Pencil Sketches of the California Raisins: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Sixteen original pencil sketches used in the California Raisins advertising campaign, circa 1986 to 1991. Four drawings feature the California Raisins characters, eleven are the storyboard for “The Robot” television commercial, and one is a large sheet with multiple sketches of the California Raisins characters with corrections in red ink. The clay-animated California Raisin television commercial series, produced by Will Vinton Productions for the Raisin Growers Association, was a spoof on rhythm and blues groups of the 1960s and 1970s with their highly choreographed stage acts. Marvin Gaye’s hit song, “Heard it Through the Grapevine,” was the theme song for the campaign.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1986 - 1991
• user: California Raisins Advisory Board
• maker: Will Vinton Productions
• Object Name: Sketches
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Physical Description: graphite (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 28 cm x 21.5 cm; 11 1/32 in x 8 15/32 in
• Measurements: overall: 35.5 cm x 43 cm; 13 31/32 in x 16 15/16 in
• place made: United States: Oregon, Portland
• Subject: Motion Pictures
• Subject: Animation
• Subject: Consumerism
• Subject: Food Culture
• Subject: Music
• Subject: Blacks
• Subject: African American
• ID Number: 1991.3182.20
• catalog number: 1991.3182.20
• nonaccession number: 1991.3182
• Credit Line: Will Vinton Productions
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.