Why Does Tony the Tiger Have a Blue Nose

Character study: Tony the Tiger. One of the most recognized cereal mascots for Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes. Created in 1952 — credit is disputed so I'm not gonna get into it. Seems like a lot of ad guys and artists were involved.

One thing I did learn is that Tony had to beat out a few other mascot contenders. Kellogg's launched a series of boxes in 1951-1952 to see which box would sell the most cereal. Have you heard of Katy the Kangaroo? Probably not, but there she is! Note the scarf/kid combos.

They appeared on multiple boxes (different illustrations even). Apparently two others were also in the running, but I haven't had much luck finding the boxes showing Elmo the Elephant and Newt the Gnu. Tony and Jr. made the final cut.

So what is a 'Tony the Tiger' ?
(ad circa 1954)

The original Tony has a very distinct geometric face. Most striking is his nose, a brown triangle on top of an inverted black triangle. His head is shaped like a lemon (or football), with plenty of space for a big friendly smile and a tongue. He also has .. green eyes!

Tony almost always shows up wearing a red scarf/bandana with his name on it. But I don't think you'd ever confuse him with another tiger. It's pretty wild how specific his design is. More children's-book-inspired than animation-inspired (compare to Cap'N Crunch).

In the early days it's hard to pin down a single drawing to represent him. Boxes varied quite a bit. Almost like no one realized they could just copy and paste. (left: 1954, right: 1956) — the box on the right was signed by Thurl Ravenscroft, who voiced Tony through the years.

Then around the 60s, things start to coalesce. Tony gets a blue nose. His eyes are still green, but his head shape is a little more tied down. Also, they switch from a green box to a blue box (or a white box with blue stripes).

There's a fun series of ads from this period. (It seems like Tony appeared in way more magazine ads than the other mascots of the day). Tony as ... a puppet? Interacting with the box (how meta), and a real life kid! (1962)

The blue box locks down for a decade, running through the 70s. Tony's face, front on. Cereal front and center. (1974)

There's so much to dig through, I've been hunting for boxes over commercials. But, this cel dated from 1974 reveals how a change was coming for Tony's design. He's becoming...a cartoon character. My hunch is that animation is what tipped Tony's design.

It takes a little while. This goofy box showed up in the early 80s.

By 1983, this box debuts the Tony we know better with our cereal today. Eyes very close together (now yellow). His nose a bright sky blue. And his physique has changed. You'll never again see Tony on all 4s.

He even has biceps! He can lift a bunch of bananas! (various 1980s)
Note they dropped the 'sugar' line in the cereal title.

By 1992 he was appearing alongside Ken Griffey Jr! He was congratulating the Pittsburgh Penguins on their Stanely Cup win!

FAT FREE, as always.

What happened, Tony?

The crafty ad folks at Kellogg's were aiming to convince parents that sugar corn flakes were a health food. And they had the US government to back them up. Remember when the Food Pyramid was pushing 16 servings of carbs on us?

Truthful or not, it was a smart move to align Tony with the other sports health cereal, 'Wheaties'. Same year 1992. Showing off those hockey players. I know my parents were anti-sugar-cereal, but they still invited Frosted Flakes and Wheaties in for breakfast.

At a certain point, we lose the cereal altogether. An active athletic cartoon tiger with a deep voice is all you need to cell the product.

Which brings us to present day Tony.

CG Tony.

FRESH Tony.

All told, it's a pretty solid CG rigged cartoon tiger. Hamming it up for the Instagram-age. No hyper-realistic fur (yet).

Here are a few final oddities before I wrap this thread up. Apparently Kellogg's did a 'Great Day Calendar' in 1981, featuring all of their cartoon mascots. Would love to i.d. the artist on these. Haven't had much luck.