For whatever reasons, these talented individuals, and others, have chosen to steer clear of the restaurant business entirely. Their absence is conspicuous — especially in an age in which every celebrity from Celine Dion to Michael Jordan slings the figurative hash in his or her own dining establishment. Ren and Stimpy, A Bug’s Life, and The Wrong Trousers are all very well, of course. But when all is said and done, they’re no substitute for a good meal. And so we present-day animation fans are a little sadder — not to mention hungrier — for the loss. True, we have our videotapes and laserdiscs, our coffee-table books, our magazines, and our cartoon-centric Web sites and newsgroups. We’ve got our yearly Disney features and 24-hour cartoon stations. In short, we’ve got everything that preceding generations of animation aficionados would have killed for. By almost any measure, we’re fortunate beyond compare. But we’ll never know what it was like to tuck into a seafood plater at Walt’s. Or to try the Reuben at Fleischer’s Famous Foods. Or to be paid $1.15 to put away a chopped steak at MGM. I hope this article has whetted your appetite — quite literally — for a return to the culinary days of cartoon studios past. If so, write a letter to Michael Eisner, phone Klasky and/or Csupo, e-mail Bill Plympton — just do something to tell the powers that be in the animation industry how you feel. Heaven knows I have. Again and again. Despite the restraining injunctions. If they build it, we will eat. —Harry McCracken In humble commemoration of Apatoons #100 Arlington, Massachusetts, USA, November 1998 |
