Line #28 TearJerker/Animaniacs


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5b10eaf5_e726_4270_828d_b1573dc50a15.jpeg]]
2	[[index]]
3	* ''TearJerker/PinkyAndTheBrain''
4	* ''TearJerker/WakkosWish''
5	* ''TearJerker/Animaniacs2020''
6	[[/index]]
7	----
8	Even the zaniest of the zany have some moments that can tug at the heartstrings of the viewers.
9	----
10	[[AC:The Warners' segments]]
11	* The "Ballad of Magellan" - not only for its morbid tone and [[ShootTheShaggyDog ending]], but there is something indescribably melancholy-sounding about the chorus, as if you can hear in their voices the Warners were aware their show was doomed (this was in one of the later episodes).
12	* "Taming Of The Screwy" has Scratchinsniff reluctantly sending the Warners to the tower from a fancy party, on Plotz's orders, even though he successfully de-zanitized them for the occasion.
13	** Just hearing the sadness in Yakko's voice when he says, "But we behaved!" really hammers it home. And he's right: ''for once'', the kids had really tried to be on their best behavior.
14	* "Meatballs or Consequences", when you think about it. The GrimReaper comes to take Wakko away, and the other two decide that they want to go, too, rather than be separated from their brother. Subverted somewhat in that [[AngstWhatAngst they're all awfully chipper about it]].
15	-->'''Yakko''': "Oh, ''please'' don't separate us Mr. Death. We love each other. We're a family, a set, like Civil War chess pieces from the Franklin Mint."
16	* In "A Christmas Plotz", the Ghost of Christmas Future (Yakko) shows Mr. Plotz his future: as a consequence coming out of Plotz's firing of Ralph, his son now is in charge, and Plotz is now the security guard. The TearJerker comes when Plotz himself is fired for not being able to catch the Warners; he just walks away with the most hopelessly depressing look on his face all while a sad version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" plays in the background. What makes it worse is that Plotz appears to be undergoing Alzheimer's, meaning that Ralph's son has pretty much condemned him to death.
17	* In "A Hard Day's Warner", Yakko and Dot both get tons of fan mail. But Wakko doesn't seem to have any. He disappointedly asks Dr. Scratchnsniff if there's anything for him, and the look on his face when he's told there isn't is ''heartbreaking''. Fortunately, it's subverted quickly when Ralph finds an entire bag of fan mail, all for Wakko, and practically buries him in it.
18	* You can't help but feel sorry for Plotz during the second half of "Hooray for North Hollywood", when he's fired and literally kicked out of the studio. The next time we see him on New Years Eve, he's homeless and destitute, begging for money. Good thing the Warners decided to get him back.
19	* The underlying tone of "Clown And Out", which is very funny overall, but shows how sad it is that both Plotz and Wakko are almost mindlessly terrified of clowns, especially for Plotz, who knows how silly his fear is and just wanted to do something nice for Wakko on his birthday, not knowing Wakko is even more afraid of clowns than he is. He can barely stand to interact with the clown performer long enough to give him his instructions.
20	--> '''Plotz''': I-I-I want you to go away now! ''You frighten me!''
21	--> '''Clown''': Oh, poor Mr. Man...
22	** Even sadder for the clown, who's just a guy with face paint on, and who loves to entertain, but happens to run into a borderline RealityWarper child who's utterly terrified of him. Luckily, there's a happy ending for everyone.
23
24	[[AC:Rita and Runt's segments]]
25	* "Smitten with Kittens". Rita finds three stray kittens and has to give them up so they can have a better life.
26	** What makes it one of the more gut-wrenching Rita and Runt shorts is [[BreakTheCutie Runt actually breaking down in tears when the kittens go away.]] Rita sheds a tear too, though being [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Rita]], she [[SandInMyEyes passes it off as a raindrop.]]
27	*** Her song ''I'm Nobody's Mama'' counts as well. Just listen. Rita goes on how she is not going to be the kittens' mother, but her reasons for it seems to have very little to do with selfishness: ''They're so small/ How can I care for them?/ [...] On the other hand, "Oh, my Mama; I love you, Mama/ I will never leave you, Mama/[...]/I'll worry about 'em each day, every minute/ I gotta tell you my head isn't in it. I won't let my heart talk''. It nails the feels when she looks through a window and sees a mother cat with her kittens...
28	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbJVLft8-i8 "Humans Ain't What They Seem To Be"]].
29	** The whole damn opening at the pound is sad, but especially Rita's self-centered former owner complaining that she's too independent, won't come when she calls or comfort her when she's sad. Rita says "have a kid, lady," with a voice so weary you just know this has happened before.
30	* Quite a few songs Rita sings fall under this. Particularly ''A Place Called Home'' and ''I'm Nobody's Mama''.
31	** From the ''Les Miserables'' parodying episode ''Les Miseranimals''. Rita sings ''A Flat In Gay Paree'' clearly modelled after the already tearjerking song ''Castle in the Clouds''. It's really hard not to start tearing-up listening to Rita's longing for a loving home... especially given the '''horrid''' conditions she's in during that episode (She's imprisoned in a place where the owner, having run out of any other meat, has decided [[LetsMeetTheMeat to kill cats and serve them for dinner]]).
32	* "Puttin' on the Blitz", set in Poland during World War II, where Rita and Runt help fend off the Nazis so that a little girl can catch a train to France with her resistance-leader father. Rita manages to get onto the train with the girl and her father, and she watches Runt getting smaller and smaller...before she shrugs and says to herself "Well, it was nice while it lasted," and goes back to beat the crap out of the Nazi wiener dog attacking Runt.
