Thursday, April 18, 2013

Toonfomercial: The most famous of them all (1970)

Everyone has seen this next clip.

Tootsie Roll added a lollipop variation way back in the day, and while the animation is as simplistic as all let go, there is plenty of star power to be had. It's widely believed that no less than Paul Winchell was the voice of the owl. The cow, I believe, may have been Frank Nelson. Now, don't kid yourselves. We've all asked the musical question, "how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?".

If you want an expert opinion from someone who actually tried it, the answer falls closer to 10, but then the joke at the end of this clip loses its flavor.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

The owl was definitely Paul Winchell!

I remember seeing this commercial for YEARS! However, much of it was edited to skip over most of the animals. Usually the kid was asking just the turtle and then the owl.

We've run news stories on kids who have taken on Tootsie Pop's challenge. One kid counted over a thousand licks - and sent the results to the company. I think he got a certificate of acheivement.

hobbyfan said...

Yes, it has been edited heavily for time since its initial release, which is a shame, because the child making inquiries of several animals tells a better story.

They're still airing it from time to time, by the way.