This Saturday-morning cartoon series from CBS featured the characters originally created in claymation form by Will Vinton Productions in 1986 for a series of commercials promoting the California raisin industry.
The commercials boosted raisin sales by 20% – which translated to about $70 million in additional income for the industry.
The four singing and dancing raisins in the animated series were Stretch (voiced by Brian Stokes Mitchell), Beebop (Cam Clarke), AC (Dorian Harewood), and Red (Willard E. Pugh). The characters were introduced in a primetime CBS special called Meet The Raisins.
From a penthouse above a recording studio, the raisins took viewers on a magical musical tour each week.
All the other characters on the show were fruits, vegetables, or other food products.
