Mark Arminio
The Late Movies: Animaniacs
by Mark Arminio - July 16, 2009 - 10:00 PM

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Growing up, one of my favorite after-school shows was Animaniacs, a clever combination of cartoon mayhem often with an educational slant.  Tonight, The Late Movies takes a look at some of Yakko, Wakko and Dot’s greatest hits.

All the presidents from Washington to Clinton set to music. “William Harrison, how do you praise? That guy was dead in 30 days,” was fully 63% of my historical knowledge until high school.

For our geography fans out there, check out the three clips above. First we have Wakko singing about the states and their capitals, followed by Yakko doing (my favorite) “Yakko’s World”, naming all the countries on earth. And we top it off with a song about our universe, complete with Micky Rooney reference.

“Be Careful What You Eat,” is a song that explains what’s in some of your favorite junk food. Only the Animaniacs could make Glycerine and Aspartate sound like so much fun.

A quick look at the senses, and I mean everything from touch and smell to dollars and cents. Oh the puns, oh the puns.

And I’ll leave you tonight with one of my favorite recurring themes: the Animaniacs explain Shakespeare. Here, they take on the famous “Alas, poor Yorkic” scene from Hamlet.

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Comments (28)

  1. Thanks for featuring the Animaniacs! I remember watching them as a kid, and I was so excited when the episodes finally came out on DVD.

    posted by Misty on 7-16-2009 at 10:26 pm

  2. Now this stuff is classic. I used to be a high school quiz bowl advisor (Jeopardy with four kids on a team) and the kids were just young enough to not remember these. I brought in a ton of these clips one day and the kids had a blast…and learned a few things too!

    posted by Amauriel on 7-16-2009 at 10:34 pm

  3. ok i was enjoying these until i watched the nations of the world and they forgot Cote D’Ivoire. I used to live there.

    posted by Austen on 7-16-2009 at 10:47 pm

  4. man im trying to think back what was the point of this show. i watched it but cant remember anything except for flashes.

    posted by Austen on 7-16-2009 at 10:53 pm

  5. I used to watch this show, but I don’t think I ever realized it was educational! Unfortunately, none of this information stuck!

    posted by Sally on 7-16-2009 at 11:10 pm

  6. My favorite episode was the one with William Shatner, and he kept saying “My friends… my little friends”

    posted by MandoRon on 7-16-2009 at 11:37 pm

  7. @Austen,

    If I remember correctly, Yakko, Wakko and Dot were creations of the Warner Brothers studio who were a little too kooky, so they were locked up in the studio’s water tower back in the day? And then they escaped in the mid 90s, where they got up to all sorts of hijinks on the Warner movie lot? I don’t really get how the other characters and sketches fit in (Mindy, Chicken Boo, Rita, etc). Maybe it was supposed to be like an old-school variety show?

    I have no idea, but I loved the heck out of thos show as a kid. And it still holds up.

    posted by Krys on 7-16-2009 at 11:43 pm

  8. Austen – The show was about the Warner Brothers Wakko and Yakko and their little sister Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fana Bo Besca the Third (aka Dot). They were locked away in the water tower on the Warner Brothers Studio lot until their escape in the 1990s. They tormented several people who worked at the studio: Ralph the security guard, Dr. Otto Scratchansniff the studio psychiatrist, and his assistant Hello Nurse. Wakko and Yakko would greet her by saying “Helloooooo Nurse!”

    There were other cartoons too. Pinky and the Brain were the lab mice who were going to take over the world. There was also the 3 pigeons of Goodfeathers and Slappy the Squirrel, plus a couple of others.

    IMHO this is some of Steven Spielberg’s best work.

    posted by Sue on 7-16-2009 at 11:45 pm

  9. This was my favorite show, even though I was in junior high when these came out….I remember them being rather adult, which was great! I own Animaniacs Volume 2 (5 disks) and I break them out occasionally. Thanks for the post!

    posted by Starla on 7-16-2009 at 11:52 pm

  10. @ sue and Krys. so it was basically a show with more than one segment right? even with the three? screw it ill just look for them on youtube.

    thanks tho.

    posted by Austen on 7-17-2009 at 12:45 am

  11. The Presidents one is not quite accurate. The S in Ulysses S Grant did not stand for Simpson (or anything else). And it says Grover Cleveland was elected twice then Ben Harrison and McKinley. In fact it went Cleveland, Harrison, Cleveland again, McKinley.

