Cap'n Crunch (1963)

Cap'n Crunch (1980's)

Created in 1963, Cap'n Horatio Crunch is a fun-loving sea captain. He was born and raised on Crunch Island, which is located in the Milk Sea. He wears a blue captain's uniform, and a large blue captain's hat. His ship is the S.S. Guppy, which he sails with his first mate, Seadog (1963), and his crew of four kids. Their mission is to keep the cargo hold of cereal from falling into the hands of Jean LaFoote the Barefoot Pirate (1968).

"Cap'n Crunch stays crunchy even in milk." "It contains corn for punch and oats for crunch, sweetened just right."

Daws Butler, the voice of Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound for Hanna Barbera, and literally dozens of characters in the Fractured Fairy Tales segments for Ward, was the original voice of The Cap'n. June Foray (Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Little Nell, Witch Hazel) played all the female characters as well as two of the kids on the Guppy's crew. Paul Frees (Boris Badenov, Inspector Fenwick, and most of the pirate voices in "Pirates of the Caribbean" at the Disney theme parks) was the narrator.

According to Quaker Oats, the Cap'n was once promoted to Admiral! "After a tremendous outpouring from his fans, the Quaker Oats Company decided to promote the Cap'n. But Admiral Crunch quickly became bored with his desk job at Crunch Headquarters. And after a small mishap with the Crunch Berrie and Crunch Biscuit machine (at the hands of two recently promoted new co-Cap'ns) he decided that he was truly the best one suited for the role as the Cap'n. He soon requested his old position again, and he went back to being the best Cap'n that Crunch Headquarters has ever had. He is much happier now!"

Other Characters (and cereals) associated with them: Harry S. Hippo (Punch Crunch), Jean Lafoote the Barefoot Pirate (Cinnamon Crunch), Wilma the Winsome White Whale and Seadog (Vanilly Crunch), Chockle the Blob, a shape-shifting blob of chocolate chip cookie dough (Choco Crunch), Crunchberry Beast (Crunch Berries), Smedley the Elephant (Peanut Butter Crunch), Cap'n Crunch as Santa Claus (Christmas Crunch), Tugboat Granny (Cap'n Crunch's Instant Hot Cereal), Shark and Turtle (Deep Sea Crunch), Magnolia Bulkhead and Otis, The Soggies, and Jean Lafoote's son.

Cap'n Crunch Ship Shake (1969/1970) came in three flavors: Chocolate Malt, Chocolate, and Strawberry. It was "as good for you as a bowl of oatmeal".

Cap'n Crunch's AirHeads Berries (1Q-2003) was basically a box of Crunch Berries shapped like balloons in 4 berry flavors. They also included a package of AirHeads free inside the box.

1. "The Cap'n is gone!" In 1985 and 1999, the Cap'n disappeared. In 1985, Kids collected clues from three different cereal back panels to solve where the Cap'n has gone. The answer was released December 14, 1985. (He was in the Milky Way!) In Winter 1999, the Cap'n disappeared again. This time kids could log on to the internet to help solve the clues. In Spring 2000, the Cap'n was back. Seems he was in Volcanica (at the center of the Earth) saving the Earth's supply of Crunchium.

2. The Cap'n Crunch image has been updated several times and, yes, an updated Cap'n did appear on the package following the 1985 Where's the Cap'n? promotion.

3. There is a story that an early box of Cap'n Crunch featured images of a snake, and a shark hanging by a noose with a spider in the shark's mouth. The message was that Cap'n Crunch could rid kids of these three fears. Has anyone actually seen this box, and can anyone verify this information?

4. In the early 1960's, Quaker Oats chose Jay Ward to come up with a character to sell a new cereal it was considering marketing. Jay Ward's idea was a sea captain with a zany crew. Quaker Oats loved the idea and had Jay Ward Studios film a series of commercials. It was only after approving the commercials that Quaker got around to manufacturing a cereal to go along with the commercials.

5. Cap'n Crunch's father's name is Admiral Horatio Crunch Sr. The Cap'n followed in his father's footsteps and became a great navigator of the seas. Along the way he discovered Crunch Island and began harvesting the ingredients for his cereal.