Editorials
The Brief History of Fruity Yummy Mummy Cereal!
“Fruity Yummy Mummy makes your tummy go yummy!”
Five decades (55 years, to be exact) after Boris Karloff brought Imhotep to the screen in Universal’s The Mummy, the legendary character underwent perhaps his most bizarre transformation of all. Released in 1987, General Mills’ Fruity Yummy Mummy re-imagined the horror icon as a colorful cereal mascot… but his reign of terror over the cereal aisle didn’t last very long.
To understand Yummy Mummy’s place in history, we must go back to the beginning.
In March of 1971, General Mills officially launched the soon-to-be-beloved Monster Cereals line with Count Chocula and Franken Berry, chocolate and strawberry cereals inspired by Universal icons Dracula and Frankenstein. Not only were the monsters lovable but the cereals were unlike anything else on the market at the time, so they became an instant hit with kids. And their success paved the way for a new character to be brought into the line. The blueberry-flavored Boo Berry was introduced in December 1973.
Of course, those original three Monster Cereals bring a blast of nostalgia back to the grocery store each and every Halloween season, but fans of the line know that Count and his Berry friends are not the only cartoon monsters under that banner. In 1974, General Mills brought Fruit Brute into the mix, a fruit-flavored cereal (with marshmallow bits, of course) that introduced a werewolf mascot rocking colorful suspenders. The cereal didn’t catch on like the others, and was discontinued in 1982.
Five years later, a new monster rose from the ashes of Fruit Brute’s failure. Taking up the mantle, Fruity Yummy Mummy made his debut in 1987; the goal was to essentially repackage Fruit Brute’s fruit-flavored cereal and try to make it a success with a new mascot. Wrapped in vibrantly colorful bandages, Yummy Mummy was given an advantage over Fruit Brute right off the bat: his unveiling was paired with a new gimmick dubbed “Monster Mallows,” which brought mega-sized mallows into all three cereals in the line at the time. What kid wouldn’t jump at the chance to enjoy even bigger marshmallows in their breakfast cereal?!
The admirable attempt at a remake just didn’t work, however. Yummy Mummy had an even shorter lifespan than its predecessor, as it was discontinued by General Mills in 1992. And it would be another 21 years before the goofy mummy was heard from again.
Thankfully, this story does have something of a happy ending.
For the 2013 Halloween season, both Fruity Yummy Mummy and Fruit Brute (renamed Frute Brute) were brought back from the dead as a special nostalgic treat, which meant that all five of the Monster Cereals were available on store shelves for the very first (and only) time in history. Since the original Yummy Mummy was essentially a remake of Fruit Brute, General Mills took the liberty to reboot both with new flavors as a way to differentiate them from one another and provide new flavor experiences.
Frute Brute became a cherry-flavored cereal, while Yummy Mummy’s reboot saw it re-imagined as a delicious orange cream cereal. In addition, both cereal mascots were given modern day redesigns (as seen above), with the retro-authentic original boxes available as Target exclusives that year.
It’s now been four years since Fruity Yummy Mummy made its triumphant return to the Halloween scene, but the character still lives on in the hearts of monster kids the world over. In fact, Funko just last week added Yummy Mummy to their line of POP! vinyl toys, so you could say that he’s never truly left us.
And who knows, with Universal’s Tom Cruise-starring reboot of The Mummy coming this year (June 9th), perhaps another return is only a matter of time.
Editorials
‘Immaculate’ – A Companion Watch Guide to the Religious Horror Movie and Its Cinematic Influences
The religious horror movie Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Michael Mohan, wears its horror influences on its sleeves. NEON’s new horror movie is now available on Digital and PVOD, making it easier to catch up with the buzzy title. If you’ve already seen Immaculate, this companion watch guide highlights horror movies to pair with it.
Sweeney stars in Immaculate as Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Cecilia’s warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside gets derailed soon enough when she discovers she’s become pregnant and realizes the convent harbors disturbing secrets.
From Will Bates’ gothic score to the filming locations and even shot compositions, Immaculate owes a lot to its cinematic influences. Mohan pulls from more than just religious horror, though. While Immaculate pays tribute to the classics, the horror movie surprises for the way it leans so heavily into Italian horror and New French Extremity. Let’s dig into many of the film’s most prominent horror influences with a companion watch guide.
Warning: Immaculate spoilers ahead.
Rosemary’s Baby
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The mother of all pregnancy horror movies introduces Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), an eager-to-please housewife who’s supportive of her husband, Guy, and thrilled he landed them a spot in the coveted Bramford apartment building. Guy proposes a romantic evening, which gives way to a hallucinogenic nightmare scenario that leaves Rosemary confused and pregnant. Rosemary’s suspicions and paranoia mount as she’s gaslit by everyone around her, all attempting to distract her from her deeply abnormal pregnancy. While Cecilia follows a similar emotional journey to Rosemary, from the confusion over her baby’s conception to being gaslit by those who claim to have her best interests in mind, Immaculate inverts the iconic final frame of Rosemary’s Baby to great effect.
