Saturday morning tv for me consisted 3-4 hours of non-stop cartoons, from X-Men to Batman: The Animated Series (classic!) and everything inbetween. A long time favourite though for myself and my siblings was the one and only Animaniacs.
You’re singing the theme tune in head right now, aren’t you?
Warner Brothers – and sister!
Influenced by the multitude of characters on Warner Bros Looney Tunes (another family favourite) this variety, almost sketch-like, show was created by Steven Spielberg (executive producer) and Tom Ruegger. With adult humour as well as characters that children would love, the biggest pull for Animaniacs was the sheer amount of other cartoons within the show itself.
From day to day, you could go on an adventure with Mindy and her faithful dog Buttons, who always seemed to get the brunt of everything. Or hang with a gang of ‘Noo-Yoike’ pigeons known collectively as The Goodfeathers. Or even follow the escapades of a six foot tall chicken, known as Chicken-Boo, as he tries to pass for a human. Really, you could encounter anything on this show. Even the title trio had some amazing stand-alone spots, such as Wheel of Morality, as well as their multitude of parodies and spoofs!
In honour of the cartoon that is 24 years old this year (eek!) I’m going to have a look at some of my favourite characters and bits – let’s go!
Pinky and the Brain
This segment was so popular that Pinky and the Brain got their very own spin-off show! Night after night, these two mice would concoct plans to try taking over the world, each one crazier that the last. My favourite part of these episodes though was their exchange of ponderings. Classic!
Mindy and Buttons
This segment was exactly a highly entertaining cartoon, but it had its moments! The best one being:
Good Idea/Bad Idea
“Good Idea, Bad Idea” was probably my absolute favourite thing on this show! Maybe it’s because I was raised on sketch shows or because of my eternal love of wordplay, but these 20 second segments were gold. Something as simple as distinguishing between the emphasis of “with” was hilarious i.e. ‘playing catch with your grandfather’ VS ‘playing catch with your grandfather’. Amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8PhzrmBgMI
Wheel of Morality
“The Wheel of Morality adds boring educational value to what otherwise would be almost entirely entertaining programme.” I’ll just leave this here.
Map of the World Song
And last but very not least, this is my favourite of the Warner siblings collection parodic and ridiculous songs. Enjoy!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pOFKmk7ytU]
Well that’s all folks! I mean, goodnight everybody! Let us know what your favourite segments were below!
Happy Saturday!
