| Animaniacs | |
|---|---|
 Series logo featuring (from left to right) Yakko Warner, Dot Warner, and Wakko Warner | |
| Also known as | Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Tom Ruegger |
| Voices of |
|
| Theme music composer | Richard Stone |
| Opening theme | "Animaniacs Theme" performed by Rob Paulsen, Tress MacNeille, and Jess Harnell |
| Ending theme | "Animaniacs End Title" |
| Composers |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 99 (274 segments)(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Steven Spielberg |
| Producers |
|
| Running time | 20–21 minutes (1–10 minutes per segment) |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | September 13, 1993 (1993-09-13) – November 12, 1994 (1994-11-12) |
| Network | The WB |
| Release | September 9, 1995 (1995-09-09) – November 14, 1998 (1998-11-14) |
| Related | |
Animaniacs is an Americananimatedcomedy television series created byTom Ruegger and produced byWarner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired onFox'sFox Kids block in 1993, before moving toThe WB in 1995, as part of itsKids' WB afternoon programming block, until the series ended on November 14, 1998.[1]Animaniacs is the second animated series by Warner Bros. Television Animation to be produced in association withSteven Spielberg'sAmblin Entertainment afterTiny Toon Adventures. It initially ran a total of 99 episodes, along with adirect to video film,Wakko's Wish.
Animaniacs is styled as avariety show, with shortskits featuring a large cast ofcharacters focusing on the Warner Brothers and their sister as main characters. The Warner siblings were in part inspired by the real lifeWarner Bros. Water Tower on theWarner Bros. Studios inBurbank, 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 won multiple awards, including eightDaytime Emmy awards and aPeabody award.Animaniacs, continued to rerun insyndication through the 1990s into the early-2000s after production of new episodes ceased. The series then became available on severalstreaming services. Arevival of the series, consisting of three seasons aired onHulu between 2020 and 2023. Additionally, nine video games based on the series were produced.[2]
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 theWarner Bros. Water Tower because they were seen as too zany. In the present day, the trio escapes from the tower.[3]
EachAnimaniacs episode usually consisted of two or three cartoon shorts.[4]Animaniacs had a format similar tosketch comedy series with segments focusing on different characters and having bridging segments linking each short.[5]Animaniacs had a large cast of characters, separated into individual segments, with each pair or set of characters acting in its own plot.
After their escape, they often interacted with other Warner Bros. studio workers, including Ralph the Security Guard.[5] Dr. Otto Scratchansniff is an arch rival of the Warner siblings, while the boys lust after his assistant Hello Nurse.[6] Additional characters were not Warner Bros. studio employees, and consisted mostly of various animals with their own self-contained storylines. Rita and Runt are a cat and dog duo, and "The Goodfeathers" are three pigeons.[7] Rita and Runt was dropped after the initial 65 episode run.[8]Pinky and the Brain are two genetically alteredanthropomorphic laboratory mice who continuously plot and attempt to take over the world.[9] Pinky and the Brain segments would begin with Brain asking "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?" before Pinky would respond with anon-sequitur.[6]Slappy Squirrel is anoctogenarian squirrel cartoon star and is paired with her nephew Skippy.[7][6] Another character is Chicken Boo, who is a giant chicken who wishes to live among humans.[10] Additional side characters include The Hip Hippos.[3]
BeforeAnimaniacs, Warner Bros. had been working to getSteven Spielberg to make an animated film for the studio. To help court Spielberg's favor, the head of Warner Bros. AnimationJean MacCurdy brought directorTom Ruegger, who had successfully ledA Pup Named Scooby-Doo, to help develop the concept with Spielberg. Ruegger pitched the idea to Spielberg of using younger versions of theLooney Tunes characters while capturing the same wackiness of those cartoons, eventually leading intoTiny Toon Adventures.[11]Tiny Toon Adventures was considered a success, winning a number of Daytime Emmy awards and a Primetime Emmy award and revived the Warner Bros. Animation department.[11]
