Tom Terrific

"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, even clumsy, 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 "thinking cap" funnel hat, 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.

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)

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.

The character also appeared in a comic book for six issues in 1957 from Pines Comics, with some stories drawn by Ralph Bakshi. Tom Terrific also appeared in a few Wonder Books, an imitation of Little Golden Books.

Tom Terrific was ranked by "TV Guide" magazine among its "50 Greatest TV Cartoon Characters". There has never been an authorized VHS or DVD release of the series.

External links

* [http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2001-08-30 Tom Terrific at Oddball Comics]