Little Roquefort treating Percy the Cat the way he traditionally does.

LITTLE ROQUEFORT

Original Medium: Theatrical animation
Produced by: Terrytoons
First Appeared: 1950
If this site is enjoyable or useful to you,
Please contribute to its necessary financial support.
Amazon.com or PayPal

Once MGM's Tom & Jerry had proven a success — and seven Oscars is more success, in that area at least, than any other cartoon series ever had, before or since — launching a …

continued below

… blatant imitation wasn't much of a trick. Even Terrytoons, generally regarded as the cheesiest of the classic-era Hollywood animation studios, managed to do it. Cat Happy, the first cartoon to star the mouse, Little Roquefort (his feline co-star, Percy, didn't get any billing) was released August 18, 1950.

It was probably about the same time that Roquefort (with Percy) started appearing in Terry-Toons Comics, but that title (then being published by St. John Comics, which also licensed Famous Studios characters such as Baby Huey and newspaper comics characters such as Little Annie Rooney) is poorly documented, and it isn't certain exactly when he started there. It is known that Pines (Supermouse, Fighting Yank) published him in his own comic for nine issues, from June, 1952 through October, 1953.

The Little Roquefort cartoons were directed by either Connie Rasinski (who did the first) or Mannie Davis, both of whom also did Gandy & Sourpuss, Heckle & Jeckle, and all the other Terrytoons stars. Both Roquefort and Percy were voiced by Tom Morrison, who also wrote for Terrytoons (and was the voice of Mighty Mouse's adversary, Oil Can Harry). A dozen and a half were produced during the first half of the 1950s.

In 1955, studio founder and owner Paul Terry sold out to CBS. The new man in charge, Gene Deitch (Gerald McBoing-Boing), jettisoned Dinky Duck, The Terry Bears and all the rest in favor of new creations such as Silly Sidney and Gaston Le Crayon. After No Sleep for Percy (released March 1, 1955), Little Roquefort was never animated again. One last comic book, CBS Presents Little Roquefort #10, was published by Pines in 1958.

Roquefort and Percy continued to appear, as part of the general Terrytoons mix, on CBS and in packages of cartoons syndicated to local stations, for a long time to come. But those cartoons ceased being aired many years ago.

— DDM

BACK to Don Markstein's Toonopedia™ Home Page
Today in Toons: Every day's an anniversary!

Google
Web www.toonopedia.com

Purchase Toon-related Merchandise Online


Text ©2005-09 Donald D. Markstein. Art © Viacom.