A Tough Egg

On screen a stubborn little egg dives into a brisk parade of misadventures in a bright, cartoon world filled with chirpy critters and quick punch lines. The short, a product of Terrytoons, keeps the action moving with snappy timing, bouncy music, and visual gags that land before you can blink. Rather than telling a long story, the film sketches a simple setup: the determined egg faces a string of humorous obstacles as it tries to achieve a small, comic victory. Characters arrive in and out of the scene in a rhythm that feels almost musical, turning everyday mishaps into playful mayhem. The result is light hearted, energetic fun that suits the era's animation style. Its charm is quick and clear.

Directed by Mannie Davis, George Gordon and Paul Terry, A Tough Egg was produced for the Terrytoons studio. It premiered in 1936 as a short cartoon and was released to theaters on 26 June 1936 as part of a program of shorts.

Box office data for A Tough Egg is not readily available. Like many 1930s Terrytoons releases, it played in multiplex programs rather than as a standalone feature, and detailed grosses were rarely recorded or preserved from theater sheets at all.

There are no major awards documented for A Tough Egg. It is typical of its era that Terrytoons shorts received little to no Oscar level recognition, though the studio helped standardize brisk, economical animation and punchy gags that inspired later generations of cartoonists. Some fans still seek vintage reruns today.

Reception and themes for this specific short are not extensively documented. The film leans on perseverance, quick sight gags, and a light hearted tone that reflects Terrytoons approach to humor at the time. Viewers today may appreciate its brisk pacing and economical animation as a window into 1930s cartoon culture.