COLLAB: KAWS x GENERAL MILLS
In March 2024, KAWS revisited one of the most enduring strata of American pop culture—the General Mills Monster Cereal mascots—translating Count Chocula, Franken Berry, Boo Berry, and Frute Brute into a unified sculptural language. Each figure stands at approximately 11 inches and retains the instantly recognizable silhouettes of the original characters, yet undergoes a precise visual recalibration through KAWS’s signature vocabulary: softened volumes, rounded extremities, and, of course, the unmistakable X-eyes.
What is particularly compelling here is the balance between fidelity and distortion. Count Chocula’s elongated grin becomes almost architectural; Boo Berry dissolves into a ghostly gradient that feels closer to a pigment study than a cartoon; Franken Berry is rendered with a curious softness that borders on the absurd; and Frute Brute, perhaps the most expressive of the group, leans into a more aggressive, almost feral stance. Together, they form a quartet that reads less like a toy set and more like a cast of archetypes—each embodying a different emotional register.
Introduction
This release builds directly on KAWS’s earlier engagement with the brand, notably the 2022 redesign of the cereal boxes and the accompanying mail-away figures. The 2024 iteration refines that initial gesture, moving away from promotional object toward something more self-contained and sculptural.
Distributed through KAWSONE in March 2024, each figure retailed at USD 320 and was issued as an open edition. While not anchored to a specific exhibition, the release nonetheless carries the weight of a conceptual continuation: another chapter in KAWS’s long-standing dialogue with commercial iconography, from Companion to Dissected figures and beyond.
Executed in painted vinyl, the figures demonstrate the high production standards associated with KAWS’s collaborations. The surfaces are clean, almost frictionless, allowing color to dominate perception. Each hue—whether the deep brown of Chocula, the pastel pink of Franken Berry, or the spectral blue of Boo Berry—is applied with a precision that recalls industrial design more than traditional sculpture.
Yet beneath this apparent simplicity lies a careful orchestration of form. The proportions are subtly adjusted, compressing or exaggerating features just enough to destabilize the original identity of the characters without breaking recognition. At first glance, the series appears playful, almost indulgently nostalgic. But, as often with KAWS, the operation is more surgical than sentimental. These mascots, originally designed to sell sugar to children, are here recontextualized as collectible objects aimed at an entirely different demographic: adults, collectors, participants in a global art market.
This shift is not incidental. It exposes the mechanics of branding and memory, revealing how deeply these characters are embedded in cultural consciousness. By applying his visual code to them, KAWS does not simply appropriate—he neutralizes and reassigns value, transforming ephemeral marketing tools into durable artifacts. There is also an undercurrent of quiet irony. The X-eyes, often interpreted as a sign of emotional detachment or mortality, sit uneasily on figures originally conceived as cheerful, even naive. The result is a subtle tension: childhood icons rendered with a hint of existential fatigue.
The Monster Cereal Figures sit comfortably within KAWS’s broader trajectory of character appropriation and transformation. From early interventions on billboards to later collaborations with brands like BAPE, Sesame Street, or The Simpsons, his work consistently interrogates the boundary between mass culture and fine art.
Here, the choice of subject is particularly astute. The Monster Cereals occupy a peculiar space—simultaneously mainstream and cult, seasonal yet deeply ingrained. By elevating them into sculptural form, KAWS reinforces his ability to identify and extract icons that resonate across generations.
As an open edition, the series was designed for accessibility, yet its cultural resonance ensures sustained demand. The figures appeal not only to seasoned KAWS collectors but also to a broader audience drawn by the immediacy of the imagery.
More importantly, the project reinforces a central thesis of KAWS’s career: that the language of consumer culture, when carefully manipulated, can achieve the status of contemporary mythology. These are not merely nostalgic objects—they are artifacts of a system, reconfigured with precision and just enough ambiguity to keep them intellectually alive. In short, a breakfast table hallucination, elevated—polished, distilled, and quietly unsettling.
CEREAL MONSTERS, 2023
CEREAL MONSTERS
(Frute Brute, Franken Berry, Count Chocula, Boo Berry)
The complete set of four works
Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2023
Dimensions:
Count Chocula: 33x19x13 cm (13 x 7-1/2 x 5 inches)
Others: 29x23x13 cm (11-1/2 x 9 x 5 inches)
Edition: Open edition, unnumbered
Release Price: USD 320
Co-produced by Medicom Toy, Tokyo and General Mills
Printed manufacturer’s mark to underside
‘KAWS, 23 © General Mills Medicom Toy’
Auction Results
LA Modern: 25 September 2025
Estimated: USD 1,000 – 2,000
USD 1,270
KAWS (Brian Donnelly, b.1974)
Cereal Monsters (set of four), 2023
Vinyl
Printed manufacturer’s mark to underside of each work
‘KAWS, 23 © General Mills Medicom Toy’
This complete set of four works is from the edition of unknown size
Co-produced by Medicom Toy, Tokyo and General Mills
Sold with original packaging
COUNT CHOCULA, 2023
COUNT CHOCULA
Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2023
Dimensions: 33x19x13 cm (13 x 7-1/2 x 5 inches)
Edition: Open edition, unnumbered
Release Price: USD 320
Co-produced by Medicom Toy, Tokyo and General Mills
Printed manufacturer’s mark to underside
‘KAWS, 23 © General Mills Medicom Toy’
FRANKEN BERRY, 2023
FRANKEN BERRY
Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2023
29x23x13 cm (11-1/2 x 9 x 5 inches)
Edition: Open edition, unnumbered
Co-produced by Medicom Toy, Tokyo and General Mills
Printed manufacturer’s mark to underside
‘KAWS, 23 © General Mills Medicom Toy’
FRUTE BRUTE, 2023
FRUTE BRUTE
Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2023
29x23x13 cm (11-1/2 x 9 x 5 inches)
Edition: Open edition, unnumbered
Release Price: USD 320
Co-produced by Medicom Toy, Tokyo and General Mills
Printed manufacturer’s mark to underside
‘KAWS, 23 © General Mills Medicom Toy’
BOO BERRY, 2023
BOO BERRY
Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2023
29x23x13 cm (11-1/2 x 9 x 5 inches)
Edition: Open edition, unnumbered
Release Price: USD 320
Co-produced by Medicom Toy, Tokyo and General Mills
Printed manufacturer’s mark to underside
‘KAWS, 23 © General Mills Medicom Toy’