Like I promised last week, here's a closer look at an early Terrytoon
"Golf Nuts" released in
December, 1930. For the sheer unpredictability and dynamics, it is possibly my favorite from the earliest production of this studio. In this cartoon, quite a lot of things happen in just six minutes of duration, and these screenshots are showing only the most important moments. Animation is quite solid for the 1930 standards, though it still shows its basic origins in the '20s style of the silent Paul Terry cartoons. A major leap in the animation and character design of Terrytoons will happen a year later, but these earliest cartoons should not be dismissed. They're quite charming and entertaining.
It's interesting to notice how every shot is nicely composed, with very clean, simple and uncluttered layouts. Characters are perfectly readable in every moment, and they almost never clash with the background details.
Main character of this cartoon is the nameless mouse (called "Placide" in the French prints) that appears in most of the 1930 Terrytoons. Also, watch out for an amusing cameo by Farmer Al Falfa.
Enjoy these screenshots. They are taken from possibly the best surviving print of this extremely rare cartoon.
"What's your score?"
"LIAR!"
Next week: a great and rather disturbing World War I theme cartoon "Bully Beef" (1930).
