(Note: I have been asked that question a grand total of no times whatsoever. And even if I had, I doubt that I could come up with a civil answer for it. Nonetheless, it *is* the title of this particular column. Unfortunately.)
There exists in most of us, I am sure, an inexplicable desire to create.
(I'm sure it stems back to the Garden of Eden, when Adam created the first
lame excuse.) Whether it be a songwriter trying to come up with that surefire
hit that won't be forgotten three minutes after you hear it, a film maker
trying to be the next Spielberg (By the way, good luck!), or just a shifty
accountant trying to do some innovative bookkeeping so the boss won't notice
he's a few hundred thousand shy of a bankload, we have the need to create
SOMETHING. Anything. I know I feel it as strongly as anybody.
In my case, that creativity has taken many forms over several years (not
all of them entirely successful, I might add). I've been, at one time or
another, a songwriter (unpublished), musician (undiscovered), singer (ditto),
actor (local theater), and humorist (sometimes intentional). (We SHAN'T
discuss my abortive attempts to be an artist, thank you.) It is, in fact, only
in the last five years, when I was introduced to the internet, that my (so-
called) creativity found a place to fester and infect the world. You know,
kind of like a Pauly Shore movie. (It occurs to me that I'd better find a
different analogy. That Pauly Shore one's starting to make me nauseous.)
First and foremost, of course, there were those TTA fanfics (20 at last
count, including several collaborations). But writing fictional scenarios
about some of my favorite cartoon characters wasn't enough for me, oh no; I
had to try something else. Once I learned how to do basic HTML (nothing fancy,
just the rudimentary stuff), I set up a website; in this case, for one of my
favorite British pop bands, Sailor, simply because there were no other ones at
the time. Anywhere. Well, word got around to other fans around the world, and
next thing you know, I'm getting emails (and records, tapes, videos, and
autographed CDs!) from places as far away as Denmark, Germany, Australia,
Sweden, England (and even one or two from the U.S.)... in short, just about
everywhere. Somehow, I'd struck a nerve.
Of course, after that, I returned to Tiny Toons; this time, the original
versions of "Furrball's Alley" and "Furrball's Gallery". Another website (this
time for Jacob's Trouble); then came the creation of the unique group effort,
The Acme Gazette. (Despite repeated efforts to get a second "issue" off the
ground, it now appears there's only going to be the first one. Ah, well...)
This came sometime after the whimsically titled "Oh, No! Not ANOTHER TTA Home
Page!! (Yeah, it's another TTA home page...)", which rounded up TTA humor from
all over the web and put it in its place. Literally). More websites, and still
more directions for the creativity. Most often, they worked. Sometimes, they
didn't. In each case, they came about because of that urge to create something
that didn't exist previously, and share it with the world. If it were already
out there, I wouldn't bother (unless of course, I thought I could do it
better).
So where has all this creativity gotten me five years later?
As of this writing, I'm now 46, heading towards 47 and not getting any
younger, I'm now the webmaster of the Official Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan
Home Page, "Tennessee Birdwalk", and as I get progressively older (now THERE'S
a mixed message!), I always keep returning to Acme Acres. I don't know why,
exactly. After five years and twenty stories, which span the length of time
from the original Toonsters' junior year (whenever THAT was) to right about
now, and introduced several original characters into the TTAFF fold to boot -
from RuBarb Purrenstein (who began as a bit player, and rapidly took on a life
of her own) to that delightful little mink, Miranda - one would think that I
don't have anything more to prove. (I know *I* certainly think that.) The
recent collaborations with Jennifer Cleckley, resulting in "The Bloomin'
Loonies" series, have taken my own characters in a direction I never would
have dreamed of (a development I find exhilirating). And while I confess that
it *is* kind of flattering to be held up as an example of "the best TTAFF
writer out there" (or whatever), it is, ultimately, a mantle I'm not entirely
comfortable with (if I ever was to begin with). Sure, my storytelling ability
might have gotten a little better over time, but even I know I'm not going to
be compared to James Fennimore Cooper or William Faulkner or Dave Barry any
time soon. (Hey, I might be good, but I'm no dummy!) Anyway, that's not why I
do it in the first place.
It's because I still feel this need to create. It's a good
feeling. And the good Lord willing, I'll be creating for a few more years, at
least. After all, there's still dozens of stories of those denizens of Acme
Acres left to tell.
And I ain't done telling them yet.
Heck, I've only just started...
(C)(P) Dec. 19, 2000 by Jerry D. Withers. All rights reserved.