Topher's Breakfast Cereal Character Guide
General Mills Cereals - Page Four
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Sonny | Gramps |
| General Mills Cocoa Puffs | |
| Sonny is a cuckoo bird who goes "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs". He was created in 1962 by Gene Cleaves, and first drawn by Bill Tollis. He went on the air in 1963 voiced by Chuck McCann. Sonny the Cuckoo Bird made his first appearance on boxes in 1965. | |
| He got his name from the original Cuckoo Bird. His name was 'Gramps'. He called his grandson 'Sonny' in one commercial, and it stuck! Cocoa Puffs were originally chocolate-flavored corn puffs made with Hershey's cocoa. The cereal "makes breakfast taste like chocolate!" Sonny is currently voiced by Larry Kenny. |  |
 | Cocoa Puffs Boy and GirlGeneral Mills Cocoa Puffs |
| These kids appeared in TV commercials with Sonny. |
 | Cocoa Puff KidsGeneral Mills Cocoa Puffs |
| These hungry kids appeared on boxes of Cocoa Puffs in 1961. |
  | Frosty O's BearGeneral Mills Frosty O's |
| Frosty O's Bear (1959 to 1961), a polar bear, was an early spokescharacter. |
 | Frostman, Oatman, and MilkmanGeneral Mills Frosty O's |
| 1968-1969: Frostman (he wore a top hat with snow on it), Oatman (in the cape), and Milkman were the "Energy Three", representing the strengths that eating Frosty-Os gave an animated kid for dispatching enemies. |
 | Frosted O's HorseGeneral Mills Frosted O's |
| "Don't horse around when it comes to breakfast..." The Frosted O's Horse represented this "wholesome, sweetened toasted corn cereal". |
  | Dudley Do-RightGeneral Mills CheeriosGeneral Mills Frosty-O's |
| Dudley Do-Right is the TV cartoon Canadian Mounty who "Always gets his man". He represented Cheerios prior to 1970, and in 1977 he appeared on Frosty-O's. Frosty-O's are "shaped like little frosted doughnuts". "So much more sugar, you'll flip for Frosty-O's". Dudley was voiced by Bill Scott. Produced by Jay Ward Studios. |
  | Rocky and BullwinkleGeneral Mills CheeriosGeneral Mills Cocoa Puffs General Mills Jets General Mills Trix |
| Rocky and Bullwinkle (voiced by June Foray and Bill Scott respectively) represented a number of General Mills cereals from 1959 to 1970. Rocky is a smart flying squirrel, and Bullwinkle is a dimwitted moose. A number of the Cheerios spots in the mid-to-late 1960's were written by Tony Jaffe, and produced by Jay Ward Studios. |
 | Boris BadenovGeneral Mills CheeriosGeneral Mills Lucky Charms |
| Boris Badenov, voiced by Paul Frees, was the small bad guy who wears black outfits on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Produced by Jay Ward Studios. |
 | Natasha FataleGeneral Mills Lucky Charms |
| Natasha Fatale, the female accomplice of Boris Badenov, promoted Lucky Charms with Boris sometime between 1959 and 1970. She was a "nogoodnik". Natasha was voiced by June Foray. Produced by Jay Ward Studios. |
  | Sherman and Mr. PeabodyGeneral Mills Wheat Hearts |  |
| Mr. Peabody (voiced by Bill Scott) is an intelligent, talking dog who wears glasses and a bow tie. Sherman, drawn with a big head, is his boy. Walter Tetley provided the voice. Produced by Jay Ward Studios. They appeared on Wheat Hearts in 1960's. Wheat Hearts was a Better Crocker branded hot cereal. |
 | Aesop and His SonGeneral Mills Cheerios |
| Aesop and his son promoted Cheerios sometime between 1959 and 1970. Produced by Jay Ward Studios. While Charlie Ruggles voiced Aesop in the cartoons, both characters were voiced by Daws Butler in the commercials. |
 | Bugs BunnyGeneral Mills Apple Cinnamon Cheerios |
| Bugs Bunny celebrated his 50th Birthday on boxes of Apple Cinnamon Cheerios in 1990. |
 | Donald Duck General Mills Cheerios |
| Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Brer Rabbit, and Pluto appeared on boxes of Cheerios in 1946. |
 | Apple and Cinna-ManGeneral Mills Apple Cinnamon Cheerios |
| According to Chris Cole, a site visitor, "Apple and Cinna-Man were a pair of super heroes, with uniforms shaped respectively like an apple (he may have worn a hole-shaped apple bit on his head where it poked through) and a cinnamon stick, representing Apple-Cinnamon Cheerios. They would go around promoting their cereal, and saving the day. Apple, in his delusions, always thought kids loved the apple sprinkles on each O, but Cinna-Man said it was the Cinnamon sprinkles that did it." |
 | Honey Nut Cheerios Turtle and HareGeneral Mills Honey Nut Cheerios (Mexico) |
| This box ran in Mexico (circa 2000). It shows a Turtle who has eaten Honey Nut Cheerios easily beating the Hare across the finish line. See the Cheerio muscle? |
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Blue Cow | Brown Cow |
The Kix Cows appeared on early boxes with the quote "stays crisper in milk than flat flakes". "Don't blame the cow. Get Kix now". |
 | Pajama BoyGeneral Mills Kix |  |
| Pajama Boy (1964) is wearing his blue and white striped pajamas, complete with night cap, carrying a quart of milk in his right hand, and wearing a billboard sign which reads: "Stays crisper in milk than FLAT FLAKES". |
 | Corn Kix KidGeneral Mills Kix |
| Corn Kix Kid (1960). |
 | High PuffGeneral Mills Kix |
