Cap'n Crunch is a

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

and oat

breakfast cereal Breakfast cereal is a category of food, including food products, made from food processing, processed cereal, cereal grains, that are eaten as part of breakfast or as a snack food, primarily in Western societies. Although warm, cooked cereals li ...

manufactured since 1963 by

Quaker Oats Company The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and ...

, a subsidiary of

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

since 2001. Since the original product introduction, marketed simply as ''Cap'n Crunch'', Quaker Oats has introduced numerous flavors and seasonal variations, some for a limited time—and currently offers a Cap'n Crunch

product line In marketing jargon, product lining refers to the offering of several related product (business), products for individual sale. Unlike product bundling, where several products are combined into one group, which is then offered for sale as a uni ...

. The original Cap'n Crunch cereal was developed to recall a recipe of brown sugar and butter over rice. It was one of the first cereals to use an oil coating to deliver its flavoring, which required an innovative baking process.

Product history

Pamela Low, a flavorist at Arthur D. Little, developed the original Cap'n Crunch flavor in 1963—recalling a recipe of a mixture of brown sugar and butter her grandmother Luella Low served over rice at her home in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. Low created the flavor coating for Cap'n Crunch, describing it as giving the cereal a quality she called "want-more-ishness". After her death in 2007, ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' called Low "the mother of Cap'n Crunch". At Arthur D. Little, Low had also worked on the flavors for

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

Mounds A mound is an artificial heap or pile, especially of earth, rocks, or sand. Mound and Mounds may also refer to: Places * Mound, Louisiana, United States * Mound, Minnesota, United States * Mound, Texas, United States * Mound, West Virginia * Moun ...

and Almond Joy candy bars. In 1965, the Quaker Oats Company awarded the Fredus N. Peters Award to Robert Rountree Reinhart Sr. for his leadership in directing the development team of Cap'n Crunch. Reinhart developed a technique in the manufacture of Cap'n Crunch, using oil in its recipe as a flavor delivery mechanism—which initially made the cereal difficult to bake properly.

Marketing

Quaker Oats had a marketing plan for Cap'n Crunch, before it had developed the cereal. The product line is heralded by a

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

named Cap'n Horatio Crunch. The character was created by

Allan Burns Allan Pennington Burns (May 18, 1935January 30, 2021) was an American screenwriter and television producer. He was best known for co-creating and writing for the television sitcoms ''The Munsters'' and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. Early life ...

, who became known for co-creating ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom about the home life of a family of benign monsters that aired from 1964 to 1966 on CBS. The series stars Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster (Frankenstein's monster),Episodes referring to the fact that Herman is ...

'' and ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 ...

''. The commercials themselves were originally produced by

Jay Ward Productions Jay Ward Productions, Inc. (sometimes shortened to Ward Productions) is an American animation studio based in Costa Mesa, California. It was founded in 1948 by American animator Jay Ward. As of 2022, the studio was headed by Ward's daughter, Ti ...

. Cap'n Crunch is depicted as a late 18th-century naval captain, an elderly gentleman with white eyebrows and a white moustache, who wears a

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

-style naval uniform: a

bicorne The bicorne or bicorn (two-cornered) is a historical form of hat widely adopted in the 1790s as an item of uniform by European and American army and naval officers. Most generals and staff officers of the Napoleonic period wore bicornes, whic ...

hat emblazoned with a "C" and a gold-epauletted blue coat with gold bars on the sleeves. While typically an American naval captain wears four bars on his sleeves, the mascot has been variously depicted over the years wearing only one bar (

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

), two bars (

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

), or three bars (

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

). As of May 26, 2024, he is now depicted on cereal boxes with the four bars of a naval captain. Voice actor

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...

created Cap'n Crunch's voice, basing it on that of Hollywood and radio character actor Charles Butterworth. Animated television commercials featured the adventures of Cap'n Crunch commanding the "good ship" ''Guppy'' on its sea voyages accompanied by his canine first mate Seadog and loyal crew of sailor children named Alfie, Dave, Brunhilde, and Carlyle. Jean LaFoote, "The Barefoot Pirate", often attacked the ''Guppy'' in order to steal its cargo of Cap'n Crunch cereal. According to ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' (2013), the character, Horatio Magellan Crunch, captains a ship called the ''Guppy'', and was born on Crunch Island, a magical island in the Sea of Milk—with talking trees, crazy creatures and a mountain (Mt. Crunchmore) made out of Cap'n Crunch cereal." The article refers to the Captain's bicorne as a "

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

-style" hat, and claims that this has led to speculation that he may be French. Cap'n Crunch's original animated television commercials used the slogan, "It's got corn for crunch, oats for punch, and it stays crunchy, even in milk." In 2013, sources including ''The Wall Street Journal'' and ''

Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout Washington, D. ...

'' noted that the three stripes on the mascot's uniform indicate a rank of

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

rather than the four that denote the rank of Captain. In jest, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that the U.S. Navy had no record of Crunch and that the

Naval Criminal Investigative Service The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the primary investigative law enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Navy. Its primary function is to investigate major criminal activities involving the Nav ...

(NCIS) was investigating him for impersonating a naval officer. Daws Butler provided the original voice of the Cap'n until his death in 1988. From 1991 to 2007, George J. Adams voiced him, followed by John Gegenhuber in ''The Cap'n Crunch Show'' in 2013, and Mike Stoudt since 2021. In the 1960s Cap'n Crunch cereal boxes came with whistles which coincidentally had the specific frequency ( 2600 hertz) required to exploit a vulnerability of

in-band signaling In telecommunications, in-band signaling is the sending of control information within the same band or channel used for data such as voice or video. This is in contrast to out-of-band signaling which is sent over a different channel, or even o ...

enabling a phone to make free calls by entering an 'operator mode'. This was discovered by John Draper. Author

Philip Wylie Philip Gordon Wylie (May 12, 1902 – October 25, 1971) was an American writer of works ranging from pulp science fiction, mysteries, social diatribes and satire to ecology and the threat of nuclear holocaust. Early life and career Born in Bever ...

wrote a series of short stories, ''Crunch and Des'', beginning in the 1940s, which featured a similarly named but otherwise unrelated character, Captain Crunch Adams. Vinton Studios produced a

claymation Claymation, sometimes called clay animation or 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 cl ...

ad during the 1980s.

Brand characters

''Jean LaFoote'' is a fictional

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

character from the Cap'n Crunch breakfast cereal's character set. The character's name is wordplay on that of the historical pirate,

Jean Lafitte Jean Lafitte ( – ) was a French pirate, privateer, and slave trader who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time u ...

. In the mid-1970s, he was the primary mascot for Jean LaFoote's Cinnamon Crunch cereal. LaFoote was originally voiced by Bill Scott, followed by Adam Shapiro from 2006 to 2007, Joe Nipote in ''The Cap'n Crunch Show'' in 2013, and Isaac Robinson-Smith since 2024. In the 1980s, the Captain's main adversaries were the ''Soggies'', strange alien creatures resembling blobs of milk, whose goal was to make everything on Earth soggy. The only thing that was immune was Cap'n Crunch cereal, and many ads revolved around their attempts to "soggify" the cereal and everything else, to no avail. Their leader, Squish the Sogmaster (voiced by

Dick Gautier Richard Gautier ( Go- tee- AY) (October 30, 1931 – January 13, 2017) was an American actor. He was known for his television roles as Hymie the Robot in the television series ''Get Smart'', and Robin Hood in the TV comedy series '' When Things ...

), was a large mechanical creature (with a pair of eyes peeking out from an opening in the head, implying it was a suit of armor for a smaller figure) who was mostly seen ordering the Soggies to carry out his plans to "ruin breakfast"; several commercials that tied in with contests had story arcs involving the Sogmaster attempting to capture Cap'n Crunch.

Variations

* Cap'n Crunch: The original Cap'n Crunch cereal is made of sweetened, yellow, square-shaped cereal pieces made by combining corn and oats. The cereal was launched in 1963, bolstered by a successful advertising campaign created by noted animator Jay Ward and introducing the cereal's longtime naval mascot, Cap'n Crunch. * Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries: Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries cereal was introduced in 1967 and contained, in addition to the yellow pieces found in the original Cap'n Crunch, spherical red Crunch Berry pieces. There was a version of Crunch Berries available briefly in which the berries, instead of being spherical, were three small berries in a cluster. The Crunch Berry Beast mascot was introduced alongside the cereal. There are currently four Crunch Berry colors: red, green (introduced in 2002), blue, and purple (both introduced in the '90s). All the berry pieces are flavored the same, regardless of color. * Peanut Butter Crunch: First released in 1969, with a large elephant, Smedley, as its mascot. According to sales charts, this version was the most successful at the time. It consists of peanut butter-flavored corn puffs. * Punch Crunch, Vanilly Crunch, Jean LaFoote's Cinnamon Crunch: Three more editions were issued in the early 1970s but later discontinued. Punch Crunch was fruit-flavored cereal rings (similar to the

General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...

cereal

Cheerios Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States and Canada, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In Europe, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand; in Austral ...

) introduced in 1973 and the mascot was a sailor suit-clad hippopotamus, Harry S. Hippo. Jean LaFoote's Cinnamon Crunch featured cinnamon-flavored cereal and was also introduced in 1973 (a reboot of this cereal, consisting of a cinnamon-flavored version of the original Cap'n Crunch pieces, was released in 2024). Vanilly Crunch was a vanilla-flavored cereal introduced in 1970 with Seadog as its former mascot, who was later replaced with Wilma the White Whale. * Choco Crunch: In 1982, a variant called Choco Crunch was introduced. Featuring the mascot Chockle the Blob, this version contained the yellow corn squares plus chocolate-flavored Crunch Berries. * Chocolatey Crunch: Consisting of chocolate-flavored corn squares, Chocolately Crunch was Introduced in 2011 and discontinued in July 2016 due to poor sales. * Christmas Crunch (Holiday Crunch in Canada): First released for the 1987

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

holiday season, it contains the signature Cap'n Crunch yellow corn squares with red and green Crunch Berries. Currently, the Crunch Berries are shaped as Christmas-themed items (shapes vary yearly) and the cereal is packaged in a holiday-themed box with the Cap'n wearing a

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

or winter-themed hat (box color and hat type vary yearly). When the cereal was first introduced, the Crunch Berries were spherical-shaped and the cereal contained a toy or Christmas tree ornament inside the box. On a few occasions, the cereal has been packaged with a packed-in food gimmick to add to the cereal, like Jingle Bell Rock pieces that changed the milk's color to red (used in the 1998 version) or sprinkled icing (used in the 1995 version). * Deep Sea Crunch: A version of the cereal was introduced in 1993, which featured Crunch Berries shaped like sea creatures. This version was discontinued, but returned in 2009. * Oops! All Berries: First released in 1997, "Oops! All Berries" contains nothing but the berry-flavored Crunch Berries and none of the corn squares. * Halloween Crunch: A limited edition version of the cereal introduced in 2007, Halloween Crunch includes green Crunch Berries in the form of ghosts. * Galactic Crunch: A discontinued version which featured space-related shaped marshmallows. * Oops! Choco Donuts: A discontinued version which featured chocolate-flavored donut-shaped cereal rings with candy sprinkles. * Home Run Crunch: A limited edition version of the cereal was first released in 1995, which featured baseball-related shaped marshmallows, like home plates, caps and mitts. It has the flavor of Crunch Berries, but the pieces of cereal are shaped like bats and balls. It is occasionally reintroduced during the summer season, with the recent versions consisting of the original pieces with the bat and ball-shaped Crunch Berries. * Neutron Berries featured spherical Crunch Berry pieces shaped like Jimmy Neutron, Goddard, Cindy and the Rocket. Released in 2001 to coincide with the film '' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius''. * Rugrats Go Wild Berries featured spherical Crunch Berry pieces shaped like Eliza, Spike, Chuckie and a Palm Tree which also turns milk blue. Released in 2003 to coincide with the film '' Rugrats Go Wild''. * Cap'n Crunch's Mystery Volcano Crunch: Red and yellow fruit-flavored Crunch Berries with "'free' packet of lava rocks that pop in milk!". * Cap'n Crunch's Oops! Smashed Berries: "Oops! All Berries" cereal with flat Crunch Berries. * Cap'n Crunch's CoZmic Crunch: Star-shaped Crunch Berries with "orange space dust that turns milk green". * Polar Crunch: A version of the cereal in which the Crunch Berries change color to blue when milk is poured on them. *

