle is a rough and tumble boy, full of pep and life — sure to become a favorite of all. — His constant companion is a black and white dog, known as "Weakheart," who takes part in all Dinky Doodle's mischievous under takings.
The first of the Dinky Doodle series is entitled "Dinky Doodle and the Wonderful Lamp" — a burlesque on the Fairy Tale of "Aladdin and his Magic Lamp."
Dinky Doodle will work in this series in conjunction with the cartoonist himself. In other words, these series will not be straight cartoons but will be what are known as "combination" cartoons, where the actor appears in conjunction with the cartoon character — a process which was invented by J. R. Bray — which not only gives novelty to each individual subject, in addition to the entertainment, but is mystifying as well. Walter Lantz, the famous cartoonist who has achieved success in directing the COLONEL HEEZA LIAR SERIES will direct the new Dinky Doodle Series. Distribution will be through the Standard Cinema Corporation.

‘Out of the Inkwell’ Comedies
THE Red Seal Pictures Corp., a comparatively new entrant in the independent production and distribution field will have a program of novelties for next year meriting comparison with the best, according to Edwin Miles Fadman, president of the company.
The organization is confining its activities to the production and distribution of novelty releases alone. Of the total of 120 to 150 novelty reels, over 75 per cent of them will have the comedy element predominating.
Heading the list there will be 22 new single-reel Out-of-the-Inkwell novelties by Max Fleischer, released one every three weeks. Mr. Fleischer's product has enjoyed a popularity and a reputation of cleverness for a period of many years.
There will also be something brand new in the way of a fun novelty which will be released as 13 Song Cartoon reels composed of well known old time and modern songs done in funny cartoon form and adapted for audience singing where desired, perfectly timed, scored and synchronized ; and released one every four weeks.
The first of these reels went on for a pre-release run at the Rialto, New York, and was composed of the three old time Charles K. Harris songs, "Mother, mother, mother pin a rose on me," "Goodbye my Lady Love" and "Come take a trip in my Airship." The trade papers commented freely on the unusual success of this novelty. The New York Tribune said "these things are simply impossible to describe. You must go and see them for yourself."
Releases commence in September.
In addition to 13 Film Facts, (medley hodge-podge reel) humorously edited and titled bv Max Fleischer and released one very four weeks, there will be 9 Funny Face single reel comedies and 52 Animated Hair Cartoons. These Hair Cartoons are about 300 ft. in length and are composed of famous characters, actors and actresses done in animated form by Edwin Marcus, cartoonist for the New York Times. As an instance, he draws Charlie Chaplin on the screen and then changes the hair around so that it turns into Rudolph Valentino right before the eyes of the audience.
The Red Seal is the only organization in the independent field producing a complete program of novelties for the exclusive use of first run theatres and high class independent exchanges.
Among the many first run theatres throughout the country using this material for next year are such representative houses as : The Rivoli and Rialto, New York ; Stanley, Philadelphia ; Fenway, Boston; Eastman, Rochester; Missouri, St. Louis ; Rialto, Washington ; and Victory, Denver.

"Fables" and "Topics" are Popular
PATHE'S "Aesop's Film Fables" are fast becoming the most popuular one reel subject in the field today, is the consensus of opinion of exhibitors scattered throughout the country. This popularity extends to the theatre manager as well as to the public at large and is due to the fact that the "Fables" have proven themselves "sure fire" program units.
Much of this credit should go to Cartoonist Paul Terry, who conceived the idea and contributed much to their success through his insight into human nature and an over developed bump of humor, which can carefully draw a line between the grotesque and real laughs. To the manager that runs a combination house of vaudeville and pictures as well as to the manager of the regular run picture theatres these one reelers have proven a "lifesaver" in more than one instance. They can always be relied upon to fill a big gap in any program and are an absolute insurance against the show "flopping" for the want of comedy and laughs.
They are released weekly and are booked over every one of the larger circuits throughout the United States. The B. F. Keith Circuit in the East, the Orpheum, Pantages and Loew circuits in the West use the Aesop's cartoon reels as a regular part of the weekly program, and many times local newspaper reviewers credit the film over the rest of the show.
Pathe's "Topics of the Day" enters its sixth year of success as one of the most "business getters" in the short field.
As a snappy joy reel of wit it has no equal, and quite a number of theatres throughout the country have not missed a single weekly issue since its inception. Even radio services and broadcasting stations have adopted it as part of their regular program while the larger class vaudeville houses use it as an advertised feature. The leading high class vaudeville theatre of the world, B. F. Keiths' Palace Theatre in New York, has booked this one "reeler" on every issue since the first.
The Topics of the Day are produced by the Timely Films, Inc., and distributed by the Pathe Exchanges, Inc. It consists of some timely cartoon in animated form and excerpts of wit and humor culled from the leading publications of the world. Exhibitors scattered throughout the country are very strong in their praise of the subject.
As an example of its growing popularity a contest was run in connection with the release some time ago and as many as 18,000 answers per week were received, representing all sections of the country. At the time of the contest the film was running in over 3,000 theatres in the United States and this number has been multiplied by two since that date. Over 100,000 contestants were entered before the closing of the contest.

