CH: After the break, five million dollars DOES go a long way, the Dancing California Raisins conga line their way to record deals and awards, and they split the raisin industry right down the middle. We may update this record based on further research and review. And maybe some people are pessimistic about it, I don't know, maybe people are tired of just the lack of unity. SW: The raisins dance around on the lid of his grand piano while he belts out the band's catchphrase: AD SIX: Oh I heard it through the grapevine! And the US, by the way, is the second largest raisin producer in the entire world. Perhaps the most memorable piece of California Raisins merchandise, however, came in the form of small, non-poseable California Raisins figures. Oh I heard it through the grapevine. In 1985, he was a copywriter at the ad agency Foote, Cone, and Belding. Umpteen searches though the archives using the terms "California Raisins" and "Hardee's" came up mostly empty, except for . Photo: A Claymation Christmas Celebration / CBS The Raisins Were Featured In Will Vinton's 'Claymation Christmas Celebration' On CBS In 1987 So when his friends were like WERNER: 'What are you gonna do with that? SW: Kalem says the vote on whether or not to approve the ad was extremely close. Sunmaid. We may update this record based on further research and review. The band broke up. Several California Raisins music albums were also released, featuring classic Motown and rock standards. WERNER: 'Dear NBC, After weeks of trying to find out who to congratulate on a recent national ad, I came up with nothing. Really?'. et Cie, S.C.A. And because Sunmaid was so much biggerthe Kleenex of raisins!they suspected that brand was getting a bigger share of the sales that had trickled down from the ad. Watch the video for I Heard It Through the Grapevine from California Raisins's Sing The Hit Songs for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. CH: A warship, the USS Pyro, even asked permission to sail with a California Dancing Raisins flag flying high above ahoy mateys! Lyrics.com. So, give them raisins! CH: The dancing raisins were so popular, they took on a life of their own outside of the ad. [22], Last edited on 21 February 2023, at 23:33, "TV Review; 'Claymation Christmas,' On CBS", "On View: A Feat of Clay: The Creator of California Raisins Molds an Animated Easter Special", "Stardom Is Feat Of Clay For California Raisins", "Bad 25: Spike Lee Brings Michael Jackson Back to Thrilling Life", "The California Raisins for Commodore 64 (1988)", "California Raisin Raisin Puppets: Late 80s - Early 90s", "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas", "Celebrating Every '80s Reference in That RadioShack Super Bowl Commercial", "California Raisins Set for Comeback in Live-Action Feature", Official Will Vinton (LAIKA) Studios Site, The Clay and Stop-Motion Animation How-To Page: "California Raisin Raisin Puppets: Late 80s - Early 90s", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_California_Raisins&oldid=1140822520, "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" b/w "I Got You (I Feel Good)" - 1988, Purple Vinyl 7", "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" - 1988 (single, extended peaked at #84 on the, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 23:33. Unlike the smaller brands in the industry, it could afford to pay for that space. It turns out the raisin industry is actually a very contentious industry there's this long history of lawsuits going back and forth between different members. They go on for pages and pages, carefully typed out on letterhead and hand-written in beautiful cursive. Right or wrong, It depends on wherever the votes are. CH: I remember those really well. And this broke the mold. But in 1994, the raisin industry abruptly pulled the plug on the ad and its spinoffs, and still debates whether or not it was successful. My girl!BK: Yeeeeah the marketing guys at Del Monte filed a complaint with the Department of Food and Agriculture over it. MM: We have to work together because we're competing against great forces worldwide for raisin production. The California Raisi - I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Used Vinyl - E8100A. Sign up for notifications from Insider! The California Raisins released four studio albums in 1987 and 1988, and their trademark, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," was on the Billboard Hot 100. I voted to kill it too. Whod have ever thought that a beloved Motown classic would be brought back to life by a bunch of animated dried fruit? I mean. And then they called me and they said, 'you know what it's platinum in Canada too!' Some people were saying they weren't getting a big enough slice of the Dancing Raisins pie. Constitution Avenue, NW SUNMAID AD: My girl talkin' bout my girl. So, there's an alphabet