The California Raisins

Animated Characters

The California Raisins were a pop-culture hit of the 1980s, when they starred in a series of commercials for the California Raisin Board. The groovy, sunglasses-wearing Raisins were clay-animated by the studios of Will Vinton, based on an idea from the ad agency Foote, Cone and Belding. In the original 1987 spot, the Raisins sang and danced to the Marvin Gaye hit "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." More ads followed and the Raisins began to appear on T-shirts and coffee mugs nationwide. Eventually they starred in an Emmy-nominated TV special, 1989's Meet the Raisins, and their own Saturday-morning cartoon series on CBS (1989-90).

Other animated stars include Bugs Bunny, Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse.