cartoon food is the best food

mmm forbidden donut

Jun 21, 2022

When I was a kid, nothing made me hungrier than watching cartoon characters eat. There’s something so ridiculously appetizing about brightly colored food being lasered into your brain through your eyeholes.

One of the great benefits of animation is that they have the ability to exaggerate tiny details. An extra-long cheese pull on some melty pizza. Succulent drops of moisture dripping off a burger. Brightly colored veggies matched with unnaturally crisp sound effects.

I kind of started this idea for an article a long time ago as just some nostalgic filler, but the more I went back into my memory to pull out these foods, the more I started to think that these cartoons may have influenced my taste in the real world, or at least what my ideal food should be.

In this great article from Elephant Magazine, the author says:

“Whether it’s a three-tiered cake, an outrageous hat made of nachos or a simple breakfast of fruit and toast, illustrated and animated food often appears more delicious than the real thing because of good old imagination and our ability to ‘taste’ things visually.”

Eating is so incredibly visual.

So today, let’s take a walk back into our memories and enjoy a visual meal of nostalgia.

The Krabby Patty

Whenever I think of cartoon food, the first thing that comes to mind is the almighty Krabby Patty. I still remember dying laughing at the “How-To” employee training episode where they build up to what the secret ingredient is — but cut the episode before revealing it.

A Krabby Patty is what all burgers should be (to me). Perfectly set, clean, and organized. Not messy. Easy to eat. Made by a talking sponge. Nice and salty (I guess I just imagine it’s salty because it’s under the sea).

Studio Ghibli

You could fill a book on just the amazing food created in Studio Ghibli movies. But the one that stands out to me the most is the heartwarming scene from Ponyo where the mom makes instant ramen into a full meal for the two kids.

The sense of anticipation when she pours the hot water in and the kids have to wait those gut-wrenching couple minutes. The sense of wonder when she uncovers the bowls to reveal secret slabs of pork, half a boiled egg, and some veggies. The way Ponyo jumps up and down and goes for the meat immediately with no concern for the well-being of her mouth. V relatable.

Anything Homer Simpson Put In His Mouth

I was literally raised on the Simpsons (you may have noticed by my constant Simpsons GIF usage). Seeing as how it’s literally the longest-running show on television (33 years and going strong), there are way way way too many foods I could put here.

But to me, the most memorable food wasn’t the iconic pink donut. It wasn’t the questionable-meat Krusty Burger. It wasn’t any of the pizzas or candies or pretzels. In fact, it wasn’t even a food.

It was the iconic All-Syrup Super Squishy that gave Bart and Milhouse hallucinogenic visions and prompted an epic musical number. I could literally taste the bright-green sour lime taste as Apu struggles to pour it out of the machine.

A close second would be the Krusty Rib-Wich, most likely because my dad and I are both huge fans of McDonald’s McRib, the elusive boneless pork sandwich dipped in tangy BBQ sauce and topped with raw onion and dill pickles.

Grubs and Bugs from The Lion King

Don’t sit there for one second and pretend like you didn’t want to try one of those big juicy caterpillars that Timon served up on a colorful platter to Simba. You’re lying.

Although Timon says they taste like chicken, I imagine either a juicy, fruity gusher that explodes in your mouth or something along the lines of a crispy shrimp.

Honorable Mention: Popeye’s Spinach

I only mention this one because as I was writing, I specifically had a flashback to walking through the chilly aisles of Vons with my mom and seeing a big bag of spinach with Popeye on the outside, flexing his oddly huge forearms.

A little marketing magic combined with my mom outright lying to me about the muscle-building properties of spinach had me snagging a bag and promising to finish the whole thing.

Narrator: He did not finish the whole thing.

If you have kids, trick them with some healthy food propaganda.

‘til next time

I started writing this article thinking I would finish my whole list of cartoon foods and I didn’t even scratch the surface. So many other good ones, so there will probably be a part 2. Tell me what your greatest cartoon food memories are and I’ll tell you if it belongs in the hall of fame or not.

tangy language

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