WithTiny Toon Adventures's success, Spielberg and MacCurdy pushed on Ruegger for the next idea for a series, with Spielberg emphasizing the need for something with amarquee name.[11] Ruegger had already envisioned pulling three characters that he had created for his student filmThe Premiere of Platypus Duck while attendingDartmouth College, a trio ofplatypuses for this new series, and made a connection to Warner Bros. after walking around the studio lot and seeing its signatureWarner Bros. Water Tower.[12] The trio then became the Warner Brothers and their sister Dot (the latter representing theperiod in the "Warner Bros." name).[13] This tied the characters directly to the Warner Brothers production studio which the company then approved.[12]
Along with reviving the character designs, Ruegger drew characterization for the Warner siblings from his three sons who could be troublemakers at the time.[11][14] Because the Warners were portrayed as cartoon stars from the early1930s, Ruegger and other artists forAnimaniacs made the images of the Warners similar to cartoon characters from that era.[14] Specific characters that served as inspirations includedFelix the Cat,Bosko andFoxy.[12] Rather than being modeled on any kind of real world animal, the three siblings are of an indeterminite species.[12]
Spielberg was involved in approving or rejecting concepts produced by Ruegger and his team, who pitched characters and concepts to Spielberg in his home often with the assistance of his children.[12]
Both Tiny Toons andAnimaniacs were part of a larger drive by Warner Brothers studios to revitalize theirLooney Tunes brand by creating new series and new characters for a new generation of viewers. Additional series includedTaz-Mania andThe Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries.[15]
Spielberg served as executive producer, under hisAmblin Entertainment production company. Ruegger led the show's production as its showrunner and senior producer. He initially brought inSherri Stoner, who had also contributed toTiny Toons Adventures, to help expand the series' concept. Along with Stoner, fellow producers Peter Hastings,Rusty Mills, and Rich Arons scripted many of the episodes and had an active role during group discussions in the writer's room as well. Stoner helped to recruit most of the remaining writing staff, which includedLiz Holzman,Paul Rugg,Deanna Oliver,John McCann, Nicholas Hollander, Charlie Howell, Gordon Bressack, Jeff Kwitny, Earl Kress,Tom Minton, and Randy Rogel.[11]
The writers and animators ofAnimaniacs used the experience gained from the previous series to create new characters cast in the mold ofChuck Jones andTex Avery's creations, following on the back-and-forth of many of the pairings from their classic shorts.[16] TheMarx Brothers, particularly with theirbreaking of the fourth wall, also played heavily into the comic styling they wanted for the show.[11]
While the Warner siblings served as the central point of the show, the writing staff worked out developing other pairings or trios so as to make the cartoon more like avariety show withsketch comedy. Spielberg said that the irreverence inLooney Tunes cartoons inspired theAnimaniacs cast.[16] Just as Ruegger wrote the Warner siblings based on his own sons, other pairings or trios were based on similar personal relations the writing staff had. Slappy Squirrel was derived from an observation aboutSherri Stoner, who acted like a teenager well into adulthoood.[8] Ruegger created Pinky and the Brain after being inspired by the personalities of two of hisTiny Toon Adventures colleagues, Eddie Fitzgerald and Tom Minton, who worked in the same office. Ruegger thought of the premise forPinky and the Brain when wondering what would happen if Minton and Fitzgerald tried to take over the world, and cemented the idea after he modified a caricature of the pair drawn by animatorBruce Timm by adding mice ears and noses.[11][17]
