Animaniacs is styled as a variety show, with short skits featuring a large cast of characters focusing on the Warner Brothers and their sister as main characters. The Warner siblings were in part inspired by the real life Warner Bros. Water Tower on the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. While the show had no set format, most episodes were composed of three short mini-episodes, each starring a different set of characters and bridging segments. Elements of the series included frequent musical numbers, satire, character catch phrases, and references to historical events and figures.
The series received acclaim from critics and won multiple awards, including eight Daytime Emmy awards and a Peabody award. Animaniacs continued to rerun in syndication through the 1990s into the early 2000s after production of new episodes ceased. A revival of the series streamed on Hulu between 2020 and 2023. Additionally, nine video games based on the series were produced.
Premise
Animaniacs had a wide cast of characters; shown here are most of the characters from the series.
The series follows the Warner siblings, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, three cartoon stars during the black and white golden era of cartoons that were locked away in the Warner Bros. Water Tower because they were seen as too zany. In the present day, the trio escapes from the tower.[1] After their escape, they interacted with other Warner Bros. studio workers, including Ralph the Security Guard, arch rival Dr. Otto Scratchansniff,[2] and Hello Nurse.[2]
The Goodfeathers trio, Bobby, Pesto, and Squit, are pigeons from New York based on the characters Henry Hill, Jimmy Conaway and Tommy DeVito from Goodfellas (1990).[4][5][6]Buttons is a pooch who risks his life to protect his four-year-old owner Mindy.[4]Rita and Runt are a homeless cat-and-dog duo,[4] being dropped after the first season.[7]Katie Ka-Boom is a teenager with a temper.[4]Chicken Boo is a giant chicken who wishes to live among humans.[4][8] Additional side characters include the Hip Hippos.[1]
Slappy Squirrel was based on a suggestion by Sherri Stoner, one of the producers and writers for Tiny Toon Adventures, that she acted like a teenager during her adulthood.[7] Other characters were based on staff members' children or experiences, cartoons, and films.[7]The Goodfeathers trio, Bobby, Pesto, and Squit, were based on Joe Pesci's Tommy DeVito, Robert De Niro's Jimmy Conaway and Ray Liotta's Henry Hill from Goodfellas (1990).[4][5][6]
Spielberg approved and rejected 25 sets of characters and its concepts pitched by Ruegger and his team in his home with the assistance of his children.[4][9][10] Four or five sets of characters were approved; several of them were rejected, including Nipsy and Russell, Bossy Beaver and Doyle, and the amoeba stars of "As the Petri Dish Turns".[10] Nearly rejected, one of Spielberg's children approved Buttons and Mindy.[10]
With the cost of $400,000 per episode, the series was produced with a budget of nearly $26 million for the first season, which was nearly $1 million more than the budget of the first season of Tiny Toon Adventures.[b] Following the end of the series, Wakko's Wish was developed.[18]
Writing
Animaniacs was written for an audience of all ages, emphasizing things for comedic purposes.[19] Some ideas were based on the writers' lives.[19] To target a slightly older audience, cultural references were added.[20]
Animaniacs was developed following the passage of the Children's Television Act in 1990 that required programming aimed at children to include educational content.[11] The writers worked this into the show in part by featuring segments involving the characters interacting with historical figures, and creating songs like "Yakko's World", which listed out all the countries of the world at the time, to serve as educational content.[11]
