Tony the Tiger

Tony the Tiger is the advertising cartoon anthropomorphic tiger mascot for WK Kellogg Co's (formerly Kellogg's) Frosted Flakes (also known as Frosties) breakfast cereal, appearing on its packaging and advertising. Tony has also been the mascot for related cereals such as Tony's Cinnamon Krunchers and Tiger Power. Since Tony's debut in 1952, the character has spanned several generations and has become a breakfast cereal icon. History In 1952, Eugene Kolkey, an accomplished graphics artist and art director at Leo Burnett, created a character that was to become the official mascot of Kellogg's new breakfast cereal. Kolkey designed a tiger named Tony (named after an ad man at Leo Burnett—Raymond Anthony Wells) and selected Martin Provensen for the finished artwork. The cereal had other mascots like Katy the Kangaroo, Elmo the Elephant, and Newt the Gnu. Within the year, the other mascots were dropped (with Elmo and Newt never once gracing the front of the box), and Tony was given a son, Tony Jr. Tony the Tiger eventually became a cereal icon. The final Tony the Tiger design came from a group of former Disney animators known as Quartet Films, which also designed the Jolly Green Giant, Snap, Crackle and Pop, the Hamm's Beer Bear, and the Baltimore Orioles mascot, among others. Stan Walsh, Art Babbitt, Arnold Gillesspie, and Michael Lah were the artists/filmmakers that formed the Quartet Films of Hollywood. A 1955 print ad in Life had Tony taking a microphone away from You Bet Your Life host Groucho Marx and saying, "You bet your life they're Gr-r-reat!" A recognizable and distinct voice was needed for the Tony the Tiger character. Initially, he was voiced by Dallas McKennon, but shortly after the initial Sugar Frosted Flakes advertisements aired, McKennon was replaced by Thurl Ravenscroft, who spent the next five decades providing the characteristic deep bass voice associated with the character, notably the familiar "They're gr-r-reat!" catchphrase. Thurl Ravenscroft came up with this phrase. Ravenscroft spoke to an interviewer of injecting his personality into Tony: "I made Tony a person. For me, Tony was real. I made him become a human being and that affected the animation and everything."