I was fairly shocked to see how nice the Warner characters looked in the first half of this 1986 commercial, and it took me about three seconds to realize that Virgil Ross animated that section. This was probably the last time he ever animated the characters, and it might have been his last animation period. (Greg Duffell, please confirm this if you’re reading.) Ross (and Ben Washam) seemed to have settled on a set style for the Warner stable around 1955 and continued drawing and animating them that way for the rest of his career. And I’m sure that drink tastes exactly like Bugs Bunny & Pals.
(Thanks, Mike Matei)
If I somehow found a box of that, I’d be compelled to drink it. I also have a Sylvester cat food commercial
Weird. Not a bad commercial, but definitely lackluster.
I actually tried that stuff as an 11-year-old. The yams—I mean, Ross made me do it!
It’s kind of hard to tell but I can see Ross in this commercial but barely. None of his trademark character acting or the way he drew his characters.
Actually Thad, Ross’s last credited animation work was Christmas in Tattertown.
mmmmm duck flavoured artificial drink
Thad…you’re absolutely right. Virgil did all the animation up to and including when they carry the boy offscreen and then set him down in the chair.
Virgil’s great and identifiable style can be recognized by the way that Sylvester tears out of the closet at the beginning. Virgil’s expert handling of Daffy Duck is terrific and emblematic of his style too. Porky is not quite there, but done in true Freleng fashion. Virgil barely animated Porky at Warner Brothers as Freleng employed the thespian pig in a very minor way during the time that Virgil animated in his unit. Virgil would have only drawn Porky in Curtain Razor, Cracked Quack, Golden Yeggs and perhaps in Dough for the Do-Do.
Now, it’s only a guess, but I think the rest of the commercial was animated by Warren Batchelder who just happened to be Virgil’s assistant back in the forties. I very much admire Batchelder’s animation in the later Warner Mckimson cartoons as well as the 1966-1971 Pink Panther cartoons.
Great spotting, Thad!