In 1957 Universal Pictures opened their vault and released their monster movies for TV viewing (Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, The Mummy, etc.), introducing them to a whole new generation of viewers. Soon after (1958), the magazine “Famous Monsters of Film Land” helped fuel this renewed interest in classic Hollywood monsters (Fun Fact: the magazine was consumed by young filmmakers like Tim Burton and Stephen Spielberg and helped shape their future careers). A huge monster revival followed leading to TV shows “The Munsters” & “The Adams Family”as well as many new monster-themed movies, model kits, toys and the “Monster Mash” song in 1962. A news publication in the 60s called the monster fad, “...almost (but not quite) as widespread as Beetles mania”.
At the peak of Monster Mania in 1971 General Mills released the monster cereals: Count Chocula and Franken Berry. Shortly after (1973) Boo Berry was released, rounding out the Monster Trinity that would be the mainstay cast till the current day. There has been two failed attempts to make fruit-flavored monster cereal happen, first with the colorful canine Frute Brute in 1974 (*the lemony lycanthrope got the silver bullet in 1982) and then again in 1987 with the delightfully dusty Yummy Mummy (*our bandaged bud came unraveled in 1992, apparently fruit flavor is cursed). Finally, the first female mascot Carmella Creeper made her debut in 2023 with caramel/candy apple flavored fare. With a green color scheme, it is beyond the understanding of this intrepid release notes scribe why they didn’t go with the more obvious female monster archetype, the witch. Instead Carmella is a zombie and a DJ (both known to be bad for brains).
Who does #2 work for?
Our Monster Trinity hold the distinction of being the first cereals with flavor profiles of their kind (chocolate, strawberry, blueberry) and also boasted the neat trick of turning the cereal milk into a flavored drink. That along with their signature vibrant color made them to dye for…speaking of which, the dye used in making Franken Berry and Count Chocula was indigestible by the human body. This was discovered post-production after several children were hospitalized with pink poop (Count Chocula dye went unnoticed for some reason). While pinky poo might be good for a laugh, parents of the 70’s were not amused and the dye was replaced soon after but not before the medical term Franken Berry Stool was coined. I only hope the cereal QA updated their test cases to check outpoot from now on.
Inheritance
What began as superstition and folk legend was later distilled into novels which then found their way onto the stage and the silver screen. In the case of Frankenstein and Dracula, the film versions were distinct and unique, helped in no small part by the actors who brought them to life. Bela Lugosi (Dracula) and Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) directly inspired the character design of their frosted cereal counterparts. Voice actor Larry Kenney (Lion-O, lord of the Thunder Cats) mimicked Hungarian Lugosi’s Dracula for his Count Chocula performance. (Fun Fact: Bob McFadden, voice of Franken, was also the voice of Snarf from said Thunder Cats). Meanwhile Boo Berry was directly patterned in voice and appearance after the famed character actor Peter Lorre (best known for playing various creepy henchman in Humphrey Bogart movies).
Pop Culture
Frute Brute might have failed to make fruity monster cereal happen but he left an impression on film maker Quinton Tarantino, who is a confirmed fan and has collected several vintage boxes of said citrus cereal. Thus Frute Brute cereal has made appearances in films Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, said to appear in scenes where “wolf-life behavior” is exhibited.
Sadly in the current day the Monster cereals are only released around Halloween so if these notes have you craving some, you might have to wait till next October (unless you have connections with Tarantino).