Animaniacs

***Animaniacs*** is an American animated comedy television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block, before moving to The WB in 1995 until the series ended in 1998 as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block. It is the second animated series produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Animation, after *Tiny Toon Adventures*. It initially ran a total of 99 episodes, along with a feature-length film, *Wakko's Wish*.

*Animaniacs* 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, character catchphrases, and humor directed at an adult audience.

A revival of the series was announced by Hulu in January 2018, with at least two seasons to be produced in conjunction with Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, with producer Steven Spielberg, songwriter Randy Rogel, and many of the main voice actors returning, set to premiere on November 20, 2020, with a second season expected to premiere in 2021.

## Background

### Premise

The Warner siblings live in the water tower on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, California. However, characters from the series had episodes in various places and periods of time. The *Animaniacs* 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. Andrea Romano, the casting and recording director of *Animaniacs*, said that the Warner siblings functioned to "tie the show together," by appearing in and introducing other characters' segments.

Each *Animaniacs* episode usually consisted of two or three cartoon shorts. *Animaniacs* segments ranged in time, from bridging segments less than a minute long to episodes spanning the entire show length; writer Peter Hastings said that the varying episode lengths gave the show a "sketch comedy" atmosphere.

### Characters

*Animaniacs* had a wide cast of characters. Shown here are the majority of the characters from the series.
*Animaniacs* had a large cast of characters, separated into individual segments, with each pair or set of characters acting in its own plot. The Warner kids, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, are three 1930s cartoon stars of an unknown species (one Tom Ruegger named "Cartoonus characterus") that were locked away in the Warner Bros. Water Tower until the 1990s, when they escaped. After their escape, they often interacted with Warner Bros. studio workers, including Ralph the Security Guard; Dr. Otto Scratchansniff, the studio psychiatrist, and his assistant Hello Nurse. Pinky and the Brain are two genetically altered laboratory mice who continuously plot and attempt to take over the world. Slappy Squirrel is an octogenarian cartoon star who can easily outwit antagonists and uses her wiles to educate her nephew, Skippy Squirrel, about cartoon techniques. Additional principal characters included Rita and Runt, Buttons and Mindy, Chicken Boo, Flavio and Marita (The Hip Hippos), Katie Ka-Boom, and three pigeons known as The Goodfeathers.

### Creation and inspiration

The *Animaniacs* cast of characters had a variety of inspiration, from celebrities to writers' family members to other writers. Executive producer Steven Spielberg said that the irreverence in *Looney Tunes* cartoons inspired the *Animaniacs* cast. Tom Ruegger created *Pinky and the Brain*, a series Sherri Stoner had also written for, after being inspired by the personalities of two of his *Tiny Toon Adventures* colleagues, Eddie Fitzgerald and Tom Minton. Ruegger thought of the premise for *Pinky and the Brain* when wondering what would happen if Minton and Fitzgerald tried to take over the world. Deanna Oliver contributed *The Goodfeathers* scripts and the character *Chicken Boo*, while Nicholas Hollander based *Katie Kaboom* on his teenage daughter.

Ruegger modeled the Warners' personalities heavily after his three sons. Because the Warners were portrayed as cartoon stars from the early 1930s, Ruegger and other artists for *Animaniacs* made the images of the Warners similar to cartoon characters of the early 1930s. Simple black and white drawings were very common in cartoons of the 1920s and 1930s, such as Buddy, Felix the Cat, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and the early versions of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.

Sherri Stoner created *Slappy the Squirrel* when another writer and friend of Stoner, John McCann, made fun of Stoner's career in TV movies playing troubled teenagers. When McCann joked that Sherri would be playing troubled teenagers when she was fifty years old, the latter developed the idea of Slappy's characteristics as an older person acting like a teenager. Stoner liked the idea of an aged cartoon character because an aged cartoon star would know the secrets of other cartoons and "have the dirt on [them]".

## Production

### Producers

Steven Spielberg served as executive producer, under his Amblin Television label. Showrunner and senior producer Tom Ruegger lead the overall production and writer's room. Producers Peter Hastings, Sherri Stoner, Rusty Mills, and Rich Arons contributed scripts for many of the episodes and had an active role during group discussions in the writer's room as well.

The writers and animators of *Animaniacs* used the experience gained from the previous series to create new characters cast in the mold of Chuck Jones and Tex Avery's creations. Additional writers for the series included Liz Holzman, Paul Rugg, Deanna Oliver, John McCann, Nicholas Hollander, Charlie Howell, Gordon Bressack, Jeff Kwitny, Earl Kress, Tom Minton, and Randy Rogel. Hastings, Rugg, Stoner, McCann, Howell, and Bressack were involved in writing sketch comedy while others, including Kress, Minton, and Rogel, came from cartoon backgrounds.

