I’m “ToonTown Rewriting” My Life (A Mini Post)
91: My love for Toontown started at 10 years old and continues on through a dedicated fan server and a renewed understanding of the threat of Cogs.
If this gem isn’t bringing you back, perhaps I need to reintroduce Toontown to those out of the early 2000’s nostalgia loop….from Lil’ Gab’s perspective, of course.
Toontown is an online game from my childhood originally created and hosted by Disney. Now, Toontown Rewritten and other fan-made servers like it host their own versions of the game, free for anyone to download and play. It’s really cool to see people volunteer their time and energy into programming, updating, and maintaining these sites just because of their love of the game and desire to keep it alive after Disney shut the original server down in September of 2013.
Now, fans can try out many versions of Toontown with new cogs, new art styles, new leveling systems, and new game mechanics (cough cough Toontown: Corporate Clash cough cough). I, however, like my childhood nostalgia machines to stay the same as before. So, Toontown Rewritten is my Toontown of choice. And though you don’t have to claim an allegiance to only one Toontown server, Toontown Rewritten is by far the most popular version of the game. And I am hoping to be lending my writing talents to them soon, for newsletters and writing Toon tasks.
Lil’ Gab is psyched!
A young me entered the Toontown fandom around the time it was created. The commercial linked above (and ones like it) played often on Disney Channel and I was more than excited to jump in. However, I was majorly intimidated by the cogs back then, following the rule I now follow to play Last of Us: never play after dark.
This was also the age that the internet was becoming more about social gaming and entertainment. YouTube, Club Penguin, and friggin’ Poptropica were all any of my friends could talk about. But my mom was very hesitant about allowing me to make accounts online. Even when I got permission to have an account, my chat settings were hella limited due to stranger danger. I am thankful for my mom’s protectiveness in this, as we all know about the insane creeps that can be found on the internet, but I was definitely the most frightened, unsure toon out there in the tooniverse while my friends ran wild with their online friend groups.
Despite being afraid of speaking to people and severely limiting my playtime to the hours before it got too dark, I was able to level up my toon (a short, pink, fat cat named Fluffy Pinkerdoodle) to the point of defeating my first factory.
Wait a second… you might not know what the heck I’m talking about!
What the DONALD DUCK is Toontown?
In a world where Mickey and his friends used to wander around pre- fan server, a whole lotta other anthropomorphic animals (mice, ducks, horses, deer, monkeys…) are living out their “toon” lives. Welcome to Toontown— where you can spend your days fishing, gardening, and earning jellybeans to use as in-game currency without a care…that is, if it wasn’t for the COGS taking over the town!! “Cogs” are what toons call the robot businessmen trying to turn Toontown into a dreary world of office buildings. Not big business!!
To fight to protect their happy toon buildings and the rights of toons everywhere, we fight the cogs with silliness! To quote Tutorial Tom, “The Cogs can’t take a joke!” To fight their intimidating business lingo, toons are armed with “gags.” The more gags you use, the more experience you get, unlocking gags that give more damage and training for new types of gags that can heal your friends, attack all cogs at once, or add a boost to your friends’ attacks. Battling cogs is really meant to be a team effort, with many gags designed to play off others. It’s also so much more fun to play with friends— or, in my case, a sister. Especially because she gets just as hyped as I do about experiencing all of this again.
Tapping into Childhood Joy
Upon this recent replay of Toontown that I started about a month ago on Rewritten, I realized how applicable the story of Toontown is to my real life.
I captured the moment that made me realize: an aptly named “Micromanager” declaring what my previous real-life micromanaging boss used to insinuate.
In moments like these, when micromanagers are throwing career-related insults that deal damage, I am suddenly back in my office chair as a project manager. This surprise therapy was not what I was expecting when logging on. But in this moment, I am reminded that I am still taller, happier, and more colorful than the short, aggressive businessperson in front of me. And how satisfying it is to be a toon in Toontown, where instead of trying to be polite until I can go cry in the bathroom, I can whip out a whole cream pie and fling it right into the micromanager’s stupid face!!
