UPA Commercials Discovered

In the six years since the publication of my book Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation, a lot of new artwork and films from the mid-century era have surfaced. The flow of material isn’t slowing down either. Animation director Michael Sporn recently came into possession of a trove of layouts and model sheets from 1950s United Productions of America (UPA) commercials. He’s generously shared them HERE and HERE.

Among the stash are a few drawings from an Aqua Velva Ice Blue aftershave lotion spot, which can be seen in this newly uncovered collection of UPA commercials:

These commercials are rarer than they might appear. Of the hundreds of commercials that UPA produced during the 1950s, I’ve managed to see just a few dozen over the years. UPA’s advertising work has proven more difficult to track down than some of the other major animated commercial producers of the era like Playhouse Pictures and Ray Patin Productions.

The same user on YouTube also posted this UPA commercial for Tang, which I believe was designed by Roy Morita.