Farmer Al Falfa in "The Iron Man" (1930)

Farmer Al Falfa (also known as Farmer Alfalfa) is an animated cartoon character created by American cartoonist, Paul Terry. The character was the quintessential grizzly old farmer. He first appeared in 1916 in a series a shorts produced by the John R. Bray Studios. After leaving Bray, Terry retained the character and used him frequently during the 1920s for his Aesop's Film Fables series, the character's most prolific period. When Terry made the transition to sound, so did the farmer. The first publically released sound cartoon, Dinner Time, featured Farmer Al Falfa as an irritable butcher who had to fend off a pack of hungry hounds. However, the short failed to grasp the public's interest like Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie, released one month later. Image File history File links Farmer Al Falfa in The Iron Man (1930) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Farmer Al Falfa in The Iron Man (1930) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 12 frames per second is the typical rate for an animated cartoon. ... A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... Mighty Mouse, the signature character of the studio. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 - The Royal Army Medical Corps first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... Bray Productions was the dominant animated series studio in the years before World War I. // History The studio was founded in December of 1914 by J. R. Bray, perhaps the first studio entirely devoted to animation, and series animation at that (he was probably beaten a few months earlier by... The 1920s were a decade sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... Aesops Film Fables closing title Aesops Film Fables was a series of animated short subjects, created by American cartoonist, Paul Terry. ... Dinner Time is a 1928 animated short subject produced and directed by Paul Terry and co-directed by John Foster. ... Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966), was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, and animator. ... Steamboat Willie, released on November 18, 1928, is an animated cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse. ...

In 1928, Terry left his producer, Amadee J. Van Beuren to open his own studio, with distribution covered by Educational Pictures. The farmer was again revived and made frequent appearances in the earliest Terry sound shorts. However, as Terry's studio began to grow and develop, Farmer Al Falfa wore out his welcome and was subsequently put into retirement. In the 1950s, the white-bearded protagonist starred in the television program, Farmer Al Falfa and his Terrytoon Pals, a compilation of the earlier black and white Terry shorts. Though no longer for sale in mainstream television market, most of the early cartoons, the silents in particular, have surfaced on public domain compilations including, most notably, Video Yesteryear's Cartoonal Knowledge VHS series from the 1980s. 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Van Beuren Studios was an animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons from 1928-1936. ... Educational Pictures (or Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. ... // Events and No. ... Top view VHS cassette with U.S. Quarter for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed The Video Home System, first released in September 1976, better known by its abbreviation VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with some... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ...

See also

• Animation Before Hollywood: The Silent Period

Felix the Cat in Felix Woos Whoopee (1930). ...

References

• Crafton, Donald (1993): Before Mickey: The Animated Film, 1898-1928. University of Chicago Press.
• Maltin, Leonard (1987): Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. Penguin Books.

External links

• Farmer Al Falfa at the Internet Movie Database