Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Sugar Bear originally appeared in the 1940s as the mascot of Sugar Crisp (later known as Golden Crisp), a cereal produced by General Foods Corporation under the Post brand.
The original bear was designed by Robert "Bob" Irwin, a graphic designer for Post Cereal[citation needed] and voiced, in animated commercials, for 40 years by Gerry Matthews in emulation of a Bing Crosby or Dean Martin persona – a shallow-eyed, easy going character who crooned his cereal's praises to the tune of "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho".
He was made a character in the 1964 Saturday morning cartoon Linus the Lionhearted. Most of the characters in the series, sponsored by General Foods, were mascots for Post cereal products (permitted at that time, later banned by the American Federal Trade Commission.
His consistent nemesis was an elderly woman called Granny Goodwitch (voiced by Laugh-In's Ruth Buzzi), with whom he engaged in elaborate contests, often involving trickery, magic, and high technology to decide who got a box of the cereal.
In the end, Granny Goodwitch was never angry with Sugar Bear. Other nemeses included Blob, whose breakfast included pickles and soda; and Sugar Fox, who always tried and failed to keep Sugar Bear from getting his box of Super Sugar Crisp.
Sugar Bear originally appeared in the 1940s as the mascot of Sugar Crisp (later known as Golden Crisp), a cereal produced by General Foods Corporation under the Post brand.
The original bear was designed by Robert "Bob" Irwin, a graphic designer for Post Cereal[citation needed] and voiced, in animated commercials, for 40 years by Gerry Matthews in emulation of a Bing Crosby or Dean Martin persona – a shallow-eyed, easy going character who crooned his cereal's praises to the tune of "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho".
He was made a character in the 1964 Saturday morning cartoon Linus the Lionhearted. Most of the characters in the series, sponsored by General Foods, were mascots for Post cereal products (permitted at that time, later banned by the American Federal Trade Commission.
His consistent nemesis was an elderly woman called Granny Goodwitch (voiced by Laugh-In's Ruth Buzzi), with whom he engaged in elaborate contests, often involving trickery, magic, and high technology to decide who got a box of the cereal.
In the end, Granny Goodwitch was never angry with Sugar Bear. Other nemeses included Blob, whose breakfast included pickles and soda; and Sugar Fox, who always tried and failed to keep Sugar Bear from getting his box of Super Sugar Crisp.
