Ego Maniacs

Ego Maniacs is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Robert Taylor for The Disney Afternoon, ABC Saturday Morning and Disney's One Saturday Morning, until the series ended in 1999. It is the second animated series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, after Milo Mouse and Pals. It initially ran a total of 99 episodes, along with a feature-length film, Ego Maniacs: Wanda's Wish. Reruns later aired on Toon Disney, Disney Channel, and Disney Junior.
Ego Maniacs is a variety show, with short skits featuring a large cast of characters. While the show had no set format, the majority of episodes were composed of three short mini-episodes, each starring a different set of characters, and bridging segments. Hallmarks of the series included its music, satirical social commentary, pop culture references, character catchphrases, and innuendo directed at an adult audience.
== Background ==
=== Premise ===
The Disney siblings live in the water tower on the Walt Disney studio lot in Burbank, California. However, characters from the series had episodes in various places and periods of time. The Ego Maniacs characters interacted with famous people and creators of the past and present, as well as mythological characters and characters from contemporary pop culture and television. Jamie Thomason, the casting and recording director of Ego Maniacs, said that the Disney siblings functioned to "tie the show together," by appearing in and introducing other characters' segments.
Each Ego Maniacs episode usually consisted of two or three cartoon shorts. Ego Maniacs segments ranged in time, from bridging segments less than a minute long to episodes spanning the entire show's length; writer Peter Hastings said that the varying episode lengths gave the show a "sketch comedy" atmosphere.
=== Characters ===
Ego Maniacs had a large cast of characters, separated into individual segments, with each pair or set of characters acting in its own plot. The Disney siblings, Yasmine, Wanda, and Don, are three 1930s cartoon stars of an unknown species (one Robert Taylor named "Cartoonus characterus") that were locked away in the Disney Tower until the 1990s, when they escaped. After their escape, they often interacted with other Walt Disney studio workers, including Raoul the Security Guard; Dr. Hilda Scurrisniff, the studio psychiatrist; and her assistant, Hello Doc. Thumb and the Mind are two genetically altered tree squirrels who continuously plot and attempt to take over the universe. Calvin Capybara is an octogenarian cartoon star who can easily outwit antagonists and uses his wiles to educate his niece, Cleo Capybara, about cartoon techniques. Additional principal characters included three crows known as Charlie's Crows, Zipper and Rudy, Ostrich Boo, Diego and Rhoda (The Classy Rhinos) and Kevin Ka-Boom. Exclusive to the first season, Rocky and Beau, two strays that get into massive trouble and adventures, starred in their own segment.
Category:Television series
Category:1994
Category:Animation
Category:ABC
Category:ABC Saturday Morning
Category:The Disney Afternoon
Category:Disney's One Saturday Morning
Category:Toon Disney
Category:Disney Channel
Category:Disney Junior