Animaniacs was developed following the passage of theChildren's Television Act in 1990 that required programming aimed at children to include educational content. The writers worked this into the show in part by featuring segments involving the characters interacting withhistorical 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.[13] Historical figures that the show features includeMichelangelo andLudwig van Beethoven,William Shakespeare,James Stewart, andAlbert Einstein.[18][19]
"We don't just write for kids[...] We fill the stories with cultural references that people our age — for the most part, we're baby boomers — will understand, as well as [references for] younger people." - Tom Ruegger in 1997 in an interview withTV Guide[20]
Animaniacs parodied popular TV shows and movies and caricatured celebrities. In one such example, the pigeon characters from"The Goodfeathers" segments are a direct homage to the 1990 filmGoodfellas, with characters directly derived from the characters played byJoe Pesci,Robert De Niro, andRay Liotta.[18] One segment ofGoodfeathers even has a plot reminiscent of the play and filmWest Side Story.[6] Additionally, the character "The Godpigeon", is a homage toVito Corleone played byMarlon Brando in the filmThe Godfather.[21]
This included political figures such asAl Gore orNewt Gingrich.[9] Film parodies included the filmA Hard Day's Night and theThree Tenors, which are references meant to appeal to older audiences.[22] Thecomic operas ofGilbert and SullivanPirates of Penzance andH.M.S. Pinafore wereparodied in episode 3, "HMS Yakko".[23] Jokes involving such innuendo would often end with Yakko telling "Goodnight, everybody!" as a punchline.[24]Clint Eastwood,Michael Keaton,Michelle Pfeiffer, were celebrity guest cameos in a parody ofRobert Altman's 1992 filmThe Player.[9] There was also a parody of the showPower Rangers.[25]
On the 25th anniversary ofWoodstock music festival, an episode where Slappy Squirrel goes to relax on vacation atMax Yasgur's farm, but is instead inundated by hippies.[26]
In an interview, Spielberg defended the "irreverence" ofAnimaniacs, saying that theAnimaniacs crew has "a point of view" and does not "sit back passively and play both sides equally".[25] Spielberg also said thatAnimaniacs' humor of social commentary and irreverence were inspired by theMarx Brothers[25] andLooney Tunes cartoons.[16]Animaniacs, among other Spielberg-produced series, had a large amount of cartoon violence. Spielberg defended the violence inAnimaniacs by saying that the series had a balance of both violent humor and educational segments, so the series would never become either too violent or "benign".[25]
One segment is a musical short version ofLes Miserables, called “Les Miseranimals.”[27]
Animaniacs featured voice actorsRob Paulsen as the characters Yakko and Pinky,Jess Harnell as Wakko, andTress MacNeille as Dot.[28] Paulsen said that Steven Spielberg gave input and direction to the voice actors.[29] Paulsen was initially given directions to have Yakko sound like comedianGroucho Marx.[30] For the voice of the character of Pinky, Paulsen took inspiration from British comedy such asMonty Python's Flying Circus.[11] Voice directorAndrea Romano praised Paulsen's ability toad-lib.[30]
MacNeille had already been part ofTiny Toons Adventures as Babs Bunny, a role "custom made" for her, and Spielberg encouraged her to audition for the role of Dot inAnimaniacs.[28]
According to Harnell, Romano suggested that he do animpression ofJohn Lennon for the voice of Wakko.[28]
For the character of Brain,Maurice LaMarche had been a long-time aficionado ofOrson Welles, including the infamousFrozen Peas outtake, and when he auditioned for various characters in the show, immediately saw the Brain as having a Welles-like character, adapting his voice for the role.[28]
Animation work onAnimaniacs was done in several different studios, both American and international, over the course of the show's production. The animation companies includedTokyo Movie Shinsha ofJapan,[8]StarToons ofChicago,[31]Wang Film Productions ofTaiwan,[8] Freelance Animators New Zealand ofNew Zealand,[citation needed] Seoul Movie (a subsidiary of TMS)[8] andAKOM ofSouth Korea,[32] and mostAnimaniacs episodes frequently had animation from different companies in each episode's respective segments.
