Frank Moser

Movies

Christmas Toyshop
Director
Santa visits some kids and tells them a story in the form of a cartoon in this Castle short.
Play Ball
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 11 June 1937.
The Sailor's Home
Director
A sailor's whimsical remembrance of his mermaid wife. Told with charm. Includes an incongruous riff from Disney's MUSIC LAND. Some animators: Milton Stein, Eddie Donnelly, John Foster, "Connie" Rasinski, Jerry Shields.
The Busy Bee
Director
As many insects happily go to work, a working bee sings and declares his love for a butterfly. A spider from a tree above who's jealous of the bee takes the butterfly and kidnaps her to a wooden place that he surrounds with his web. The bee gets help in rescuing his girlfriend from some horseradish flies (which are horses with wings) and the firebugs who ride the flies to the spider's lair and light his web on fire as the bee and butterfly sing like Nelson Eddy and Jennette McDonald for the conclusion...
Rolling Stones
Director
Two tramp puppies horn in on a blue ribbon show. Features two original songs by Philip A. Scheib, "Rhythm of the Rails", and a short reprise of "Five Puplets" (from the earlier cartoon of the same name). Contrast of old and new: the first scene of the puppies riding the rails was by "Connie" Rasinski, just breaking in as a full-fledged animator; the following shot of them walking the rails is by co-producer Frank Moser, who went back to the silents.
A Wolf in Cheap Clothing
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 17 April 1936.
Off to China
Director
Uncle Sam personally sends off a cat pilot for a flight to the Orient, to much crowd acclaim. Along the way he drops a heavy mailbag that nearly sinks Hawaii, and when he arrives in China, he has bags of laundry for them to wash.
Barnyard Amateurs
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 6 March 1936.
Home Town Olympics
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 7 February 1936.
Alpine Yodeler
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 2 February 1936.
The 19th Hole Club
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 24 January 1936.
The Feud
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 10 January 1936.
The Mayflower
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 27 December 1935.
Ye Olde Toy Shop
Director
When the old toymaker goes home, the toys in his shop come to life. Tin soldiers, a jack-in-the-box and wind-up dolls dance and cavort. A mean spider enters the shop, causing chaos which leads to a thrilling battle royale.
Southern Horse-pitality
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 29 November 1935.
A June Bride
Director
The Farmer tries to keep his pet from eloping. The "star attraction" here, as far as I'm concerned, is the ballad "Agnes", probably an original song by Philip A. Scheib (during a period when they were working hard to introduce them in these films; "Gypsy Life" being the only one anyone remembers). The scenes with the couple on a bicycle was an early one by "Connie" Rasinski, exhibiting his learning from Bill Tytla. The shot with the cats walking down the aisle is by a staffer whose animation was full of awkwardness and errors, but was also ambitious and charming.
Football
Director
It's the Army Mice vs. the Navy Cats in a wild, free-for-all football game. The cats battle and steamroll the mice until some gimmicks are employed.
Foiled Again
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 4 October 1935.
Hey Diddle Diddle
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 20 September 1935.
Circus Days
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 6 September 1935.
Birdland
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 23 August 1935.
The Foxy-Fox
Director
Men on horseback and their dogs are hot on the trail of a sly fox. In this takeoff on the old Pied Piper fable, the hungry fox gets in the way of the flute playing.
Moans and Groans
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 28 June 1935.
King Looney XIV
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 7 June 1935.
Opera Night
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 31 May 1935.
A Modern Red Riding Hood
Director
Terrytoons make a modern variation of Red Riding Hood.
Five Puplets
Director
Thie Terry-Toon (titled "Five Puplets" as a pun and takeoff on Canada's famous Dionne quintuplets, and is not titled "Five Puppets")has a stork delivering five puppies (and not puppets)to a town, with all the dog-population householders blocking up their chimneys so the heavy consignment of quintuplets can't be delivered to them. Finally a proud daddy is found for them, and the town gives him a great parade and ovation, with the doctor and his horse joining in. Parody reigns.
Flying Oil
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 5 April 1935.
Old Dog Tray
Director
While the music background is "Old Dog Tray," the cartoon features a little pup who gets into some fantastic adventures and mishaps with soap bubble, and old farmer Alfalfa to go along. They sail off into the air on their bubbles until their bubbles burst.
The Moth and the Spider
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 8 March 1935.
Fireman, Save My Child
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 22 February 1935.
Peg Leg Pete, the Pirate
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 21 February 1935.
