In 1965, Quaker Oats commissioned producer Jay Ward to create new characters for their cereal line, since he had previously produced ads for Cap'n Crunch.
The end result was a pair of cereals, Quisp & Quake. Now, to be perfectly honest, I've never had either of these cereals in my lifetime, though I have had Cap'n Crunch. I digress. Anyway, the dual ad campaign lasted a few years before Quake was pulled off the shelves (and he would return with Simon the kangaroo to promote Quangaroos, another short-lived Quaker cereal).
As for the characters themselves, Quisp, voiced by Daws Butler, is a goofy alien who would've fit in right at home with Rocky & His Friends. Quake (William Conrad, narrator of Rocky & The Fugitive) is a miner who looked a little too normal by comparison. As it turned out, kids preferred goofy over gallant, especially impressionable pre-schoolers who could roll their eyes the way Quisp does.
In the following introductory ad, the spokesman for the company, I believe, was voiced by either Daws Butler or Paul Frees. I'm just not sure.
Quisp is only available in limited markets these days, while Quake & Quangaroos have gone the way of a lot of failed products, shuffled off to limbo.
2 comments:
I've heard of Quisp and I remember it being advertised in the 70s but not since.
I was on store shelves in my hometown well into the 80s, but I hadn't seen it where I live now.
Quake I've never heard of - period!
Quisp's voice definitely sounds like Daws Butler (using a similar voice he used for HB's "Yahooie" musketeer character).
The spokesman is Paul Frees - without a doubt! The cartoon is very much a Ward production - and I agree that Quisp could certainly have turned up in a Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon and fit right in!
By the time I was ready to walk through a grocer unattended, Quake was already gone. I have seen boxes of Quisp as recently as, well, 5 years ago. Just depends on where you go.
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