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 are a chocolate flavored corn puff. The cereal "makes breakfast taste like chocolate!"
General Mills had a big success on their hands when they introduced their chocolate loving Vampire in the early 70s. Count Chocula was soon followed by his friends Franken Berry, a strawberry Frankenstein type Monster, and Boo Berry, a blue berry ghost. These three lovable Monsters have been our spooky breakfast pals ever since. Over the years their designs have become less spooky and more cartoonish though.
The one sad footnote to the Monsters is that their Werewolf and Mummy friends never achieved the success or popularity of the three original Monsters. Both Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy were canceled only a few years after each of them were introduced.
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