The Bull Fight
Director
A young man takes his girlfriend to a bullfight where the toreador, matador and picadors all suffer defeat at the hands (uh - feet) of the bull. The gallant suitor enters the arena and wins a great victory, via grotesque cartoon imagery, and earns the plaudits of the crown and his girlfriend.
What a Night
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 25 January 1935.
The First Snow
Director
It's a snow day, so everyone gets on the ice near the giant waterfall; trouble ensues.
The Dog Show
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 28 December 1934.
South Pole or Bust
Director
A dog pilots an airplane to the South Pole where he and his mouse assistant encounter an angry walrus.
Jack's Shack
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 30 November 1934.
Tom, Tom the Piper's Son
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 16 November 1934.
Hot Sands
Director
The Pup of Arabia.
The Magic Fish
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 9 October 1934.
The Black Sheep
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 5 October 1934.
Jail Birds
Director
A pair of convicts, a cat and a mouse, get rid of their striped prison suits and head for the hills. They hide in a tree but two skunks live there and have no intention of vacating. The escaped prisoners soon decide they prefer returning to the jail.
Why Mules Leave Home
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 7 September 1934.
Mice in Council
Director
The mice hold an Atlantic City convention to decide who bells the cat. Very inventive cartoon, filled with incident and East Coast references.
Busted Blossoms
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 10 August 1934.
Irish Sweepstakes
Director
A Terrytoon cartoon released on July 27, 1934.
My Lady's Garden
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 13 July 1934.
See the World
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 29 June 1934.
Slow But Sure
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 15 June 1934.
Pandora
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 1 June 1934.
The Lion's Friend
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 18 May 1934.
The King's Daughter
Director
Princess Fanny is held captive by a giant in a castle. He's musical, playing the top of the castle like a piano, but that doesn't make him nice or her happy. She sends a letter to her father the king, with the help of a musical bird. The king calls for a volunteer, and the smallest knight steps forth. He traps the giant's guard dragon under the castle gate, then ties the dragon's tail around the giant's ankle and has the dragon haul him into the sea. Just in time, because he was preparing to saute the princess. The knight saves her and returns in triumph.
Just a Clown
Director
A clown saves a beautiful circus performer from a lion and wins her heart.
Joe's Lunch Wagon
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 6 April 1934.
A Mad House
Director
Mad Doctor who rooms with a house of skeletons plans mischief. M.D. animation largely by Bill Tytla.
The Owl and the Pussycat
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 9 March 1934.
The Last Straw
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 23 February 1934.
Holland Days
Director
Farmer Al Falfa tries to save his Swiss cheese from thieving mice.
In Venice
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 15 December 1933.
Little Boy Blue
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 30 November 1933.
Robinson Crusoe
Director
Terrytoons version of the Robinson Crusoe story with Farmer Al Falfa.
The Village Blacksmith
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 3 November 1933.
Beanstalk Jack
Director
Fairy Tale rehash in which Jack encounters a gang of pseudo-jazz skeletons (animated by Eddie Donnelly). The pre-sound stylings of Frank Moser & Jerry Shields highly contrasts with Bill Tytla's advanced, otherworldly Giant.
A Gypsy Fiddler
Director
A rather wild tale of gypsy-loves-princess. Features the first use of the song "Gypsy Life", heard later in the Mighty Mouse cartoon.
Fanny's Wedding Day
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 22 September 1933.
Pick-necking
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 8 September 1933.
Grand Uproar
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 25 August 1933.
Hypnotic Eyes
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 1 August 1933.
Fanny in the Lion's Den
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 23 July 1933.
The Oil Can Mystery
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 9 July 1933.
King Zilch
Director
Exceedingly bizarre cartoon with the second appearance of the title character (the first was CINDERELLA) and the debut of Fanny Zilch's design (soon to start the first "Oil Can Harry" miniseries.) Whether the King's character was "inspired" by the debut of Van Beuren's Little King series, no one alive can say.
Cinderella
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 28 May 1933.
Tropical Fish
Director
An early Terrytoon that is, typically, all over the map. There are grotesque mutant fish, singing skeletons, and, finally, Farmer Al Falfa drinking some bad booze and hallucinating about mermaids.
Pirate Ship
Director
Pre-Mighty Mouse operetta-singing mice sink a ship of evil pirates. Some animators: Frank Moser, Jerry Shields, Bill Tytla ("What seems to be the trouble down below?", puppies at coda). Pretty weird.
Romeo and Juliet
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 16 April 1933.
Oh! Susanna
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 2 April 1933.
Who Killed Cock-Robin
Director
A cat, frustrated at his inability to catch a bird, drinks a potion that turns him into a Hyde-like beast. Then he goes after Cock Robin.
Down on the Levee
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 5 March 1933.
