Steven Spielberg presents Animaniacs is an animated variety series mainly featuring three "puppy-like" creatures: the Warner Brothers, Yakko and Wakko, and their sister Dot. The trio live in a water tower on the Warner Bros. studio lot and often create havoc there. The show featured rotating segments with other characters like The Goodfeathers, a parody of sterotypical mafia characters from movies such as Goodfellas and The Godfather; Mindy and Buttons; Slappy the Squirrel; and Pinky and the Brain, a pair of rodents who are bent on world domination.
Animaniacs premiered 13 September 1993 and new episodes ran through the 1998 season. A total of 99 episodes were produced, along with a direct-to-video movie, Wakko's Wish, and a theatrical cartoon short film. The show introduced the popular cartoon characters Pinky and the Brain, who were subsequently spun off into their own TV series in 1995. A reboot premiered 2020 and the 2023 episodes.
Animaniacs also influenced some of Hanna-Barbera's output from 1994 onward, such as Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights.
Mentions[]
- "The Three Muska-Warners"
- Slappy Squirrel mentions Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey
- "Valuable Lesson"
- The Warners are visited by the network censors after harassing Attila the Hun and are brought to the censor's studio to show them what a children's show is like. They rolled a Snuggler cartoon, which is a parody to Smurfs.
- "Back in Style"
- After the closing of the WB animation department in the early 1960s, the Warners are loaned out to other cartoon studios to help their own studio keep making profit. One of the studios that use the Warners in their cartoons is name Phil and Schmo's studios, which are a parody of Hanna-Barbera. The Warners star in parody cartoons of Yogi Bear and Scooby-Doo.
- "Bumbie's Mom"
- Bumbie's Mother was Married to George Jetson.
Connections[]
- Nancy Cartwright played Mindy.
- Rob Paulsen played Yakko, Pinky, Dr. Scratchnsniff and various others.
- Jess Harnell played Wakko, Walter Wolf and various others.
- Tress MacNeille played Dot, Hello Nurse, Mary Hartless, Maria Hippo and various others.
- John Kassir provided additional voices.
- Jim Cummings played Calhoun Capybara
- Maurice LaMarche played The Brain.
- Frank Welker played Ralph the Guard, Mr. Plotz, Runt and various others.
- Steven Bernstein composed music for the show.