Tom Terrific was an early animated series on American television, presented as part of the Captain Kangaroo children's television show. Created by Gene Deitch under the Terrytoons studio (which by that time was a subsidiary of CBS, the network that broadcast Captain Kangaroo), Tom Terrific ran in a series of five-minute cartoons created specifically for the Captain Kangaroo show from 1957-1959, and was rerun on Kangaroo for years thereafter. This Wonder Book by Crosby Newell and Arthur Bartsch was published in 1958. Interestingly , television, which plays a central part of the story, is never refered to as 'TV' except on the cover. And strangely, I now identify with Crabby Appleton instead of Tom. Weird.