The Tale of a Shirt
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 19 February 1933.
Rip Van Winkle
Director
Rip Van Winkle, a lazy American man, wanders off one day with his dog Wolf into the Kaatskill mountains where he runs into an odd group of men drinking and playing bowls. He drinks some of their mysterious brew and passes out. When he wakes up under a tree he is astonished to find that 20 years have passed and things are a lot different. This is a charming story about how America changed due to the cival war, only in a different and more subtle way than ever told before.
Hansel and Gretel
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 5 February 1933.
Robin Hood
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 22 January 1933.
Jealous Lover
Director
Street brawlers pursue Terry mice in the big, bad city. Some animators: Bill Tytla (scenes with crooner), Jerry Shields, Frank Moser.
The Banker's Daughter
Screenplay
Releasing a new cartoon to theaters every two weeks, producer Paul Terry had the idea to create an animated movie serial parodying 1890s melodrama. This was the proposed first installment with four more “chapters” to be released over the next two months. The concept didn’t catch on, but the characters and tropes did—zaftig Fanny Zilch, the damsel in distress, pursued by mustachioed villain Oil Can Harry in his opera hat and the dashing (albeit effeminate) hero Strongheart. The cliffhanger situations and operetta format became a Terry studio staple over the next 20 years, including the return of Oil Can Harry himself, tropes later adopted by Terry’s 1940s-50s “Mighty Mouse” cartoons.
The Banker's Daughter
Director
Releasing a new cartoon to theaters every two weeks, producer Paul Terry had the idea to create an animated movie serial parodying 1890s melodrama. This was the proposed first installment with four more “chapters” to be released over the next two months. The concept didn’t catch on, but the characters and tropes did—zaftig Fanny Zilch, the damsel in distress, pursued by mustachioed villain Oil Can Harry in his opera hat and the dashing (albeit effeminate) hero Strongheart. The cliffhanger situations and operetta format became a Terry studio staple over the next 20 years, including the return of Oil Can Harry himself, tropes later adopted by Terry’s 1940s-50s “Mighty Mouse” cartoons.
Ireland or Bust
Director
Aboisterous gang of animals in various wacky aircraft compete in a race to see who can get to Ireland first. The winners unfortunately wind up in a haunted house when they get there.
Hollywood Diet
Director
A group of drinking, smoking and card-playing society women are getting obesely flabby. They go to a gym where various methods are used to reduce their fat.
Toyland
Director
A Christmas cartoon from Terrytoons.
The Forty Theves
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 13 November 1932.
Hook and Ladder No. 1
Director
An opera-singing firemouse rescues his lady fair. A stream of incongruous gags, including "ethnic" ones. A few Terrytoons employees were members of the real-life Larchmont (N.Y.) Volunteer Fire Dept. "The Flame" animated by Frank Moser.
College Spirit
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 16 October 1932.
Farmer Al Falfa's Birthday Party
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 2 October 1932.
Burlesque
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 4 September 1932.
Sherman Was Right
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 21 August 1932.
Farmer Al Falfa's Ape Girl
Director
The Farmer is abducted by a capering Jungle Goddess. As pre-Code as a Terrytoon ever got. Most animation is by Frank Moser; with him are Art Babbitt, Jerry Shields, Bill Tytla and others.
Spring Is Here
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 24 July 1932.
Cocky Cock Roach
Director
What can one say? Large-hipped girl roach animated by Frank Moser. Crooning roach by Bill Tytla
The Mad King
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 26 June 1932.
Bluebeard's Brother
Director
An evil spider who previously killed his wife summons his bats to attack a flea circus. When the populace flees, it’s up to the performers to save the day.
Farmer Al Falfa's Bedtime Story
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 12 June 1932.
Romance
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 15 May 1932.
Woodland
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 1 May 1932.
Radio Girl
Director
A radio station catches fire, and the mouse-girl that does the exercise program is trapped on the studio's upper floor. A boy mouse listener pulls her to safety through his radio at home.
Bull-ero
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon involving bullfighting.
Ye Olde Songs
Director
A mouse, perhaps a distant relative to Mickey, appears onstage to play piano for an audience. Throughout the cartoon, he plays old songs from the early 20th century as we see short stories to go along with them.
Peg Leg Pete
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 21 February 1932.
Noah's Outing
Director
This short is largely a re-telling of the Noah's Ark story, with modifications, in the style of Terrytoons. Farmer Al Falfa is basically Noah here.
Aladdin's Lamp
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 27 December 1931.
The Lorelei
Director
Based on the German legends, there are visual references to the Ring cycle and to anything even vaguely Germanic, including Rip Van Winkle.
