Comedian Stan Freberg appeared in a lot of commercials. A whole lot of commercials. Both as an actor-for-hire for others and in the commercials conceived by his advertising company, Freberg Ltd.(click thumbnail at right to enlarge).
Stan was no stranger to animation, having appeared in an unwholesome number of cartoons from Warner Brothers, Screen Gems, and UPA. He had great comic delivery, and could play a wide range of character types. At times it was hard to tell that he actually wasn’t all those different people. His experience behind a microphone both in cartoons and radio stood him in good stead during his advertising career.
Kaiser Foil – Research
Another one from the Kaiser Foil file. Starring Stan Freberg, Byron Kane, and June Foray with music by George Bruns. From 1959. Produced by Playhouse Pictures.
DeSoto – Billboard
A musical extravaganza from You Bet Your Life. Stan plays all the men folk in this spot. Produced by Playhouse Pictures in 1955.
DeSoto – Professor
Stan’s frequent co-conspirator Daws Butler is the voice of the professor, and Stan himself is the doubting Thomas. You Bet Your Life announcer George Fenneman introduces the spot. From 1956, made to pitch the 1957 models.
Turtle Wax
Another spot featuring Butler and Freberg. The Jimmy Durante impersonation here reminds me of the Ralph Kramden voice Stan used on his “Honey-Earthers” record.
Butter Beans
Produced in 1955 by Playhouse Pictures for the J. Walter Thompson agency. Stan appears as a singing lima bean in this one.
Butternut Coffee – Subliminal
Another Freberg Ltd. spot, with animation produced by John Wilson’s Fine Arts Films. Featuring animation by the very wonderful Bill Littlejohn.
Cheerios – Couch
Stan Freberg was hired to try to sell adults on the idea of eating Cheerios for breakfast. Some of the spots were live-action, and some were animated. Here’s one of the animated ones superbly animated by Art Babbitt.
Mike Kazaleh is a cartoonist and animator whose work can be seen in comic books like Bongo’s The Simpsons, Futurama and Papercutz’ Gumby – and on screen in Warner Bros. Tiny Toon Adventures, Ralph Bakshi’s Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures and Cool World.
I’ve been a big Stan fan ever since I first heard his version of the Banana Boat Song with Peter Leeds.These commercials are all classics and very cool!
the turtle wax commercial is interesting, as henry boltinoff did a super turtle cartoon for dc comics. Wikipedia says the comic began in 1963, and i’m guessing this ad ran earlier than that.
I wonder if mr. boltinoff was hard up for an idea, or if he forgot he saw this ad years earlier.
Here are a number of commercials, I don’t know from what year, shown in Mexico for Bardahl:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuDkUYziVb4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5koFEnoxWo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCUMSBAkCno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0bViQyYr4Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RUOLHqjZIQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LumEtsjyRoU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSKqFxJWf5c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KlKNjUvHBg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQPv_wh8jC8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyGlVkffVQU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laUvFsFaSsk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioLK5xkoUDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFizRKOCIXQ
I don’t when they were produced or when they aired. Except that one of the vices is by Juan Arvizu (El Tata) and others whose voice is extremely recognizable because he dubbed to Spanish a lot of American animation.
As a bonus, here a couple of version from Argentina of the same ads from 1984. The main voice is by Pelusa Suero (who created a vocal effect for Bardahl that is still used today in advertings):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NcLXxIHDlM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H82uEVnHhIg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PAmCvnLIf4
And while this commercial does not feature animation, it does have at the end Pelusa Suero’s vocal effect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSJPUC5Aay4
those bardahl commercials are a lot of fun! liked the voice wok on the Mexican versions best.
while I was checking out your links I noticed this cartoon series …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zEeNIQLYuk
such wonderful designs, great animation, and adorable vocals. wish we could have seen these cartoons in the states!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zEeNIQLYuk
such wonderful designs, great animation, and adorable vocals. wish we could have seen these cartoons in the states!
This actually was a sort of sign-off message meant to tell children it was time to go to bed. Incidentally a movie based on these characters was made as well…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uvZpeKkOWg
Many countries have had similar films or programs like this in the past I could suggest for you to watch EETEED!
West Germany: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9FnDbCxbYo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j17TlKQUM0U
East Germany: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZygTUPHsIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VG79MfIdpo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71bK7-mkNN8
Hungary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq4VLAOQyv0
Argentina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffQ1PsDQTtI
New Zealand (this is more of a regular sign-off, but some NZ kids knew it best): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_ROYFktrws
Chris,
much thanks for sharing those links. my favorite was the short from argentina; very nicely animated!
LIve action commercials of the 1950s seem to be stuck with the idea that you could only do the mildest forms of humor, while the actors and/or the serious, deep-toned announcer would meticulously detail the product. In contrast, the animated ads of the 50s were allowed to be far freer with their humor, and Stan and the ad agencies involved too full advantage of that greater creative leeway.
The DeSoto Professor one has Daws Butler doing his Capn Crunch voice!
Great post, Mike…I wonder if this and a bunch of other animated spots from this era could be collected onto one DVD and made available to purchase via Jerry’s Garage Sale webpage?
In the advertising world, Freberg was a giant talent… performer, writer and producer. Now, I never worked with him, but knew plenty of folk who have. They all were quick to point out he was never associated with a TV spot, animated or live action on which he DIDN’T do voice work, no manner how small a contribution. As one art director pointed out, some announcer somewhere was going to collect a residual, Stan figured it might as well be him.