What a metaphor for life! Here we all are, just trying to get by and be happy, until the toxic, oppressive environment of the corporate world and our current capitalist system try to take over. Just like the toons, our laff meters drop dangerously, sometimes even to zero, making us wallow around slowly in sadness. But unlike the real world, we can fight back in the best way possible!
There are lots of parallels to Toontown’s Cogs in storytelling. The danger that Cogs bring don’t result in the loss of life, but the loss of someone’s ability to find joy, which I would argue is the mental equivalent and just as dangerous. When I’m taken down mentally by the state of our country, a less than ideal political conversation questioning human rights, or someone minimizing my church trauma, it deals damage. I have to make sure to take time to recover what I lost by taking care of my inner child— whom you all know as Lil’ Gab. I get her favorite snacks, make sure she has time to rest, and I make plans with her friends. It’s through feel-good interactions with safe people in my circle that I am able to recover the most joy.
And it’s in things that are not productive, that simply exist for my joy and entertainment— like Toontown— that help me tap into that childhood joy. When I start asking what I want and taking those desires as seriously as I do my physical needs, I feel so much better and recharged for other activities and tasks the day necessitates. Just playing Toontown and being silly with my sister online fills my cup in a way that other ways of relaxing don’t do.
Maybe your childlike joy isn’t in Toontown, but out somewhere or in something else. A friend of mine recently started collecting Pokemon cards again and that has brought her so much joy! Zach always returns so energized after seeing a film in the theater, as he has since he was little.
Do yourself a favor and find something that sparks that childlike joy. It might be an activity you have retired due to being “too old” for it anymore, like my Toontown game or maybe a board game worth finding. Or it might be visiting a place that brought you comfort as a child, like the library or Barnes & Noble, if you’re me.
Whatever it is, devote some of your time to it each week. I think you’ll find your laff meter is staying full a little easier, no matter what the Cogs in your life are throwing at you.
<3
Weekly Subscriptions & Cancellations💁🏽♀️
the ideas and soundtracks I want running in my head, or not.
🙋🏽♀️SUBSCRIBED to:
Continuing to do the work in reparenting myself
Chiropractic care during pregnancy. Can’t talk it up enough!
SPLIT FICTION! We just downloaded it and have already finished it because we had too much fun! The pig story was hilarious as well as shocking. iykyk Absolutely LOVED the story. A little bummed that they didn’t fall in love, but I’m happy they both became friends through their trauma. :)
The idea that not everyone will think something is right and I am still allowed to question that.
🤦🏽♀️UNSUBSCRIBED from:
The idea that I need to prove my view to everyone. I’ll just keep writing blog posts about it instead of spending hours trying to write out the perfect text to someone who isn’t actually open to what I have to say.
JK Rowling. But I really have a hesitancy to boycott all Harry Potter works. It’s a part of my childhood that I don’t want her to take away from me. It makes me deeply sad that she has become such an Umbridge, a character she herself wrote that was bent on oppression.
The idea that being older automatically means being wiser.
People who still wave Trump flags…………………
🌻Show & Tell: My Toon!🌻
Looks here, it’s my playable toon, Mitzi Cuddlebutter. Toontown has a silly name creator function that is definitely an enjoyable experience. Brittany Broski agreed.
Time for some TLCCC💕
Treating myself to: chiropractor visits FINALLY. It’s not really treating myself since it’s fully covered by insurance, but what a TREAT it is! Man, what a release. And man, the emotional release was crazy….
Listening to: RAYE. (Love her!) Lizzy Hilliard. (So sweet!) Selena Gomez. (Honestly wish I liked her album more. Bring back Naturally era lol)
Crafting: a new room setup for Oak. We might actually paint our house for the first time. White walls be gone! I have a very artist urge to paint designs everywhere. And I might just do it! Why be an adult if I can’t do what I want? haha
Craving: vacation and distraction from my pregnancy aches and pains. If I’m gonna be struggling, I might as well be struggling some place fun.
Caring SO much about: Foothills Christian Church. Literally bringing back my hope in humanity and the hope for finding a church that isn’t so corrupt. There ARE genuinely good Christian churches out there.