The snack that is so popular it sparked a movie in Japan

Earlier today I was reminded that last year during Golden Week my children went to see the movie "Tabekko Doubutsu: The Movie". What is unusual about this movie is that it is the most unexpected of movie adaptions - it is based on a popular snack in Japan!

"Tabekko Doubutsu" literally means "a child who eats animals" but the nuance is more "animal snacks for little eaters". The snack is made up of miniature biscuits in the shape of animals. Moreover, they have the name of the animal written in English on them. They were first released in 1978, but more than 40 years later they remain a particularly popular snack, especially with young children.

The company that created them, Ginbis, created Tabekko Doubutsu Day to fall on May 5th annually. Not just because it is Children's Day, but also because it also happens to be both the founding day of Ginbis as well as the birthday of its founder!