Convert JSON array to Python list

import json

array = '{"fruits": ["apple", "banana", "orange"]}'
data  = json.loads(array)
print data['fruits']
# the print displays:
# [u'apple', u'banana', u'orange']

You had everything you needed. data will be a dict, and data['fruits'] will be a list

Tested on Ideone.

import json
array = '{"fruits": ["apple", "banana", "orange"]}'
data  = json.loads(array)
fruits_list = data['fruits']
print fruits_list