Boomers, Gen Xers, and Elder Millennials all know him. Once one of the most recognizable cereal mascots of the ’90s, Toucan Sam is a staple of many American childhoods. Reporter Judith Lake sits down with this pop-culture icon to discuss his rise and fall, the path to redemption, and the lessons learned along the way.
Judith: Thank you for agreeing to sit down with me. I know you had reservations about this interview.
Toucan Sam: Sure. I mean, everything is rage bait these days, and I just, you know, I’ve had my share of bad press.
Judith: You’re referring to your public breakdown?
Toucan Sam: Wow. We’re just getting right into it, huh? I mean… sure…
Judith: Let’s come back to that later. Did you always want to be an actor?
Toucan Sam: As far back as I can remember. Look, I was a child of the ’60s. My parents, though, they always looked back instead of forward. Everything about the way they lived just seemed small, you know? Small town. Small jobs. Small ideas.
Judith: Were they supportive of your ambitions?
Toucan Sam: Oh, God no. I delivered papers as a kid, and back then you could go to a movie for a buck fifty. That became my singular reason for doing anything, really. Work, school, all of it. I knew I wanted to be up on that screen. To be big. To be important.
Judith: Is it true that your first job with Kellogg’s was actually a research position?
Toucan Sam: That’s right. People are so impressed with a shark’s sense of smell, but my nose? I can smell a Froot Loop within a 50-mile radius. We would go town to town and put on shows. You know, “who has the Froot Loops in their pocket” kind of thing. But what we were really doing was sniffing out “loop deserts.” Places where stores didn’t carry our product. Places the marketing and numbers guys had missed.
Judith: So that’s not an act.
Toucan Sam: It wasn’t at first. But then, you know…
Judith: The cocaine?
Toucan Sam: I mean, with a beak this size, I was probably going through two eight-balls a day. When you have the success I had, with that kind of stress and more money than you can spend… well, it can get pretty easy to develop a habit.
Judith: Are you an addict?
Toucan Sam: What? No. I can’t get addicted to cocaine. I’m a bird. That’s just science.
Judith: I don’t think that’s true.
Toucan Sam: My ancestors were dinosaurs, not mammals. You think T-Rex couldn’t handle his drugs? I promise you, T-Rex could handle his drugs.
Judith: I don’t think cocaine existed back…
Toucan Sam: It’s a PLANT, Judith. It’s the coca plant. You think dinosaurs weren’t chewing that all day? Of course they were. You know how hard dinosaurs had to work? It wasn’t easy like it is these days. They had to wrestle giant snakes and alligators. They had, like, hundred-foot pythons back then. All day, Judith. Wrestling giant pythons.
Judith: Are you high right now?
Toucan Sam: That’s offensive. Why would you even ask me that?
Judith: Well, you are wearing sunglasses. Inside. And you aren’t wearing any pants.
Toucan Sam: I’m a bird, Judith!
Judith: What do you say to someone reading this who might be worried about your behavior? A lot of people on social media have been expressing some real concern about you lately.
Toucan Sam: I’d tell them to mind their own business, Judith. What is it about small people that makes them feel the need to constantly peck at others who have actually done something with their life?
Judith: Well, I think…
Toucan Sam: Sour grapes, Judith. Sour grapes. That’s what it is. Unimportant people in some crap town that never made it out.
Judith: Do you think it’s fair to say that you have contempt, then, for people who “never made it out,” as you put it?
Toucan Sam: No, I don’t, Judith. I think you’re putting words in my mouth.
Judith: You just said…
Toucan Sam: I know what I said, Judith. I have an excellent memory. And you know what? I’m going to remember you.
Judith: Okay, I think…
Toucan Sam: Oh, I’m going to remember you, Judith. You think you’re shit in this industry? I’m an icon. You think I can’t destroy you? You think because you’re writing this silly article that you’re famous like me?
Judith: I do not.
Toucan Sam: Yeah. You’re not. Nobody knows you. You know how lucky you are that I’m spending my time talking to you? This nose is famous, Judith. Take a look. You see this nose? I fucked Gene Kelly with this nose.
Judith: Wow. Okay. I think that’s a good place to…
Toucan Sam: And your mother.
Judith: And we’re done. Thank you for your time, Mr. Sam.
Toucan Sam: Fuck you, Judith.