Sonny the Cuckoo Bird is the cartoon mascot for Cocoa Puffs, a General Mills-produced cereal. He often appears in its television commercials.
History[]
In the commercials, Sonny attempts to concentrate on a normal task and ends up coming across some reference to Cocoa Puffs themselves (usually described by the adjectives "munchy, crunchy, chocolatey") and bursts with enthusiasm, exclaiming, "I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!"
He was designed by Gene Cleaves in 1962, but a new design was chosen in 2004. The old design can be seen on many retro shirts sold in stores such as PacSun and Delia's. From 2005 to 2008, Sonny was voiced by Tex Brashear. He is currently voiced by Larry Kenney, who voiced Lion-O in the original 1985 Thundercats series and Claudus in the 2011 reboot.
Sonny's name comes from the original format for the commercials, in which he was paired with his Grandfather. Rather than proper names, they always referred to each other as "Gramps" and "Sonny." When the Grandfather was dropped from the ads, "Sonny" remained as the character's name. In those original spots, both Sonny and Gramps were voiced by Chuck McCann. However, in 2011, Grandfather (again voiced by Chuck McCann) returned in an ad for Cocoa Puffs.