Meet the Raisins! The Story of the California Raisins

The title "Meet the Raisins" spoofs the record album title "Meet the Beatles." Some of the Raisins' biography is based on The Beatles of Liverpool, England. The most obvious point is their number of four, with the additional footnote that there was a little-known fifth member of the team who was dropped before they "made it big." (Several men have been called the "little-known 5th Beatle," Pete Best is possibly the most famous nominee for that title.) After the snowmen scene, the Raisins make their comeback on "The Ed Succotash Show" just as the Beatles were formally introduced to America on Meet The Beatles (1964). The Beatles' nickname British Invasion is mentioned in the cartoon, however it refers here not to the Raisins themselves, but to Lick Broccoli's band. The Raisins themselves seem to be African-American musicians of the "Motown" culture, so named because it got its sponsorship from the automobile-manufacturing city of Detroit, Michigan. Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye, featured prominently on the Raisins soundtracks, were some of the most famous Motowners.

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