Cartoon Round-up 9: Animaniacs

Animaniacs (1993-1998) was one of my favorite shows! What I loved about it was that it introduces a whole new stable of cartoon characters. This show was not just focused on one set of characters for the entire episode. It had many stars that had their own individual shows. And there were SO many characters: Yakko, Wakko and Dot, Dr. Scratchansniff, Hello Nurse, Pinky and the Brain, The Goodfeathers, Flabio and Maria (the hippos) Mindy and Buttons (Ok. I love you. Bye bye), Slappy Squirrel and Skippy, Runt and Rita. Not only were they entertaining but they also threw in some knowledge from time to time ("Yakko's World"). But what I really liked about them was all the pop culture references. It reminded me of the old Warner Bros. cartoons that had caricatures of celebrities of the times. Now looking back at the Animaniacs  a lot of their jokes may fall flat if you don't know the reference. Bill Clinton playing the sax?!

So sit back and watch because....

It's time for....AN-NI-MAN-NI-ACS!!

"Animaniacs" Intro Theme



"Yakko's World"



"The Monkey Song"



"Video Review" - What I love about this one is that it is an homage to the classic Daffy Duck cartoon "Book Revue" (1946) directed by Robert Clampett



Quite possibly their most popular characters were Pinky and the Brain, one mouse that wanted to take over the world. The other who had not a clue in the world.

"Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?"
"The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!"

Pinky and the Brain in "Don't Tread On Us"



Animaniacs also taught me a lot about animation. One of the first scenes I animated myself was a "Mime Time" short of pulling an imaginary rope. I took my animation table to the living room and drew the mime pulling the rope frame by frame. I then redrew it on the computer. I had a program called the Disney Animation Studio and I drew every frame WITH A MOUSE! Not an easy feat, believe me! I still have all my early work here on my computer somewhere. I will have to post them some day to see how far I've come.

The sad thing is I just realized the software is not in the box! I have no idea where it could be!! Not that I had a floppy drive to install it, but I'm just saying it would have been nice to still have it.