Longreads Best of 2013: The Most Surprising Piece of Cultural Criticism of the Year

Elizabeth Hyde Stevens is author of the book Make Art Make Money: Lessons from Jim Henson on Fueling Your Creative Career.

“I was shocked that Todd VanDerWerff was able to write such a serious essay about the show DuckTales. As a kid, I saw every episode, and didn’t think much about why it was good, or who made it. This essay looks at why Frank Wells and Michael Eisner pumped so much money into the series, and why, sadly, such an expenditure would never happen today.

“Since my own work examines the behind-the-scenes money at play behind the Muppets and Sesame Street, reading this essay on AV Club was like discovering a kindred spirit. I think it takes a lot of courage to seriously exhume and explore the loves of your youth with the wary eyes of an adult. It seems to me like the most mature thing you could do with your time, but most people will dismiss it as kids stuff. But if you care about good art, I think it’s important to know how artists of the past funded their work and got it past the naysaying accountants, executives, and boardrooms. This kind of thing just fascinates me, so finding this article was such a delight!”