| Kix High Puff (1955) appeared in Corn Kix TV commercials. He was like the Michelin Man except he was made out of Corn Kix. He materialized out of a large bowl of "High Puff" Corn Kix and played with kids (reminicient of Kellogg's Tony the Tiger in the 2000's). The tagline was "Food for Action!". |
 | Corn Kix KidGeneral Mills Kix |
| Corn Kix Kid (1969). |
| Clifford the Big Red DogGeneral Mills Kix |
| Clifford the Big Red Dog appeared on boxes of Kix in 2001. |
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Gzorpe | Swerdloc | Klyde the Beatnik | Colodny |
| General Mills Kix | |||
| Six strange characters advertised Kix cereal in the mid-1960's: Gzorpe, Swerdloc, Zilch, Klyde, Colodny, and Booby. The Swerdloc is shown above. He was covered in short dark blue fur, and may have had the voice of character actor Gabby Hayes. A commercial opened with the line, "I'm a Swerdloc," immediately followed by a sound effect that sounded exactly like the character's name: "SWERD-LOC!" (The sound effect can be roughly duplicated by saying the word in a deep, guttural tone in your throat.) The character did something to match each syllable -- expanding to a tall stance on "SWERD" and contracting to a short stance on "LOC." In another commercial, the Swerdloc had a glove, and he may also have worn a ball cap backwards. He drawled something like, "Swerdlocs love Kix 'cause they're fun ta catch". He was armed with catcher's equipment and was facing screen right to accept the pitch. Then followed with some catcher-to-pitcher exhortations on the order of "Hum 'er in thar, baby boy." Eventually a box of Kix flew across the screen from the other direction and clocked him and reduced to a heap in the lower left corner of the screen. He was next seen all bandaged up, and ended approvingly with, "Thet wuz a swifty." There was also a Gzorpe, who was actually the first character in the campaign. The Gzorpe ate three boxes of Kix everyday --- not the cereal, the boxes --- and claimed that the boxes were the best part. He looked like a fuzz ball with eyes and feet. The announcer claimed that "if you're not a Gzorpe you'll like Kix because they're like round ball corn flakes and stay crisper in milk than regular flat flakes". Of course, THAT was the campaign of the mid-1960's and was iterated with all the characters who liked Kix for whatever stupid reason. He was a round, green, long-haired furry critter that wore a tophat. Image courtesy: Robert & Sandy. Another character in the campaign was the Colodny, who had the voice of Sheldon Leonard (character actor and producer of the Dick Van Dyke show among others). The Colodny was red with a big nose and a small bushy mustache. He wore green diver fins on his feet and a diving cap on his head. He loved Kix because they were fun to dive in. Lines from commercial were: "Here comes a Colodny. Colodny's love Kix because they're fun to dive in". (Colodny dives into box of Kix.) "Oh, joy! What fun!" He sets up to jump a second time "A swan dive..." (This time he dives into an empty box with a big crash). "Okay, who ate the Kix?" The fourth character was the Zilch, who was a crazy boysenberry-colored amoeba-like, shape-shifting, character. Klyde, the beatnik, engaged in a lot of dancing and the progressive jazz beat, telling us that "Klyde's dig Kix 'cause they are not square". He was blue (naturally), wore an artist's cap, black glasses, sported a goatee, and played a saxophone. Booby was green and wore a cowboy hat and boots. He carried a bow and rubber-tipped arrow. The campaign was produced by animation house Stars and Striped Forever. Writer Tony Jaffe said, "this was my favorite campaign of all the cereal campaigns I ever did. It was unique at the time and never received the recognition it deserved". |
 | Kixie and NixieGeneral Mills Kix |  |
| Kixie and Nixie appeared in a series of comic strip ads for Kix. Kixie wore a dark blue suit and hat. Nixie wore a dark brown suit and hat. "Eat Kix... Food For Action". "Kix is 83% energy food. Kix is savory corn puffs. Kix is crispier, tastier. Kix is aglow with rich flavor. TRY KIX". |
| Dora the ExplorerGeneral Mills Kix |
| Dora the Explorer, and her monkey friend, appeared on boxes of Kix in late 2003 and into 2004. Dora is an animated 7-year-old Latina girl who has her own TV show on Nick Jr. |
General Mills's Cereals Continued on Page 5
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© 1998 Topher
Reloaded 2015 / Updated 2020
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Disclaimer: This is a non-commercial site with the sole purpose of assisting visitors in locating information on their favorite breakfast cereal characters. All of the names, characters, brands, and icons listed here are trademarks of General Mills or their respective parent companies and cannot be used for commercial purposes. Enjoy General Mills cereals and support your favorite characters! Most of the non-icon images on this site have been painstakingly removed from cereal boxes or original advertising cels and enhanced for your enjoyment. You are welcome to link to this page, but please do not link to any individual images or borrow any images for use on another website. Thank you. |