Count Screwloose is a character in the comic strip ''Count Screwloose from Tooloose'' by

Milt Gross Milt Gross (; March 4, 1895 – November 29, 1953) was an American cartoonist and animator. His work is noted for its exaggerated cartoon style and Yiddish-inflected English dialogue. He originated the non-sequitur "Banana Oil!" as a phrase defla ...

, introduced on February 17, 1929. The count is portrayed as a mentally ill man who frequently leaves Nuttycrest Sanitarium, the

insane asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

where he resides, to go out into the rest of the world. There he often meets people who act crazier than he did and thus he always goes back, telling his dog Iggy: "Iggy, keep an eye on me", which became a national

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

at the time. The series was discontinued in 1935. In 1937, the comic strip was adapted into a short-lived cartoon series by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. Two cartoons were released in 1939.

History

The

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio was an American animation studio operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) during the Golden Age of American animation. Active from 1937 until 1957, the studio was responsible for producing animated shorts to ...

brought in established newspaper cartoonist

in an attempt to both bolster the Captain and the Kids product and create original properties for MGM, but his tenure at the studio was short-lived. Gross managed to complete two cartoons, ''Jitterbug Follies'' and ''Wanted: No Master'', with his characters Count Screwloose of Tooloose and J.R. the Wonder Dog. * ''Jitterbug Follies'' * ''Wanted: No Master''

References

American comic strips 1929 comics debuts 1935 comics endings Film series introduced in 1939 Count Screwloose MGM cartoon characters Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short films Comics adapted into animated series Screwloose Screwloose, Count Screwloose, Count Screwloose, Count Gag-a-day comics Screwloose, Count Screwloose, Count Screwloose, Count Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio film series {{Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Cartoons