Monster of the Day #779

Updated on October 2, 2013 By Ken Begg 23 Comments


Well, the mystery is solved. This was (easily!) my favorite. I never really tried the two later add-ons to the line. Count Chocula struck me as the worst of several chocolate cereals out there, far outgunned by both Cocoa Puffs and Cocoa Crispies. As for Frankenberry, I’ve never been partial to the red fruits to start with.

I love me some blueberry, though. I still consider it downright tragic that there isn’t a Hostess Blueberry Pie anymore. And that esthetically pleasing sweet blue milk as a final capper to the bowl was always a nice bonus.

The marshmallows were still a landmine, though. If they were even slightly stale….

Oh, and of course, Booberry had the voice of Peter Lorre, so, you know, right there.

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  • Ericb

    I remember eating more of this one than the others (though like you I never tried the last two) with the Count probably at #2.

  • Ericb

    Oh, does anyone remember Quisp and Quake? I think they pioneered this kind of multiple character type of cereals but eventually got overwhelmed by the success of the monster cereals.

  • Ken_Begg

    Yes! Back in the ’60s they had a campaign for kids asking them to vote on which one would remain on shelves. I’m assuming the one with the Martian won over the one with the Miner because, you know, kids.

  • Marsden

    I used to love these. I remeber having something with him on it, like a towel. Or maybe a blanket? Ugh, I’m old.

  • SteveWD

    I remember watching a movie with Peter Lorre and one of my kids (It’s been a while – I don’t remember seeing a commercial for Boo Berry in a long time) said, “he sounds just like Boo Berry”. Does anyone know who did the original voice back in the 60’s? I’m guessing it was Mel Blanc or Paul Frees.

  • Flangepart

    Good question. Woulda been great if Peter had done it himself.

  • Ericb

    According to Wikipedia Paul Frees did the voice in the Boo Berry commercials.

  • Rock Baker

    Frees also provided a spot-on Lorre impression for Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride. I never went on the ride myself, but I did get to hear some test recordings Frees did for the ride. A remarkable talent.

  • SteveWD

    Not to mention that he directed ‘The Beatniks’…….shudder.

  • MrTongoRad

    I’m still not sure if that one would have been better or worse if there had been actual Beatniks in it.

  • Rock Baker

    I happen to have liked THE BEATNIKS, thank you very much.

  • Rock Baker

    I’ve often felt they should have swapped titles between THE BEATNIKS and THE BLOODY BROOD…..

  • MrTongoRad

    Yeah- I kind of like that whole genre (The Rebellious ’20 year old’ Teen Flick), too- MSTed or not. I usually get The Beatniks confused with Daddy-O, though. Girls’ Town is probably my fave.

    I was making fun of the title, as well as actual beatniks, more than the movie itself.

  • The Rev.

    That would probably be the case; I had Quisp as a kid but have never even heard of Quake.

    By the way, Ken, thanks so much for reminding me about the loss of Hostess blueberry pies, you jerk. The people that revived Hostess recently should’ve brought those back, dammit.

    We have a store here (the same one with the sodas we’re talking about in that other thread, in fact) that has started selling miniature fruit pies shaped pretty much like Hostess’. They’re not like the fried pies you find everywhere down here; I believe they’re oven-baked. The crust isn’t sugared like Hostess’, so it’s probably healthier as well (for a certain value of “healthy”). They are quite good, and their blueberry is the best hands-down. They’re not the same, but a very nice substitute.

  • SteveWD

    I don’t know why exactly but that is my least favorite MST genre. Rebellious 20-something teens plus monster of some sort (a la ‘Giant Gila Monster’) is fine. Rebellious 20 something teens with no monsters…..no thanks.

  • Ericb

    I can’t picture Peter Breck as a beatnick

  • Ericb

    I was kind of unnerved when I saw Frees have an on-screen acting role in Thing from Another World. I wasn’t used to having that voice come out of an actual human being

  • Rock Baker

    I’m not sure why, given I was always well-adjusted, but I’ve always had a soft spot for JD flicks. Good ones, anyway, the stuff from the 50’s.

  • MrTongoRad

    Well, he did chew the scenery as a, well, whatever he was supposed to be (Satch/Joe Pesci hybrid) in The Beatniks, so you never know.

  • MrTongoRad

    Ha- you’re right- that genre does seem to be the default ‘filler plot’ for those monster flicks. I guess they had to appeal to their prime audience (likely watching it in a drive-in) in some way.

    I guess if I had to choose between the two genres I’d say that the ‘monster’ ones seem to have the plot tacked-on, whereas the ‘monsterless’ ones have cheesy music scenes as filler (which I kind of really enjoy for some strange reason).

    Horror of Party Beach, of course, has both!

  • zombiewhacker

    Those test recordings were not used, however. Frees speaks in his “natural” voice on the HM ride. He does not do his Lorre impersonation.

  • Rock Baker

    Tsk tsk, what a waste! On the other hand, Frees was blessed with a perfect speaking voice. It’s almost unthinkable to have such a gift, and then monkey around with it to alter it!

  • zombiewhacker

    Frees was also said to be highly intellectual, too. And highly verbose. Quote Don Messick, (paraphrasing): “Every person who ever met Paul Frees, within the first ten minutes they thought he was one of the most brilliant people they ever met. After twenty minutes, they just wanted him to shut up.”