The awesome ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive has started to transfer and share some of the most important (and long-hidden) animation of the modern age: The famous UPA commercials starring the Piels Brothers and their beer!
click on the picture of Bert and Harry to jump to the downloads!
At the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive post you can download and watch a super-high-quality QuickTime movie featuring well OVER 7 minutes of long-lost cartoon footage from these incredibly influential animated spots. They look very simple, but UPA's Bert and Harry Piel cartoon commercials really broke new ground and set the stage for a whole new era of "modern" cartoons.
...and according to Steve @ ASIFA, this is just the first HINT of the treasures recently uncovered there!
from Wikipedia: In the 1950s, the Piels brewery had a very successful television and radio campaign when the Young & Rubicam ad agency created Bert and Harry Piel, the fictitious animated owners and pitchmen for the brewery. Voices were provided by the comedians Bob and Ray. Harry (Bob Elliott) was tall and soft-spoken, always calming down the short loudmouth Bert (Ray Goulding) when something went wrong. The first Bert and Harry commercials aired December 1955 and ran until 1960.
More on the Cartoon commercials of Bert and Harry Piel at http://www.tvacres.com/admascots_pielsbrothers.htm
Mega-thanks to Stephen Worth and the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive
2 comments:
These are great. Can you imagine?
"Even though Piels Beer was only sold in New York, the fame of the commercials spread across the country. TV Guide even listed air dates for the spots at the peak of their popularity."
Hey, Bob...you know, I missed that paragraph about TV Guide the first time I looked at the Asifa post. Amazing. People are always hungry for something that's entertaining and fresh.
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