Monster cereals

The monster cereals are a line of breakfast cereals produced by General Mills Corporation in North America. The line was introduced in 1971, and at various times has included five brands, each featuring a cartoon version of a classic movie monster: Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry (all still produced seasonally), as well as Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy[4] (both discontinued, except for limited productions).

"Yummy Mummy" redirects here. For the slang term, see yummy mummy.

Count Chocula
A box of Count Chocula breakfast cereal
Chocolate-flavored corn cereal bits and marshmallows
Mascot	Cartoon vampire whose name is a pun on the vampire Count Dracula; voiced by Larry Kenney impersonating Bela Lugosi
Introduced	1971 (1971)
Availability	Still in production seasonally
Tagline	I want to eat your cereal! (1971–2010)
Notes	[1]
Bowl of Count Chocula

Franken Berry
A box of Franken Berry breakfast cereal
Strawberry-flavored corn cereal bits and marshmallows
Mascot	Cartoon variant of Frankenstein's monster Voiced by Bob McFadden impersonating Boris Karloff
Introduced	1971 (1971)
Availability	Still in production seasonally
Notes	[2]

Boo Berry
A box of Boo Berry breakfast cereal
Blueberry-flavored corn cereal bits and marshmallows
Mascot	Blue cartoon ghost Voiced by Paul Frees impersonating Peter Lorre
Introduced	1973 (1973)
Availability	Still in production seasonally

Fruit Brute
A box of Fruit Brute breakfast cereal
Frosted fruit-flavored cereal with lime-flavored marshmallows; Relaunch: Frosted cherry-flavored cereal with marshmallows
Mascot	Cartoon werewolf
Introduced	1974
Availability	Discontinued (1982); Relaunch (2013); Discontinued (2014))
Tagline	The Howling Good Taste of Frute
Notes	[3]
Fruit Brute cereal

Fruity Yummy Mummy
A box of Fruity Yummy Mummy breakfast cereal
Frosted fruit-flavored cereal with vanilla-flavored marshmallows Relaunch: Frosted orange-cream flavored cereal with marshmallows
Mascot	Cartoon mummy
Introduced	1987
Availability	Discontinued (1992); Relaunch (2013); Discontinued (2014)
Tagline	Fruity Yummy Mummy makes your tummy go yummy! Heh, heh, heh! (1988–1990)

History

In March 1971, the first two cereals in the line were introduced, the chocolate-flavored Count Chocula and the strawberry-flavored Franken Berry. In the commercials, the two monsters, Count Alfred Chocula and Franken Berry, would engage in comic bickering over which cereal was better, when something or someone else interfered in their verbal sparring and scared them out of their wits.

In February 1972, Franken Berry cereal included an indigestible pigment that turned some children's feces pink, a symptom sometimes referred to as "Franken Berry Stool".[5][6][7] The Count Chocula and Franken Berry recipes were reformulated to remove this pigment.[8] Count Chocula and Franken Berry sold well, although Boo Berry and Fruit Brute were less popular.[8]

Boo Berry, reputedly the first blueberry-flavored cereal,[9] was released in December 1973, and Fruit Brute in 1974. Fruit Brute was discontinued by 1982 and replaced in 1987 by Fruity Yummy Mummy, which was discontinued in 1992.[10]

In 2010, Betty Crocker released Franken Berry and Boo Berry Fruit Roll-Ups.[11] General Mills released Count Chocula cereal bars.

Since 2010, Franken Berry, Boo Berry, and Count Chocula cereals have been manufactured and sold only for a few months during the autumn/Halloween season in September and October. As of late 2010, information such as nutrition data and historical facts can still be found on the official General Mills website at all times of the year.[9]

In August 2013, General Mills released all five monster cereals for purchase during the Halloween season. Both Fruit Brute, which was being released for the first time in 31 years, and Fruity Yummy Mummy, which was being released for the first time in 21 years, received updated packaging like the other cereals. Additionally, it was revealed on I-Mockery that special retro edition boxes of all five cereals with their original packaging art would be sold exclusively at Target stores.[12]

In 2014, General Mills enlisted the help of DC Comics to create new designs for the cereals in time for that Halloween. The designs, revealed on August 6, consisted of a Boo Berry design by Jim Lee, a Count Chocula design by Terry Dodson and a Franken Berry design by Dave Johnson.[13]

Prizes

During the initial decade of production until the early 1980s, the monster cereals were also known for their wide variety of both in-pack and mail-away cereal premiums. Many items, such as posters, stickers, paint sets, speedster cars, parachutes, and even vinyl advertising figures were produced.[14]

See also

• List of breakfast cereal advertising characters
• List of breakfast cereals
• List of vampire traits in folklore and fiction

References

1. "TV ACRES: Advertising Mascots - Count Chocula". Retrieved 22 October 2012.
2. "TV ACRES: Advertising Mascots - Frankenberry". Retrieved 22 October 2012.
3. "TV ACRES: Advertising Mascots - Fruit Brute". Retrieved 22 October 2012.
4. Ettinger, Jared. "General Mills Resurrecting Fruit Brute, Yummy Mummy This Halloween".
5. Payne, J. V. (1972). "Benign red pigmentation of stool resulting from food coloring in a new breakfast cereal (the Franken Berry stool)". Pediatrics. 49 (2): 293–294.
6. Gilbert-Barness, Enid; Debich-Spicer, Diane E. (2005). Handbook of pediatric autopsy pathology. Humana Press. p. 288. ISBN 978-1-59259-673-7. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
7. Niemietz, Brian (October 31, 2009). "It's berry scary". New York Post. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
8. Bruce, Scott; Crawford, Bill (1995). Cerealizing America: The Unsweetened Story of American Breakfast Cereal. Faber and Faber Inc. pp. 212–213. ISBN 0-571-19851-1.
9. "Monsters". General Mills. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
10. Morioka, Lynne (August 20, 2013). "The return of two General Mills monsters". Retrieved March 26, 2014.
11. "Franken and Boo Berry Fruit Roll-Ups!". X-Entertainment.com. October 8, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
12. Barr, Roger (December 19, 2013). "Fruit Brute And Fruity Yummy Mummy Are Back! Plus, All Five Monster Cereals Are Getting Retro Packaging!". I-Mockery. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
13. Sunu, Steve (August 6, 2014). "Jim Lee, Dave Johnson, Terry & Rachel Dodson Redesign General Mills' Monster Cereals". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
14. Jones, Jonathon (2016-10-15). Monster Cereal Box Premiums - The 1970’s: A Groovy Decade of Crunchy-Sweet Fun (2 ed.). Jonathon Jones.

External links

• "Frankenberry". Don Markstein's Toonopedia.(Archived from the original on April 15, 2012)
• "Monster Cereal". General Mills.
• Monster Cereal Box Premiums – The 1970’s: A Groovy Decade of Crunchy-Sweet Fun].
• "Monster Cereal Facts and Commercials". Retroist.com. October 29, 2008.