soup of different boards and agencies and committees to help make that happen. If you have any issues please contact me before leaving negative response I will always do my best make it right! You know how families can be about money. The commercials were produced by Vinton Studios using their claymation technique, with character designs by Michael Brunsfeld. Sunmaid had always been the golden child, and now, they were making off with the family fortune. The claymation raisins singing and dancing to Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" became a kids TV show, recorded an album that went platinum, launched a range of toys and costumes, and starred in an Emmy-winning Christmas special. Characters Steve and Roger go into a mall representing 1980s culture where they meet the Raisins who proclaim that they are "cursed to live forever. African American History Curatorial Collective. The tape was rewound and the presentation repeated.". Play with guitar, piano, ukulele, or any instrument you choose. The show was broadcast August 29, 1990, on the U.S. television network CBS during primetime. HO: Oh, there's definitely hope. Now, the story of a man many call an outlaw. AD THREE: Raisins from California. 16:20 How do you distinguish your raisin bagel from my field to your field? SW: That is exactly what I wanted to find out. So, just like at Thanksgiving dinner, while CALRAB tried to calm everyone down and broker peace from the head of the table, squabbling raisin packers aired old grudges and argued about who was and was not getting their fair share of the cash. We'll do that.'. SW: Seth's boss handed him the California raisins account. Like that. [4] To their surprise, the commercial became wildly popular, paving the way for several future commercials and opportunities through other media. Connect your Spotify account to your Last.fm account and scrobble everything you listen to, from any Spotify app on any device or platform. Bill Moss is our sound engineer. BK: Well, the simplest way to answer that is, 'how do you define success?' Michael Jackson asked to be featured in a sequel. I Heard It Through The Grapevine - California Raisins. In 2015, it was announced that a live-action/CGI reboot of the California Raisins would be produced, with president of The Actors Hall of Fame Foundation, Rusty Citron, as one of the people behind the project. You do the math on how many tons of raisins you're buying from them, and bam, you can see exactly how much of the total cost is going towards California raisin ads. They needed to be the life of the snack bar. SPEAKER TEN: We had the Christmas special on videotape, we probably watched it like three or four times a December, between when I was like 4 and 8. In order to be successful, this big "family" has to work together. Did it, uh, did it drive up the price of raisins? But that wasn't the story around town. What's the whole campaign? MATTHEW MALCOLM: I mean you can't just leave any field barren here, because something's gonna grow. Will Vinton told Seth the hardest part was getting his nose right. The Raisins released numerous studio albums in the 1980s, starred in a cartoon series, and were nominated for an Emmy for their 1988 "Meet the Raisins" mockumentary. Javascript is required to view shouts on this page. Is it that people remember it? You know? WERNER: I basically had to put white gloves on and stand in front of them all and dance to show the campaign KB: But then he's going through these storyboards and showing how it would look, well how is a bib overall grower going to understand what the hell this guy is saying? The California Dancing Raisins ad has been called one of the best of all time. Vinton and his team spent weeks making about six different figurines and a set made out of clay. Yeah. This figure is also included on CalRaisins.org. It's a tax. SW: When the Dancing Raisins ad stopped airing, Sunmaid's share of direct raisin saleslike in boxes on grocery store shelvesactually increased. I'm Charlie Herman. But back in 1994, almost ten years after the first dancing raisins ad aired, that good feeling was nowhere to be found. Music is from Audio Network. KB: We're not getting our fair share of it. SW: I was not even alive when most of those ads aired, and I had the same experience. Like, growing up, we had this little figurine in our doll house, and my parents dressed up as them one year for Halloween. Select PayPal Credit to have the option to pay over time. He's written songs for bands like Earth, Wind and Fire, the Gap Band, and more recently, he's done covers with Kanye West. The Raisins released numerous studio albums in the 1980s, starred in a cartoon series, and were nominated for an Emmy for their 1988 "Meet the Raisins" mockumentary. WERNER: We still thought it was cool. Not much longer would you be mine. RV: And