Let me just state, for the record, that I have nothing but fierce respect for the cartoonists experts of yore. I decided to make this gif by modifying my little hamster frame-by-frame and grabbing a still each time, and it took me foreeeeeever. And I was using software that simply required modification of individual elements, not needing to redraw each frame in its entirety. All of you ghosts that had to do it the brute-force way, mad props!
Your hamster friend up there is eating a cookie made with special hamster “chocolate” drops. You should never give real chocolate to your hamster, or to any pets, as it’s super-toxic to our furry friends.
But you are now probably craving the real thing, a chocolate chip cookie. The favorite “Toll House Cookie” was invented in Massachusetts in 1939 by Ruth Wakefield, propritror and cook at the Toll House Inn in Witman. In return for letting them share her popular recipe on the labels of their semi-sweet chocolate bars (and later on their chocolate morsels, developed specifically for cookie making), Nestlé supplied Wakefield with a lifetime supply of chocolate.
Over the years there have been numerous variations on the classic chocolate chip cookie. Hershey has several on their site, including one that uses cocoa in the batter, “Chewy Brownie Cookies.” Oh my, I think I have to run to the kitchen and make these right now.
When it comes to trusted sweet recipes, chef and bon vivant David Lebovitz is one of my go-to sources. His “Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies” are so yummy. What’s better than a perfect balance of sweet and savory? Lebovitz also offers a recipe for a crispier cookie if that’s your jam: “Thin, Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies.” Yeah, that’s going in my oven soon too.
Or maybe you are looking for cookie that strays far from the drop cookie texture of the original. For that, I recommend Alison Roman’s “Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies.”
Enjoy your cookies I’ll dunk one in a glass of milk in your honor.
Nestlé: Nestlé Toll House's Original Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hersheyland: 5 Fun Twists on the Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie, 12/30/20
As much as I like cookies, I've already committed myself to making cupcakes today. These recipes will have to wait.
But on the subject of animation, specifically on how taxing it is, here's a fun little video based on the recollections of Richard Williams (animation director for Who Framed Roger Rabbit) talking to veteran Disney animator Milt Kahl.
https://youtu.be/KEdcOR179_Q?si=tcLkwmLVgo3PRZHk