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The Kenner Bird
commemorative watch
The Kenner Gooney Bird was the mascot of the Kenner Toys company from 1962 to 1974. It appeared on most Kenner products on a small postage-stamp sized square surrounded by the company logo (It's Kenner - It's Fun!) The Gooney Bird was a small, squat yellow bird with orange head and tail feathers, beak, and feet. He had a strangely sardonic smile as well as a bugeyed stare that seemed to look directly at the viewer.
He was used in many Kenner Trade ads with the logo "This bird means business." He appeared in animated segments of many of the TV commercials -- usually doing some bizarre stunt like increasing his height or removing his head from his body while chanting the company slogan. A "bendy" doll was produced, and the character appeared on Give-a-Show projector slides.
In 1968, Jim Henson produced a commercial with a puppet version of the character, using a bird puppet which would later be refurbished as Little Bird for the early seasons of Sesame Street.
Kenner began to take a more "action" oriented theme to its toys, and the Bird was slowly phased out by 1974. The character hadone last hurrah in 2000 when Hasbro completely took over Kenner; special goodbye caps and watches with the classic bird logo were given out as thank-yous to employees.