Foofle (Terrytoons)

Foofle (Terrytoons)
Poor Foofle. He can't seem to catch a break.
Genre: Comedy Slapstick Running Time: 6 minutes Country: United States Release Date: May 13, 1959- July 1, 1960 Created by: Gene Deitch Distributed by: Twentieth Century Fox-Film Corporation (theatrical release) ViacomCBS (television distribution) Starring: Bern Bennett (Announcer in "Foofle's Train Ride") Tom Morrison (Narrator in "Foofle's Picnic") Episodes: 3 shorts (1 leftover starring Dimwit)

Foofle is a short-lived series of animated short subjects produced at Terrytoons, directed by Dave Tendlar and supervised by Gene Deitch. The series follows a simple premise involving a short, round-bellied man, with a droopy hat and plain-looking clothes, who can't seem to catch a break and things don't go well as planned. There were hardly ever supporting characters in this series, as he was the only character to appear in each short. Only three cartoons were completed under Gene Deitch's control, while one leftover short was given to Dimwit (one of the "old school" Terrytoons characters). The shorts were released between 1959 and 1960.

While he may be obscure today (even more so than Nudnik), this character still remains a staple in Gene Deitch's animation career. The cartoons used to appear in reruns during the 1970s and 1980s (after being acquired by Viacom, now known as Paramount Global), but were pulled off the air afterwards. His shorts can easily be found on the internet, such as YouTube and the Internet Archive.

Filmography

1959

• Foofle's Train Ride (Tendlar; May 13; First appearance of Foofle)
• The Leaky Faucet (Taras; December 1; starring Dimwit)

1960

• Foofle's Picnic (Tendlar; March 1; Only short to use exposition)
• The Wayward Hat (Tendlar; July 1; Final appearance of Foofle)

Why It Rocks

1. The main character, Foofle, is the easiest to root for and is likable. He serves as a more or less precursor to Nudnik and Gene Deitch era of Tom.
   • Like most silent comedians in Hollywood, the character conveys his actions through pantomime and facial expressions. He is also filled with bad luck wherever he goes.
2. The animation in the shorts are decent, especially ones from the likes of Jim Tyer (who still does a good job).
   • Like most shorts in the Gene Deitch era, the series is full of stylized backgrounds.
3. The first short, Foofle's Train Ride, displays the personality of the character and his flaws through a trip to the scenic excursion.
   • The other two shorts, Foofle's Picnic and The Wayward Hat, also put him in different locations. In the former, he spends a picnic by himself out in the wilderness. And in the latter, he buys a new hat which blows away and the little man has to get it back.
4. Jazzy blues-related music scores by Philip A. Scheib, setting the mood and tone of the series.
5. Great writing from the talents of Eli Bauer and Larz Bourne. The plots are also simple and creative compared to the stuff the latter made at Famous Studios.
6. His character design is appealing and cute, with clothes, a scarf, sneakers and a droopy hat fitting for a bad luck character.
7. While the idea of a misfortunate character has been done before with Dimwit, the series feels much less of a Goofy knock-off and more like its own thing.
   • This is notable in "The Wayward Hat", with the absence of narration.
8. Compared to his previous works at Fleischer and Famous Studios, Dave Tendlar’s direction of these shorts are much tamer than the painful and overly-violent slapstick of Herman and Katnip.
   • What also helps is the creative force of Gene Deitch, making the slapstick more comedic and light-hearted.
9. Gene Deitch, the creator of the series, based Foofle off his own clumsiness as a child and Jackie Gleason’s “Poor Soul” character. He later carried this concept over to Nudnik.
   • Surprisingly, Nudnik had a cast of supporting characters to balance out the humor and is an improvement over these shorts.
10. Plenty of underrated moments, such as Foofle getting caught up in luggage, mistaking his own hat for an apple or accidentally causing destruction.
11. Despite the series falling into obscurity (like most of the other Terrytoons shorts), they were rediscovered by animation historians and fans alike.
12. Only two shorts contain voices, such as Bern Bennett (CBS announcer at the time) portraying the role of the scenic excursion announcer.
    • Tom Morrison's voice as the narrator for "Foofle's Picnic" is good as always for the Dimwit shorts, despite the overuse of exposition.

Bad Qualities

1. Despite having a creative premise, however, the shorts feel generic without any supporting characters to balance it out.
2. The sad music in this series can be depressing to hear (depending on your view).
3. The character disappeared in 1960 after Bill Weiss took control of the studio.
   • Even worse, he never appeared in cameos or other media, including comic books and commercials.
4. The narration in "Foofle's Picnic" was unnecessary, according to Steve Stanchfield. There was too much exposition that ruined the silent comedy throughout the film.
5. His redesign in the last short, "The Wayward Hat", felt too modern for a bad luck character.
6. He was replaced by Dimwit in the planned short, "The Leaky Faucet".

Trivia

• Neither of his shorts were officially released to VHS and/or DVD. The only way to find his shorts was on USA Network in reruns with the other series of shorts in the Terrytoons package. Fortunately, Jerry Beck in the early 2000s included them in the DVD collection of Terrytoons shorts and were eventually uploaded to the internet in the early 2010s.
• This was the last cartoon series Gene Deitch had created before his departure to the Iron Curtain for Rembrandt Films, where he worked on Munro, Samson Scrap, Popeye and Krazy Kat for King Features, and his infamous take on reviving the Tom and Jerry franchise for MGM.
• He is one of the few Terrytoons characters to be absent in future media. He never had any cameos in Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures or the failed Curbside pilot. This is probably due to Gene Deitch residing in his studio at Czechoslovakia and was not involved with either project.
• According to the biography of Nudnik Revealed!, the creator said that Foofle turned into a bear shortly after he left. This fact was proven false because Clint Clobber was the one who turned into a bear in the short "Hearts and Glowers", while Foofle was replaced by Dimwit in the planned short, "The Leaky Faucet".
• A similar character with a similar concept named "Hapless Harry" was created by George Gately for the newspaper comics in the mid-60s. Unlike the Foofle shorts prior, Hapless Harry was a little round guy who had a cast of supporting characters to balance out the humor. ^[1]

References

1. ↑ http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2005/11/george-gatelys-hapless-harry.html

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