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

Crunch: Featured peanut butter pieces shaped like Superman's insignia's shield, which also turns milk blue. Released in 2006 to coincide with the film ''

Superman Returns ''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer, and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris, based on the DC Comics character Superman. It serves as a homage ...

''. * Cinnamon Roll Crunch: Released in 2013. * Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Treasures: Star-shaped crunchy yellow corn and oat rings. Contains half the sugar of regular Cap'n Crunch. * Cap'n Crunch Bars: Later called Cap'n Crunch Treats, these were marshmallow treats similar to

Rice Krispies Treats Rice Krispies Treats (also called Rice Krispie Treats, Marshmallow Treats, Marshmallow Squares, or Rice Krispies Squares in the United Kingdom & Canada, and LCMs in Australia) are a confection commonly made through binding WK Kellogg Co's Rice ...

and came in Cap'n Crunch, Crunch Berries and Peanut Butter Crunch varieties. * Airhead Berries: Released in 2003. A crossover between Airheads candy and Cap'n Crunch cereal. * Cap'n Crunch's Sprinkled Donut Crunch: Released in 2014. Donut-flavored cereal rings with candy sprinkles. * Cap'n Crunch's Orange Creampop Crunch: Modeled after nostalgic orange/vanilla

ice pop An ice pop is a liquid/cream-based frozen dessert on a stick. Unlike ice cream or sorbet, which are whipped while freezing to prevent ice crystal formation, an ice pop is frozen while at rest, becoming a solid block of ice with an icy textur ...

s. * Cap'n Crunch's Blueberry Pancake Crunch: Released in 2016. Features blue, light blue and white corn and oat puffs with natural and artificial

blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

and

maple syrup Maple syrup is a sweet syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Ma ...

flavoring. * Cap'n Crunch's Chocolatey Berry Crunch: Released in 2019. A Crunch Berries cereal with chocolate-flavored corn squares and red Crunch Berries. * Cap'n Crunch's Strawberry Shortcake Crunch: Released in 2019. A Crunch Berries cereal with shortcake-flavored donut-shaped cereal pieces and red Crunch Berries. * Cap'n Crunch's Red, White & Blue Crunch/Hero Crunch/Freedom Crunch: Released in 2019. A variant of Oops! All Berries cereal with red, white and blue Crunch Berries (the colors of the US flag.) * Cotton Candy Crunch: Released in 2019. A variant of Oops! All Berries cereal with blue and pink Crunch Berries. * Canuck Crunch: Released in 2021, exclusively in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. A variant of Oops! All Berries cereal with red and white Crunch Berries (the colours of the Canadian flag). * Sea Berry Crunch: Released in 2024. A variant of Oops! All Berries cereal with ocean blue Crunch Berries, with proceeds from US sales of this variant going to the non-profit organization Ocean Conservancy.

References

External links

*
Animateclay.com – Vinton Studio Commercials
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cap'n Crunch Quaker Oats Company characters Corporate mascots Fictional military captains Quaker Oats Company cereals Products introduced in 1963 Fictional sea pirate captains Jay Ward Productions American mascots Cartoon mascots Male characters in advertising Mascots introduced in 1963