For over 70 years Tony the Tiger has been a pop culture icon, but there’s so much you don’t know about him. There have been a lot of cereal mascots over the years — those cartoon characters telling us why their breakfast is better than the next guy’s — but none have stood the test of time in the way that Tony has. He’s been bellowing out the fact that Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes are “gr-r-eat!” for over seven decades, and few have argued the point.
Tony the Tiger was created in 1952 by graphics artist Eugene Kolkey, art director at the Leo Burnett Agency, who set up the concept, named the character and then gave it to artist Martin Provensen to complete the design. The final look came from a group of former Disney animation artists making up Quartet Films, which had developed additional advertising icons like the Jolly Green Giant, Snap, Crackle and Pop (of Rice Krispies fame) and the mascot for the Baltimore Orioles. But right from the start it was obvious that there was something special about Tony the Tiger, much to the chagrin of some of Kellogg’s other cereal mascots, who suddenly found themselves on the equivalent of the unemployment line. Boosted to supporting positions were the likes of Elmo the Elephant (who found a new gig over at Cocoa Krispies), Katy the Kangaroo and Newt the Gnu.
1. It Turns Out That Tony’s a Dad!
Within the first year of his debut, Tony the Tiger was given a son (Tony, Jr) and the two of them would appear together on animated television commercials. What’s interesting about the video above, and was true for many years, was the emphasis on the cereal being called Sugar-Frosted Flakes, driving home the fact it would give you more energy if you ate it. Eventually there would be backlash to sugar in breakfast cereals, and the product’s name would be reduced to Frosted Flakes.
2. Tony the Tiger voice actor swap
Some histories credit voice actor Dallas Raymond McKennon (1919–2009), who voiced the original Gumby and Archie Andrews, with early performances as Tony. Accounts of Tony’s earliest voice work differ, however, and Thurl Ravenscroft is widely identified with the character from his earliest years. Ravenscroft would give the Tiger his booming voice for decades. He’s also credited with developing the familiar delivery of the catchphrase, “They’re gr-r-reat!”
In an archived interview with cartoonician.com, Ravenscroft detailed how he came up with that line. “I went into the booth,” he said, “and the payoff line in the early days was always, ‘Tony, are Frosted Flakes any good?’ And Tony said, ‘Good? Why, they’re great.’ And I said, ‘We’ve got to do something with the word “great.” We’ve got to explode to make the cereal come off the shelf.’ So I messed around and finally came up with, ‘They’re Gr-r-reat!’”
In the same conversation, he expressed his feelings for Tony the Tiger: “I love Tony. In fact, I made Tony a person. For me, Tony was real. I made him become a human being and that affected the animation and everything.”
3. Tony the Tiger costarred with Groucho Marx
In the 1950s Groucho Marx had successfully made the transition from the stage shows and movies he starred in as part of the Marx Brothers, and was enjoying great success hosting the game show You Bet Your Life. Well, such was the popularity of both Groucho and Tony the Tiger that Kellogg’s thought they should bring the two of them together in what became a successful ad campaign.
4. Meet the rest of the Tiger Family
By the 1970s, and given the fact that the cereal mascot was more popular than ever, the family dynamic expanded in some of the commercials. While viewers had already met Tony Jr years earlier (who was given his own short-lived cereal in 1975 called Frosted Rice), now they got to meet his wife, Mrs. Tony; mother, Mama Tony; and daughter Antoinette.
5. Tony bulked up in the 1980s
By the time you get to the 1980s where everybody is doing their best to get in shape (remember the era of Jane Fonda exercise tapes, Suzanne Somers and the Thighmaster, and Olivia Newton-John getting “Physical?”), Tony the Tiger does the same! You can see that his form has gone from a standard cartoon-looking character to one with considerably more musculature. On top of that, the commercials involve him in more competitive sports, suggesting that Frosted Flakes can help you out during the big game (pick your sport).
6. Tony and Shaq team up for charity
Back on September 8, 2021, Kelloggs made the following announcement: “What tipped off as a collaboration between dynamic duo Tony the Tiger® and Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal to create the first-ever Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes® with Crispy Cinnamon Basketballs is now helping middle schoolers nationwide gain better access to sports.
Today, Tony and Shaq are teaming up again to unveil a game-changing Mission Tiger™ donation through education nonprofit DonorsChoose, which will impact more than 60,000 middle schoolers across the six cities where Shaq played professional basketball: Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando and Phoenix.
7. Tiger vs. Tiger lawsuit
Okay, so Tony the Tiger was introduced by Kellogg in 1952, with the company securing trademark protection for its famous mascot. Then, in 1964, Esso (later Exxon) began using its own cartoon tiger in an advertising campaign built around the slogan “Put a tiger in your tank.”
For decades, the two tigers managed to coexist. But things got complicated when Exxon began using the name Tiger Mart for convenience stores at its gas stations in the early 1990s. Suddenly, the company’s tiger wasn’t just selling gasoline; he was helping sell food and beverages, too. Kellogg filed a trademark lawsuit in 1996, leading to a lengthy legal battle over just how far each company’s rights to its respective tiger extended.
8. Additional voices took on Tony
Thurl Ravenscroft, whose booming voice became synonymous with Tony the Tiger, continued voicing the character until shortly before his death in 2005. But by then, another voice actor was already helping him out. Lee Marshall, a sports broadcaster and professional wrestling announcer, began filling in for Ravenscroft in 1999 and eventually took over the role. Following Marshall’s death in 2014, voice actor Tex Brashear became another of Tony’s familiar voices.
9. Tony the Tiger is Italian!
Probably one of the more surprising developments in Tony the Tiger’s history came during the 1970s, when the character was given an Italian-American identity. As Tony became more humanlike in his appearance and personality, commercials introduced members of his extended family, including a distinctly Italian-style Mama Tony. It was one more unexpected chapter in the evolution of a character who had started out as a fairly simple cartoon mascot on a cereal box.