The California Raisins are a fictional rhythm and blues musical group comprised of anthropomorphized raisins. Vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Rhythm and blues (also known as R&B or RnB) is a popular music genre combining jazz, gospel, and blues influences, first performed by African American artists. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Alternate uses: Raisin (disambiguation) A Raisin is a sun-dried or artificially dried grape, used in cooking and baking. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The concept was originally created for a 1987 commercial on behalf of the California Raisin Advisory Board when one of the writers, while trying to come up with an idea for a new raisin commercial, said, "We have tried everything but dancing raisins singing "'I Heard It Through the Grapevine'" (a 1968 Marvin Gaye song). To their surprise, the commercial became wildly popular, spawning future commercials, two TV specials (Meet the Raisins and Raisins Sold Out), and a Saturday morning cartoon series, aptly titled The California Raisin Show. The Raisins also appeared in holiday specials such as A Claymation Christmas Celebration. Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... The California Raisin Advisory Board (or CALRAB) is most notable for the use of The California Raisins to market their namesake product, raisins. ... I Heard It through the Grapevine is a R&B/soul song written by Motown songwriter Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1968 Gregorian calendar. ... Marvin Gaye (born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. ... Cover from the 1990 Atlantic Records soundtrack, currently out of print Will Vintons A Claymation Christmas Celebration is a 1987 Christmas television special featuring stop motion animation known as Claymation. ...

The California Raisins are normally Claymation designed by the Emmy-Award winning studio of Will Vinton, but their cartoon series was cel animated. The artist responsible for the original design was Michael Brunsfeld. The term Claymation is a registered trademark created by Will Vinton Studios to describe their clay animated movies; the more generic term is clay animation, but the portmanteau claymation has entered the English language as a genericized trademark. ... The Emmy Awards are United States television production awards, similar to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and are considered the TV equivalent of the Oscars. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Traditional animation, sometimes also called cel animation or hand-drawn animation, is the oldest and historically the most popular form of animation. ...

The California Raisins reportedly grossed more in the year that was their heyday, 1988, than Californian farmers made selling raisins. This included a wide variety of merchandising, from toys to Raisins images on every conceivable medium: lunch boxes, notebooks, clothing, posters, etc. The Hardee's restaurant chain offered several lines of non-poseable California Raisins figurines as part of promotions for their cinnamon raisin biscuits. A California Raisins music album was also released, featuring classic Motown and rock 'n' roll standards. Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Lunch box and vacuum bottle owned by Harry S. Truman. ... 1942 US government war poster. ... It has been suggested that Monster Thickburger be merged into this article or section. ... Motown Records, Inc. ...

In the early 1990s Capcom produced a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System titled California Raisins: The Grape Escape, where the player controlled a California Raisin through five side-scrolling levels battling various evil fruit and vegetable characters that had stolen the Raisins' music. The game was finished and several video game critics reviewed it, but it was never released on the open market. For the band, see 1990s (band). ... For the original NASA meaning, see capsule communicator. ... Namcos Pac-Man was a hit, and became a universal phenomenon. ... “NES” redirects here. ...

All That Remains

An article on Animateclay.com [1] sheds light on the current status of some of the original clay puppets used in the TV special Raisins Sold Out. As stated on the site, they were received by Webster Colcord, a former employee of Will Vinton Studios. The figures were headed for the trash before being obtained by Colcord and kept in a box for several years. Several photos are shown on the website, detailing the Raisins' poor condition and taking a close look at their internal armatures.

Parodies

In The Simpsons episode "'Tis The Fifteenth Season", the California raisins were spoofed as "The California Prunes" in a Christmas special depicting the Nativity. Lisa dismisses it as "offensive to both Christians and prunes." Simpsons redirects here. ... Tis the Fifteenth Season is the seventh episode of The Simpsons fifteenth season, and the seventh Christmas themed episode. ... Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. ... For the Nativity of Jesus, see Nativity of Jesus. ... Lisa may refer to: LISA (astronomy), the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna LISA (conference), the Annual System Administration Conference Lisa assembler, a 6502 assembler for Apple II Apple Lisa computer, the precursor to the Apple Macintosh Life Insurance Settlement Association Mahu, a creator deity in Dahomey mythology Mona Lisa, the oil... This article is about the religous people known as Christians. ... Prune refers to any of more than 125 varieties of fruit, most grown for drying. ...

A segment on MADtv depicted the Raisins as mass-murderers by promoting humans to eat their fans. After an 'incident' in Seattle, the band was sentenced to 'death by toaster'. MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series based on the humor magazine, Mad. ... A classically styled chrome two-slot toaster A toaster is a small electric kitchen appliance designed to toast slices of bread, an act also known as making toast. Most toasters can also be used to toast other foods such as teacakes, Pop Tarts, and crumpets. ...

External links

• "California Raisins" TV series at the Internet Movie Database
• "Raisins Sold Out: The California Raisins II" at the Internet Movie Database
• All Music Entry
• Lostlevels review of the California Raisins video game. Also includes a downloadable port
• California Raisins NES Game
• California Raisin Raisin Puppets: Late 80's - Early 90's