The candy that comes in refillable dispensers with characters on top is PEZ.
PEZ is both the name of the candy and the dispenser brand. The candy consists of small, rectangular, pressed sweets that are loaded into a spring mechanism inside the dispenser. Tilting the character head back exposes one piece at a time.
PEZ began in Austria as a peppermint candy created by Eduard Haas III. The name comes from PfeffErminZ, the German word for peppermint. Early dispensers were shaped like cigarette lighters and marketed as an alternative to smoking, rather than as children’s toys.
The familiar character dispensers appeared in the 1950s, helping turn PEZ into a children’s product and a major collectible. Santa Claus, Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Star Wars figures, and many other licensed characters have appeared on dispenser heads. The candy itself is refillable, while the character designs are often collected separately.