Every Fall since 2008, I have written about my love for the General Mills Monster Cereals. No matter where those words have been penned, I have always included one, simple request for General Mills… a request that I included last September, right here on The Rock Father: Bring back the “Retro” Boxes. I’m a Monster Cereal fiend… so much so that I still have a dwindling private stash from last year, and when I tweeted about that stash while munching some BOO-BERRY back on August 5, this happened…
I’m not really gonna take credit for it, but as of tonight, it’s official: THE GENERAL MILLS BIG G MONSTER CEREALS ARE GOING RETRO (exclusively at Target)… but the BIGGER NEWS is that their old friends FRUTE BRUTE and YUMMY MUMMY ARE BACK! That means that all five Monster Cereals will be available at the same time, for the first time ever. While the retro boxes are being sold as Target exclusives, modern packaging will be available elsewhere, and while I’ve never been a big fan of the recent boxes, I dig what they’ve done with ‘Brute and ‘Mummy touting “The Return of…”
The fact is, we have plenty of people on this planet right now that have never heard of YUMMY MUMMY or FRUTE BRUTE, and most kids will never know the joy of being able to pick-up these frightfully-nutritious breakfast friends year-round. All children need to become friends with the Monsters. Need a crash-course? Let’s meet them all…
Count Chocula
Cereal lovers of all ages enjoy Count Chocula cereal, a spooky way to start the day. Made with whole grain corn, this cereal combines chocolaty cereal with colorful marshmallow shapes. Count Chocula, a vampire who prefers chocolate to blood, was first introduced in 1971. Generations recognize his tagline, “I vant to eat your cereal!”
Spooky Fact: The first images of Count Chocula were drawn by artist George Karn.
Franken Berry
Franken Berry is a cuddly, pink version of the Frankenstein monster introduced after Count Chocula in 1971. Franken Berry cereal combines strawberry-flavored cereal with colorful marshmallow shapes. It’s a whimsical cereal made with whole grain corn. This playful monster is afraid of Boo Berry and wears the same clothes as when he was created more than 40 years ago.
Spooky Fact: Franken Berry was voiced by Bob McFadden and was an imitation of Boris Karloff, the well-known voice of Frankenstein.
Boo Berry
Every blueberry spoonful of Boo Berry cereal is as fun as it is delicious. Boo Berry cereal is made with whole grain corn and combines blueberry-flavored frosted cereal with colorful marshmallow shapes. Boo Berry is younger than Count Chocula and Franken Berry having been introduced in 1973. This vintage ghost is unmistakable in a purple tie and hat.
Spooky Fact: Paul Frees, the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy and Frosty the Snowman, provided Boo Berry’s voice. He based it on Peter Lorre, a Hollywood legend featured in many crime, mystery and thriller movies.
Frute Brute
Frute Brute is a rambunctious werewolf who often enjoys scaring Franken Berry and Count Chocula. Hard to miss in his colorful, striped overalls, this monster joined the gang in 1974, just one year after Boo Berry. Frute Brute is a howling good cereal made with whole grain corn that combines fruit-flavored cereal with lime-flavored marshmallows.
Spooky Fact: The Frute 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).
Yummy Mummy
In 1987, the fifth monster—the cheerful Fruity Yummy Mummy, wrapped in rainbow colors—joined the Monster Cereals group. This cereal variety includes monster-sized marshmallows, also known as monster mallows. Yummy Mummy cereal is made with whole grain corn and combines fruit-flavored cereal with vanilla-flavored marshmallows.
Spooky Fact: According to a 1987 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.
Will YOU be inviting the Monsters to breakfast this Fall? I have an overwhelming urge to start stalking Target every morning…
For more rock delivered daily, including the latest in great music, cool toys, and fun for the whole family – “like” The Rock Father on Facebook.
