"How many licks..."

People have been quoting these lines for closing in on fifty years now.



From Wikipedia:

Tootsie Pops are known for the catch phrase "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?". The phrase was first introduced in an animated commercial which debuted on U.S. television in 1969.[3] In the original television ad, a questioning boy poses the question to a cow, a fox, a turtle and an owl. Each one of the first three animals tells the boy to ask someone else, explaining that they'd bite a Tootsie Pop every time they lick one. Eventually, he asks the owl, who starts licking it, but bites into the lollipop after only three licks, much to the chagrin of the boy, who gets the empty stick back. The commercial ends the same way, with various flavored Tootsie Pops unwrapped and being "licked away" until being crunched in the center.[4]

While the original commercial is 60 seconds long, an edited 30-second version and 15-second version of this commercial are the ones that have aired innumerable times over the years. The dialogue to the 60-second version is as follows:

Questioning Boy (Buddy Foster): Mr. Cow...
Mr. Cow (Frank Nelson): Yeeeeesss!!?
Questioning Boy: How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?!
Mr. Cow: I don't know, I always end up biting. Ask Mr. Fox, for he's much cleverer than I.
Questioning Boy: Mr. Fox, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?!!
Mr. Fox (Paul Frees): Why don't you ask Mr. Turtle, for he's been around a lot longer than I! Me, heheh, I bite!
Questioning Boy: Mr. Turtle, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?
Mr. Turtle (Ralph James): I've never even made it without biting. Ask Mr. Owl, for he is the wisest of us all.
Questioning Boy: Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop!?
Mr. Owl (Paul Winchell): A good question. Let's find out. (He takes the Tootsie pop and starts licking) A One... A two-HOO... A tha-three..
(crunch sound effect)
Mr. Owl: A Three!
Questioning Boy: If there's anything I can't stand, it's a smart owl.
Narrator (Herschel Bernardi): How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?
(crunch sound effect)
Narrator: The world may never know.