TerryToons' Background Artwork III.

More original artwork from Paul Terry's animation Studio! This time I'll post backgrounds from several Terrytoons shorts produced in the 1940's, which didn't feature any of their major stars, like Mighty Mouse or Heckle and Jeckle in it.

But first, an incredibly rare behind-the scenes- look at the Terrytoon studio! Check out this amazing and sometimes hilarious classic color documentary from 1939 by Larry Silverman. It's titled 'Makin' Em Move' and shows you their entire production process, while working on their short 'Harvest Time' (which was released on February 9, 1940). The director shown in the documentary is Connie Rasinksi. It also features music director Phil Scheib, who created musical scores for every Terrytoons short. The segment that shows how they created their backgrounds starts at 07:26.

Below, two background paintings created for the short 'Shipyard Symphony', written by John Foster and directed by Eddie Donnelly. It was released on March 19, 1942.

Two backgrounds from 'Keep 'Em Growing', released on May 28, 1943. This wartime era short shows farm animals keeping up maintenance on the farm while men are off to war. Directed by Mannie Davis.

Here are nine backgrounds from 'Beanstalk Jack', directed by Eddie Donnelly and released on December 20, 1946. This short presents a little variation on the classic 'Jack and the Beanstalk' fairytale. Terrytoons already produced a different black and white short in 1933 titled 'Beanstalk Jack', which was directed by Frank Moser and distributed by Educational Pictures.

Below, a background from 'The Tortoise wins again', directed by Connie Rasinksi, theatrically released on August 30, 1946. In this short, two teams of rabbits and turtles race against each other on ice skates. 

Below, three backgrounds from 'The Snowman', directed by Connie Rasinksi and released on October 11, 1946. In this short a snowman who comes to life is threatened by a bear and rescued by the friendly North Wind. Not to be confused with Terrytoons' former short with the same title, 'The Snowman', an earlier black & white short directed by Mannie Davis and released on December 13, 1940.

Below are three backgrounds from 'The Wolf's Pardon' directed by Eddie Donnelly and written by John Foster. It was released on December 5, 1947. In this short the wolf is released from jail after ten years imprisonment only to discover that all other fairytale characters are now grown up. So Little Red Riding Hood isn't so little anymore and chases him for a change.