Monster Cereal Fun Facts and Commercials

Scary fun cereal.

Retroist

Oct 29, 2008

I love Boo Berry cereal. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I just find that laid-back droopy eyed blue breakfast ghost and his delicious cereal so damn appealing. So enamored am I that every Halloween I stock my cabinets full of the Monster Cereals (usually 5 or 6 boxes) and by December it’s all gone. I eat it for snacks, breakfast…anytime.

While having a bowl for dinner this evening, I thought to myself, “I really like this cereal. I should find out more about it.” So I got on the internet and compiled some fun fact I thought my fellow Monster Cereal fans might enjoy.

The five flavors of Monster Cereal

Count Chocula = Frosted Chocolate flavored cereal with marshmallows.
Franken Berry = Frosted Strawberry flavored cereal with marshmallows.
Boo Berry = Frosted Blue Berry flavored cereal with marshmallows.
Fruit Brute or Fruti Brute (newer name) = Frosted Fruit flavored cereal with lime flavored marshmallows.
Yummy Mummy = Frosted Fruit flavored cereal with vanilla flavored marshmallows.

Monster Cereal Fun Facts

Franken Berry and Count Chocula were introduced by General Mills in 1971, Boo Berry came along 2 years later and in 1974 Fruit Brute was released.
The first images of Count Chocula were drawn by artist George Karn.
Fruit Brute was first Monster Cereal to be discontinued. They stopped making it in 1983.
In 1988, General Mills came up with a new fruity cereal and created a brand new spokesmonster, Yummy Mummy. His reign of fruity terror came to end in 1993. Technically, GM never considered Yummy Mummy a part of the Monster Cereal line, but of course we know better.
According to a 1988 television ad promoting the cereal, Yummy Mummy was first discovered in a catacomb when Count Chocula and Franken Berry fell through the side of a pyramid they were climbing.
Although Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy cereals have never been revived (as of the writing of this post) their spokesmonster images still can be found on Monster Cereal merchandise. A rarity in the cereal world.
The Fruit Brute cereal box is quite the collector’s item and is said to be the most sought-after vintage cereal box on the market. It even made appearances in two Quentin Tarantino films (Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs).
Contrary to popular belief, Franken Berry and Boo Berry have not been discontinued. They are just not as popular as Count Chocula, so they get a more sporadic nationwide release. Best time to look for them? Halloween, of course.
Count Chocula was briefly discontinued to consumer concern over its sugar level. It has since been re-released in a more “healthy” form. It now has 9 fewer calories per cup.
The initial run of Franken Berry contained a dye that did not break down in the body and caused the consumer’s stool to come out a disturbing pink. This phenomenon came to be called…wait for it…Franken Berry Stool. A new dye was quickly implemented.
If Boo Berry sounds familiar, it is because it is an actor imitating the famed actor Peter Lorre (who bears a resemblance to Boo Berry). The voice of Count Chocula is modeled after Bela Lugosi and had been voiced by the great Larry Kenney (father of Reno 911’s Kerry Kenney-Silver). Franken Berry was voiced by Bob McFadden and was an imitation of Boris Karloff, the well-known voice of Frankenstein.
The Monster Cereal ads were created by the Dancer, Fitzgerald, and Sample ad agency.
Count Chocula’s original catchphrase was “I vant to eat your cereal”.

Of course, one of the things that really sell the Monster Cereal is the awesome commercials. Here are a few of my favorites:

Franken Berry vs. Count Chocula

The first appearance of Boo Berry

Monster Cereal Halloween (live-action)

Monster Baseball with Star Trek Movie Premium

What, you are still here? You need more Monster Cereal action? I suggest you stop by and read the awesome Breakfast of the Gods Comic Series by Brendan Douglas Jones. It’s amazing.