Animaniacs

Hmm, this is starting to become sort of an awkward pattern isn't it? Did every (non-superhero or Cartoon Cartoon) 90s cartoon have to focus on animals? Because this one had a full ensemble of them.

Yup, this one's got A LOT to talk about so let's get right into it.

Animaniacs lasted 5 seasons from 1993 to 1998 and it sort of started off the fumes of Tiny Toon Adventures, a show that followed the lives of the Looney Tunes students. I believe I'm in the majority when I say, Tiny Toons was actually really funny, but it's no masterpiece in the way Animaniacs is. I guess it's just that Animaniacs was the same premise as Looney Tunes (ensemble cast of insane talking animals working off eachother in pairs) except, unlike Tiny Toons, it doesn't just use kid versions of all the Looney Tunes, it makes its own.

First thing's first, opening theme is very catchy and animation is some of the best I've ever seen. Extra points to the theme for describing the premise of the show (something that I don't think is done enough nowadays).

Now....onto the big one. The characters. The series is a situational comedy variety show all about pairs of insane animals working off eachother, and do they do that well?

 Well, we have Rita and Runt, a singing cat and a dog who's too likeably dumb to realize she's a cat.

 Pinky and the Brain, a mouse who's smarter than most humans who wants to take over the world and his only friend who is much more idiotic than him and kinda just goes with whatever he says. This duo was so popular, they ultimately got their own spin-off series.

Slappy and Skippy, a grumpy old squirrel who used to do hilarious cartoons and her chipper nephew.

Mindy and Buttons, a little girl who gets into loads of trouble and her dog who always saves her (and injures himself in the process).

The Hip Hippos, a couple of...well hipster hippos...their name is self-explanatory.

 The Goodfeathers, a trio of piegons who think they're in a mafia.

 Chicken Boo, a chicken who tries to fit in with humans through disguises, which no one seems to see through. I thought it was ironic that he wanted to be human the most, yet he was the least human in that he didn't speak.

Katie Kaboom, a teenage girl who turns into a monster and then explodes whene
ver she gets mad (she always confused me, she wasn't even an animal, why was she on this show?)

 And Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, a trio of preteen siblings who are some sort monkey-dog hybrid and appear to live totally randomly and with no comprehension of any reason whatsoever. Now if that isn't the setup for a funny show that will make no sense at all, I don't know what is,

The cartoon worked off the same 3 Segments format that I mentioned earlier in the Garfiled and Friends review (check it out if you haven't already). Every episode was 22 minu

tes long but was made up of 3 segments, each 7 minutes long. Each would deal with a different group of characters.

 Yakko, Wakko, and Dot appeared in every episode as they were sort of the hosts that kept the show going along. They'd been created to be the ultimate comedians but they caused too much havoc so they were sealed away on the studio lot water tower, but they're always escaping and being chased down by the studio staff (Including Doctor Scratchnsniff, the studio shrink, Mr. Thaddeus Plotz, the studio CEO, Hello Nurse, who Yakko and Wakko are in love with, and Ralph, the security guard).  The breakout stars were Pinky and the Brain, who later got their own show, which I actually saw before Animaniacs. My favourites would either be Chicken Boo as he was the only animal who always worked alone, and also one of the only ones to never speak (which is ironic as he's always trying to be the most human) or maybe Mindy and Buttons, just because Mindy is so adorable and Buttons also is unique in that he never speaks.

 Also, on top of the 3 segments, they would also always have a 1 minute gag (just like Garfield's Quickies). They would cycle between "the Randy Beaman kid" who always talked about the outlandish stories his friend, Randy Beaman, would get into. The "Wheel of Morality" which would spit out a moral lesson for the kids which wouldn't be logical in the slightest. And "Good Idea, Bad Idea" where a monotone narrator compared good ideas to similar but worse ideas. If those don't sound funny, don't worry, they're a lot more comical actually watching them.

This show wasn't afraid to make fun of anything and everything. Nothing was safe from their cheesy, but admittedly funny, pop culture references. The characters worked pretty well off their partners and the humor was always pretty good. There was a special episode where they mixed everyone's partners up which was still funny but it just went to show that the partners were meant for eachother, and i couldn't imagine it any other way. Overall, this was a 94, you should see it. If you liked this or have something to say, please comment! Thanks for this and see you guys next week with THE POWERPUFF GIRLS OMG OMG OMG.