I set it up in the studio exactly how like an old Motown session would be. Stay up to date with what you want to know. The Dancing California Raisins were a go. By the time "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" hit #1, the song had been sitting there for more than two years. Hey Sarah. Vintage California Raisins Posable, Puppets, Bank, Wind up toy. [6] I didn't eat raisins. SPEAKER FOUR: I even had little figurinesSPEAKER FIVE: I remember seeing them in my toy chestSPEAKER ONE: They were part of some happy meal kind of thing CH: The dancing raisins were invited to light the National Christmas Tree at the White House. On November 4, 1988, CBS aired a primetime television special called Meet the Raisins! They were the California Raisins. Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. Fresno is a dusty, medium-sized city in the middle of California's central valley. He wrote to Foot Cone and Belding specifically requesting a VHS copy of the ad so he could watch it whenever he wanted to. (laughs). AD SEVEN: I heard it through the grapevine! SW: Kalem was voting on behalf of the packer he worked for. CH: From Business Insider. First aired on September 14, 1986, Werner's idea for a 30-second television commercial introduced audiences to The California Raisins, a group of anthropomorphized raisins with expressive. SW: This process, as you can imagine, took a while. The growers are the ones with the vines. KB: Grape and raisin grower. But, that's not where this story ends. ", In 2017, an episode of The Simpsons called "The Cad and the Hat" included a couch gag segment featuring the California Raisins being killed by Homer.[21]. HARDEES AD: Announcing the big plush bendable California Raisins at Hardees SW: There were California Raisins Halloween costumesthey were bestsellers in 1988. California Raisin's Version. KB: Heard it through the grapevine! Oh! SPEAKER FOUR: I loved those commercials as a kid, they were so cool. Kalem Barserian, along with around 40 raisin growers, packers, and industry members, was in that room. Okay? Please take time to look at pictures I try and show condition clear as possible. Start the wiki. I heard it through the grapevine Not much longer would you be mine baby I know a man ain't supposed to cry But these tears I can't hold inside Losin' you would end my life you see 'Cause you mean that much to me You could have told me yourself That you loved some one else Instead I heard it through the grapevine Not much longer would you be mine SW: Within a month of its release, the album went gold. In 1987, Vinton featured the Raisins singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in A Claymation Christmas Celebration, a Christmas TV special he produced that won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. Here's Sarah again: SW: One morning in 1986, Seth and the team at Foote, Cone, and Belding piled into a car and headed to Fresno. SW: They pulled up to a business park, hopped out of the car, and marched into a conference room. SW: The ad was a hit. The Hardee's restaurant chain offered these as part of a promotion for its Cinnamon 'N' Raisin biscuits. They weren't in the shelf. And it paid for all that buzz with an assessmentor a taxon the raisin industry. There were California Raisins lunchboxes, then Hardee's started handing out plastic Raisins figurines with Cinnamon 'n' Raisin biscuits. Unknown; no label specified. Somewhere, some afternoon, Noel Gallagher sat down with a guitar and did a little strumming and made up a few words to go with it. Lived here my whole life. SETH WERNER: It wasn't back then, and it still isn't now. Photos not available for this variation. And because they were big companies, not headquartered in the Fresno circle, they were not at the table, and participating in all of this back-and-forth. Hell no! And it became more entertainment than strategy. [6] However, the Raisins would continue to make their strongest impression through animated endeavors, and the characters proved popular enough that they were used to endorse Post Raisin Bran cereal. Director. I Heard It Through the Grapevine features a clip the movie The Big Chill where a group of teenagers in a library who are listening to the song through headphones which leads them to dance . Artist. Like the whole body was just a head, with arms and legs waving about. So they'd pose them, they'd take a picture of that, then they'd re-pose them slightly in a slightly different pose, take a picture of that. PDF Unless you just happened to have a VCR set up and recording at the exact moment the ad aired WERNER: You had to wait and hopefully see it on TV again on some show you were watching and not know when that was coming, and because we didn't have a very big media budget, it wasn't on that often. 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