Episodes reportedly cost between $500,000 and $750,000 to produce, a significant sum for an animated television series of that era.[33] The show used moreanimation cels than other animated shows of the time as well.[8]
Animaniacs used a heavy musical score for an animated program, with every episode featuring at least one original score. The idea for an original musical score in every episode came from Steven Spielberg.[34]Animaniacs used an orchestra ranging from 25 to 40 players.[12]
In an interview forThe Cartoon Music Book,Animaniacs composerRichard Stone said that the number of musicians in the orchestra varied, depending on the episode and the type of music needed, but said that "I don't think we ever had more than thirty-two [pieces]".[35]
Besides Stone, other composers were contracted to write original underscore for the series' run including the married couple of Steve and Julie Bernstein.[36] The use of the large orchestra in modern Warner Bros. animation began withAnimaniacs predecessor,Tiny Toon Adventures, and they remained the only animated television series at the time to use a full live orchestra.[37] Although the outcome was a very expensive show to produce, executive in charge of production Jean MacCurdy said "the sound sets us apart from everyone else in animation".[34] The music was recorded at the Eastwood Scoring Stage, which was used byCarl Stalling for his work on theLooney Tunes shorts.[38]
Animaniacs featured a lot of musical numbers,mini-musicals, alongside other shorts.[9] These includeYakko's World and theNations of the World updated in which Yakko sings the names of all countries at the time to the tune of the "Mexican Hat Dance"; various mistakes are present, with variousdisputed territories included and some countries missing or erroneously named. "Wakko's America" listed all the United States and their capitals to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw".[39] Another song, titled "The Presidents", named every U.S. president at the time to the tune of the "William Tell Overture" (with brief snippets of the tunes "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" and "Dixie").[40][41] The song "A Quake, a quake" covered the1994 Northridge earthquake.[10] Non-educational song parodies were also used, such as "Slippin' on the Ice," a parody of "Singin' in the Rain".[42] Most of the groups of characters had their own theme songs for their segments on the show.[43]
TheAnimaniacs theme song composed by Richard Stone as the music for thetitle sequence won anEmmy Award for best song in 1994.[44] SeveralAnimaniacs albums and sing-along VHS tapes were released, including the CDsAnimaniacs,Yakko's World, andAnimaniacs Variety Pack, and the tapesAnimaniacs Sing-Along: Yakko's World andAnimaniacs Sing-Along: Mostly in Toon.[45]
Songs by Rita the cat were sung by broadway actressBernadette Peters.[10]
| Season | Segments | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | ||||
| 1 | 171 | 65 | September 13, 1993 (1993-09-13) | May 23, 1994 (1994-05-23) | Fox (Fox Kids) | |
| 2 | 12 | 4 | September 10, 1994 (1994-09-10) | November 12, 1994 (1994-11-12) | ||
| 3 | 46 | 13 | September 9, 1995 (1995-09-09) | February 24, 1996 (1996-02-24) | The WB (Kids' WB) | |
| 4 | 22 | 8 | September 7, 1996 (1996-09-07) | November 16, 1996 (1996-11-16) | ||
| 5 | 23 | 9 | September 8, 1997 (1997-09-08) | November 14, 1998 (1998-11-14) | ||
| Wakko's Wish | December 21, 1999 (1999-12-21) | Direct-to-video | ||||
