What the… Is this really Fred Flintsone’s voice?
Apparently DDB/Chicago are responsible for the new Midas commercial featuring Fred Flintstone (last item on the page) and his pal Barney, but hopefully they aren’t responsible for the new voice casting behind the voices, particularly Fred’s voice.
Henry Corden had been Fred’s voice since 1977, but he passed away in May. His voice was very distinctive, and his performances, whether in the cartoons or in other commercial work, were perfectly suited to Fred’s character.
The new voice is far from ideal. It’s baritone and male, but those are the only resemblances to the voice we all know and love.
Sure, it’s hard to follow such a well-established act, but come on… surely they can do better than that? My hope is that Hanna-Barberra simply has not found a suitable replacement, and a temp voice had to be used.
October 11th, 2005 at 9:58 am
So who’s doing the new Fruity Pebbles commercials?
October 11th, 2005 at 1:36 pm
Apparently Henry Cordon’s last piece of work was the Fruity Pebbles commercial that’s running right now; he worked right up until his death. I should have linked up my sources, but I was in the middle of something else and forgot…
Here’s his obit in USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-05-20-corden-obit_x.htm?csp=15
October 11th, 2005 at 4:10 pm
In case you want to watch it, the commercial can be found at http://www.midas.com/ads/ads_us.aspx
Reminds me of the post Jim Henson Kermit the Frog voice funk I felt as a kid.
October 12th, 2005 at 12:41 pm
Man that’s sad… I hate it when money starts messing with childhood icons.
November 19th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
Can any one point me to the link where I can get a wav or a mp3 of the paw bear mumbling for my computer Please????