The Black Spider
Director
The Spider is a terrifying creature who invades the castle, imprisons the king, and disguises himself in his clothes so he can pursue his designs upon the king's fair daughter.
The Champ
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 20 September 1931.
Jesse and James
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 6 September 1931.
Canadian Capers
Director
“Canadian Capers” was produced by Terrytoons and released on August 23, 1931. Uniquely, this was assigned to only four animators: Frank Moser, Jerry Shields, Bill Tytla and Art Babbitt.
Jazz Mad
Director
In this one, we go from street musicians to dog races (with a silent slo-mo scene of the dogs chasing a bicycling hare that makes no sense) to a very bizarre, and funny, scene of chicken carcasses dancing at butcher Farmer Alfalfa's shop.
By the Sea
Director
Tale of a romantic rivalry with a lot of personality humor...and a Betty Boop voice!
2000 B.C.
Director
Part of the Paul Terry Toons series
The Sultan's Cat
Director
A Farmer Alfalfa Cartoon.
The Explorer
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 22 March 1931.
Go West, Big Boy
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 22 February 1931.
Razzberries
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released February 8, 1931.
Club Sandwich
Director
The Farmer and his cat vs. the mice. A good example of the humor with which Philip A. Scheib used sound in the early days. Made during the short period when Terrytoons incorporated popular tunes from outside sources: in this case, "Good Evenin'".
Popcorn
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 11 January 1931.
Pigskin Capers
Animation
It's the mice versus the cats in a football stadium.
Pigskin Capers
Director
It's the mice versus the cats in a football stadium.
Golf Nuts
Director
This Terrytoon about golfing animals from 1930 is a synchronized sound film, with a decent sound track that could easily be omitted for a show in a theater which had not been wired for sound. There were still several thousand such theaters in the US in 1930.
Salt Water Taffy
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released November 30, 1930.
Scotch Highball
Animation
Various anthropomorphic animals flock to the stadium to watch a horse race. Released November 16, 1930
Scotch Highball
Director
Various anthropomorphic animals flock to the stadium to watch a horse race. Released November 16, 1930
Jumping Beans
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon from the dawn of sound cartoons with a lot of well-timed gags, even if they average more Western than Mexican. There is also a single gag referring to Mexican jumping beans.
Dutch Treat
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released September 21, 1930.
Chop Suey
Director
It seems to be mostly a stereotypical depiction of the Chinese-here portrayed as rats-and the way they run their laundry.
Monkey Meat
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon released 10 August 1930.
The Family Album
Director
Short sponsored by Western Electric to explain to the general public how their newest technology works. Animation by Frank Moser and Paul Terry.
Bully Beef
Director
The story, such as it is, concerns a cat and mouse going off to War -- looking a lot like World War One, down to the artillery and tanks. It looks inspired, in a completely uninspired way, by WHAT PRICE GLORY.
Hungarian Goulash
Director
The first year of Terrytoons were cartoons all based around food titles – Swiss Cheese taking place in Switzerland, Hawaiian Pineapple is set in Hawaii – Hungarian Goulash combines the Hungarian Rhapsody with gypsy antics. Throw in some mice and a mechanical horse and you have a Terrytoon.
Codfish Balls
Director
This early Terrytoons tells the story of sailors out at sea. They have a sword fight and even battle a shark.
Hawaiian Pineapples
Director
A musical cartoon where we are in Hawaii with planes and flying elephants....
Hot Turkey
Director
A Terrytoons cartoon with a Turkish theme.
Roman Punch
Director
This early Terrytoon looks like a variation of a football cartoon like PIGSKIN CAPERS in which we get to see critters on their way to the stadium, then the cheerleaders, then the game. The primary distinctions seem to be that the background art indicates random classical ruins and the sight gags are a little more grotesque -- "Santa Lucia" is performed with a squeaky voice and one mouse doffs his ears and the top of his head to a female mouse.
Indian Pudding
Director
A Terrytoon cartoon with a western flavor with cowboys and indians....
Pretzels
Director
A cat and mouse are out together when the cat tries to steal his mouse companions girlfriend. The mice escape to a club where they go dancing, only to be pursued by the cat again. But they eventually escape and fly off into the sunset.
Spanish Onions
Director
A mouse invites his girlfriend to a bullfight and ends up in the ring when the matador is defeated.
Caviar
Director
The first Terrytoons animated short
Snapping the Whip
Director
An obnoxious cat, wearing roller skates, leads Al Falfa on a merry chase. The frisky feline then puts skates on the unsuspecting farmer, propelling him right into a mean canine traffic cop.
