Starting in 1987, Cinnamon Toast Crunch named three animated bakers as their mascots. None of them were originally named but the ones with Wendell are sometimes incorrectly credited as Bob and Quello.

Wendell was the only baker that was named, and due to consumer feedback, General Mills chose to feature him as the "Cinnamon Toast Baker" where he has remained in this title role since 1991. Today, you can find various outlash across the web toward Wendell and how he unfairly took the other 2 bakers jobs. FYI.. they're cartoons.

no. 9: Monster Cereals
Cereal: Frankenberry, Count Chocula, & Boo Berry
First Introduced: 1971

The "Monster cereals" were a line created by General Mills that included the currently produced Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry, and the currently discontinued Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy.

In 1971, the first two cereals in the line, Count Chocula and Franken Berry, were introduced. The rest of the line followed shortly after. The cereal was created in order to compete with other character based cereals that were popular at the time. Marketing was genius because they always incorporated at least 2 cereals in each commercial, thus advertising for multiple products in 1 commercial.

An interesting "to know" was that it is speculated that Franken Berry was very popular when first introduced because the initial batches of the cereal used a dye that didn't break down in the body, causing many children's feces to be bright pink, a symptom sometimes referred to as "Frankenberry Stool.

Not to be confused with the pocket sized pets, the cool, wisecracking Sugar Bear was born in 1963. Ads featured Sugar Bear going to great trouble to get his cereal, while Granny Goodwitch does her best to keep it from him. At one time, in the 1970's "Sugar Bear" was renamed "Super Sugar Bear" because the nutritional content of these sugary cereals was starting to be questioned. As time went on and nutritional value became more and more important, Sugar Crisp changed it's name to Golden Crisp. Sugar Bear has been voiced by Gerry Matthews since 1963, and as of 2005, he was still lending his voice for ads in Canada.

In a 2008 comparison of the nutritional value of 27 cereals, U.S. magazine Consumer Reports found that Golden Crisp and Kellogg's Honey Smacks were the two brands with the highest sugar content - more than 50 percent (by weight) -, commenting that one serving of this or other high-sugar cereals contained at least as much sugar "as there is in a glazed doughnut from Dunkin’ Donuts".

In 1962, the world first met Sonny, the cuckoo bird. His name comes from the original format for the commercials, in which he was paired with his Grandfather. Rather than proper names, they always referred to each other as "Gramps" and "Sonny." When the Grandfather was dropped from the ads, "Sonny" remained as the character's name.

In more recent commercials, Sonny attempts to concentrate on a normal task and ends up coming across some reference to Cocoa Puffs themselves (usually described by the adjectives "crunchy, munchy, chocolatey") and bursts with enthusiasm, exclaiming, "I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!" He was originally designed by Gene Cleaves, but a new design was chosen in 2004.

These three little gnomes were the first and longest-lasting characters to represent a Kellogg's product. Artist Vernon Grant drew the early gnomes. The names of the elves were derived from a Rice Krispies radio ad. The ad said "Listen to the fairy song of health, the merry chorus sung by Kellogg's Rice Krispies as they merrily snap, crackle, and pop in a bowl of milk. If you've never heard food talking, now is your chance." Inspired by this ad, Grant drew three elves and named them Snap!, Crackle!, and Pop!. He brought the characters to Kellogg's, who bought them on the spot.

Snap!, Crackle!, and Pop! were also the first animated characters to ever appear in a cereal commercial. Snap! was born in 1933. He is the oldest, good-natured leader. Pop!, the comedian, and Crackle!, the know-it-all, were both created in 1941. It is rumored that a 4th, short-lived, character named "Pow" was introduced in the mid-1950's.

In 1949 Snap! Crackle! and Pop! magically changed from gnomes with huge noses and ears to more human-looking creatures with more proportional features. They continue to evolve to this day.

Born In 1963, the colorful Toucan Sam has been used over the years to promote the fruit-flavored cereal known as Froot Loops. The original three flavors were orange, lemon, and cherry. The cartoon was created by Manuel R. Vega and originally voiced by Mel Blanc, using an ordinary American accent. Blanc's original commercials were noted for their use of Pig Latin (referring to the cereal as OOT-fray OOPS-lay). The ad agency later decided to switch to the English accent more commonly associated with the character (perhaps due to the link to Guiness?).

