Sunday, November 12, 2023

Paul Terry on How to Make Children Laugh

 


While the cartoons made from the Terry Toons studio may not have the prestige or artistry of the Warner Brothers, MGM or Disney shorts, many film buffs have a special fondness for the classic theatrical cartoons that came from this studio. The reason for this is simple. These unpretentious short films are simply fun to watch. Plus it is hard to dislike a cartoon studio that brought us such characters as Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle. 

The following is an article from an issue of TV Guide (dated April 16, 1955) that is credited to Paul Terry (the head of the Terry Toon studio). 







While I have my doubts that Paul Terry ever sat down and analyzed what makes kids laugh, over the years he probably got a good idea of the basics of what makes a cartoon work. There is nothing in this article that is anything groundbreaking when it comes to film analysis, there is obviously something here that shows he definitely had this basic understanding. 



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