TromboneChat

When I was a freshman in college my trombone teacher held out Frank Sinatra as the model of lyric vibrato.

Ad for Frank Sinatra's "Twenty Golden Greats" designed, animated and directed by Oscar Grillo, circa 1978.

I am surprised I've never seen this commercial before. I wonder when, where, and how much it ever ran.

1978 would be the absolute dark age of classic animation so it is interesting that this happened, although perhaps not as unlikely as getting Frank Sinatra himself to shoot a commercial.

"When I made the Frank Sinatra 'Golden Greats' commercial, it gave me the most personal satisfaction. In this film, a number of animal characters sang stupidly romantic songs with the voice of Sinatra, their actions and appearances counter pointing the words. We keep it in our show reel because it has become our good luck charm by making people laugh." - Oscar Grillo, Animator #22 (Spring 1988)

Given the accent of the announcer, I'm thinking maybe the UK?

What's interesting is that Sinatra claimed he based his phrasing on Tommy Dorsey (Sinatra got his start singing with Dorsey).

BGuttman wrote: Thu Apr 24, 2025 4:03 pm What's interesting is that Sinatra claimed he based his phrasing on Tommy Dorsey (Sinatra got his start singing with Dorsey).

Sinatra got his singing start, when he joined a group that appeared on radio as the “Hoboken4” he then worked asa singing waiter, before joining Harry James band and releasing his first record… he joined TD replacing Jack Leonard in 1939…. The rest they say is history!

robcat2075 wrote: Thu Apr 24, 2025 10:40 am
1978 would be the absolute dark age of classic animation so it is interesting that this happened, although perhaps not as unlikely as getting Frank Sinatra himself to shoot a commercial.

Disagree! This was in production in 1978:

Did I kill this thread? I guess there are only a few animation buffs (and obviously one formally trained animator!) here.

When I first saw the title of the post, I thought it would be about the Sinatra Edition Chrysler Imperial.

Tyler Hoover (Hoovie's Garage on YouTube) has one of those and has had more than a few problems with it.

BGuttman wrote: Thu May 08, 2025 8:08 am Tyler Hoover (Hoovie's Garage on YouTube) has one of those and has had more than a few problems with it.

For something like that, "having problems" is kinda the whole point. Who's gonna watch a Youtube video about someone buying an old car and having everything be fine?

Harrison, I don't think you killed the thread. It was already non-responsive; you just gave it a nudge to see if it still had any life left in it.

BGuttman wrote: Thu Apr 24, 2025 4:03 pm What's interesting is that Sinatra claimed he based his phrasing on Tommy Dorsey (Sinatra got his start singing with Dorsey).

Yes, he said as much many different times, breath control from watching TD play his horn.

harrisonreed wrote: Fri Apr 25, 2025 5:38 am

robcat2075 wrote: Thu Apr 24, 2025 10:40 am
1978 would be the absolute dark age of classic animation so it is interesting that this happened, although perhaps not as unlikely as getting Frank Sinatra himself to shoot a commercial.

Disagree! This was in production in 1978:

https://youtu.be/LTOJZiDv1Uk?si=DV6lpansNQesVhq6

When I first started seeing anime on VHS in the 80s i thought, "This is interesting but... why are they always drawn like they are shouting when they aren't shouting on the sound track?"

Eventually DVDs came along where we could switch on the original Japanese audio and yup... they're always shouting!

The visuals of that Miyazaki film are stunning, though.