Made-up stories did not exclusively comprise *Animaniacs* writing, as Hastings remarked: "We weren't really there to tell compelling stories ... [As a writer] you could do a real story, you could recite the Star-Spangled Banner, or you could parody a commercial ... you could do all these kinds of things, and we had this tremendous freedom and a talent to back it up." Writers for the series wrote into *Animaniacs* stories that happened to them; the episodes "Ups and Downs," "Survey Ladies," and "I Got Yer Can" were episodes based on true stories that happened to Rugg, Deanna Oliver, and Stoner, respectively. Another episode, "Bumbie's Mom," both parodied the film *Bambi* and was based on Stoner's childhood reaction to the film.

In an interview, the writers explained how *Animaniacs* allowed for non-restrictive and open writing. Hastings said that the format of the series had the atmosphere of a sketch comedy show because *Animaniacs* segments could widely vary in both time and subject, while Stoner described how the *Animaniacs* writing staff worked well as a team in that writers could consult other writers on how to write or finish a story, as was the case in the episode "The Three Muska-Warners". Rugg, Hastings and Stoner also mentioned how the *Animaniacs* writing was free in that the writers were allowed to write about parody subjects that would not be touched on other series.

### Cast

*Animaniacs* featured Rob Paulsen as Yakko, Pinky, and Dr. Otto von Scratchansniff, Tress MacNeille as Dot, Jess Harnell as Wakko, Sherri Stoner as Slappy the Squirrel, Maurice LaMarche as the Brain, Squit and the belching segments "The Great Wakkorotti" (Harnell said that he himself is commonly mistaken for the role), and veteran voice actor Frank Welker as Ralph the Security Guard, Thaddeus Plotz and Runt. Andrea Romano said that the casters wanted Paulsen to play the role of Yakko: "We had worked with Rob Paulsen before on a couple of other series and we wanted him to play Yakko." Romano said that the casters had "no trouble" choosing the role of Dot, referring to MacNeille as "just hilarious ... And yet [she had] that edge." Before Animaniacs, Harnell had little experience in voice acting other than minor roles for Disney which he "fell into". Harnell revealed that at the audition for the show, he did a John Lennon impression and the audition "went great". Stoner commented that when she gave an impression of what the voice would be to Spielberg, he said she should play Slappy. According to Romano, she personally chose Bernadette Peters to play Rita. Other voices were provided by Jim Cummings, Paul Rugg, Vernee Watson-Johnson, Jeff Bennett and Gail Matthius. Tom Ruegger's three sons also played roles in the series. Nathan Ruegger voiced Skippy Squirrel, nephew to Slappy, throughout the duration of the series; Luke Ruegger voiced *The Flame* in historical segments on *Animaniacs*; and Cody Ruegger voiced Birdie from *Wild Blue Yonder*.

### Animation

Animation work on *Animaniacs* was farmed out to several different studios, both American and international, over the course of the show's production. The animation companies included Tokyo Movie Shinsha (now known as TMS Entertainment) from Japan, StarToons from Chicago, Wang Film Productions from Taiwan, Shanghai Morning Sun Animation and Sichuan Top Animation from China, Freelance Animators New Zealand from New Zealand, Seoul Movie (a Subsidiary of TMS), and AKOM from South Korea, and most *Animaniacs* episodes frequently had animation from different companies in each episode's respective segments.

*Animaniacs* was made with a higher production value than standard television animation; the show had a higher cel count than most TV cartoons. The *Animaniacs* characters often move fluidly, and do not regularly stand still and speak, as in other television cartoons.

### Music

*Animaniacs* utilized a heavy musical score for an animated program, with every episode featuring at least one original score. The idea for an original musical score in every episode came from Steven Spielberg. *Animaniacs* used a 35-piece orchestra, and seven composers were contracted to write original underscore for the series run: Richard Stone, Steve Bernstein, Julie Bernstein, Carl Johnson, J. Eric Schmidt, Gordon Goodwin, and Tim Kelly. The use of the large orchestra in modern Warner Bros. animation began with *Animaniacs* predecessor, *Tiny Toon Adventures*, but Spielberg pushed for its use even more in *Animaniacs*. Although the outcome was a very expensive show to produce, "the sound sets us apart from everyone else in animation," said Jean MacCurdy, the executive in charge of production for the series. According to Steve and Julie Bernstein, not only was the *Animaniacs* music written in the same style as that of *Looney Tunes* composer Carl Stalling, it was recorded at the Eastwood Scoring Stage, which was used by Stalling as well as its piano. Senior producer Tom Ruegger said that writers Randy Rogel, Nicholas Hollander, and Deanna Oliver wrote "a lot of music" for the series.

