Who is tom terrific?

Answer 1

"Tom Terrific" was a name applied to pitcher Tom Seaver during his Major League Baseball career. It is taken from a 1950's vintage cartoon series.

Tom Terrific (1957-1959) was a series of five-minute Terrytoons Cartoons that appeared on the "Captain Kangaroo" kids program. It later appeared in reruns. Tom Terrific was a kid character with shape-shifting powers that came from the funnel he wore on his head (his "thinking cap"). He also had a pet, Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog (a rather large and slothful pink dog, used for comic irony). Although aimed at young children, it had some distinctly intellectual touches.

The opening sequence was always "Bap-Bunk" then a horse-race Trumpet and a mechanical calculator sound (bucketa bucketa bucketa-bing!) "Tom Terrific". He talked in a very distinct "heroic" voice, too low-pitched for a kid. The chief bad guy was Crabby Appleton, and others included Badlands Meany and Mr. Instant.

Tom Terrific had a short-lived comic book series by Ralph Bakshi, only six issues in 1957.

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