Animaniacs features the voices of Rob Paulsen as Yakko and Pinky, Jess Harnell as Wakko, Tress MacNeille as Dot, and Maurice LaMarche as the Brain.[21] For voice actors to audition the series, voice director Andrea Romano, Ruegger, and a few others called them to sit at a table in the SoundCastle studio and develop ideas for the voices of the characters.[22] Paulsen auditioned for Yakko by sounding like comedian Groucho Marx and Pinky by giving him a Cockney accent inspired by English comedians, such as the Monty Python comedy troupe and various comedians in The Goon Show, getting callbacks during an eight-week process.[23][22] Paulsen also voiced Dr. Otto Scratchansniff.[24] Ranking as the "best stuff [Paulsen] has ever done",[22] he recorded his lines for four hours per episode.[24]
Romano praised Paulsen's ability to ad lib.[23] Recognized as the voice of Babs Bunny in Tiny Toon Adventures, Ruegger and Spielberg encouraged MacNeille to audition for Dot since she was similar to Babs.[4][21] During the last week of auditions, Harnell was invited to audition for the series, imitating impressions while Ruegger shouted each celebrity through an almanac.[4] Harnell auditioned for Wakko by doing a younger impression of one of the band members of The Beatles at Romano's suggestion.[c]
While auditioning for various characters, LaMarche thought the Brain resembled Orson Welles, doing an impression of "two-thirds Welles [and] one-third Vincent Price."[21][25] LaMarche became Romano's only choice for the character.[26] LaMarche approached voicing the Brain seriously, investing its depth and a sense of morality.[27] He did a direct impression of Welles for the episode "Yes, Always".[28] Ruegger's oldest son Nathan voiced Slappy Squirrel's nephew Skippy.[29] Rita's voice was provided by Bernadette Peters.[8]
Designs and animation
Inspired by cartoon stars from the early 1930s,[4][30] Ruegger and other artists drew the Warner siblings similar to the animated characters from the time period,[30] serving as inspirations included Felix the Cat, Bosko, and Foxy.[9] Yakko's design was largely inspired by Groucho Marx; Wakko's design resembled Groucho's older brother Harpo Marx.[4] Brain's design resembled writer Tom Minton.[26]
Spielberg originated an idea to compose an original score in every episode.[34] Influenced by Carl W. Stalling, composer Richard Stone, who also worked on Tiny Toon Adventures, approached his scoring by incorporating techniques similar to Stalling's work and scoring several parodies of Broadway musicals.[35] Stone also composed the theme song.[36] Other composers were contracted to write original underscores, including Steve and Julie Bernstein.[35]
Using a 29 to 32 player orchestra, the orchestra used a French horn for opera parodies, a harp for Christmas specials, and a specific instrument for individual segments.[37] In some sessions, the music score for individual segments or a full episode are finished in a day for a maximum of 22 minutes.[38] Other sessions combine the cues of the series with cues from Pinky and the Brain and Freakazoid!.[39] Between 45 and 50 ending gags were individually scored for two hours in one day; each one lasted one to thirteen seconds.[39]
Under the suggestion of Spielberg, each segment has a specific style of music.[40] The music score of the Warner siblings segments was inspired by early Warner Bros. cartoons and Tiny Toon Adventures.[40] The music score of "The Goodfeathers" segments was composed with the style of Martin Scorsese's films and The Godfather.[40] Stone played the mandolin in the first segments of "The Goodfeathers".[40] Ruegger incorporated Antonín Dvořák's Humoresques for the music style of the segments featuring Slappy Squirrel.[40]
Broadcast
Animaniacs premiered on September 13, 1993, on the programming block Fox Kids,[41] continuing to air episodes until September 8, 1995.[42] In 1995, Warner Bros. Animation was looking to invest in additional episodes of Animaniacs past the traditional 65-episode marker for syndication.[43]Animaniacs moved to The WB's programming block Kids' WB, premiering on September 9, 1995.[42] The series finale aired on November 14, 1998. In 2000, Nickelodeon bought the rights to air the series for $20 million, debuting on the network in mid 2001.[44] The streaming service Netflix picked up the series in 2016.[45]
Reception
Ratings
