There’s just something about fictional food (or fictional portrayals of food). Whether it’s in a cartoon, a TV show, or anime, it just always looks so damn good. You find yourself sitting there and asking questions like, how can I possibly want to eat cartoon, fictional food? But there’s something about its intangibility and connection to childhood memories that makes it all the more appealing.

And so, we gathered the best depictions of fictional food in films and TV shows and ranked them accordingly.

9. Turkish Delight – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

https://twitter.com/weekndjoji/status/1092502966286864385?s=20&t=LR5BizESwDPie16vrl2v3A

Now, I know it exists in real life but there is just something magical about this Turkish delight. Its seemingly squishy yet al-dente appearance, alongside its perfectly powdered complexion makes it look unbelievably appetising – and I don’t even like the real thing!

It looks like how I’d expect a cloud to taste if it was cut up into squares and dished out. How they made it look so good I’ll never know.

8. Hot chocolate of dreams – The Simpsons Movie

Remember that scene in The Simpsons movie when Ned makes a disheartened Bart some “cocoa” – as the Americans call it – you know the one, yeah? Of course you do, because it’s impossible to forget an image like that.

When it’s cold out all I think about is that hot chocolate. When there’s forecast for snow all I think about that hot chocolate. It appeals to both visual and auditory senses, and that toasted marshmallow on top really is the crème de la crème of its appeal. What I’d give to sip some of that chocolatey goodness on a winter’s day.

7. Chocolate cake – Matilda

https://twitter.com/333rdeye_/status/1187882892946558980?s=20&t=BlnQhGvtgc_uX_ywOYBHgg

I don’t know what it is about this cake. You can buy chocolate cake literally anywhere and yet this one really takes the cake (sorry, not sorry).

Despite the supposed involvement “sweat and blood” had in the cake-making process, it’s hard not to find yourself longing for a bite of the final product. I don’t know whether it’s the size of the cake, its crumbling-at-the-touch texture, or its mounts of chocolate ganache, but it looks so good it makes me wonder if I could actually eat the whole thing. Not to dampen Brucie’s impressive achievement, of course.

6. Ratatouille – Ratatouille

Any other time I’d be horrified at the prospect of a dish cooked by a rat. Although admittedly, a little intrigued. However, Remy’s chef skills in Ratatouille would make me happily rescind my prior judgements. He makes a tonne of appealing food throughout the film but the final scene with the Ratatouille is otherworldly.

The vibrancy of the colours, the neatly stacked vegetables, layered perfectly in line with each other. I can honestly say I’ve never wanted a stack of vegetables more in my life.

5. Tubby custard and toast – The Teletubbies

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Our Teletubby watching days may be far behind us but our endless longing for tubby custard and toast certainly isn’t. This one feels pretty inexplicable, and yet, it’s somehow universal.

The custard looks like it could be used to paint the wall of a bedroom and the tubby toast always looks a tad too overcooked. And yet, nothing would make me happier than to tuck into a tubby toast and custard combo. Maybe it has something to do with watching it from a young age, or maybe toast with a smiley face etched in is a nice thought. Ultimately, all I know is it looks irresistible.

4. Krabby Patty – Spongebob Squarepants

https://twitter.com/linsr_/status/1182005340742832129?s=20&t=2l7rvKLc6EcmiGlyhvEpqg

Plankton dedicated his life to trying to get his hands on its recipe. Squidward spiralled into a krabby patty-induced frenzy after trying one for the first time. Spongebob lives to make them because he worships them so much. If you ask me, all the signs suggest that the krabby patty has got to be one exceptional burger.

It’s hard not to watch a show that, in many ways, revolves around one particular item and not be at least a bit curious about it. Honestly, I don’t even think they look that spectacular but it’s hard to ignore the way everyone goes on about them. A respectable #4 for that.

3. Moon Cheese – Wallace and Gromit

Cheese? A very real food. Moon cheese? That stuff is reserved for Wallace and Gromit. But my god, I wish it existed in the real world too. The soft cutting motions of the cheese and the crunch as Wallage digs his teeth into it is nothing short of perfection.

I love cheese but there’s no real world cheese that will ever measure up to the kind seen in Wallace and Gromit.

2. Pizza – A Goofy Movie

It only has a few seconds of spotlight but I’d go as far to say that the pizza from A Goofy Movie looks ethereal. Maybe I’m biased because I love pizza, but those slices of cheesy heaven deserved more screen-time. And I don’t mean for the fictional characters’ sakes but rather the audience watching, just so they could dream just a little longer about what it might be like to take a bite out of one.

I put the love of this fictional food down to its excess of cheese, weighing the pointed ends down and demanding to be repositioned on top of the slice, as P.J Pete so eloquently demonstrates. It’s an illustrative masterpiece.

1. Scooby Snacks – Scooby Doo

The king of the realm of fictional food has got to be, probably unsurprisingly, scooby snacks. There’s something about the way a fictional dog food has bonded thousands of people since childhood that makes it worthy of crowning glory.

And as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about the cartoon snacks or the live-action ones. All fictional depictions of scooby snacks look good. Although I’d be less tempted to try the ones you can buy online these days, don’t want to ruin the childhood dream or anything.

Ranking cartoon and fictional food | Childhood nostalgia?

It was serious decision-making process but there you have it, the final rankings of cartoon and fictional food. At least according to my opinion. Interestingly, they’re all films you’d probably associate with childhood nostalgia. So maybe that’s all it is after all? I guess maybe we’ll never know.

 

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