Animaniacs premiered on September 13, 1993,[46] on the Fox Kids programming block of the Fox network, and ran there until September 8, 1995;[4] new episodes aired from the 1993 through 1994 seasons.Animaniacs aired with 50 episodes in the fall of 1993, and an additional 15 episodes in the spring of 1994 making a total of 65 initial episodes.[3] While on Fox Kids,Animaniacs gained fame for its name and became the second-most popular show among children ages 2–11 and children ages 6–11, second only toMighty Morphin Power Rangers (which began that same year).[47] On March 30, 1994, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot first theatrically appeared in the animated short, "I'm Mad", which opened nationwide alongside the full-length animated feature,Thumbelina.[48] The musical short featured Yakko, Wakko, and Dot bickering during a car trip. Producers Steven Spielberg, Tom Ruegger, and Jean MacCurdy wanted "I'm Mad" to be the first of a series of shorts to bringAnimaniacs to a wider audience. However, because of Thumbelina's box office failure, "I'm Mad" was the onlyAnimaniacs theatrical short produced.[48] The short was later incorporated intoAnimaniacs episode 69. Following the 65th episode of the series,Animaniacs continued to air in reruns on Fox Kids. The only new episodes during this time included a short, four-episode second season quickly assembled from unused scripts. After Fox Kids airedAnimaniacs reruns for a year, the series switched to the new Warner Bros. children's programming block, Kids' WB.[citation needed]
The series was popular enough for Warner Bros. Animation to invest in additional episodes ofAnimaniacs past the traditional 65-episode marker for syndication.[49]Animaniacs premiered on the new Kids' WB line-up on September 9, 1995,[4] with a new season of 13 episodes.[citation needed] At this time, the show's popular cartoon characters,Pinky and the Brain, werespun off fromAnimaniacs into their own half-hour TV series.[50]
Despite the series' success on Fox Kids,Animaniacs on Kids' WB was successful only in an unintended way, bringing in adult viewers and viewers outside the Kids' WB target demographic of young children.[citation needed] This unintended result of adult viewers and not enough young viewers put pressure on the WB network from advertisers and caused dissatisfaction from the WB network towardsAnimaniacs.[citation needed] Slowly, orders from the WB for moreAnimaniacs episodes dwindled andAnimaniacs had a couple more short seasons, relying on leftover scripts and storyboards.[citation needed] The fourth season had eight episodes, which was reduced from 18 because of Warner Bros.' dissatisfaction with the series.[citation needed] The 99th and finalAnimaniacs episode aired on November 14, 1998.
In 1999 production of newAnimaniacs episodes ceased and the direct-to-video feature filmAnimaniacs: Wakko's Wish was to act as a closer to the series.[51]Animation World Network reported that Warner Bros. laid off over 100 artists, contributing to the reduced production of the original series.[52] Producer Tom Ruegger explained that rather than produce new episodes, Warner Bros. instead decided to use the back-catalog ofAnimaniacs episodes until "someone clamors for more."[51]Animaniacs segments were shown along with segments from other cartoons as part ofThe Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show.[52] Following the end of the series, theAnimaniacs team developedAnimaniacs: Wakko's Wish in 1999.[51] In 2016, Ruegger said on hisReddit AMA that the decline ofAnimaniacs and other series was the result of Warner Bros.' investment in the much cheaper anime seriesPokémon. After Warner Bros. gained distribution rights to the cheaper and successful anime, the network chose to invest less in original programming likeAnimaniacs.[53]
The series was followed up by thefeature-length direct-to-video movieAnimaniacs: Wakko's Wish. The movie takes place in the fictional town of Acme Falls, in which the Warners and the rest of theAnimaniacs cast are under the rule of a greedy king who conquered their home country from a neighboring country. When the Warners find out about a star that will grant a wish to the first person that touches it, the Warners, the villagers (theAnimaniacs cast), and the king race to get to it first.[54] Warner Bros. released the movie on VHS on December 21, 1999; the film was then released on DVD much later on October 7, 2014.
