Why Did Chowder Never Get A Cookbook? – Animation Scoop

Why Did Chowder Never Get A Cookbook?

Earlier this week, VIZ announced that they are releasing a cookbook based on Frederator’s web series Bee & Puppycat by Natasha Allegri. It’s somewhat surprising news, but begs the question of why an even more well-known cooking-based cartoon never got the same treatment?

Remember Chowder? The Cartoon Network series about the eponymous plucky purple creature and his escapades as an apprentice in mentor Mung Daal’s kitchen? If ever there was a cartoon about food, cooking, and all the exciting adventures you can get into with them, this was it. Creator C.H. Greenblatt even went so far as to use actual food as interstitials cut scenes, and to include a mock recipe/advice segment in the end credits. Not to mention of course, that all the characters were given food-related names, and all the foods given whimsical substitutes in return.

chowder-mixer

Unfortunately, the show never received the merchandise it deserved, and always left me wondering why nobody thought to do the obvious and release a cookbook. It’s a match made in heaven if ever there was one, and besides, it would have helped Greenblatt’s desire and original reason for creating the show which was to get more kids interested in cooking. It could even have been a series of books! One for starters, one for deserts, one for eastern food, etc. Just imagine some of the wild and fanciful names of things that kids or grown-ups could have been creating in their kitchens.

Alas! It was not to be, and a great opportunity was lost.

Which makes the Bee & Puppycat announcement all the more confusing. The show isn’t primarily about food, and its fans aren’t known for being foodies of any kind. Perhaps there’s some secret data that suggests otherwise?

Animation-related merchandise has had to become ever more unique and exciting in order to attract buyers. Which isn’t a negative development by any means. The range of merch that fans can buy of shows today is well beyond what any fan could have hoped for in years and decades past. We ought to be welcoming a Bee & Puppycat cookbook as a sign that studios have at last recognized the need for things that satisfy needs that fans never knew existed.

chowder-book

Chowder should have been afforded the same degree of experimentation. But in a pre-Adventure Time success era, that was not to be. Which makes you wonder how the show would have fared if it were released today. It still holds up creatively, so there’s little doubt it would have been popular. If it were, then we undoubtedly would be seeing ‘Cooking With Chowder’ on the shelves in addition to the figurines, plush toys and fan-created merch that shows like Adventure Time and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic have been able to bring to market.

The lack of a Chowder cookbook is a good case study for animated shows and merchandising, and serves as a fine example of how great ideas can be denied their chance to shine. Here’s hoping the Bee & Puppycat cookbook manages to succeed where Chowder failed.

easy-eats

Charles Kenny
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