The Exorcist
William Friedkin’s horror classic shook audiences to their core upon release in the ’70s, largely for its shocking imagery. A grim battle over faith is waged between demon Pazuzu and priests Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow). The battleground happens to be a 12-year-old, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), whose possessed form commits blasphemy often, including violently masturbating with a crucifix. Yet Friedkin captures the horrifying events with stunning cinematography; the emotional complexity and shot composition lend elegance to a film that counterbalances the horror. That balance between transgressive imagery and artful form permeates Immaculate as well.
Suspiria
Jessica Harper stars as Suzy Bannion, an American newcomer at a prestigious dance academy in Germany who uncovers a supernatural conspiracy amid a series of grisly murders. It’s a dance academy so disciplined in its art form that its students and faculty live their full time, spending nearly every waking hour there, including built-in meals and scheduled bedtimes. Like Suzy Bannion, Cecilia is a novitiate committed to learning her chosen trade, so much so that she travels to a foreign country to continue her training. Also, like Suzy, Cecilia quickly realizes the pristine façade of her new setting belies sinister secrets that mean her harm.
What Have You Done to Solange?
This 1972 Italian horror film follows a college professor who gets embroiled in a bizarre series of murders when his mistress, a student, witnesses one taking place. The professor starts his own investigation to discover what happened to the young woman, Solange. Sex, murder, and religion course through this Giallo’s veins, which features I Spit on Your Grave’s Camille Keaton as Solange. Immaculate director Michael Mohan revealed to The Wrap that he emulated director Massimo Dallamano’s techniques, particularly in a key scene that sees Cecilia alone in a crowded room of male superiors, all interrogating her on her immaculate status.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
In this Giallo, two sisters inherit their family’s castle that’s also cursed. When a dark-haired, red-robed woman begins killing people around them, the sisters begin to wonder if the castle’s mysterious curse has resurfaced. Director Emilio Miraglia infuses his Giallo with vibrant style, with the titular Red Queen instantly eye-catching in design. While the killer’s design and use of red no doubt played an influential role in some of Immaculate’s nightmare imagery, its biggest inspiration in Mohan’s film is its score. Immaculate pays tribute to The Red Queen Kills Seven Times through specific music cues.
The Vanishing
Rex’s life is irrevocably changed when the love of his life is abducted from a rest stop. Three years later, he begins receiving letters from his girlfriend’s abductor. Director George Sluizer infuses his simple premise with bone-chilling dread and psychological terror as the kidnapper toys with Red. It builds to a harrowing finale you won’t forget; and neither did Mohan, who cited The Vanishing as an influence on Immaculate. Likely for its surprise closing moments, but mostly for the way Sluizer filmed from inside a coffin.
The Other Hell
This nunsploitation film begins where Immaculate ends: in the catacombs of a convent that leads to an underground laboratory. The Other Hell sees a priest investigating the seemingly paranormal activity surrounding the convent as possessed nuns get violent toward others. But is this a case of the Devil or simply nuns run amok? Immaculate opts to ground its horrors in reality, where The Other Hell leans into the supernatural, but the surprise lab setting beneath the holy grounds evokes the same sense of blasphemous shock.
Inside
During Immaculate‘s freakout climax, Cecilia sets the underground lab on fire with Father Sal Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte) locked inside. He manages to escape, though badly burned, and chases Cecilia through the catacombs. When Father Tedeschi catches Cecilia, he attempts to cut her baby out of her womb, and the stark imagery instantly calls Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s seminal French horror movie to mind. Like Tedeschi, Inside’s La Femme (Béatrice Dalle) will stop at nothing to get the baby, badly burned and all.
Burial Ground
At first glance, this Italian zombie movie bears little resemblance to Immaculate. The plot sees an eclectic group forced to band together against a wave of undead, offering no shortage of zombie gore and wild character quirks. What connects them is the setting; both employed the Villa Parisi as a filming location. The Villa Parisi happens to be a prominent filming spot for Italian horror; also pair the new horror movie with Mario Bava’s A Bay of Blood or Blood for Dracula for additional boundary-pushing horror titles shot at the Villa Parisi.
The Devils
The Devils was always intended to be incendiary. Horror, at its most depraved and sadistic, tends to make casual viewers uncomfortable. Ken Russell’s 1971 epic takes it to a whole new squeamish level with its nightmarish visuals steeped in some historical accuracy. There are the horror classics, like The Exorcist, and there are definitive transgressive horror cult classics. The Devils falls squarely in the latter, and Russell’s fearlessness in exploring taboos and wielding unholy imagery inspired Mohan’s approach to the escalating horror in Immaculate.
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