After new episodes were no longer produced,Animaniacs aired in syndication on the WB’s sister network,Cartoon Network. In 2000,Nickelodeon bought the rights to air the series (as well asTiny Toons andPinky and the Brain) for 20 million dollars with the first episodes airing in Spring 2001.[55]Nickelodeon aired the episodes until 2005, and with additional re-runs being shown onNicktoons from 2002 to 2005, andDiscovery Family (known as The Hub Network at the time) from 2012 to 2014.[56] The streaming service Netflix picked up the series in 2016.[57] It also became available onHulu.[6]
AfterAnimaniacs, Spielberg collaborated with Warner Bros. Animation again to produce the short-lived seriesSteven Spielberg Presents Freakazoid, along with theAnimaniacs spin-off seriesPinky and the Brain, from whichPinky, Elmyra & the Brain was later spun off. Warner Bros. also produced two other comedy animated series in the later half of the decade titledHisteria! andDetention, which were short-lived and unsuccessful compared to the earlier series. Later, Warner Bros. cut back the size of its animation studio because the showHisteria! went over its budget, and most production on further Warner Bros. animated comedy series ended.[52]
Since 2016, Paulsen, Harnell, and MacNeille have toured asAnimaniacs Live!, performing songs fromAnimaniacs along with a full orchestra.[58] Among the songs are an updated version of "Yakko's World" by Randy Rogel that includes a new verse to include nations that have been formed since the song's original airing, such as those from the break-up of theSoviet Union.[41]
During its run,Animaniacs became the second-most popular children's show among both ages 2–11 and ages 6–11 (behindMighty Morphin Power Rangers).[19][47]Animaniacs, along with other animated series, helped to bring "Fox Kids" ratings much larger than those of the channel's competitors.[59] In November 1993,Animaniacs andTiny Toon Adventures almost doubled the ratings of rivalsDarkwing Duck andGoof Troop among ages 2–11 and 6–11, which are both very important demographics to children's networks.[19]
WhileAnimaniacs was popular among younger viewers (the target demographic for Warner Bros.' TV cartoons), adults also responded positively to the show; in 1995, more than one-fifth of the weekday (4 p.m., Monday through Friday) and Saturday morning (8 a.m.) audience viewers were 25 years or older.[42] The large adult fanbase even led to one of the first Internet-basedfandom cultures.[60] During the show's prime, theusenet newsgroup alt.tv.animaniacs was an active gathering place for fans of the show (most of whom were adults) to post reference guides,fan fiction, and fan-made artwork aboutAnimaniacs.[61] One episode ofAnimaniacs even featured acaricature of show's own Internet fans.[9]
Critical reception was largely positive. The critics praised the show show's inclusion of varioushistorical figures.[18] Retrospective reviews were also mostly positive. In 2009,IGN ranked Animaniacs as the #17 greatest animated series of all time in their own Top 100 Animated Series of All Time.[62] Writing a retrospective review inEntertainment Weekly in 2011, praised the humor and musical numbers, including references that he was unable to understand at the time.[10] In 2021, theChicago Tribune, named it the 66th best television series of the 1990s.[63]Vanity Fair in 2023 praised the show.[12]
Animaniacs won eight Daytime Emmy Awards.
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 53rd Annual Peabody Awards | Peabody Award | Warner Brothers Animation,Amblin Entertainment,Fox Children's Network | Won | [64] |
| 21st Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition | Richard Stone and Steve Bernstein | Won | [65] | |
| Outstanding Original Song | Richard Stone andTom Ruegger forAnimaniacs Theme Song" | Won | [65] | ||
| Outstanding Animated Children's Program | •Steven Spielberg (executive producer) •Sherri Stoner (producer) • Rich Arons (producer/animation director) •Tom Ruegger (coordinating producer) • Michael Gerard (animation director) • Alfred Gimeno (animation director) • Bob Kline (animation director) • Jenny Lerew (animation director) •Rusty Mills (animation director) • Audu Paden (animation director) • Greg Reyna (animation director) • Lenord Robinson (animation director) • Barry Caldwell (animation director) | Nominated | [66] | ||
| Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program | •John P. McCann • Nicholas Hollander •Tom Minton •Paul Rugg •Deanna Oliver •Tom Ruegger •Sherri Stoner • Randy Rogel •Peter Hastings | Nominated | [66] | ||
| 10th TCA Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming | Warner Bros. Animation andAmblin Entertainment | Nominated | ||
| 22nd Annie Awards | Best Animated Television Program | Warner Bros. Animation | Nominated | ||
| Best Achievement for Voice Acting | Frank Welker | Nominated | |||