Land o' Cotton
Director
Mice sold into slavery and driven to pick cotton by whip-cracking cats plot their escape to freedom.
Happy-Go-Luckies
Animation
In Happy-Go-Luckies a pair of ukulele-strumming railroad hoboes fake their way into a dog show and make off with the prize loot. “Two heads are better than one” is the moral. To modern eyes, our trickster duo may look like two dogs—in the show they pretend to be one long dog—but audiences of the ’20s would have recognized a dog-and-cat team. The black body, white face, and sharp ears would have been most familiar from the greatest jazz-era trickster cat, Felix. Dogs and cats—much easier to animate than humans—were everywhere in silent cartoons. Terry, like most early film animators, had begun as a newspaper cartoonist, and his first strip, working with his brother as a teenager for the San Francisco Call, was about the adventures of a dog named Alonzo.
Bud and Susie in Down the Mississippi
Director
Bud, Suzie and their cat fall asleep reading Huckleberry Finn, and dream of travelling down the Mississippi in a raft of their own.
Bud Takes the Cake
Director
A Goodwin-Bray Pictograph with Bud and Susie as the main characters and animated by Frank Moser.
The Kids Find Candy's Catching
Director
Animation featuring the characters Bud and Susie.
The Jam Makers
Director
Paramount recruited Frank Moser to produce the Bud and Susie cartoons for its weekly screen magazine. To judge from the 1919 edge code on the nitrate film print found at the New Zealand Film Archive, The Jam Makers appears to be one of the earliest in the series. The simple story centers on two siblings—little brother Bud and big sister Susie—with a sweet tooth and a hankering for a treat. When Susie concocts “play jam” with dirt and water, Bud cries for the real thing. He spots fresh jam cooling on the kitchen windowsill and, braving a covetous rooster and cat, swaps jars. The kids get their just desserts when Mom offers them the faux jam for a snack. Paramount dropped the series after two years.
Knocking the 'H' Out of Heinie
Animation
Based on the Happy Hooligan comic strips.
A Smash-Up In China
Animation
"Smash-Up in China" is a very early animated film. The story consists of the Hooligan telling the little hooligans about his supposed adventures in China. He saves the life of the Prime Minister, meets the Emperor and nearly gets himself blown up!
Throwing the Bull
Animation
Based on the comic strip Happy Hooligan, this cartoon was packaged with the Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial and shown before the main features in theaters.
Krazy Kat Goes A-Wooing
Animation
Krazy Kat tries to serenade Ignatz Mouse.
Cartoons on a Yacht
Animation
Mr. Danbury, a theatrical manager, is visited by Ellis Harcourt, who seeks a position with one of Danbury's companies. Danbury tells him that, since he is unknown to him, he must prove his ability to act before being given any encouragement. Danbury takes a vacation, and invites some of his friends to go for a cruise with him on his yacht. One of his guests produces the latest edition of the Animated Grouch Chaser.
Cartoons in the Country
Animation
Donald and Eleanor are in love, so that Jim realizes it is up to him to pick a peach for himself. There is only one room left at their country boarding house and Jim wants to make sure that no one but the proper peach rents it. In order to keep the proprietress busy while he interviews the applicants for the room, Jim gives her the animated picture book to look at.
Cartoons in the Country
Producer
Donald and Eleanor are in love, so that Jim realizes it is up to him to pick a peach for himself. There is only one room left at their country boarding house and Jim wants to make sure that no one but the proper peach rents it. In order to keep the proprietress busy while he interviews the applicants for the room, Jim gives her the animated picture book to look at.
Cartoons in a Seminary
Animation
Laura tells her companions at Miss Syntax's seminary that Jim, her sweetheart, is to visit her that afternoon. Shortly afterward, Jim climbs the fence surrounding the school playground, and after greeting the them girls, shows a copy of the "Grouch Chaser." The girls get a great laugh out of "Silas Bunkum's Boarders Picnic" in which Silas, his wife and their three guests spend a lively day in the country.
Cartoons in a Seminary
Producer
Laura tells her companions at Miss Syntax's seminary that Jim, her sweetheart, is to visit her that afternoon. Shortly afterward, Jim climbs the fence surrounding the school playground, and after greeting the them girls, shows a copy of the "Grouch Chaser." The girls get a great laugh out of "Silas Bunkum's Boarders Picnic" in which Silas, his wife and their three guests spend a lively day in the country.
Cartoons in the Hotel
Animation
An entry from Raoul Barre's Animated Grouch Chaser series
Cartoons in the Hotel
Producer
An entry from Raoul Barre's Animated Grouch Chaser series