## Hallmarks and humor

The humor of *Animaniacs* varies in type, ranging from parody to cartoon violence. The series made parodies of television shows and films. In an interview, Spielberg defended the "irreverence" of *Animaniacs*, saying that the *Animaniacs* crew has "a point of view" and does not "sit back passively and play both sides equally". Spielberg also said that *Animaniacs'* humor of social commentary and irreverence were inspired by the Marx Brothers and *Looney Tunes* cartoons. *Animaniacs*, among other Spielberg-produced shows, had a large amount of cartoon violence. Spielberg defended the violence in *Animaniacs* by saying that the series had a balance of both violent humor and educational segments, so the series would never become either too violent or "benign". *Animaniacs* also made use of catchphrases, recurring jokes and segments, and "adult" humor.
Yakko, Wakko and Dot shake hands with their *Tiny Toon Adventures* predecessors Buster and Babs Bunny and Plucky Duck, who make a cameo appearance in an episode of *Animaniacs*

### Recurring jokes and catchphrases

Characters on *Animaniacs* had catchphrases, with some characters having more than one. Notable catchphrases include Yakko's "Goodnight, everybody!" often said following adult humor, Wakko's "Faboo!" and Dot's frequent assertions of her cuteness. The most prominent catchphrase that was said by all three Warners was "Hello-o-o, nurse!" Tom Ruegger said that the "Hello-o-o, Nurse!" line was intended to be a catchphrase much like Bugs Bunny's line, "What's up, doc?" Before the theme song for each "Pinky and the Brain" segment, Pinky asks, "Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?" Brain replies, "The same thing we do every night, Pinky: try to take over the world!" During these episodes, Brain often asks Pinky, "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" and Pinky replies with a silly non sequitur that changes every episode. Writer Peter Hastings said that he unintentionally created these catchphrases when he wrote the episode "Win Big", and then producer Sherri Stoner used them and had them put into later episodes.

Running gags and recurring segments were very common in the show. The closing credits for each episode always included one joke credit and ended with a water tower gag similar to *The Simpsons* couch gag. Director Rusty Mills and senior producer Tom Ruegger said that recurring segments like the water tower gag and another segment titled "The Wheel of Morality" (which, in Yakko's words, "adds boring educational value to what would otherwise be an almost entirely entertaining program", and ends with a "moral" that makes no sense) eased the production of episodes because the same animated scenes could be used more than once (and, in the case of the Wheel segments, enabled the producers to add a segment in where there was not room for anything else in the episode).

### Humor and content intended for adults

A great deal of *Animaniacs'* humor and content was aimed at an adult audience, revolving around hidden sexual innuendo and throwback pop culture references. *Animaniacs* parodied the film *A Hard Day's Night* and the Three Tenors, references that *The New York Times* wrote were "appealing to older audiences". The comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan *Pirates of Penzance* and *H.M.S. Pinafore* were parodied in episode 3, "HMS Yakko". The Warners' personalities were made similar to those of the Marx Brothers and Jerry Lewis, in that they, according to writer Peter Hastings, "wreak havoc", in "serious situations". In addition, the show's recurring Goodfeathers segment was populated with characters based on characters from *The Godfather* and *Goodfellas*, R-rated crime dramas neither marketed nor intended for children. Some content of *Animaniacs* was not only aimed at an adult audience, it was suggestive in nature; one character, Minerva Mink, had episodes that network censors considered too sexually suggestive for the show's intended audience, for which she was soon de-emphasized as a featured character. Jokes involving such innuendo would often end with Yakko telling "Goodnight, everybody!" as a punchline.
Parodies and caricatures made up a large part of *Animaniacs*. The episode "Hello, Nice Warners" introduced a Jerry Lewis caricature (left), who made occasional appearances in the series and movie.

### Parodies

*Animaniacs* parodied popular TV shows and movies and caricatured celebrities. *Animaniacs* made fun of celebrities, major motion pictures, television shows for adults (*Seinfeld*, *Beverly Hills 90210* and *Friends*, among others), television shows for children (such as *Barney & Friends* and *Rugrats*), and trends in the U.S. One episode even made fun of competing show *Power Rangers*, and another episode caricatured *Animaniacs*' own Internet fans. *Animaniacs* also made potshots of Disney films, creating parodies of such films as *The Lion King*, *Beauty and the Beast*, *Pocahontas*, *Bambi*, and others. *Animaniacs* director Russell Calabrese said that not only did it become a compliment to be parodied on *Animaniacs*, being parodied on the series would be taken as a "badge of honor".

### Songs

*Animaniacs* had a variety of music types. Many *Animaniacs* songs were parodies of classical or folk music with educational lyrics. Notable ones include "Yakko's World" in which Yakko sings the names of all 200-some nations of the world to the tune of the "Mexican Hat Dance". "Wakko's America" listed all the United States and their capitals to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw". Another song, titled "The Presidents", named every U.S. president at the time to the tune of the "William Tell Overture" (with brief snippets of the tunes "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" and "Dixie"). Non-educational songs included parodies such as the segment "Slippin' on the Ice" and a parody of "Singin' in the Rain". Most of the groups of characters even had their own theme songs for their segment on the show.

The *Animaniacs* series theme song, performed by the Warners, was a very important part of the show. In the series' first season, the theme won an Emmy Award for best song. Ruegger wrote the lyrics, and Stone composed the music for the title sequence. Several *Animaniacs* albums and sing-along VHS tapes were released, including the CDs *Animaniacs*, *Yakko's World*, and *Animaniacs Variety Pack*, and the tapes *Animaniacs Sing-Along: Yakko's World* and *Animaniacs Sing-Along: Mostly in Toon*.

Shorts featuring Rita and Runt would also incorporate songs for Bernadette Peters to sing.