Everything about Animaniacs totally explained
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as
Animaniacs, is an
American animated series, distributed by
Warner Bros. and produced by
Amblin Entertainment. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of
Steven Spielberg and
Warner Bros. Animation during the
animation renaissance of the late
1980s and early
1990s. The studio's first series,
Tiny Toon Adventures, was a success among younger viewers, and a series that attracted a sizable number of adult viewers. The
Animaniacs writers and animators, led by senior producer
Tom Ruegger, used the experience gained from the previous series to create new animated characters that were cast in the mold of
Chuck Jones and
Tex Avery's creations.
The comedy of
Animaniacs was a broad mix of old-fashioned wit,
slapstick,
pop culture references, and cartoon violence and wackiness. The show featured a number of educational segments that covered subjects such as history, math, geography, science, and social studies.
Animaniacs itself was a
variety show, with short
skits featuring a large cast of characters. While the show had no set format, episode structure varied to suit the needs of the segments included; the majority of episodes were composed of three short mini-episodes, each starring a different set of characters, and bridging segments.
Animaniacs first aired on
Fox Kids from
1993 until
1995 and later appeared on
The WB from 1995 to
1999 as part of its
Kids' WB afternoon programming block. The series had a total of 99 episodes and one film, titled
Wakko's Wish. Like other animated series, it continued to appear on television through
syndication long after its original airdate. As of
June 19,
2007, the first 75 episodes have been released in three
DVD boxsets. The release of volume four is on hiatus due to the future release of its sister-show,
Tiny Toon Adventures, on DVD.
Background
Premise
The
Warner siblings and the other characters lived in
Burbank, California.
Pinky and the Brain were two genetically altered laboratory mice that continuously plotted and attempted to take over the world.
Slappy Squirrel was an aged cartoon star that would easily outwit antagonists and 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, a trio of pigeons known as The
Goodfeathers, and
Minerva Mink.
Creation and inspiration
The general premise of
Animaniacs and the Warner siblings were created by Tom Ruegger, who also came up with the concept and characters for
Pinky and the Brain. Ruegger was also the senior producer and creative leader of the show. Writer Deanna Oliver contributed
The Goodfeathers scripts and the character
Chicken Boo. 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.
Slappy the Squirrel was created by Sherri Stoner, when another writer and friend of Stoner, John McCann, made fun of Stoner’s career in TV movies playing troubled teens. When McCann joked that Sherri would be playing troubled teens when she was fifty years old, Sherri developed the idea of Slappy's characteristics as an older person acting like a teenager.
Writers
Writers for
Animaniacs included writers
Tom Ruegger,
Sherri Stoner and
Paul Rugg,
Deanna Oliver,
John McCann, Nicholas Hollander, Peter Hastings, Charlie Howell, Gordon Bressack, Earl Kress,
Tom Minton, and Randy Rogel. Writers Hastings, Rugg, Stoner, McCann, Howell, and Bressack were involved in sketch comedy.
Character layouts and
backgrounds were produced at the Warner Bros. Animation studio in California, while the third-party companies did the
animation and
ink and paint work. Most of the later Kids' WB episodes were animated by
Wang Film Productions and
AKOM.
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 don't regularly stand still and speak, as in other television cartoons. For its music, Animaniacs used a 40-piece orchestra, with music composed by
Richard Stone and assistant composers Steve and Julie Bernstein. Although the outcome was a very expensive show to produce, every episode was given an original score, as "the sound sets us apart from everyone else in animation," said Jean MacCurdy, the executive in charge of production for the series. Another song, titled "
The Presidents", named every US president to the tune of the
William Tell Overture. Non-educational songs included songs that were simply parodies of other songs, like the segment "Slippin' on the Ice", a parody of "
Singin' in the Rain"; songs mocking things in everyday life, such as the song "Be Careful What You Eat" that made fun of all the ingredients in junk food; and songs making fun of celebrities and other media, such as the song "Video
Revue", which listed movie stars and films. Most of the show's songs were sung by the Warners. Pinky and the Brain occasionally had songs, and the most complicated songs in the series usually went to Rita, voiced by singer
Bernadette Peters. Most of the groups of characters even had their own theme songs for their segment on the show.
The song "
Yakko's World," with lyrics by Randy Rogel, is perhaps the series' most famous. Other songs include "Yakko's Universe", "
U.N. Me", and "
Schnitzelbank", among others. The
Animaniacs series theme song, which was sung by the Warners, was a very important part of the show. The
theme song had a variety of alternate endings and in the series' first season won an
Emmy Award for best song. The music for the title sequence was composed by
Richard Stone, and the lyrics were written by
Tom Ruegger. Several
Animaniacs albums and Sing-along VHS tapes were released, including the CDs
Animaniacs,
Yakko’s World, and
Variety Pack, and the tape
Animaniacs Sing-Along: Yakko's World.
