“Kool Aid” by Tex Avery

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I’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid for Tex Avery, for years now. Little did I know Avery actually directed a Kool-Aid TV spot, until I came across one in my collection this past weekend. Credits for such commercials are scarce, so if this isn’t Avery I don’t know what is. Love the politically incorrect native American designs and Thurl Ravenscroft’s narration. “Oh Yeah!”

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  • Kennedy at wORK_

    The announcer sounds a lot like Tony the Tiger….

    • BakshisMouse

      That’s probably because Thurl Ravenscroft did the Tony the Tiger Frosted Flakes commercials as well as this.

  • Pedro Nakama

    I remember those Kool Aid packets. You’d mix them with a 5 pound bag of sugar. Any idea what year this was?

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZMsZOvxn_k billy polard

    awesome!

    i love thurl!

  • John A

    Sure looks like Avery. Do you know if Ed Benedict did the character designs? Nice smooth animation. Avery also did some Bugs Bunny ads for Kool-Aid a few years later, too.

    I remember this jingle well, because when we were kids, we’d sing “Kool-Aid, Kool-Aid, tastes great, Gotta use the bathroom, can’t wait.”

    • http://yowpyowp.blogspot.com Yowp

      Sure looks like Ed’s ’50s stuff to me.
      Did Don Driscoll do the backgrounds?

  • http://www.oddballcomics.com Scott Shaw!

    Sure looks like Tex’s work to me. Wonderful stuff in which the drawings themselves are funny. Thanks, Jerry!

  • Mike

    Political correctness, Jerry? Yeesh! Who wants to drink that Kool-Aid?

  • Toonio

    Avery’s characters were drinking too much sugar water way before this commercial ;).

  • Clint H.

    Awesome commercial!

  • J Lee

    The Indian line-up on the Mesa definitely looks like Tex’s lay-out for the Wolf and his herd of cattle from 1954′s “Drag-Along Droopy”

  • http://www.animationresouces.org Stephen Worth

    There is a companion commercial to this spot with a trapper in a coonskin hat. These were designed by Ed Benedict, and animated by Rod Scribner I believe. John K has written about these great commercials on his blog. Avery directed lots of Kool Aid commercials at Cascade. These two are the best I’ve ever seen.

  • Matthew Koh

    Pardon me, but how much is two quarts?

    • Tim Hodge

      It’s half a gallon — just under 2 litres.

  • http://animationresources.org Stephen Worth

    Here’s a link to the other spot that goes with this one…

    http://www.animationresources.org/pics/kooladecommercials.mov

    My favorite commercials!

    • Mike Kazaleh

      The spots with the coonskin cap guy and the linesman were animated by Rod Scribner, but the cavalry and Indians spot featured here was animated by Ken Muse. Muse animated another spot in this series involving an explorer and an ancient Pharaoh…

  • Doug

    Good heavens, I actually REMEMBER this commercial (and the jingle). My somewhat-educated guess is that it appeared sometime between 1956 and 1959.

  • Embarrassing Stereotype

    Ugh. Kool-Aid bad medicine. Me no drink-um.