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Posted by Dominic von Riedemann Feb 15, 2007 |
Both Cartoon Brew and News From ME have pointed to this clip as a sign of the late Tex Avery's animation genius, and I agree.
After getting bounced from WB and MGM, Tex Avery was forced to pay the bills by animating 1960's commercials like this one, part of a long line of spots for Raid bug killer. But even when doing something so prosaic as a TV commercial, Avery's animation stands head-and-shoulders over the vast majority of what's on the Cartoon Network or Nicktoons these days.
According to Mark Evanier, the shorter bug was voiced by Looney Tunes legend Mel Blanc (as if you couldn't tell!) and the big bug was Solomon Hersh "Paul" Frees, who also voiced Bombur in Ralph Bakshi's The Hobbit and overdubbed Toshiro Mofune's performance in Midway. TV announcer William Schallert, who was inescapable on 1960's television, narrated the clip.
Evanier claims that Tex once told him that he made three times as much money animating a 30-second commercial than he ever did making one of his legendary theatrical cartoons.
P.S. - Don't know who Tex Avery is? Click here