Hallmarks and humor
The humor of
Animaniacs varied in type, ranging from parody to cartoon violence.
Animaniacs made parodies of television shows and films, one of which being a parody of a large
Animaniacs competitor,
Power Rangers. In an interview, Spielberg defended the "irreverence" of
Animaniacs, saying that the
Animaniacs crew has "a point of view" and doesn't "sit back passively and play both sides equally". Director Rusty Mills and senior producer Tom Ruegger said that recurring segments like the water tower gag, such as the segment
The Wheel of Morality, were good for easier production of episodes because the same animated scenes could be used more than once.
Animaniacs took this recurring joke even further, and
Animaniacs characters appeared in other Spielberg shows, such as
Pinky and the Brain,
Freakazoid, and
Histeria. Characters from
Freakazoid and
Tiny Toon Adventures also made appearances in
Animaniacs. Because of Steven Spielberg's involvement in the series, a running gag was that his films were mentioned in the series and a caricature of Spielberg appeared numerous times; in the episode "Hooked on a Ceiling", Spielberg was made the "
eminence" of the
Sistine Chapel, and the Warners also painted an
E.T. picture on its ceiling.
"Adult" humor and content
A great deal of Animaniacs' humor and content was aimed at an adult audience. The
comic operas of
Gilbert and Sullivan Pirates of Penzance and
H.M.S. Pinafore were
parodied in episode 3, "HMS Yakko". Furthermore, jokes and statements that are double entendres (such as Yakko’s song of eight of the nine planets in the Solar System, after which Wakko reminds Yakko that he forgot
Uranus) were used throughout the duration of the show. These jokes are signified by Yakko blowing a kiss and shouting, "Good night, everybody!", either to end the sketch or change the subject. Some content of
Animaniacs wasn't only aimed at an adult audience but were suggestive in nature. For example, 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.
The
Animaniacs characters had personalities and character traits similar to those of film stars in movies marketed to adults. 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".
Animaniacs spoofs were multi-layered, with the episode parodying one specific subject and referencing other subjects along the way. For instance, the episode "Hooked on a Ceiling" didn't only parody
The Agony and the Ecstasy, but it also featured
Quasimodo shouting "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!", a direct reference to
The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The large adult fanbase even led to one of the first Internet-based
fandom cultures. During the show's prime, the Internet newsgroup alt.tv.animaniacs was an active gathering place for fans of the show (most of whom were adults) to post reference guides,
fan fiction, and fan-made artwork about
Animaniacs. The online popularity of the show didn't go unnoticed by the show's producers, and twenty of the most active participants on the newsgroup were invited to the
Warner Bros. Animation studios for a gathering in August 1995 dubbed by those fans
Animania IV
. These people also received a sneak preview of a sketch that parodied the fans themselves, "Please Please Pleese Get a Life Foundation".
Furthermore, the series even gained high ratings under disadvantageous circumstances. During November 1993, the Dallas Fox affiliate had a three-day transmitter failure; in this time period, 11,000 homes tuned in to the blank screen during the
Animaniacs timeslot, which was almost double the rating of the rival KXTX-TV children's show.
Nominations and awards
Animaniacs' first major award came in 1993, when the series won one
Peabody Award in its debuting season. In 1994,
Animaniacs was nominated for two
Annie Awards, one for "Best Animated Television Program", and the other for "Best Achievement for Voice Acting" (
Frank Welker).
Animaniacs also won two
Daytime Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition" and "Outstanding Original Song" (
Animaniacs Main Title Theme). In 1996,
Animaniacs won two Daytime Emmy Awards, one for "Outstanding Animated Children's Program" and the other for "Outstanding Achievement in Animation". In 1997,
Animaniacs was nominated for an Annie Award for "Best Individual Achievement: Directing in a TV Production" (Charles Visser for the episode "Noel").
Animaniacs also won two more Daytime Emmy Awards, one for "Outstanding Animated Children's Program" and the other for "Outstanding Music Direction and Composition". In 1998, the last year in which new episodes of
Animaniacs were produced,
Animaniacs was nominated for an Annie Award in "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Daytime Television Program".
Animaniacs also won a Daytime Emmy Award in "Outstanding Music Direction and Composition" (For the episode "The Brain’s Apprentice"). In 1999,
Animaniacs won a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition". When
Animaniacs won this award, it set a record for most Daytime Emmy Awards in the field of "Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition" for any individual animation studio.
History
Preproduction
Before
Animaniacs was put into production, various collaboration and brainstorming efforts were thought up in order to create both the characters and premise of the series. For instance, ideas that were thrown out were
Rita and Runt being the hosts of the show and the Warners being duck characters that Senior Producer Tom Ruegger had since his college years. new episodes aired from the 1993 through 1994 seasons.