During its run, Animaniacs became the second-most popular children's show among both ages 2–11 and ages 6–11 (behind Mighty Morphin Power Rangers).[46][47]Animaniacs became one of the top five highest-rated weekday afternoon programs.[48] As of 1995, approximately 500,000 viewers watched the series in Canada.[49]
Critical response
During the original run, Animaniacs received acclaim from critics.[50][51] Upon its debut, Jennifer Mangan of Chicago Tribune and Diane Werts of Newsday picked the series as a highlight of the 1993–94 television season.[52][53] Several critics lauded the humor, including cultural references and parodies. Greg Kennedy of Edmonton Journal called the Warner siblings "the funniest cartoon animals since the original Looney Tunes" and stated that the series was "destined to become an animation classic."[54]The Toronto Star's Norman Wilher compared the series to Tiny Toon Adventures, stating that Animaniacs is "less structured and a lot funnier."[55] Wertz highlighted the "oblique references, clever connections, in-jokes, and eons of wacky energy", remarking it as "dizzyingly delightful".[53] Joal Ryan of Pasadena Star-News listed the "obscure [and] insider Hollywood jokes" as the "best reason to watch" the series.[56]
Evan Levine of The Houston Chronicle found the parodies of celebrities "fun".[57]The Globe and Mail's Liam Lacey stated that "it's both genuinely funny and mentally stimulating."[49] In a less complimentary review, Barry Garron of The Kansas City Star said that "the silliness is [mostly] uninspired[,] and the humor [is] lacking."[58] The appeal for kids and adults was also highlighted. Writing for The Indianapolis Star, Steve Hall commented that "Kids will love the wacky slapstick and punny humor, while adults will love the inside cultural jokes," lauding the humor as "frantically paced and terrifically funny".[59] Curtis Ross of The Tampa Tribune discussed that "Adults can marvel at the multitude of cultural allusions, older kids can revel in the Warners' irreverent attitudes and wisecracks, and youngsters can enjoy the antics of cute and cuddly characters."[4]
Most critics, such as N. F. Mendoza of The Los Angeles Times,[60]The Salt Lake Tribune's Randy Peterson,[61][62] and animation historian Charles Solomon of The Los Angeles Times, praised the animation and visuals as high quality.[63] Levine and Ryan deemed the animation and visuals superior to other animated television series.[56][57] Ross noted that "the characters move with a fluidity too long absent from [Tiny Toons]."[4] In a divided review, Maryland-based writer Paula O'Keefe noted the inconsistency of animation, reviewing that Tokyo Movie Shinsha's animation was "excellent", AKOM and Wang Film Productions' animation was "competent", and Freelance Animators New Zealand and StarToons' animation was "sadly awkward and unappealing."[31] Some critics highlighted the music, commending the music as clever, silly, and witty.[4][31][54][61]
While Levine reviewed that the "characters and plots are generally amusing",[57] Solomon said that the characters "never emerged [coherently]".[63] A few critics dismissed individual segments used in the series. O'Keefe criticized individual segments featuring Buttons and Mindy, Rita and Runt, the Goodfeathers, and the Hip Hippos.[31] Nora McArt of Brainerd Dispatch dismissed some of the segments, reviewing that they "try too hard to be sophomorically outrageous, simply end[ing] up being stupid and dull."[29]
In 2009, IGN ranked Animaniacs as the 17th-greatest animated series of all time in their own top 100 animated series of all time list.[64] Writing a retrospective review in Entertainment Weekly in 2011, John Young praised the humor and musical numbers, including references that he was unable to understand at the time.[8] In 2021, Chicago Tribune named it the 66th-best television series of the 1990s.[65] In 2023, Vanity Fair praised the show.[9]
Steven Spielberg, Tom Ruegger, Rusty Mills, Liz Holzman, Andrea Romano, Mike Milo, Jon McClenahan, Charles M. Howell IV, Randy Rogel, Kevin Hopps, Gordon Bressack, Nick Dubois, and Tom Minton
Along with Taz-Mania and Freakazoid!, Animaniacs became a popular animated series towards an adult audience, leading to fan interest and several websites dedicated to the series.[4][95] In 1995, over 21% of audiences during weekdays and over 23% of viewers in Saturday mornings were 25 years or older;[10] a quarter of the audience were over the age of 24.[3][6]
