Remember Big Fig and the "Newton" dance?

[boingboing]

Originally published at: Remember Big Fig and the "Newton" dance? | Boing Boing

…

[DreamboatSkanky]

“Here’s the tricky part!”

[Mercenary_Garage]

Reminds me of this…

The landlords dance recital.mov

[Franko]

of course i remember this commercial, but nowadays i always think of Homer Simpson:

The Simpsons - Fig Newton

[ChuckV]

𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐏𝐢𝐠 - 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 - 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 - 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟖

The Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance

[bashful]

Do I remember? YES! Every time I eat them.

Fig Newtons are an essential item to bring for long bicycle rides, so I sing it to myself a lot.

[MonkeyT12]

My neighbors - five years old at the time - LOVED that song, until their mother yelled at them for screaming the phrase “DARN TOOTIN’!” at the top of their lungs. She considered it a gateway to incessant profanity, which would, of course, devastate their future among polite society.

[Gyrofrog]

For years I misremembered the actor being Charles Nelson Reilly. I went and looked this up recently to find out it wasn’t him, after all. Undoubtedly I was, instead, conflating it with this other Saturday morning classic - just look at it:

'70s Bic Ink Crayon Commercial (Charles Nelson Reilly)

Bic Banana Crayons Commercial with Charles Nelson Reilly 1973

[Melizmatic]

I don’t remember, no.

But I do still enjoy Strawberry Newtons.

[spudnyc]

I love fig newtons as an adult but, as a kid the textural mix of the filling creeped me out.

[MrShiv]

@boingboing

“here’s the tricky part!”

My kid sister and I made endless fun of this. How tricky is it to stand on one leg? We changed the lyrics to say “here’s the easy part” while doing absurd contortions.

[DizBuster]

I had forgotten about Mr. Reilly’s turn as the Big Banana until seeing this clip, thank you! I also remember him in a ridiculous alligator costume on Saturday mornings from probably 1974 or so for “Uncle Croc’s Block”, which also featured the inimitable Jonathan Harris aka Dr. Smith! “Oh, the pain…”

Uncle Croc's Block Intro - 1975

[Metostopholes]

I wasn’t around for the dance, but I remember the court commercial…

Fig Newtons (1991) Television Commercial - Court

Now that I think about it, was it referencing the court case in the UK about Jaffa Cakes’ tax status as cakes not biscuits/cookies?

[Malarkey]

Ooowey gooey rich and chewy inside
Golden cakey tender flakey outside
Wrap the inside in the outside
Is it good?
Darn tootin’!

Channeling my 15-year-old self who LOVED the commercial!

Then remembering Jean Shepard’s “A Fistful of Fig Newtons!”

ETA: More lyrics I remembered as soon as I posted!

[MBrody]

@bashful

Fig Newtons are an essential item to bring for long bicycle rides, so I sing it to myself a lot.

Yeah! I was about to say the same thing. I keep Fig Newtons in my frame bag and enjoy the heck out of them on long rides.

[ChuckV]

[DrGlam]

One of the guys in my high school, back in the 1970s, made himself a Big Fig costume, and Big Fig doing the Fig Newton dance was a regular feature in our pep rallies. I’ve got no idea why, it was just a thing that happened.