Animaniacs aired with a 65-episode first season because these episodes were ordered by FOX all at once. While on "FOX Kids", Animaniacs gained fame for its name and became the second-most popular show among children ages 2–11 and children ages 6–11, second to
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. However,
Animaniacs was only successful in an unintended way, bringing in adult viewers and viewers outside the "Kids' WB" target demographic of very small children. The last new
Animaniacs episode was aired on November 14, 1998.
Animaniacs was ended one episode short of having 100 episodes. Afterwards,
Animaniacs segments were being shown along with segments from other cartoons as part of
The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show. On
December 21,
1999 a direct-to-video movie starring the Warners, titled
Wakko's Wish, was released.
Animaniacs doesn't currently air on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, or its sister network,
Nicktoons Network. Although the series was scheduled to re-run on Warner Bros and
AOL's new broadband internet channel
Toontopia TV,
Animaniacs is no longer a featured show on the site.
Film
"I'm Mad"
Yakko, Wakko, and Dot’s first theatrical appearance was in the animated short, "
I'm Mad", which opened nationwide alongside the full-length animated feature,
Thumbelina, on March 30, 1994. "I’m Mad" was to be the first of a series of shorts, wanted by producers Steven Spielberg, Tom Ruegger, and Jean MacCurdy, to bring Animaniacs to a wider audience. However, "I'm Mad" was Animaniacs' only theatrical appearance. The short was later incorporated into
Animaniacs episode 69.
"Wakko's Wish"
The Warners, along with the entire
Animaniacs cast of characters, starred in the feature-length, direct-to-video movie
Wakko's Wish. The movie takes place in the fictional country of Warnerstock, in which the Warners and the rest of the cast are under the rule of a greedy dictator. When the Warners find out about a star that will grant a wish to the first person that touches it, the Warners, the villagers (the
Animaniacs cast), and the dictator race to get to it first. Warner Bros. decided to release it direct-to-video, rather than spend money on advertising. The movie was released on VHS on
December 21,
1999; Volume one of
Animaniacs sold very well; over half of the product being sold in the first week made it one of the fastest selling animation DVD sets that Warner Home Video ever put out. So far, these DVD box sets are available only in
United States and
Canada. Sales overseas have yet to be confirmed. The fourth volume is currently on hiatus in order to make way for productions on DVDs for Tiny Toon Adventures and Freakazoid.
| DVD name |
p # |
elease date |
dditional information |
| Volume 1 |
25 |
July 25 2006 |
This five disc box set contains the second 25 episodes (26–50) from season one. Includes the featurette "The Writer's Flipped, They Have No Script", where Maurice LaMarche leads a gathering of writers on what their favorite Animaniacs episodes are that they wrote. |
| Volume 3 |
25 |
June 19 2007 |
This five disc box set includes the last 15 episodes (51–65) of season one, all four episodes of season two, and the first six episodes of season three. Includes two featurettes: "They Can't Help It if They're Cute, They're Just Drawn That Way": Production commentary from the character designers, storyboard artists and art directors of the series; and "They're Totally Insane-y: In Cadence with Richard Stone": Discussion on the music of Animaniacs, highlighted by a tribute to the late composer. |
| Volume 4 |
24 |
TBA |
|
Print
An
Animaniacs comic book, published by
DC Comics, ran from 1995 to 2000 (59 regular monthly issues, plus two specials). Initially, these featured all the characters except for Pinky and the Brain, who were published in their own comic series, though cameos were possible. Eventually, the Pinky and the Brain comic was discontinued, and was merged back into the
Animaniacs series, which was then titled as
Animaniacs! featuring Pinky and the Brain. The
Animaniacs comic series, like the show, parodied TV and comics standards, such as
Pulp Fiction and
The X-Files, among others.
An
Animaniacs comic strip with art by Walter Carzon ran in the
United Kingdom, but was never printed in the
United States.
Video games
Animaniacs was soon brought into the
video game industry to produce games based on the series. Early notable games include Play Zone!'s
PC game Animaniacs Game Pack! (1997) and
Konami's
Animaniacs for
Super Nintendo (1994). More modern games include and . Other Games include
Animaniacs for
Sega Genesis and
Game Boy; for
PC;
Animaniacs: Splat Ball! for
PC;
Pinky and the Brain: World Conquest for
PC;
Animaniacs: Ten Pin Alley for the
Playstation and
Pinky and the Brain: The Master Plan for
Game Boy Advance (Europe only).
Musical collections
Because
Animaniacs had many songs, albums featuring songs from the show were produced. These albums include
Animaniacs (1993),
Yakko's World (1994),
A Christmas Plotz (1995),
The Animaniacs Faboo! Collection (1995),
Animaniacs Variety Pack (1995),
A Hip-Hopera Christmas (1997),
The Animaniacs Go Hollywood (2003), and
The Animaniacs Wacky Universe (2003).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Animaniacs'.
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