California Raisins in Foodfight!
claymation figurines return in animated movie
Not surprisingly, the California Raisins will return in a cameo in the upcoming animated flick, Foodfight! The Lionsgate film hits theatres November 16th.
(Source: www.bcdb.com)
Predicting which movies will rock, or which will stink, is a funny business. Some flicks look bad initially but actually turn out all right (Happy Feet) while you can see others coming a mile away (Barnyard).
It's obvious which category Lionsgate Family Entertainment's Foodfight! falls into: it's an animated movie about food products coming alive when the humans are gone (shades of Toy Story anyone?). Not only that, it's about the branded food items ganging up to defeat the machinations of a sinister Brand X that's invading grocery store shelves. If you're thinking that this flick looks more an extended commercial than a movie, you're not the only one.
Now we discover that Foodfight! is going the nostalgia route by giving the Calfornia Raisins a cameo in the flick. For those of you who don't remember the 1980's, the California Raisins were Claymation figurines that sang Marvin Gaye's "Heard It Through the Grapevine" to promote raisins as a healthy snack. While the California Raisins were wildly successful, selling toys and other merchandise, the campaign didn't achieve its initial objective (selling more raisins) and was eventually dropped.
The singing grapes will appear in various scenes in Foodfight!, singing in nightclubs called (BAD PUN ALERT) Raisin City Music Hall and the Copabanana. The Raisins will also share the screen with other product pitchcreatures like Charlie Tuna, the Energizer Bunny and Mr. Clean.
What's left of the now-defunct California Raisin Marketing Board won't get paid for having the Raisins appear in the flick. Instead, the raisin growers will get a piece of the merchandising.
Various celebrities whoring themselves – I mean, voicing characters – in Foodfight! include Charlie Sheen, Hilary and Haylie Duff, Donald Trump, Christopher Lloyd, Chris Kattan, Eva Longoria and Wayne Brady.
Foodfight! splatters theatres November 16th.