University of Toronto student Paul Dakhun Hendry created the internet newsgroup alt.tv.animaniacs for adult fans.[96] Averaging from 80 to 100 posts per day, the newsgroup included lists of episode titles, quotations, and cultural references.[96] Fans traded tapes, barbs, and information,[96] debated adult jokes and cultural references,[3] and wrote laundry tips on fading Animaniacs T-shirts and parody lyrics.[10] Employees of Warner Bros. downloaded 1,200 pages of comment on the newsgroup each month.[96] One episode of Animaniacs featured a caricature of the show's internet fans.[3] Since 2016, Paulsen, Harnell and MacNeille have toured as Animaniacs Live!, performing songs from the series with an orchestra.[97]
Franchise
"I'm Mad"
The theatrical short "I'm Mad" was released alongside Thumbelina in the U.S. on March 30, 1994.[98] "I'm Mad" was intended to be the first theatrical short of the series, bringing Animaniacs to a wider audience.[98] Due to the box office failure of the film, "I'm Mad" was the only Animaniacs theatrical short produced.[98] A few critics, such as Steve Persall of St. Petersburg Times and Sean P. Means of The Salt Lake Tribune, deemed the short superior to the film.[99][100] Paul Malcolm of LA Weeky called the short "a major disappointment".[101]
A revival series of Animaniacs was ordered by Hulu in May 2017 for an initial two-season order, following the popularity of the original series after Netflix had added it to their library in 2016.[115] Spielberg was heavily involved with working on the revival and insisting to return the original voice cast and its elements.[116][117]Wellesley Wild served as the showrunner and as executive producer along with Gabe Swarr.[118] The first season was released on November 20, 2020.[119] The second season was released on November 5, 2021;[119] the third and final season was released on February 17, 2023.[citation needed]
Notes
↑Credited as Warner Bros. Animation from 1993 to 1995.
12Kitman, Marvin (August 23, 1995). "THE MARVIN KITMAN SHOW: Comedy Is WB Network's New Tack in Season No. 2". Newsday. pp.B2 –B3, B12. Retrieved December 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com. A half-hour animated comedy spin-off from the acclaimed "Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs," "Pinky & The Brain" is the story of these two mice, one of which (the brain) is obsessed with dominating the world. With all those cigarettes they smoke at the Acme Laboratory, not to mention all the cosmetics and lipstick tests, you can't expect much from them.
↑Mendoza, N. F. (December 26, 2025). "SHOWS FOR YOUNGSTERS AND THEIR PARENTS TOO Dr. Will's cure for TV ills: Find the good stuff, watch closely". The Los Angeles Times. p.7. ISSN0458-3035. ProQuest292928566.
↑"Again, Emmy eludes Lucci". Variety. May 29, 1995. Retrieved December 24, 2025. The honors May 19 were given in 16 categories for performances, individual shows and writing, completing an award process that began with statuettes going to winners in 41 other categories in a ceremony May 13.
↑Richmond, Ray (May 12, 1997). "Two tooners win Daytime Emmys". Variety. Retrieved December 24, 2025. A pair of winners for outstanding achievement in animation were announced Wednesday for the 24th annual Daytime Emmy Awards, with color director Kexx Singleton taking an Emmy for "The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa — Beethoven's Wiff" and background artist Barbara Schade earning an award for ABC's "The Magic Pearl."
↑Mangan, Jennifer (April 24, 1997). "ROSIE'S REIGN O'DONNELL GETS AWARD AS WELL AS `SLIME' TO STEAL SHOW AT KIDS' CHOICE AWARDS". Chicago Tribune. p.5. ISSN1085-6706. ProQuest418315308.
↑"Lucci unlucky as Emmy non-nom". Variety. April 4, 1994. Retrieved December 24, 2025. An unexpected Emmy list-crasher was Steven Spielberg, whose Warner Bros. animated series "Steven Spielberg Presents: Animaniacs" received four nominations. The show also yielded a Peabody Award for Spielberg the same day noms were announced (see story, page 6).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