The animated cartoon landscape changed within a few years. By the dawn of the sound era in 1928-30:
● Harman-Ising, Ub Iwerks, Paul Terry/Frank Moser and Universal/Lantz had started their own studios. (Dare I mention Romer Grey or Scarfoot?)
● Silent stars like Felix and Ko-Ko the clown started fading away.
● Dinky Doodle and Colonel Heeza Liar were distant memories.
● Krazy Kat returned in silent shorts and lasted about a decade when sound came in.
● The Fables studio took its owner’s name and Amedee Van Beuren carried on producing cartoons for a few more years.
● The Fleischer brothers went with a newcomer named Bimbo.
Oh, yes.
● Disney came up with a musical mouse. Whatever happened to him?

The Sneeze

“Yowp, several years ago, you wrote about the catnip scene in Cat Happy. But what about ‘the sneeze’?”

A good question. Let’s give you some random drawings from this 1950 Terrytoons short starring the forgettable Little Roquefort and Percy the cat. Tommy Morrison’s story tosses in the worn-out pepper-makes-the-character-sneeze gag. But see what Jim Tyer does with it.

Tyer times his animation so some drawings are held on three frames, some on two, some on one. Percy's head goes back, then forward, then back some more, then... well, you get the idea... before letting go. For a sneeze, this is perfect. And Tyer eschews cycle animation in this scene.



You’ll see this at Lantz, MGM and elsewhere. The background changes to a solid colour to emphasize the violence.



Tyer is entrusted with the scene before this when the mouse shakes the pepper (the label simply says “PEP” close-up in the cat’s face. There’s another fun bit of animation where Little Roquefort turns into swirls when he skids up to Percy’s face.

The Exhibitor rated this short “fair.” But if you’re a fan of Tyer’s straight-ahead outrageous animation, he’s all over the place in this one. Cat Happy is for you.

Clobbered By a Star

Attractive characters with heads and bodies based on circles? Maybe at Disney, or Harman-Ising, or Lantz. But not at the Paul Terry-Frank Moser studio in 1930.

In Jumping Beans (1930), a mouse rides a horse. Even in this low-resolution version, we can see the odd, impossible contortions of the valiant steed.



We interrupt what plot there is for a gag. The horse bucks off the mouse, and is quite pleased as he gallops out of the scene. The usual stars develop over the unconscious mouse’s head.



A crow flies into the scene from a distance.



Being a cartoon crow, he whips out some mallets and starts playing the stars like a xylophone.



One of the stars doesn’t like being bashed, so it flies up and rams the crow in the butt and out of the scene. It develops an angry face.



You can count on the 1930 Audio-Cinema versions of Terry cartoons to include:

● Lots of cats and mice. And we mean lots.
● Characters riding or marching.
● An elephant in a gag.
● Characters running into the distance.
● Lots of cycle animation. And we mean lots.
● A song.

The lyrics at the start of this one:

Male Mouse: Hello, hot tamale, how are you today?
Female House: I’m okay, sweetie, in my hot tamale way.
Male Mouse: I’m your boy-friend, lover, and it’s you I’d like to see.
Female Mouse: So, make it snappy, honey, and before we (something or other).

Well, I think they’re the lyrics. The guy in falsetto is singing for the woman, and the soundtrack is about 100 years old. They are wearing sombreros but neither has a Mexican accent.

Motion Picture News of Oct. 25, 1930 grumbled:

Jumping Beans
(Terry-Toon—Educational)
Weak Cartoon
THIS is pretty shy on laughs or funny gags. As the title indicates it is a Mexican border affair, built around the effects of eating jumping beans. Terry has turned out so much better stuff that this one suffers plenty by comparison. Can’t handle it much. Running time, 11 minutes.
Use with good support

The Film Daily had a different opinion. Its review from Oct. 26:

“Jumping Beans”
Educational. Time, 9 mins.
Neat Cartoon
A Paul Terry-Toon exploiting a cowboy hero who feeds the villain jellybeans with disastrous but hilarious consequences. The incidental music by Philip Scheib is real harmony, and enhances the funny cartoon antics and increases the laugh voltage. Clever animation, up to the standard of this series.

Harrison’s Report of Nov. 8, 1930 says it was 5½ minutes and released Nov. 2.

To Get to the Other Side?

Why is a chicken carrying an umbrella on a frozen pond?

No, this isn’t a joke. And there isn’t really a joke in this scene from the Terrytoon The First Snow. It’s just an oddity.

The hen is run down by a tobogganing dog. Then, as it staggers out of the way, its eggs are run over by another sledding dog. They skate around (without wearing skates) in a figure 8 and the scene’s over.



Here’s an incongruous character I quite like. A giraffe sucking on a pipe?



It would seem Phil Scheib is into his Silly Symphonies mode as he gives us several original songs. Young dog-lettes hold hands and frolic around a snowman. The female chorus sings:

Building up a snowman out of snow and ice.
When we’re all finished it’ll look mighty nice.
Coal for his eyes and a carrot for his nose.
He’s all dressed up in his Sunday clothes.

Then the snowman with the usual Terry tenor voice happily warbles:

I’m all dolled up like a Christmas tree.
Look what you kids have done to me!
Let’s get together and offer in rhyme
Good old winter time!

There’s a dramatic rescue on a waterfall at the end; Scheib’s music is quite effective. The cartoon ends in song:

This little pig fell in the lake
Upon a winter’s day.
And these little doggies saved her life
Let’s shout hip-hip-hooray!

There’s cycle animation aplenty. Some characters crash through the ice into the lake but silently. The beloved Terry Splash™ hadn’t been invented yet.

The cartoon was released on January 11, 1935. The studio was still churning out a new Terrytoon every two weeks.