Pillsbury Doughboy
Encyclopedia
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
and mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
of The Pillsbury Company, appearing in many of their commercials. Many commercials from 1965 until 2004 (returned in 2011) conclude with a human finger poking the Doughboy's stomach. The Doughboy responds by rubbing his stomach and giggling (Hoo-Hoo!, or earlier on, a slight giggle).
The Pillsbury Doughboy was created by the Leo Burnett
Leo Burnett
Leo Burnett was an advertising executive who created the Jolly Green Giant, the Marlboro Man, Toucan Sam, Charlie the Tuna, Morris the Cat, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the 7up "Spot", and Tony the Tiger....
advertising agency's copy writer, Ryan Tanttila , as he was sitting in his kitchen in 1962, under pressure to create an advertising campaign. Tanttila imagined a living dough boy popping out of a Pillsbury Crescent Rolls can. To distinguish the dough boy from the rolls, he gave it a scarf, a chef's hat, two big blue eyes, a blush, and a soft, warm chuckle when poked in the stomach. The Doughboy was originally drawn by Martin Nodell
Martin Nodell
Martin Nodell was an American cartoonist and commercial artist, best known as the creator of the Golden Age superhero Green Lantern. Some of his work appeared under the pen name "Mart Dellon."-Early life and career:...
and brought to life using stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
clay animation
Clay animation
Clay animation or claymation is one of many forms of stop motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually Plasticine clay....
. Today, CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
is used. The first CGI
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
commercial was directed by Tim Johnson
Tim Johnson (film director)
Tim Johnson is an American animation director specializing in CGI animation. Johnson has directed in many films such as Antz, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Over the Hedge.-Career:...
who at that time was working for PDI
Pacific Data Images
Pacific Data Images is a computer animation production company that was bought by DreamWorks SKG. The company is now known as PDI/DreamWorks and is half of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., the public company formed by merging PDI and the feature animation division of DreamWorks.-History:PDI was...
.
Perz originally conceived the Doughboy as an animated figure, but changed his mind after seeing a stop motion titling technique used in the opening credits for The Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
Show. A three-dimensional Doughboy doll of clay was then created at a cost of $16. Paul Frees
Paul Frees
Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
was chosen to be Fresh's voice. Since then, Pillsbury has used Poppin' Fresh in more than 600 commercials for more than fifty of its products. He also appeared in a MasterCard commercial, with the Jolly Green Giant, the Morton Salt
Morton Salt
Morton Salt is a United States company producing salt for food, water conditioning, industrial, agricultural, and road/highway use. Based in Chicago, the business is North America's leading producer and marketer of salt. It is a subsidiary of the German company K+S.-History:The company began in...
Girl, and Count Chocula
General Mills monster-themed breakfast cereals
General Mills monster-themed breakfast cereals are five current and formerly distributed breakfast cereal brands in North America. The series includes Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry, and the discontinued Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy.-History:In 1971, the first two cereals in the...
, as some of the ten merchandising icons, depicted as having dinner together.
After Paul Frees' death in 1986, Jeff Bergman
Jeff Bergman
Jeff Allen Bergman is an American voice actor, who provides the modern day voices of various classic cartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, George Jetson, Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, and Huckleberry Hound.-Life and career:Originally from Philadelphia,...
took over. Today, the high-pitched giggles are done by JoBe Cerny
JoBe Cerny
JoBe Cerny, sometimes credited as Jo Be Cerny, is a voice-over personality and character actor, best known as the voice of Pillsbury Doughboy and as Procter & Gamble's silent spokesman, The Cheer Man....
.
Pillsbury family
In the 1970s, a Pillsbury Doughboy family was created and sold as dolls.Included in the family are:
- Poppie Fresh (a.k.a Mrs. Poppin' Fresh, Pillsbury Doughgirl) (wife)
- GrandPopper and GranMommer (grandparents)
- Biscuit (cat)
- Flapjack (dog)
- Popper (son)
- Bun-Bun (baby daughter)
- Rollie (uncle)
Pillsbury, Inc vs My Dough Girl, Llc
In May 2010, Pillsbury's lawyers served a cease and desist notice to My Dough Girl, Llc. a Salt Lake City, Utah Cookie Retailer with one store. Some reported that an attorney for General Mills instructed her to not talk to the press.Doughboy in Popular Culture
Due to its widespread television projection Poppin' Fresh has ingrained itself into popular culture in several ways.- In FunnybotFunnybot"Funnybot" is the second episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 211th episode of the series overall. "Funnybot" premiered in the United States on Comedy Central on May 4, 2011, the first time a South Park episode has aired in May since season...
, the second episode of the fifteenth seasonSouth Park (season 15)The fifteenth season of South Park, an American animated television series, began airing on April 27, 2011 and ended on November 16, 2011. In response to reactions to the mid-season finale episode "You're Getting Old", which seemed to insinuate that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were wrapping...
of South ParkSouth ParkSouth Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
, the Funnybot machine has joked about Pillsbury Dough Boy, saying; “What do you see when the Pillsbury Dough Boy bends over? Dough nuts.” - In The Big Bang TheoryThe Big Bang TheoryThe Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
episode 'The Hot Troll Deviation' Howard's mother exclaims that she is spilling out of her girdleGirdleA girdle is a garment that encircles the lower torso, perhaps extending below the hips, and worn often for support. The word girdle originally meant a belt. In modern English, the term girdle is most commonly used for a form of women's foundation wear that replaced the corset in popularity...
'like the Pillsbury Doughboy' - In The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode 'Team Homer'Team Homer"Team Homer" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 7, 1996. In the episode, Homer starts a bowling team with Moe, Apu, and Otto. When Mr. Burns discovers the team was funded with his money, he insists on joining...
an anaesthetised Mr Burns confuses Homer for Poppin' Fresh. - In another The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode 'The Otto Show'The Otto Show"The Otto Show" is the twenty-second episode of The Simpsons third season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 23, 1992. In the episode, Bart decides that he wants to become a rock star after attending a Spinal Tap concert, so Homer and Marge buy him a guitar...
Otto calls Homer 'Poppin Fresh' and pokes him in the stomach. - In The Golden GirlsThe Golden GirlsThe Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
episode 'Hey Look Me Over' Blanche and Sophia call Rose the Pillsbury Doughboy
External links
- Character's official site
- Audio file (MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format) of the Doughboy giggling - Pillsbury Family