Funny Face Cartoon Trailer

If you've pondered the age-old question "How do you make a banana split?", you are not alone. Being a Goofy Grape of sorts myself, I may just have the answer for you today!

Blog readers may have encountered my previous post about the planned Funny Face Cartoon Series, based on the characters used to promote the old powdered drink mix.

While eagerly awaiting more information on the series, I got a little scoop from someone behind-the-scenes. The project is going well and many short cartoon segments have been created. They are hopeful for early 2009 to get picked up for television.

Until then, the original cartoon short, by Renegade Animation, has made its way to YouTube, posted by mickilas. Here's a great preview of the antics of Goofy Grape and friends, including new characters named Top Banana and Bad Apple.

And now you know how to make a banana split!

Happy 7-Eleven Day 2008

Today is July 11th, or 7/11, which means a day to celebrate my favorite convenience store 7-Eleven!

Every 7-Eleven Day you should make your way to a nearby store for a delicious Slurpee, Big Gulp or other tasty snack. I'll be heading out for a Slurpee later today. Yum!

An oasis in the hot summer sun, I have fond memories as a kid of many trips to get Slurpees and candy there. It often required pestering my parents to drive me, or permission to ride my bike there with friends. It's really something I've never outgrown to this day.

Since the '70s, 7-Elevens have had great periodic promotions with collectible plastic cups featuring cartoon characters, sports stars and super heroes. I had so many of those cups, most of which faded, cracked and found their way into the trash can over the years.

In the '80s and '90s I remember when the Slurpee cups would have a secret compartment underneath where you would get a cool prize like a flicker coin of a baseball or football player. I still have many of those to commemorate the Slurpees of yesteryear.

To help with the celebration, here are a couple of pogs from the early 1990s.

I've started a new group on Flickr called 7-Eleven : Oh Thank Heaven! Feel free to join in the fun and share your 7-Eleven memories. If you're not on Flickr, you can get a free basic account right away and start uploading photos and joining groups.

Have a happy 7-Eleven Day! Oh thank Heaven for 7-Eleven!

Cheetos Cheesy Rider T-Shirt

Here's a brief follow-up to my article on the Cheetos Mouse.

Blog reader Rosanne saw the article and sent me this great photo of her vintage Chee-tos "Cheesy Rider" t-shirt. What a great image of our cheesy friend -- out on the open road with an ample supply of Chee-tos brand crunchy snacks!

Thanks, Rosanne for send me this great photo and allowing me to post it here on the blog!



I would love if someone printed up some new t-shirts with this image. :-)

Saturday Commercial Break #13: Burger Chef

"Whatcha gonna get at Burger Chef?" was a slogan used by the defunct Burger Chef restaurant chain. Burger Chef was a fun place with a large cast of advertising characters, including Burger Chef and Jeff in this commercial from 1974.

Burger Chef was an early pioneer in the concept of kids' meals, offering their Fun Burgers and Fun Meals aimed at kids with a smaller appetite. The meals included a fun toy, sticker or comic book to enjoy. Burger Chef was doing this in the early 1970s. By comparison, McDonald's was just starting their test market of Happy Meals in 1977.

Burger Chef was bought by Hardee's hamburger chain and eventually all Burger Chefs either converted to Hardee's or were closed down in the 1980s.

Well here's the commercial of the week, uploaded to YouTube by WookieCookie.

For more fun, check out the Burger Chef group on Flickr.

Saturday Commercial Break #12: Cookie Crisp Cereal

Sorry that I took a few weeks off from Saturday Commercial Breaks. Now I'm back.

Here's a fun animated commercial from the early 1980s. It's Cookie Jarvis, the wizard, and the Cookie Crook promoting Ralston-Purina's Cookie Crisp cereal. Ah, cookies for breakfast...!

Feel free to post a comment and share your memories of Cookie Crisp cereal. I ate this a few times, but cookie cereal just wasn't right for me. But I did enjoy old Cookie Jarvis.

Saturday Commercial Break #11: McDonald's

This week's commercial pick is a Wild West themed trip for the McDonaldLand friends. Ronald McDonald, Mayor McCheese, Captain Crook and the Hamburglar star in this one from 1976.

This was uploaded to YouTube by Namzso1.

I've always been a big fan of 1970s McDonaldLand. Feel free to post a comment with your memories from this era.

Saturday Commercial Break #10: Funny Face with Goofy Grape

In keeping with the Funny Face theme this week, here's a 1970s commercial featuring an animated Goofy Grape preparing to quench some thirsts at a basketball game.

Be sure to check out my other Funny Face posts from this week.

Funny Face Coupon

I was sifting through a pile of vintage coupons recently, and was thrilled to discover this cool offer for Funny Face drink mix. It is not dated, but would be from between 1965 and 1967.

Fortunately no one cashed in on this sweet "Save 7 Cents" deal, which equals more fun for me some 40 years later. :-)

Characters from left to right are:

• Loud-Mouth Lime
• Freckle Face Strawberry
• Lefty Lemon
• Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry
• Jolly Olly Orange
• Choo Choo Cherry
• Goofy Grape

(click to see larger version)

Funny Face Cartoon Series?

Funny Face cartoon series, you say? Yes, I did. And no, you are not dreaming!

My friend Dan at a sampler of things alerted me to the news that Renegade Animation has obtained the rights to make a pilot for a cartoon series based on the old Funny Face characters.

Funny Face was a powdered drink mix, like Kool-Aid, made by Pillsbury in the 1960s and 1970s. Each flavor featured a funny, anthropomorphic fruit character. Many kids from that era have such fond memories of Funny Face, and this will most certainly stir up more nostalgia in anticipation of the cartoon.

You can read more information about the project at Cartoon Brew who recently broke the news.

The characters featured in the picture above are:

• Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry
• Loud-Mouth Lime
• Goofy Grape
• Jolly Olly Orange
• Freckle-Face Strawberry
• Captain Black Cherry
• Lefty Lemon
• Choo Choo Cherry
  

There were several other Funny Face drink characters over the years, but this represents the nucleus of the gang.

I expect great things from this production. Renegade Animation does tremendous work, producing many wonderful shows such as the revival of Mr. Men which airs on Cartoon Network.

As the plans are currently to make a pilot, there's no guarantee that the series will be picked up for a run on TV. Along with the enthusiasm there's uncertainty. Because of that, I urge everyone to help spread the news! Notify your friends, post a note on your blogs, websites and social networks. We can help by creating a buzz about the show in advance.

If you're helping to spread the word, please post a comment in reply here. Include a link to your blog post, website, etc. where you're helping to spread the word. Thanks in advance!

Can you tell how excited I am? :-)

Saturday Commercial Break #9: Trix Cereal

Here's a fun commercial for Trix cereal by General Mills in 1978. The Silly Rabbit is scheming, once again to get a bowl of that fruity goodness!

They were giving away great Marvel Super Hero stickers in this promotion.

This commercial was uploaded to YouTube by Antifrodis.