| 1995 | 22nd Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Children's Animated Program | •Steven Spielberg (executive producer) •Rich Arons (producer) •Sherri Stoner (producer) •Tom Ruegger (senior producer) | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Achievement in Animation | • Rich Arons (director) • Barry Caldwell (director) • Michael Gerard (director) • Alfred Gimeno (director) • David Marshall (director) • Jon McClenahan (director) •Rusty Mills (director) • Audu Paden (director) • Greg Reyna]] (director) • Lenord Robinson (director) •Andrea Romano (director) •Peter Hastings (writer) • Nicholas Hollander (writer) •John P. McCann (writer) •Tom Minton (writer) •Deanna Oliver (writer) • Randy Rogel (writer) •Paul Rugg (writer) •Tom Ruegger (writer) •Sherri Stoner (writer) | Nominated | [67] | ||
| Outstanding Music Direction and Composition | Richard Stone andSteve Bernstein | Nominated | [67] | ||
| 8th Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | Animaniacs | Nominated | [68] | |
| 23rd Annie Awards | Voice Acting in the Field of Animation | Rob Paulsen as the voice ofYakko Warner | Nominated | ||
| Tress MacNeille as the voice ofDot Warner | Nominated | ||||
| Best Individual Achievement for Music in the Field of Animation | Richard Stone (supervising composer) | Nominated | |||
| Best Animated Television Program | Warner Bros. Television Animation | Nominated | |||
| 1996 | 17th Youth in Film Awards (Young Artist Awards) | Best Family Animated Production | Animaniacs | Won | |
| 9th Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | Animaniacs | Nominated | ||
| 23rd Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Children's Animated Program | •Steven Spielberg (executive producer) •Tom Ruegger (senior producer) •Peter Hastings (producer) •Rusty Mills (producer) | Won | [69] | |
| Outstanding Achievement in Animation | •Gordon Bressack (writer) •Charles M. Howell IV (writer) •Peter Hastings (writer) •Randy Rogel (writer) •Tom Ruegger (writer) •Paul Rugg (writer) •Liz Holzman (director) •Audu Paden (director) •Andrea Romano (director) •Al Zegler (director) • Joey Banaszkiewicz (storyboard artist) •Barry Caldwell (storyboard artist) • Brian Mitchell (storyboard artist) • John Over (storyboard artist) • Norma Rivera (storyboard artist) • Rhoydon Shishido (storyboard artist) • Marcus Williams (storyboard artist) • Mark Zoeller (storyboard artist) | Won | [69] | ||
| Outstanding Music Direction and Composition | Steve Bernstein, Carl Johnson, andRichard Stone | Nominated | |||
| 24th Annie Awards | Best Animated Television Program | Warner Bros. Television Animation andAmblin Entertainment | Nominated | ||
| Best Individual Achievement: Music | •Richard Stone • Steve Bernstein • Julie Bernstein | Nominated | |||
| 1997 | 1st Annual Online Film & Television Association Awards | OFTA Television Award for Best Animated Series | Animaniacs | Nominated | |
| 10th Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | Animaniacs | Nominated | ||
| 24th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Children's Animated Program | •Steven Spielberg (executive producer) •Liz Holzman (producer/director) •Rusty Mills (producer/director) •Peter Hastings (producer/writer) •Tom Ruegger (senior producer/writer) •Charles Visser (director) •Andrea Romano (director) •Audu Paden (director) •Jon McClenahan (director) •Randy Rogel (writer) •John P. McCann (writer) •Paul Rugg (writer) •Nick DuBois (writer) | Won | [70] | |
| Outstanding Music Direction and Composition | •Richard Stone (composer) • Steve Bernstein (composer) • Julie Bernstein (composer) | Won | |||
| 25th Annie Awards | Best Individual Achievement: Directing in a TV Production | Charles Visser for episode "Noel" | Nominated | ||
| 1998 | 25th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Music Direction and Composition | •Richard Stone (composer) • Steve Bernstein (composer) • Julie Bernstein (composer) •Gordon Goodwin (composer) | Won | |
| Outstanding Children's Animated Program | •Steven Spielberg (executive producer) •Tom Ruegger (senior producer/writer) •Rusty Mills (supervising producer/director) •Liz Holzman (producer/director) •Andrea Romano (director) •Mike Milo (director) •Jon McClenahan (director) •Charles M. Howell IV (writer) •Randy Rogel (writer) •Kevin Hopps (writer) •Gordon Bressack (writer) •Nick DuBois (writer) | Nominated | |||
| 26th Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Daytime Television Program | Animaniacs | Nominated | ||
| 1999 | 26th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Music Direction and Composition | •Richard Stone (composer) • Steve Bernstein (composer) • Tim Kelly (composer) • Julie Bernstein (composer) •Gordon Goodwin (composer) | Won | |
| Outstanding Children's Animated Program | •Steven Spielberg (executive producer) •Tom Ruegger (senior producer/writer) •Rusty Mills (supervising producer/director) •Liz Holzman •Randy Rogel (writer) •Kevin Hopps (writer) •Nick DuBois (writer) •Charles M. Howell IV (writer) •Earl Kress (writer) •Wendell Morris (writer) •Tom Sheppard (writer) •Andrea Romano (director) •Stephen Lewis (director) •Kirk Tingblad (director) •Mike Milo (director) •Nelson Recinos (director) •Russell Calabrese (director) •Herb Moore (director) •Dave Pryor (director) | Nominated |
Episodes of the show have been released on DVD and VHS during and after the series' run.
