Tom Terrific is an animated series from the 1950s about the average boy next door who can turn himself into anything he wants to by using a magical thinking cap that makes him smarter. He lives in a treehouse, is best friends with Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, and his nemesis is Crabby Appleton. Some of the other thorns in his side are Mr. Instant the Instant Thing King, Sweet Tooth Sam the Candy Bandit, and Captain Kidney Bean.

Created by Gene Deitch, the animated series ran as a segment on Captain Kangaroo. The show comprised of 26 stories produced from 1957 to 1959. Those segments would continue airing later as reruns on episodes of the children’s program.

Tom Terrific was drawn using a simplistic design and black and white color scheme to mimic the artwork that a child would produce. It was adapted from the newspaper strip Terr’ble Thompson! about a boy who imagined that he was a hero who could travel back in time to help historical figures. Those strips have since been reprinted by Fantagraphics Books.