Breakfast Cereal Character Guide

You know, breakfast cereal just wouldn't be the same without a fun colourful cartoon mascot to go on the box, telling you how tasty and delicious the contents are.

What you might not realise though, is that breakfast cereal characters have been around for ages. In fact the very first ones were used as early as the 1930's!

To celebrate these often neglected cartoon stars, here's a guide to some of the best characters around at the moment, and some older ones who you might not have known about!

Tony The Tiger - Kellogg's Frosties (First appeared 1951)

Surely one of the most popular cereal characters in British history, Tony The Tiger is the colourful, friendly spokescat for Kellogg's Frosties.

Decked out in his trendy neck scarf, Tony is always ready to offer a helping paw to youngsters in need - and over the years, he has helped kids overcome their lack of confidence in sports like frisbee and basketball.

Despite his cuddly appearance, Tony has had to show a more aggressive attitude from time to time - especially when an evil-doer tries to steal his secret Frosties formula. However, his hard-stance against baddies coupled with a brill catchphrase - "They're GRRRRRREAT!" means that we can sleep safe, knowing that Tony's formula will remain a secret for many more years to come.

Honey Monster - Quaker Sugar Puffs (First appeared early `80's)

Honey Monster is the friendly tight-red-T-shirt-wearing Sugar Puffs mascot who (much like Tony The Tiger) is an all-round-good-guy, mainly helping kids out of tight spots.

Honey Monster is more of a comedy act than Tony however, and Sugar Puffs adverts often display a cheeky side to his nature.

For example, in recent adverts, he has reinvented himself as something of a ladies man - rescuing beautiful women from danger and then making them laugh with a witty one-liner. Honey Monster we salute you!

 Coco Monkey - Kellogg's Coco Pops (First appeared 1986)

Coco is the cheeky, happy-go-lucky mascot who "even turns the milk brown" and would always "rather have a bowl of Coco-Pops" than any other cereal.

The most popular member in his jungle home, Coco protects his fave cereal from various animated animals who just can't get enough of it's chocolatey taste.

 When "Coco-Pops" were renamed "Choco-Krispies" for a short while, there was a national uproar (mainly because the word "Choco-Krispies" wouldn't fit properly into Coco's song) Coco held a phone-vote to see whether it should be changed back, with the unanimous vote being that the rice-based pops should get their original name back - yay!

Golden Graham's Bear - Nestle Golden Grahams (First appeared in Spain 1980's)

Brrrrrr. Special mention has to go this really scary looking bear who was used in Spain to advertise Golden Grahams in the early `80's.

This bear with no name protects his bowl of cereal by showing off his sharp fangs and long tongue - and with his tight white T-shirt and sneaky eyes, he surely has to be the most sinister looking cereal character ever!

 Snap! Crackle! and Pop! - Kellogg's Rice Krispies (First appeared 1933)

Veterans of the cereal packet scene, Snap! Crackle! And Pop! were also the first animated breakfast characters to ever appear in a TV advert.

Snap! is the oldest and is a good-natured leader, he wears a baker's hat. Pop! is a comedian, he wears an old-style military hat. Crackle! wears a red-striped stocking cap and is something of know-it-all.
In 1949 Snap! Crackle! and Pop! magically changed from gnomes with huge noses and ears to more human-looking creatures with more proportional features.

They currently appear as plasticene-style characters, telling us all about how healthy Rice-Krispies are.

Chris Evans and Keith Chegwin have both provided the voices for our animated chums over the years, but this doesn't disguise the fact that Snap! Crackle! and Pop! must surely be the dullest cereal characters ever.

L.C. Leprachaun A.K.A. "Lucky" – Nestle Lucky Charms (First apperared 1964)

L.C. Leprachaun, known as "Lucky" by his mates, is the perky Irish mascot for Nestle Lucky Charms cereal.

Decked out in his natty green outfit, cool black tights and pixie boots, Lucky describes his favourite cereal as "magically delicious."

Lucky himself is a magical fellow, and spends all his spare time turning plain old marshmallows into colourful, fun shapes which he then puts into every box of Lucky Charms – for example: red balloons, blue moons, pink hearts and yellow and white stars.

Very protective of his Lucky Charms, Lucky always appears in adverts guarding his cereal from the mouths of hungry children……erm, just one thing Lucky - if children aren’t ever allowed to eat your Lucky Charms, what exactly do you do with them all?

Wilma The White Whale – Quaker Vanilly Crunch (First appeared 1970’s)

Wow! Wilma The White Whale must surely be the hottest looking cereal character to ever grace a cardboard box.

With her fishy good looks enhanced by mascara and lipstick, she swims around Cap’n Crunch’s ship, the S.S. Guppy (in the background) telling all the sailors how tasty her cereal is.

It was a pity then, when this image of Wilma was replaced by a more cartoony-childlike Wilma after just a few months….oh well, she was nice while she lasted - eh lads?

Well that’s all for now folks....

....there are still loads more cereal characters out there, so if you want to hear about any more - then just let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

If on the other hand, you want to help me out and send in details of your own favourite characters then that’d be really cool (remember to include an image, what cereal they’re from and when they first appeared if you can) – so until then, keep crunchin’!

- Eddy Vista