Gen Z Totally Missed Out On This Now-Discontinued Popsicle

Gen Z has missed out on more than its fair share of life experiences. The pandemic forced classes online for at least a year, robbing them of a full high school or university experience. The looming threat of climate change may leave them bereft of joys older generations took for granted like "fresh fruit at any time of year" or "cities that aren't underwater." All of that they could take in stride — but missing out on Itzakadoozie popsicles? That's a real tragedy. (We assume, at least — having been born in 1997, this author is technically right on the generational cusp between millennials and Gen Z, but identifies as the former due to an abiding hatred of TikTok.)

What on earth is an Itzakadoozie? It's a popsicle that resembles one of those stick lollipops with rainbow swirls you can get at old-fashioned candy stores. It originated at some point in the latter half of the 1990s, possibly as a promotional tie-in to Disney's "Tarzan." There is at least one commercial featuring children sliding along the swirly multicolored stripes of the popsicle in a similar manner to the King of the Jungle. But, other than that, details are a bit vague. It was a popsicle that existed for a little while, then seemingly disappeared, leaving only ghostly "out of stock" pages on the Canadian Walmart website. Other ice cream truck classics have stuck around, but not these.

It's a shame those of us who weren't around in those halcyon days of the late '90s couldn't enjoy these flavorful treats. For a while, forlorn bloggers would write to Nestlé (the company that sold Itzakadoozies) asking for updates, only to receive matter-of-fact correspondences informing them that the popsicles were only available for individual sale, rather than in boxes. Then, even individually sold Itzakadoozies seemed to disappear. (Man, it's weird saying a word like "Itzakadoozies" over and over. We feel like Mr. Mxyzptlk.)

Then, in 2013, a breakthrough: at Disney World, Itzakadoozies were being sold. Unfortunately for those who wanted the classic swirly experience, however, this was a much more standard, unexciting popsicle bar. Instead of a near-rainbow of colors, this was mostly just purple and yellow — and instead of being flavored with natural fruit juices, these were mostly just sugar and citric acid. They still tasted pretty good, apparently, but it wasn't what we were promised back in the '90s, was it? (At least they're better than Oscar Mayer "Cold Dogs.")

Almost 10 years later, other blog posts popped up about Itzakadoozies at Walt Disney World, this time back in that classic spiral shape. So, we guess this has a happy ending after all, especially if you'd rather not eat dairy and you're not in the mood for shaved ice.