Paul Houlton Terry (February 19, 1887 – October 25, 1971)[1] was an American cartoonist, screenwriter, film director and producer.

His studio's most famous character is Mighty Mouse,[2] and also created Heckle and Jeckle,[3] Gandy Goose[4] and Dinky Duck.

[5] Born in California to Joseph and Minnie Perron, Terry's parents moved to San Francisco where he spent most of his early life.

He contributed to a weekly comic strip about a dog titled "Alonzo" for the San Francisco Call in 1909, before it was taken over by his brother John a year later.

[12] In 1916, he began working at Bray Productions, directing and producing a series of eleven Farmer Al Falfa films.

After he was discharged from the army in 1919, he briefly supervised cartoons for Paramount Magazine until he eventually made a deal in 1920 to make the Aesop's Fables series to screenwriter Howard Estabrook.

[7] Terry's Terrytoons produced a large number of animated films, including Gandy Goose, Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, and many other lesser-known characters.

[15] Terry was quick to adopt techniques that simplified the animation process, but he resisted "improvements" that complicated production.

[17][18] In 1956, Gene Deitch was appointed as the creative supervisor of the studio, who replaced the old characters with new ones such as Clint Clobber and John Doormat.