Tishy
- Studio
- Webster Cartoons, Napoleon Films.
Synopsis
This film is based around a series of original drawings provided by Tom Webster, with elements animated, apparently, by Joe Noble and W. D. Ford.
Credits
Directing
- Director
- Tom Webster
Producing
- Producer
- Tom Webster
Writing
- Writer
- Tom Webster
Crew
- Camera
- Tom Aitken
Production notes
Silent film.
By 1920, Tom Webster had become the leading sports cartoonist of the Daily Mail. His interest in animation continued, and he financed and produced several successful cartoon films.
Tishy was a famous racehorse.
This film was given a royal premiere at the London Hippodrome.
Tishy was a real racehorse with a reputation for being "cross-legged" - a phrase meaning clumsy or hesitant. She had won the Summer Handicap at Newmarket, but in 1921 came last in the Cesarewitch.
Tom Webster, sports cartoonist for the Daily Mail, included her epic failure in his panel, drawing her with plaited legs. She became a favourite of his, and often appeared to celebrate lapses in British sporting prowess.
The cartoon tells the story of Tishy's fateful race: When she learns her "legs were made for running" it goes to her head and she writes to the Jockey Club to enter herself in the Cesarewitch.
She undertakes rigourous training (weights, punchbag, etc!) but on a gallop before the race she crosses her legs, and neither her diminutive jockey (who descends from the saddle by rope ladder) nor her trainer can unwind them. Come the race, she paces confidently up to the starting line, but as the caption reads "After all the horses had started Tishy stayed behind to do a little more plaiting." Long after the race is over the crowd remain to watch Tishy finally hobble past the finish post with both forelegs and hind legs plaited. The final caption reads "Tishy finished just after sunset - She did not know that the clock was put back in October."
By 1920, Tom Webster had become the leading sports cartoonist of the Daily Mail. His interest in animation continued, and he financed and produced several successful cartoon films.
Tishy was a famous racehorse.
This film was given a royal premiere at the London Hippodrome.
Tishy was a real racehorse with a reputation for being "cross-legged" - a phrase meaning clumsy or hesitant. She had won the Summer Handicap at Newmarket, but in 1921 came last in the Cesarewitch.
Tom Webster, sports cartoonist for the Daily Mail, included her epic failure in his panel, drawing her with plaited legs. She became a favourite of his, and often appeared to celebrate lapses in British sporting prowess.
The cartoon tells the story of Tishy's fateful race: When she learns her "legs were made for running" it goes to her head and she writes to the Jockey Club to enter herself in the Cesarewitch.
She undertakes rigourous training (weights, punchbag, etc!) but on a gallop before the race she crosses her legs, and neither her diminutive jockey (who descends from the saddle by rope ladder) nor her trainer can unwind them. Come the race, she paces confidently up to the starting line, but as the caption reads "After all the horses had started Tishy stayed behind to do a little more plaiting." Long after the race is over the crowd remain to watch Tishy finally hobble past the finish post with both forelegs and hind legs plaited. The final caption reads "Tishy finished just after sunset - She did not know that the clock was put back in October."