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Jay Advertising’s Ferdinand Jay Smith ready to launch ‘caring’ cartoon for kids
Jay Advertising’s Ferdinand Jay Smith ready to launch ‘caring’ cartoon for kids
For nearly 50 years, the founders of Jay Advertising have created marketing campaigns and musical scores that have resonated with consumers and captivated clients.
Now they’re using their talents to bring to fruition a Ferdinand Jay Smith vision more than a decade in the making — and in the process will provide children’s programming filled with positivity and the giving spirit.
Suitcase Puppy is a cartoon character who will, through each animated episode, bring kids on a learning journey while emphasizing the importance of sharing and caring. Each episode will be a cartoon musical with a feel-good message and a sing-along beat.
“We’re going to do music better than what we’ve seen on other kids’ shows, but we want parents to like the music as well because we want them co-viewing it with their kids,” said Smith, who composed HBO’s theme music, and the Emmy-nominated When It Was a Game and the theme song for Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
The idea for Suitcase Puppy was set in motion more than 10 years ago and is now nearing completion. Smith and his brother, Greg, co-founders of Jay Advertising, expect the cartoon to launch on YouTube before the end of the year.
“We’ll take a little from Mr. Rogers, Captain Kangaroo and the Mickey Mouse Club,” Ferdinand Smith said. “We’ll be urging children to do the right thing and instilling emotional positivity. ‘What kind thing can you do?’ But the message will be coming from the dog.”
Smith said the reaction from focus groups has been the same: “We need this.”
![Suitcase_Puppy_Refined[90940]](https://rbj.net/files/2026/07/Suitcase_Puppy_Refined90940.png)
Thus, spreading the message of positivity will be the goal of Suitcase Puppy. There will be a cast of writers, including Jay Smith, Bruce Hopman, Ben Bouchard and Peter Mott, along with Ferdinand, who also will demo the style for the voice of Suitcase Puppy and his pal, Dooey. They’ll then use electronics to style the voice to the desired quality and sound.
They’ll use artificial intelligence for animation. “With proper input, AI is very good,” Smith said.
Doing the work in Rochester at the Jay Advertising facility – with his production equipment and elaborate sound studio – will allow the project to quality for incentives through New York State’s Film Tax Credit Program, he said.
The hope is that the cartoon eventually will be brought to a network, perhaps HBO, and that there will be live productions, ala Disney on Ice or Dora the Explorer.
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