33	** Runt, himself, gets one: He'd grabbed the wiener dog by the tail, stopping him from grabbing the little girl and Rita, and allowing them to escape. When he stops the dog the first time, he has a moment to stare at the departing train, and very solemnly says, "Have a nice life, Rita." It makes their reunion that much sweeter.
34	** Their reunion. Remember that when they met, Rita was clear that once they each found a home, they would part ways. When she goes back to Runt and he asks why she did it when she was on her way to a better life, Rita sings that she likes Runt and couldn't go without him. ''We'll always be together, me and you'' indeed.
35
36	[[AC:Slappy and Skippy's segments]]
37	* "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock":
38	-->'''Skippy:''' I'll love you forever, Aunt Slappy.
39	** In RealLife, for those who can relate to Skippy's anguish at having a beloved family member, who can't take care of themselves anymore, and being forced to send them to a [[BleakAbyssRetirementHome nursing home]] because they're not able to take care of their loved ones themselves for one reason or another is more than a little tragic.
40	** It's more than heartbreaking seeing someone as usually joyful and happy as Skippy [[BreakTheCutie lashing out and getting angry at the doctor]] for possibly suggesting that Slappy might never get better and leave the [[BleakAbyssRetirementHome nursing home.]]
41	** Skippy yelling for Slappy, though fully aware that she can't come save him, as the social services agent relocates him to a new family.
42	** Similarly, the way Slappy yells her nephew's name when he doesn't come when he promised and she knows something is wrong. For a character who is hardly shaken by anything in the show, she sounds absolutely desperate here.
43	** Slappy driven insane by the endless surge of weekday talk shows becomes HarsherInHindsight out-of-universe when weekday cartoons on basic syndicated television ended circa 2006 and replaced with talk shows such as the highly age-inappropriate ''Series/TheJerrySpringerShow'' and ''Series/{{Maury}}''. A similar fate would occur to basic TV Saturday Cartoons 8 years later (though this is somewhat remedied by the creation of Creator/KidsClick but it too was discontinued due to low ratings, outdated shows, and being unable to compete with cable and streaming).
44	* The "Bully for Skippy" episode. Basically, Skippy's classmate Duke has been hitting and teasing him, Ms. Butley (one of the staff members who works as TheConfidant) suggests resolving it diplomatically, but it doesn't work and Skippy continues to be bullied. At the end, Ms. Butley gets bashed up and possibly {{Brainwashed}} by Slappy's machine, despite not really having done anything wrong, naivete aside. Duke, however, learned the error of his ways and ended up helping Slappy finish building the machine.
45	* Even though it was PlayedForLaughs and meeting her [[AnimatedActors animated actress]] cheered him up, it was still sad watching Skippy cry every time he mentioned [[{{Expy}} Bumbie]]'s mother's death in "Bumbie's Mom", especially if you've seen [[WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}} the film it's parodying]]. Sherri Stoner cites the original film being a tearjerker as the inspiration for the short.
46	** To make matters worse, [[SuddenDownerEnding the episode ends with him watching another movie]] ([[Film/OldYeller another notorious tearjerker]]) and Slappy's "uh-oh" she says at this scene doesn't seem like an "uh-oh, poor Skippy, he's sad" but more like "uh-oh, he's crying again, how annoying".
47
48	[[AC:Others]]
49	* "A Gift of Gold". A piece of shiny gold wrapping paper is used to wrap Mindy's present. Needless to say, she tears it to shreds, but one piece blows out the window. It flits from place to place, trying to find somewhere to settle, before finally landing in a trash can. Just then, a homeless man (he and his family are living out of their car) fishes it out of the can, using it to wrap a CymbalBangingMonkey, which he gives to his son. The son opens it, then folds the paper carefully and puts it in his pocket, giving it the love it sought the entire cartoon. That alone is heartmelting, but the cartoon is ''also'' voiced by Creator/JimCummings doing his impression of Creator/SterlingHolloway (which is associated with Winnie the Pooh), i.e. "the most emotion-manipulating voice in the world"...
50	* [[ButtMonkey Poor Chicken Boo]] should get at least ''one'' mention in this page. [[AngstWhatAngst Though he doesn't often seem fazed by his misfortunes]].
51	* The ending to all Mindy & Buttons shorts except "Night of the Living Buttons", with the heroism of Buttons ''[[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished never being rewarded]]'' and him always being chastised by Mindy's parents for things he either never did, or only did for the sake of protecting Mindy.
52	* Speaking of Buttons & Mindy, the credits for episode 28 is harsh, even for ''Buttons & Mindy'''s standards. Rather than show the water tower with an orchestral rendition of the main theme, it instead chooses to show Buttons in excruciating pain with bandages and casts, all while he whimpers for an uncomfortably long time. Eventually, Mindy shows up and goes to hug him, causing him ''even more'' pain! The whole thing ends with Buttons running away, ''still fucking whimpering!''
53	** This is meant to be a parody of the credits to ''Series/{{Lassie}}'', but it ends up doubling as NightmareFuel if you don't understand the reference.
54	* When "Paul Revere's Ride" was adapted for the cartoon, it showed Revere riding past one man in his bed, who was doomed to be the first to die during the Revolutionary War. It's represented in a sobering way.
55
56

Context TearJerker / Animaniacs