Cap'n Crunch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- For information on the phone phreak called Captain Crunch, see John Draper.
Cap'n Crunch is a breakfast cereal manufactured by the Quaker Oats company of Chicago, Illinois, and the mascot of that cereal. It is one of many sugary cereals targeted towards children, and the majority of its television advertising is aired during children's TV programming on Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons, during children's peak viewing hours. The cereal itself is a mixture of mashed maize (corn) and syrup, shaped into pieces that resemble treasure chests.
The cereal is promoted by friendly old Cap'n Horatio Crunch (full name Horatio Magellan Crunch), a cartoon sea captain. Crunch is the son of Admiral Horatio Crunch, Sr., and was born and raised on Crunch Island in the Milk Sea. His televised adventures aboard the S.S. Guppy revolve around the cereal, his first mate, Seadog, and his crew of four kids: Alfie, Carlyle, Dave, and Brunhilde. Their mission is to keep the cargo hold of cereal from falling into the hands of Jean LaFoote, The Barefoot Pirate. Crunch debuted in 1963 with the commercial "Breakfast On The Guppy," and was originally animated by Jay Ward Productions, and voiced by Daws Butler until his death in 1988.
Around the eighties Jean LaFoote, Seadog and the original children disappeared and Cap'N Crunch found himself having to deal with the Soggies, two soggy looking goons who tried to make his cereal soggy. Currently the mascot has no opponents in his commercials and Cap'N Crunch seems to focus on providing bored children with his cereal.
Cap'n Crunch's animated commercial adventures have given Quaker Oats the opportunity to spin-off additional cereals based on the original, including Crunch Berries, Peanut Butter Crunch, Oops! All Berries and Christmas Crunch.
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Taglines
- You and the Cap'N make it happen.
- Crunch-a-tize me, Cap'N!
- Crunch Berries: The only berries that crunch.
- Crunch Berries: The only berries with Cap'N's crunch.
- Peanut Butter Crunch: The crunch that screams Peanut Butter!
Effect on the mouth and gums
Cap'n Crunch is well-known to cause minor lacerations to the roof of the mouth and gums. This is likely due to the hardness of the cereal and the sharp edges formed when it is crushed during chewing. After eating Cap'n Crunch, one tends to notice a roughness or redness of the hard palate, which some have called "Cap'n Crunch Mouth".
Hacker References
Neal Stephenson's novel Cryptonomicon contains a several-page-long passage -- in chapter 56 -- about how to prepare and enjoy a delicious bowl of Cap'n Crunch. Neo is also described as eating Cap'n Crunch cereals in one of the early versions of the script for The Matrix. As both of these workers are hacker- and computer security-oriented, these are probably references to phone phreak John Draper, who called himself Captain Crunch.
Other References
Cap'n Crunch is referenced in the chorus of the Newsboys song "Breakfast".
Blue Man Group's theatrical show features a skit where the Blue Men use Cap'n Crunch cereal as a percussive instrument, pointing out the fact that the cereal is sold primarily for the sound that it makes, and not its nutritional or taste value.
