The Six Flags commercial has a funky old guy dancing maniacally to a Venga Boys song. This may be one of the funniest commercials I have ever seen. My question, though, is whether this is a genuine old man with super skill or something else? My husband thinks it’s a young guy in makeup, and I’ve also heard it is the old guy’s face digitally ‘morphed’ onto a younger dancer’s body.
What say you?
PS- the commercial can be seen at: http://www.sixflags.com/index.asp
Looks to me like a young guy caked with many layers of latex and makeup. And he’s dancing to what I consider to be the #1 most annoying song ever written, but that’s another story 
When last discussed, most posters thought it was a young guy in old guy make-up.
Eric
Sure looks like it’s computerized in the dancing scenes, and a mask on the other scenes (including on the roller coaster)
I love that commercial. I remember thinking “wouldn’t it be cool if it’s an old guy after all”? I mean wouldn’t it?
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/22108.htm
We’re not the only ones wondering. It looks like you may be able to check him out in person according to this article.
He was on Good Morning America this past week so he’s not a digital creation. Didn’t talk. IMHO could be a female.
Wow! When I started the last thread on this nearly 3 months ago, I wouldn’t have imagined that the question would have gone unanswered for so long. The Six Flags folks are obviously trying to keep it a mystery.
I wonder if that was their original intent, or if they noticed the great curiosity about the matter and decided to take advantage of the situation by playing up the question. Either way, it’s pretty smart!
I’ve only been able to gather one new piece of evidence, and it’s inconclusive. In my supermarket, they have one of those ads that stick to the floor with a huge picture of the guy, so I was able to study it at some length. But it didn’t really tell me anything. In the photo, he looks like he is really bald, but they could have easily photoshopped out the edge of the bald wig. You can see his back lower teeth, and they look quite white, but again, that could be photoshopped.
I’m sticking with my original hypothesis–it is an older guy made up to look like a really really old guy. It would seem foolish to try to make a young guy look really really old, when it would be easier to age someone who was already on the elderly side. There are plenty of spry old guys out there–they could have even used a retired professional dancer. We know the dancing is digitally enhanced, so why not?
I guess I’m the only one who found the commercial…disturbing. I can’t really say why.
Maybe it’s because someone got killed on a roller coaster at our local Six Flags a few months back. The first time I saw the commercial was only a few weeks after the incident and it seemed inappropriate to me at the time.
It looks very much like the makeup job they did on Dana Carvey in that stupid movie Master of Disguise.
<slight hijack>
The link on the Six Flags page is to <mms://streams.sixflags.com/SFMR6PDA>. My browser can’t open this link. The only “mms” I know is Multimedia Messaging Service. This is used to send short messages to mobile phones containing photos, etc.
What is this and how does one view it?
</slight hijack>
This is what I have been thinking. The dancing looks like a female to me, and his size is consistent with a female build. I may be wrong, but that’s my impression.
So, I work at Six Flags…
(For inquiring minds: I’m an office clerk in the merchandise department of one of the Texas parks. No, I have never operated the rides.)
Rumor has it this is a youngish guy, and I haven’t heard anything to dispute that theory. He is, however, the bane of all SF employees’ existense. The “It’s Playtime!” campaign, while boosting popularity and attendance immensely, has become quite an annoyance for those who deal with it on a daily basis.
You know that music you hear when you get put on hold? Well, at SF, “We Like to Party” is the hold music. We find ourselves humming it sometimes, much to the dismay of anyone within earshot.
In our large office where I work, we have a smaller office branching off the back - and it’s full of “It’s Playtime!” posters, stickers, floor mats, window signs, and rubber ducks featuring “Mr. Six”. (Okay, not rubber ducks.)
What was my point? Ah… to recap: The old guy from the commercial is probably young, and I bet he’s probably from Oklahoma. Everybody, it seems, loves the nationwide ad campaign except the employees. And save the whales.
Clues that he could be an old dude;
[ul]
[li]He’s bald.[/li][li]He looks shrunken, sorta.[/li][li]His ears are low on his head.[/li][li]His lips are pretty pale, almost cyanotic.[/li][li]There are no liver spots. A fake would have those for sure.[/li][/ul]
So there you have it.
Peace,
mangeorge
Oh yeah, look at his hands. Those are beat-up old hands. Just like mine.