Crabby Appleton was the nemesis of which US television cartoon hero?

Crabby Appleton—along with Mr. Instant, Captain Kidney Bean, Sweet Tooth Sam, and others—opposed Tom Terrific and his sidekick, Mighty Manfred, the Wonder Dog. Crabby Appleton was the worst of the lot, Tom Terrific’s arch-nemesis. Crabby’s identifying slogan was “I'm rotten to the core!"

Two episodes bear the character’s name. “Crabby Appleton’s Dragon” was the fifth episode broadcast, and “Crabby Park” was the 20th. He had his own theme song, as well as an alternative version.

The animated Tom Terrific cartoon used primitive animated drawings that looked as though a child might have produced them. It was based on the 1950’s United Features Syndicate newspaper comic strip, “Terr'ble Thompson”. The strip was about a six-year-old boy who, in his mind, traveled through time to help famous people throughout history. Tom Terrific, on the other hand, wore a “thinking cap” that looked like a funnel but allowed him to take any shape he wanted and also gave him increased intelligence. Mighty Manfred was just a funny, but lazy dog.

Produced by Terrytoons, a division of the Columbia Broadcasting System, the five-minute cartoon segments ran during the weekly “Captain Kangaroo” show on CBS. The original 26 cartoons—13 created in 1957 and 13 more made in 1958—ran from were re-broadcast on the show for years. Beginning in 1962, Tom Terrific and another Terrytoons cartoon, “Lariat Sam” were broadcast in the same time slot on alternate weeks.