When did the Sun-Maid Raisin girl get all Rodney Yee on us?

Here she is, early 1900s:

Innocent and pure; a bit - sare I say - hirsute; pale as a ghost and rockin' a bonnett.

And here she is attempting some sort of Triangle Pose, peering out from a People Magazine during my flight back from NY last week:

Girl is in capri-length yoga pants; has a tan; is slimmed down...and is still rockin' a bonnett (tho slightly less puffy.)

Hmmm. Did this change need to happen? The old Sun-Maid gal was so relatable, with her slightly plump forearms and Jolene Bleach secrets. This new one seems more like one of those fit models in the magazines that makes me want to get a six-pack airbrushed on. And while we're at it, why does Strawberry Shortcake suddenly look like a Bratz Doll? She used to be so laid-back and oh-so Berry Cool. (Here's a good before and after shot.) And, according to The New York Times, my cuddly wuddly Care Bears are being reinvigorated with "a fresh look this fall" consisting of less belly fat and longer eyelashes.

I swear, if Jessica Rabbit gets a breast reduction and Hello Kitty starts sporting a mouth, I will not be a happy camper.

Comments

That picture makes me want to grab a box dried up grapes STAT!!

huh.

Im more old school than palmtreechick as it makes me wanna TURN ON THEM and transfer my raisaffections to craisins.

why do we mess with success? (although after reading how people were "freaked out" by old school Wendy when Wendys tried to bring her back in their commercials perhaps THATS WHY.)

frick I am wrapping up but THANK GOODNESS SHE ISNT SPORTING A RODNEY YEE PACKAGE.

Im a child.

Wow. I guess the message here is that raisins magically transformed her into skinny, hyper-cool and spiritually aware!

How stupid. Next thing you know, Mickey Mouse will have a tattoo and a doo-rag and be riding a Harley...

What's the point of sticking with a familiar logo, when it's so altered it's no longer familiar?

V.

No, not the care bears too?! Now they're messing with me personally. Strawberry Shortcake was bad enough, but the care bears should have rounded bellies!

Boo! Hiss! I like the original much, much better (of both the raisin girl and Strawberry Shortcake--do you remember her snail friend, Escargot?)!

No, I was just being sarcastic, Mizfit. It seems like a very bizarre ad for raisins! Makes no sense to me.

haha i saw that in a magazine not too long ago and was confused as to why she would wear a bonnet to the beach. or a bonnet period.

maybe she doesnt want the sun to turn her skin into a raisin.

ba-ZING!

www.groundedfitness.com

Th originals just seem more "comfortable" - maybe it's just because we're so used to seeing them? I don't know, but the new versions don't seem quite as warm.

Seeing those pics of Strawberry Shortcake and Angelina Ballerina (Re-loaded) makes me so very sad....I am a child of the 80s' and this is NOT how I remember my favorite toys. Honestly, I'd be afraid of raising a daughter in this day and age, there's far too many ways to ruin her self-esteem before she's even five. Not cool.

This is actually really depressing. Why is skinny equated with modern? It's as if the closer women get to equality in the professional and political world, the more we have to shrink ourselves down so we become less visible. No wonder our girls are confused.

But, but, but! Bears are SUPPOSED to be flabby!!

they've reinvented all our favorite toys from the 80s (and earlier 90s, too) and ruined them. littlest pet shop, pound puppies, polly pocket, etc. IT'S HORRIBLE!

i have a friend who is the biggest strawberry shortcake fan (and, in college, won a bar's halloween costume contest wearing the ORIGINAL outfit - which isn't sexy - that's impressive) and can't stand the new version.

if they do that with care bears, it'll be somewhat similar to my little pony - those got skinnier, too.

I had this feminist group therapist in residential treatment who said that Hello Kitty had an eating disorder based on the fact that her cheeks were puffed out and her body is so small compared to her head.

These people are ruining all the good things from my childhood! What gives?!? And why does her arm look like it will snap in half in a strong breeze?

So confused....

I saw the strawberry shortcake makeover and was a bit upset, being an eighties toddler, i went nuts for her (i wasn't into jem, she freaked me out). Have you noticed betty crocker got thinner too. i wonder with they will slim down mrs. butterworth. And did you see the new michelin man?http://gemssty.com/2007/02/23/slimming-michelin-man/ gah, come on! cartoon characters dont even eat or workout! hmm but this is an interesting concept for gossip mags, you know, instead of gawking slimmer celebs they can start accusing the sun-maid girl with an eating disorder.

I think the new Jessica Rabbit will probably be getting a breast augmentation if she gets anything, not a reduction. (Just watched women over 40 getting bigger breasts on the Rachael Ray show). And anyway, shouldn't Jessica be a little cougar-ish by now anyway?

"hello kitty starts sporting a mouth..."!!! I love it! I also love the original Sun Maid girl - prolly 'cause she looks like me as a kid, hirsuteness and all;)

What's up with the bonnet anyway?

It doesn't even make sense - where are the grapes that she is turning into raisins? She's probably going to get skin cancer soon...

Hello Kitty is a lollipop head!!!!! That is hilarious!!!!!!

I haven't looked at any of the "makeovers" for classic toys. It's just too depressing. I refuse to buy stuff like Bratz dolls for my daughter (how I despise those little brats!), or anything that could have a negative influence on her self-image. (Not that I have to worry; right now her favorite toys are my husband's dirty, smelly sneakers. Go figure.)
And wearing a bonnet while doing yoga? That's just downright dangerous!

WHAT? Strawberry Shortcake is for KIDS is she not? She looks like a frickin POLE DANCER!

Yours, absolutely devastated,

TA x

Leslie, I must be a weirdo or something, or maybe I was just born 150 years too late. I think the earlier Sun-Maid is far prettier. Farrrrr prettier.

What's also interesting to me is that we live in a society that worships youth, and a little pudge is clearly more youthful than appearing gaunt -- yet we run from our own flesh while we've still got it. I often look at older women who are very thin, and who've clearly spent a fortune on plastic surgery to maintain their "youthful appearance", and I want to pull them aside and say, "You know, a little chub would make you look at least ten years younger." (I also want to enlighten them that a fake-looking face may look less old than the real older thing, but it AIN'T PRETTY -- it's CREEPY. But that's another story.)

I wonder if adults felt the same way about Elvis back in the day...