A Brief History of Tony

Created by ad exec Leo Burnett, Tony began his career in 1952, sharing package labels with Katy the Kangaroo on a new product, Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes of Corn. (Other contestants for representatives were Elmo the Elephant and Newt the Gnu.) Tony proved to be more popular than Katy, so she was retired after the first year.

In 1953, Kellogg's advertising agency further developed Tony with a four color spread in the August issue of Life magazine. His career since would be the envy of any human star. Various animation studios draw Tony, with the majority of the work being handled by Hanna-Barbera.

His son, Tony Jr., became the trademark of Kellogg's Frosted Rice cereal. For a while in the 1970's, Tony had an entire family, including a son, wife, and a daughter, Antoinette.

Since 1981, Tony's face has graced Kellogg's hot air balloon. In June of 1985, a new shaped hot air balloon was launched at Battle Creek.