''The California Raisin Show'' is a 1989 American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

based on the

claymation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

advertising characters ''

The California Raisins The California Raisins were a fictional rhythm and blues animated musical group as well as advertising and merchandising characters composed of anthropomorphized raisins. Lead vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. The California Raisins w ...

''. The show is based on the

special, '' Meet the Raisins!'', which originally aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

in 1988. After the show's 13-episode run, a sequel to the original special, '' Raisins: Sold Out!: The California Raisins II'', aired in 1990. While the characters are traditionally depicted in claymation, the TV show was

cel animated Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Pro ...

by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson. It did, however, maintain

Will Vinton William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his wor ...

as creative director and executive producer. It takes place in a world populated by anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables and focuses on the main characters, the California Raisins: A.C. (vocals), Beebop (drums), Stretch (bass), and Red (guitar/piano). Each episode has one or more musical numbers, all of which were originally performed by most Motown artists.

Cast

Cam Clarke Cam Clarke is an American voice actor, known for his work in animation, video games and commercials. Among his notable roles are Leonardo and Rocksteady in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated series, Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 ...

as Beebop *

Brian Cummings Brian Douglas Cummings (born March 4, 1948) is an American voice actor, known for his work in radio and television commercials, television and motion picture promos, cartoons and as the announcer on '' The All-New Let's Make a Deal'' from 1984 to ...

as Lick Broccoli * Jim Cummings as A.C., Leonard Limabean * Brian Mitchell as Red *

Dorian Harewood Dorian Harewood (born August 6, 1950) is an American actor, best known for playing Jesse Owens in '' The Jesse Owens Story'' (1984), Paul Strobber on '' Strike Force'' (1981–1982), and Rev. Morgan Hamilton in '' 7th Heaven'' (1996–2003). E ...

as Stretch, Red ("No Business Like Shoe Business") *

Gaille Heidemann Gaille Heidemann is an American voice actress, singer and songwriter. She is known as the voice of Myriam the Mystic in ''Diablo III'', Tempestra in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', and has had guest starring roles in ''World of Warcraft'' (' ...

as Shirelle * Michele Mariana as Lulu Arborman - Ma * Rebecca Gilchrist as Dixie * Willard E. Pugh * Cree Summer as Crystal * Todd Tolces as Rudy Bagaman

Episodes

DVD release

On November 15, 2011, Hen's Tooth Video released ''The California Raisins Collection'' on DVD in Region 1 for the first time. The 2-disc set features all 13 episodes of the series as well as the two original claymation specials, ''

Meet the Raisins! ''Meet the Raisins!'' is a 1988 claymation television special directed by Barry Bruce, featuring the advertising characters The California Raisins. The show was broadcast November 4, 1988, on the U.S. television network CBS during primetime. It ...

'' and ''The Raisins: Sold Out!: The California Raisins II'', along with 4 original TV ads.

References

External links

* 1989 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings 1980s American animated television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated musical television series Fruit and vegetable characters English-language television shows CBS original programming Animated musical groups Television series by CBS Studios Works based on advertisements Films shot in Portland, Oregon {{animation-tv-prog-stub