Famous Tiger Characters

Shere Khan

• Shere Khan of Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book" is a man-eating tiger that was turned into a Disney cartoon character when the book became an animated movie. Named after an Afghan prince, Shere Khan antagonizes the main character, Mowgli, in the "Jungle Book."

Tony The Tiger

• Tony the Tiger is best known for being the mascot of Kellogg's cereal Frosted Flakes. The first time Tony was seen was in 1950. Originally, Tony was depicted with a few other characters but became the most famous of them and took over the brand. In the 1970s, Tony was given a nationality and he became Italian-American. He then became popular within the Italian-American population and they voted him "Tiger of the Year."

Tigger

• Tigger from Winnie the Pooh may be the most famous tiger of all. He was created by A.A. Milne and children have enjoyed stories about Tigger since 1928. Tigger loves to jump around on his tail and enjoys sharing his happiness with everyone. With all of his bouncing, sometimes it gets him and his friends in a lot of trouble.

The Esso Tiger

• The Esso Tiger was introduced in the 1950s by Esso Oil. Originating in Norway, the catch phrase for the cartoon Esso tiger was, "put a tiger in your tank." Exxon Mobile, the parent company of Esso Oil, resurrected the tiger in 1972. When Exxon started with TV commercials, they had a commercial with a car that turns into a tiger as it speeds up.