The long running era of the Saturday morning cartoon has officially ended, but no one can stop you from fulfilling your true weekend calling. Cartoons and Saturday mornings were made for each other and no one can tell us otherwise. It is to that end that we maintain vigil, bringing you animated selections each Saturday morning until the internet dies, or until we run out, good thing there’s always reruns.
“Animaniacs” Created by Tom Ruegger; Starring Rob Paulsen, Tress MacNielle, Jess Harnell, Frank Welker, Sherri Stoner, and Jim Cummings. Series ran from 1993 – 1998.
“Animaniacs” was the second collaboration between Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. It came on the heels of “Tiny Toon Adventures,” utilizing much of the same talent. Tom Ruegger returns as the creator of the concept and many of the characters, Tress MacNielle also returned, turning in her long ears for a skirt as the only female member of the titular main cast. The cast also included Rob Paulsen (Yakko Warner), Jess Harnell, (Wakko Warner), and Jim Cummings (Narrator) who attended January’s Salt Lake Comic Con Fan Experience.
The story goes that Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, named after the period in “Warner Bros.,” were locked in the Warner tower sometime in the 1920s where they waited patiently, silently going more and more insane (probably) until they escaped in the 1990s and promptly got their own television show. The three of them did not appear in every segment but served as the glue that held the universe together, often introducing other characters or segments even if they weren’t further involved.
The creative team behind “Animaniacs” led once again by the capable hands of Tom Ruegger used the lessons learned on “Tiny Toon Adventures” to craft a world populated with new and entertaining characters. Using the model left behind by ‘Looney Tunes” as well as a desire to keep the show both entertaining and educational, they found a balance that taught me a sizeable portion of what I know about history and living in the modern world.
The show could at once be slapstick silly and enlightening as evidenced by some of its most enduring moments. While the adults of the previous generation may have had Carl Sagan, (and in my later years I’d learn to love him too) I had Yakko Warner.
The writers treated the show like a sketch comedy which allowed the format to be whatever it needed to be with some episodes being comprised of one long story while others were made up of three or more shorter skits.
The series ran for a total of 99 episodes and one feature film “Wakko’s Wish” and while it was aimed primarily at children it had a significant adult following with upward of one fifth of its viewers being over 25. “Animaniacs” is also credited with birthing one of the first internet fandoms with alt.tv.animania.
The legacy of the characters is long lived, many of its episodes remain quotable almost twenty years later, the series also introduced us to the characters of Pinky and The Brain. The characters were so popular they garnered their own spin-off series which ran for 65 episodes.
“Animaniacs,” “Tiny Toon Adventures” and “Pinky and The Brain” were highlights of the animation revival of the nineties and the influence that Ruegger and team left on a generation can’t be understated.