With Hulu’s impending and highly anticipated Animaniacs revival, fans of the original show are certainly excited for the new possibilities. But the real draw comes from seeing classic characters and segments finally making their way into modern times. Sure, the Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) are coming back. That much is required, after all. Plus, Pinky and the Brain were also confirmed, which is an excellent start. But what about the rest?
What about all those other bits that played in between the antics of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot? How many of those will be making a return? Sure, odds are there will be plenty of fresh ones to bring in a new generation of fans, but this is a reboot after all. There’s got to be some of the old mixed in with the new. So here’s a little list of suggestions on which parts of Animaniacs should join everyone’s favorite water tower-dwelling cartoon trio in their triumphant return.
(Note: since the creators singled out Pinky and the Brain as returning characters, it’s unlikely that other favorites like Slappy the Squirrel and Mindy & Buttons will be making an appearance, at least not until the second season, which has thankfully already been ordered. So these suggestions will all be from the more gimmicky segments from the original show.)
Animaniacs was (and hopefully still is) a love letter to classic Warner Bros. cartoons, which comes with plenty of the slapstick comedy one would expect. Nowhere is that more expertly shown than the ‘Good Idea, Bad Idea’ segments. Featuring an odd skeleton man named Mr. Skullhead, the bit is incredibly simple but incredibly funny. The narrator gives a good idea and a bad idea, with Mr. Skullhead acting out both. For example, the good idea could be “playing cops and robbers,” showing Mr. Skullhead playing with his friend. Then the bad idea is “playing cops and robbers in a bank,” followed by Mr. Skullhead being arrested.
The concept is so simple that it would be super easy to adapt into modern times without losing any of its charm. So bring it back, please.
Arguably a similar concept to ‘Good Idea, Bad Idea,’ ‘Mime Time’ featured the titular mime performing various simple physical acts as dictated by the narrator. Generally, it was typical mime fare, like pulling an imaginary rope or gathering imaginary flowers. Of course, since this is Animaniacs, it wouldn’t be complete without a little torment. The mime would pull on an imaginary rope, then get crushed by a very real sandbag. Or after gathering some imaginary flowers, some definitely visible bees would attack. As before, there’s nothing special about the premise, but something about the execution makes it worth watching every time. Each segment is roughly only 20 seconds, so hey, think of how little time it would take to bring it to the new show.
Keeping with the theme of simple ideas, ‘Chicken Boo’ follows a giant chicken as he continually disguises himself as a human. The gag comes from the fact that he still looks like a chicken even while in disguise, and he also only speaks in chicken noises. Nevertheless, everyone around him is always fooled, though one person always sees through the disguise and calls him out on it, though nobody takes them seriously. This premise may sound familiar, especially to fans of a certain game featuring an octopus of the dad variety. It’s such an absurdly funny idea that it somehow keeps working, even as the chicken is eventually discovered and driven away in every episode, only to pull the same schtick next time. Just like ‘Good Idea, Bad Idea,’ its simplicity would make a modern adaptation a breeze.
Don’t judge, this was comedy gold. This is comedy gold. There’s nothing low brow about a cartoon character belching an opera. Keeping with the same trend as previous segments, ‘The Great Wakkorotti’ took that tiny idea and ran with it every time. Yakko bangs out a lovely tune on the piano, Wakko performs his guttural aria, and Dot shows up halfway through with a cart full of… stuff… meant to soothe the poor performer’s throat. It was weird, it was confusing, and it was hilarious. Heck, they could have him burping the Hamilton soundtrack in the new show if they want.
Of course, it will be interesting to see what new gags the Hulu series comes up with. But there’s something to be said about the simple pleasures of cartoon slapstick and belch jokes. So here’s hoping we see some of these classics alongside the new class when Animaniacs makes its long-awaited return.
The new episodes of Animaniacs will release on Hulu November 20th, with season 2 likely coming in 2021.
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