    posted by Zach on 7-17-2009 at 2:59 am

  12. Oh my gosh this is my favorite cartoon ever! I even call my dad “Daddoo”! Thanks so much this was too much fun.

    posted by Tricia on 7-17-2009 at 3:56 am

  13. I hated the animaniacs when I was young. I thought the entire show was really dumb.

    Guess I wasn’t paying enough attention…

    posted by fyiagcg on 7-17-2009 at 7:44 am

  14. I loved the Animaniacs and the spinoff Pinky and the Brain they were so funny I wasn’t really paying attetion to the education stuff they taught still the show was funny.

    posted by Kari on 7-17-2009 at 10:11 am

  15. Come join the Warner Brothers and the Warner sister, Dot. Just for fun they run around the Warner movie lot. They lock us in the tower, whenever we get caught. But we break loose and then vamoose and now you know the plot.

    We’re Animaniacs… Dot is cute and Yakko yacks. Wakko packs away the snacks while Bill Clinton plays the sax – we’re Animaniacs.

    Watched this in college… Great show!

    posted by Serena on 7-17-2009 at 10:41 am

  16. And you can’t forget Mindy and Buttons, Katie Kaboom,and Rita and Runt!

    posted by Serena on 7-17-2009 at 10:43 am

  17. Awesome stuff! This is one of my favorite cartoons EVER – the capitals song is one of their best moments.

    Still have to get a copy of Volume 2 on DVD!

    posted by Steve from San Diego on 7-17-2009 at 11:10 am

  18. Animaniacs are awesome. Bugs Bunny and company are the only cartoons that are better.

    posted by TXCherokee on 7-17-2009 at 11:21 am

  19. Loved watching these when I had the chance (no TV growing up). Own all of them on DVD now. Even named my dog after Dot. As I recall they would say, “I’m Yakko, I’m Wakko, and I’m cuute.” That is just the attitude my standard poodle has.

    posted by Kirsten on 7-17-2009 at 12:36 pm

  20. so are they cats? or foxes? or dogs? or what?

    posted by the creature on 7-17-2009 at 12:36 pm

  21. Ok… you may want to start by clicking my name and view the link. It was probably the greatest and dirtiest Animaniacs moments. The trio were doing a Sherlock Holmes sort of parody and when sent by Yakko to get fingerprints the mayhem ensued.

    Dot: “I found Prince!”
    *she holds up the artist formally known as prince*

    Yakko: “No! FINGER prints!”
    *wiggles his fingers*

    Dot Looks at Prince disgusted
    “..I don’t think so…

    posted by MattG on 7-17-2009 at 12:37 pm

  22. The early episodes were obviously meant for a much older audience. The GoodFeathers? How many kids do you think have seen GoodFellas? And then there was that episode of Pinky and the Brain that had a line so over the top I was convinced the show would be canceled overnight. (It’s the one where Brain becomes a country singer. You’ll know the line if you saw it.)

    posted by Jim on 7-17-2009 at 12:50 pm

  23. If it wasn’t for animanics we wouldn’t have such expressions as NARF!

    Nobody really know what they are. Its never been said. Now what would happen if you combine Animaniacs with Tiny Toons?

    posted by Andy on 7-17-2009 at 1:37 pm

  24. Plus, long before Kristin Chenoweth did television, Animaniacs had their own Broadway star – Bernadette Peters, who played Rita in the Rita and Runt sketches!

    Too bad she couldn’t appear on many of the episodes (contract dispute, I think) – leading to one of the best sight gags of the show’s later episodes: Rita and Runt appearing on the side of a milk carton with the caption, “Have you seen us?”

    posted by Steve from San Diego on 7-17-2009 at 2:50 pm

  25. “so are they cats? or foxes? or dogs? or what?”

    They’re cute! (It’s the actual answer given at the end of the song entitled “What are we?”)

    And “Meatballs or Consequences” is my all time favorite.
    -”How’s death?”
    -”Kinda boring. I’ve already hummed all the songs I know.”

    posted by jeff on 7-17-2009 at 4:08 pm

  26. OMG!!!! I LOVE THE ANIMANIACS!!!! And Pinky And The Brain was hilarious too. Does anyone remember Histeria? I can’t find anyone who remembers that show.

    posted by Kelli Rae on 7-17-2009 at 9:37 pm

  27. @Kelli Rae

    I remember Histeria! I thought I was the only one. :)

    I loved it…it was just as intelligent and hilarious as Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, but for some reason it didn’t seem to take off like those shows did. I keep looking for clips online but I’ve never found anything.

    posted by Stephanie on 7-17-2009 at 10:58 pm

  28. Best TV cartoon EVER.

    posted by MetFanMac on 7-19-2009 at 4:35 am

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