Think you know the Pillsbury Doughboy? Find out all about the history, fun facts and adorable signature traits of one of America’s great advertising icons.

History of the Pillsbury Doughboy

The idea for the Pillsbury Doughboy was born on March 18, 1965. Rudy Perz a copywriter working on the Pillsbury account for Leo Burnett advertising agency in Chicago, came up with the idea for the brand mascot, who would pop out of a can of refrigerated dough. The character was named Poppin’ Fresh—a nod to the product’s quality and freshness. Perz came up with the idea while testing out Pillsbury dough in his own kitchen.

Milt Schaffer, who also worked for Disney, was the original designer of the Pillsbury Doughboy. Rudy Perz worried about the character looking too similar to Casper the friendly ghost, and Schaffer’s design helped resolve that.

To bring the Doughboy to life, the agency decided to work with Cascade Studios in Los Angeles to use stop-action clay animation, similar to the opening credits of “The Dinah Shore Show.” Before computerization, it took 24 shots for every one second of commercial time. The initial model cost $16,000 to develop and had five bodies and 15 heads in order to create different looks and positioning in the ads. In 1992 CGI (computer-generated imagery) technology replaced the use of stop-action motion.

More than 50 actors auditioned to do the voice for the Pillsbury Doughboy, including Paul Winchell, who did the voice for Tigger from “Winnie the Pooh.” Paul Frees (also known for voicing Boris Badenov in “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle”) was the first voice actor for the character.

He’s been a hit from the very start. In the first three years of his debut, the Doughboy had an 87 percent recognition factor among consumers. His popularity has continued through the years: At one point the Doughboy was receiving 200 fan letters a week and Pillsbury received 1,500 requests for autographed photos.

Learn more about the creation of the Doughboy straight from Rudy Perz himself in this podcast from A Taste of General Mills.