Can't get enough of that Sugar Crisp...
With the suave voice of Sterling Holloway, this wisecracking bear was cool. Not Mint Listerine cool - Dean Martin cool. And he had style. You could regularly see him in some sunglasses, and always wearing that blue turtleneck sweater which sometimes featured the words, "Vitamin Powered". He knew what he wanted, and he took it. What he wanted was Sugar Crisp, and dammit you better get out of his way when he's getting it... he really liked to break stuff.
First appearing in Linus the Lion-Hearted, a 60's TV series, which was pretty much a weekly infomercial for Post Cereals, Sugar Bear ended up being one of the most badass cereal mascots ever. Sugar Bear was the icon for the first ever sweetened cereal: Post Sugar Crisp. Sugar Crisp later became known as Post Super Sugar Crisp, and then there was a variety called Post Super Orange Crisp, and finally today's version, Post Golden Crisp.
Unfortunately, now that he's pushing 40 years old, he's really softened up. Back in the day, if someone tried to eat some of his cereal, he would unmercifully beat them down. The Sugar Crisp Fox, Sugar Crisp Snake, and Sugar Crisp Crook received regular beatings. His arch nemesis, the aged Granny Goodwitch didn't get special treatment because she was an old lady - he'd even break into her place, steal the cereal, bust things up, bounce away (in a very un-bear-like manner), then start strutting.
Today, Post (owned by Kraft Foods) seems to completely deny the existence of Sugar Crisp Cereal in the US. They state on their web site that Golden Crisp has been around since 1949 and imply that it's always been such. I did, however, find a reference to Sugar Crisp on their list of Canadian brands.
Some unforgettable quotes from one of his commercials
Sorry for the blatant external-E2 URLs, but to really feel the nostalgia, you'll need to look and listen:
- Sugar Bear and friends pics, The Early Years: http://www.lavasurfer.com/cereal-post.html
- Sugar Bear pic, All Grown Up: http://www.kraftfoods.com/postcereals/cereal_golden_crisp.html
- Sugar Crisp Commercial, RealMedia audio: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/4190/sounds/sugarc.ram
Interesting Note: Sterling Holloway, the voice of Sugar Bear, has played the voice of a huge number of other animated parts including: Kaa the Snake from Disney's The Jungle Book; another silly ol' bear in Disney's Winnie the Pooh, the Cheshire Cat from Disney's Alice in Wonderland, and dozens of others.
References
- I was a kid back then - I've seen him in action
- http://www.kraft.com/brands/namerica/us.html
- http://www.kraft.com/brands/namerica/canada.html
- http://home.concepts.nl/~lwmkeijs/bb026.htm
- http://theimaginaryworld.com/post.html
CST Approved