VHS tapes ofAnimaniacs were released in the United States and in the United Kingdom. All of these tapes are out of print, but are still available at online sellers. The episodes featured are jumbled at random and are in no particular order with the series. Each video featured four to five episodes each which were accompanied by a handful of shorter skits, with a running time of about 45 minutes.[citation needed]
Beginning on July 25, 2006,Warner Home Video began releasing DVD volume sets ofAnimaniacs episodes in order of the episodes' original airdates.[citation needed] Volume one ofAnimaniacs sold very well; over half of the product being sold in the first week made it one of the fastest selling animation DVD sets that Warner Home Video ever put out.[citation needed]
Record labelsRhino Entertainment produced albums featuring songs from the show. These albums includeA Hip Hopera Christmas,Yakko's World, andThe Animaniacs Faboo! Collection.[38]
AnAnimaniacs comic book, published byDC Comics, ran from 1995 to 2000 (59 regular monthly issues, plus twoSpecials). Initially, these featured all the characters except for Pinky and the Brain, who were published in their own comic book series (which ran for aChristmas Special issue and then 27 regular issues from July 1996 to November 1998 before its cancellation), though cameos were possible. TheAnimaniacs comic book series was later renamedAnimaniacs! featuring Pinky and the Brain with issue #43 and ran for another 16 issues beforeits cancellation.[citation needed] TheAnimaniacs comic book series, like the TV series, parodied TV, film and comic book standards such asPulp Fiction andThe X-Files, among others.[citation needed]
Due to the popularity of the show, a total of nine video games were based on theAnimaniacs series for various consoles.[2] The list includes titles such as:Animaniacs (1994),[71][72]Animaniacs Game Pack! (1997),[73]Animaniacs: Ten Pin Alley (1998),[74]Animaniacs: A Gigantic Adventure (1999)[75],Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt (2005)[76],Animaniacs: Lights, Camera, Action! (2005).[77][78] An additional game for theGameBoy Advance, titledAnimaniacs: Hollywood Hypnotics was produced but cancelled before release.[2]
A revival series ofAnimaniacs was ordered byHulu in May 2017 for an initial two-season order, following the popularity of the original series afterNetflix had added it to their library in 2016.[79] The first season of 13 episodes was released on November 20, 2020, while the second season was released on November 5, 2021[80] and the third and final season was released on February 17, 2023.[citation needed]Wellesley Wild served as the showrunner and as executive producer along with Gabe Swarr.[81] According to Wild, Steven Spielberg was heavily involved with bringing the series back and insisting on many of the original voice cast and elements be used for the revival.[82][83] This includes the return of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot (voiced by Paulsen, Harnell, and MacNeille) and Pinky and the Brain (voiced by Paulsen and LaMarche),[84] and the use of a small orchestra for the musical works composed by Julie and Steven Bernstein, who both composed additional music during the series' original run, as well as other composers trained by Richard Stone and Randy Rogel.[85][86][82]
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