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Chapter 15A: Terrytoonery
(continued from page 7)
 | Gene Deitch and Connie Rasinski examining production cels for the Bert & Harry Piels Beer commercials at Terrytoons, 1957. Photo from J.J. Sedlmaier Productions' collection.
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Connie Rasinski. One of the old-timers, and probably one of those initially resentful of an outsider being brought in to become creative chief, and one of the most difficult to convince that I was doing the right thing for Terrytoons. But Connie was a capable, professional director, and he did much good work for me.
Phil Scheib. On the basis of the old Terrytoons I had seen, I assumed that I would be stuck with cornball hack musician, and I would have to find a way of sneaking in other composers if I wanted anything musically decent. However, after some nervous contact on both sides, I found Phil to be a real pro. I was able to release him from Terry's imposed limitations, and he ultimately created some great melodies and great scores for our new characters! Only on a couple of commercial projects we undertook did I feel the need of an outside composer. I got to like and admire Phil, and I remember him fondly. The rotten music for earlier Terrytoons was really Paul Terry's fault. In early sessions, Phil told me that when he had created what he felt were fine orchestral arrangements, Paul would sit in the recording studio booth, and when he heard that there were passages where the strings played, then they rested while the brass played, and so on, he was furious. Terry shouted, "I am paying for 30 musicians, and I want those 30 musicians to be playing all the time, not resting on my money!" he shouted. And that was the origin of those muddled and over-busy musical scores typical of the early Terrytoons!
Tommy Golden. A good animator. His animation of our test Bert & Harry Piels commercial helped me bring this account to Terrytoons from UPA.
Ernie Pintoff. Ernie was a gifted, but temperamental eccentric. He liked to sit in his little room and play jazz trumpet for inspiration, thus rattling the nerves of other nearby animators.
 | Vinnie Bell, Gene Deitch and Bob Kuwahara at Terrytoons, 1957. CBS publicity photo.
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Bob Kuwahara. A very talented animator, who later directed his own series, featuring a Japanese character, I think was called "Hashimoto."
4 Comments Posted
dave chavers: can you tell me why silly sidney, one of my childhood favorites, had, in his brief career, three distinctly...
Charles Brubaker: I like your cartoons, even though I only have Sidney tape. I guess your cartoons are rare. By the way,...
Mike Kazaleh: Hi, Gene. I am a big fan of yours. On your Terrytoon staff list, you also left off animator George Bakes....
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