Over the years, Toucan Sam has undergone a number of image changes (but haven't we all?). Originally grey and light blue, he now has much brighter shades to go with his additional girth and personality. He also underwent a "beak job" in the early 1970's which shortened his nose. In commercials featuring Toucan Sam, he exhibits the ability to smell out Froot Loops from great distances while exclaiming,"Follow your nose, it always knows..."

Upon research of this topic, we undercovered a lot of animosity geared toward Toucan Sam. Some people had videos stabbing him, others seem to be convinced that he is a "cereal killer", others associated him as being a coke head. All we have to say is "Why?".

Lucky Charms was created in 1962 by John Holahan. General Mills had challenged a team of new product developers to use the available manufacturing capacity from either of General Mills' two principal cereal products — Wheaties or Cheerios — and do something unique to them. Holahan came up with the idea after a visit to the grocery store in which he decided to mix Cheerios with bits of Brach's Circus Peanuts.

An advertising company employed by General Mills and Company suggested marketing the new cereal around the idea of charm bracelets. Thus the charms of Lucky Charms were born. The cartoon mascot, Lucky the Leprechaun (also known as Sir Charms, and originally called L.C. Leprechaun), was also born in 1963. The oat cereal originally was not sugar coated. After initial sales failed to meet expectations, the oats became sugar coated, and the cereal's success came to what it is known to today. Over the years, General Mills has continued to change the marshmallows' colors and the objects themselves, in order to keep interest.

Cap'n Crunch, manufactured by Quaker Oats Company, is the mascot for a sweetened corn and oat breakfast children's cereal. The first commercials, airing in 1963, featured 4 children and the Cap'n sailing on his ship, The Good Ship Guppy, and typically involved the Cap'n outsmarting his nemesis Jean Lafoote, the Barefoot Pirate. The marketing for the Cap'n was different in that it provided a mini-movie within each commercial, later branching out into comic books. In fact, in a Spider-Man/Cap'n Crunch crossover promotion, the Cap'n's nemesis, the Soggies, captured Spider-Man and concerned citizens could call a hotline to help "save" him. Between 1965 and 1971, Cap'n Crunch was the most popular children's cereal. His full name was revealed in 2007 as Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch.

no. 2: Trix Rabbit
Cereal: Trix
First Introduced: 1960

Originally launched in 1954, Trix became the first fruit-flavored cereal on the market. First appearing on cereal boxes in 1960, this large white rabbit originally raced around trying to get some raspberry red, lemon yellow, and orange orange Trix corn-puffed cereal to eat. Two children would always catch him before he could eat the cereal. The rabbit and slogan "Trix are for kids" was created by Joe Harris in August 1959. He created the entire campaign in one day.

As a result of the success of the commercial, the little known brand leaped into national consciousness and became one of General Mills' best sellers. It is one of the oldest commercials in existence to have sustained itself with the same character, the same selling line, and the same plot since it was created 43 years ago.

So did the Trix Rabbit ever get to eat the cereal? Yes! There are 5 known occasions. The earliest mention of it was in 1969, where a ballot appeared on the back of boxes after the Trix Rabbit had already consumed two spoonfuls. There were two other commercials in the campaign that showed the Trix Rabbit getting the cereal. He also enjoyed a bowl in a 1976 commercial. In 1980, one of the commercials ended in a cliffhanger and encouraged another round of voting to be cast. This time there was overwhelmingly public endorsements for the Trix Rabbit to get his bowl. This was the last time the Trix Rabbit has been known to get the cereal.

Developed as part of a 1952 contest, Tony competed against three other potential mascots for the public's affection: Katy the Kangaroo (originated by Robert Dulaney in the early sixties), Elmo the Elephant, and Newt the Gnu. Within the year, the other mascots were dropped (with Elmo and Newt never once gracing the front of the box).

The tiger was designed by children's book illustrator Martin Provensen and voiced on television by Dallas McKennon. A recognizable and distinct voice was needed for the Tony the Tiger Character. Shortly after the initial Sugar Frosted Flakes advertisements aired, McKennon was replaced by Thurl Ravenscroft, who spent the next five decades providing the characteristic deep bass voice associated with the character, notably the familiar "They’re Grreat!" catchphrase. John E Matthews came up with this phrase while working as copywriter for Leo Burnett. Tony is frequently considered one of the most widely identified ad icons of all time, which is why he made the top of our list.

For a bit more cereal character fun, click here. WARNING: it is a bit explicit!

For a listing of sources used in this posting, click here.