During the 1930s and 1940s many governments realised that the moving image was a powerful tool they could utilize to communicate with the public and became involved in the production of films addressing social and political problems. The Irish government was no different in this regard sponsoring a number of public information films in the 1940 and 1950s addressing topics such as rural electrification, hygiene awareness, prevention of accidents in the home, road safety and the prevention and treatment of TB.

In the middle of the 20th century, tuberculosis was a disease that still killed thousands of people every year.  Through educational films, the Irish government wanted to inform the population of the prevention methods to adopt to eradicate the disease. The National television station RTE was not founded until 1961, so these short films were shown in cinemas before the main feature and reached large audiences as a result.

Directed by Colm O'Laoghaire (1919-2007) Tony Bacillus & Co. is part of a series of educational and public information films made by the National Film Institute (now known as the Irish Film Institute) in the 1940s and 1950s on behalf of the Irish Government’s Department of Health. Later Colm O'Laoghaire directed the longest running Irish newsreel series for  Gael Linn an organisation established in 1953 to promote Irish language and culture. This newsreel , called Amharc Éireann (A View of Ireland) consisted of 269 episodes and was in the Irish language. It was screened in cinemas across the country between 1956 & 1964, until the immediacy of television as a means of bringing news to the Irish population made newsreels obsolete.

From early on in the film industry, puppets were used by filmmakers as they allowed sensitive subjects to be tackled in an entertaining way while also reassuring the audience. Film was not the only medium that used humourous techniques for preventive purposes the work of O'Galop is particularly notable, especially his 1918 cartoon which dealt with the ravages of alcohol and tuberculosis.

In Tony Bacillus & Co., the use of puppets and the handling of the subject in a humorous way makes the idea of TB less alarming to all age groups while increasing the population’s awareness of the disease and how best to avoid it. The combined success of the prevention programme and modern sanatoria meant that by the 1960s T.B. was all but eradicated from Irish society.

The original music for this film was composed in 2010 by AnaÏs-Gaëll Lozac'h in the context of the 2009-2010 partnership with the CNSMDP (Paris Conservatory of Dance and Music).