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5[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1993_animaniacs_logo_with_patb.png]]
6[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[https://youtu.be/YhkdY3O-AEc It's time for Ani-mani-acs!]]\
7And we're zany to the max!\
8So just sit back and relax!\
9You'll laugh 'til you collapse!\
10We're Animaniacs!"'' [[note]]Clockwise starting from the left: [[Main/EvilGenius The Brain]], [[Main/TeamDad Yakko]], [[Main/BigEater Wakko]], [[Main/TheDitz Pinky]], [[Main/DeliberatelyCuteChild Dot]].[[/note]]]]
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12->''"{{Dateline}}: Hollywood, 1930, the Warner Bros.' studio, home of the biggest stars in tinseltown! Here at the studio's new animation department, the artists toiled endlessly to come up with cartoon stars, ultimately creating three new characters: the Warner Brothers and their sister Dot! Unfortunately, the Warner kids were totally out of control and sent the animators running to the hills! The trio ran amok throughout the studio creating utter chaos. Finally, they were captured. The Warners' films — which made absolutely no sense — were locked away in the studio vault never to be released! As for the Warners themselves, who made even less sense, they were locked away in the studio water tower also never to be released! Publicly, the studio has disavowed all knowledge of the Warners' existence to this very day... when the Warners escaped!"''
13-->-- '''Newsreel of the Stars''' opening cutaway, [[https://youtu.be/2bpozVvY574?t=60 extended version]]
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15''Animaniacs'', also known as ''[[InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt Steven Spielberg Presents]] Animaniacs'', is an American animated comedic musical VarietyShow that ran for 99 episodes (consisting of 274 segments) over five seasons from 1993 to 1998.
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17Produced by Creator/StevenSpielberg, ''Animaniacs'' was a [[GenreThrowback revival of an old show concept]]: a collection of cartoon shorts in a half-hour kids' show. Rather than recycling or remaking old theatrical shorts, ''Animaniacs'' relied on original stories featuring original characters (though it did indulge in a bit of self-referential cliché-riding at times). This approach was unique in [[TheNineties the 1990s]], since goofball[=/=]{{slapstick}}-type shows (think ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]]'') were being systematically driven out by MoralGuardians who thought that slapstick was too violent for children's TV (something that was frequently a target of the show's humor).
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19It originally aired on Creator/FoxKids (on the Fox television network), and later Creator/KidsWB, both of which were programming blocks on broadcast network stations, making ''Animaniacs'' a godsend to kids without cable. On January 7, 2013, the show began airing on [[Creator/DiscoveryFamily The Hub]]. The whole series is now available on DVD and digital streaming.
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21The animation was done by 8 studios: Creator/WangFilmProductions from Taiwan (35 half-hours), Creator/{{AKOM}} from South-Korea (24,5 half-hours), Creator/TMSEntertainment from Japan (22 half-hours), [[Creator/JonMcClenahan StarToons]] from Chicago (10,5 half-hours), [[Creator/FreelanceAnimatorsNewZealand Freelance]] from New Zealand (4,5 half-hours), Creator/KokoEnterprises from South-Korea (2 half-hours), [[Creator/PhilippineAnimationStudioInc PASI]] from Philippines (1 segment) and Creator/VargaStudio from Hungary (1 segment).
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23Shorts were generally self-contained, though they frequently [[{{Crossover}} crossed over]] with each other without much warning. Each had a cast and premise of their own:
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25[[folder:Recurring Segments and Characters]]
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27* '''The Warner Brothers ([[InsistentTerminology and the Warner Sister]])''': This was the main segment of the show. Yakko (Creator/RobPaulsen), Wakko (Creator/JessHarnell), and sister [[OddNameOut Dot]] (Creator/TressMacNeille) were cartoon characters that resembled anthropomorphic dogs or cats [[note]] Within the show they were occasionally referred to as "puppy children", "kiddies", or "kidsies." [[/note]]. Their {{Backstory}} indicates that they were created in the 1930s by the Warner Studios animators, then [[ArtInitiatesLife leapt off the page]] and ran amok through the studio. The Warners' cartoons ("which made absolutely no sense") were shelved, never to be released, while the Warners themselves ("who made even less sense") were locked in the studio's water tower and the studio [[UnPerson publicly disavowed any knowledge of their existence]]. The Warners eventually escape 65 years later, and HilarityEnsues. Studio psychiatrist Dr. Otto Scratchansniff (Rob Paulsen), his [[HospitalHottie exceptionally-hot female assistant]] (Creator/TressMacNeille), dimwitted studio security guard Ralph (Creator/FrankWelker), and blustering studio president Thaddeus Plotz (Frank Welker again) suffer more from the trio's antics than anyone else. Some of the shorts involving the Warners were their "classic" cartoons, which played with different animation styles and tropes based on the cartoons of the time they were said to be from. When not following classic formulas, the Warners engaged in parodies of pop-culture or inserted themselves into history (wherein they would simultaneously both annoy and inspire famous figures like UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln and Music/LudwigVanBeethoven). Not content with BreakingTheFourthWall in their own shorts, they would occasionally come dashing through the other characters' shorts, usually with Ralph in hot pursuit.
28* '''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain''': A pair of lab mice named Pinky (Rob Paulsen) and the Brain (Creator/MauriceLaMarche) live in a laboratory. The highly intelligent Brain is constantly thinking up plans to TakeOverTheWorld overnight, but his schemes always end in spectacular failure usually due to the interference of the dimwitted Pinky or his own hubris. Nevertheless, he resolves to come up with a new idea for the next night. The shorts became popular enough to warrant their own SpinOff show.
29* '''Rita and Runt''': Two stray animals -- a cat (Bernadette Peters) who sings show-tunes (with changed lyrics) and a dopey (Film/RainMan-inspired) dog voiced by Frank Welker -- try to find a home throughout time and space. These shorts had a tendency to be a bit more melancholic than the others.
30* '''Slappy Squirrel''': A washed-up old cartoon star from "the good old days" (voiced by production writer Sherri Stoner) works through modern-day problems with old-school cartoon techniques (that is to say, violence -- preferably of the extreme and/or explosive kind). Her personality is based on being old and cranky (with the occasional menopause joke), and (in typical "senior citizen" fashion) she thinks all the modern cartoon stars are no-good punks. Most of her shorts center around her MediumAwareness, and she is often accompanied by her nephew Skippy (voiced by producer Tom Ruegger's son Nathan), who helps to balance out her cynical attitude with his bright-eyed child-like optimism. Her opposite number is the equally elderly Walter Wolf.
31* '''Minerva Mink''': An [[MsFanservice oversexualized]] [[TalkingAnimal mink]] (Julie Brown) who used her feminine wiles to get what she wanted. She only starred in two shorts since she was considered inappropriate by the censors, but she showed up in others and ''WesternAnimation/WakkosWish'' as a background character and got a few dedicated comics in the ''Animaniacs'' comic book series.
32* '''Goodfeathers''': A direct parody of ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' and other gangster films. Three New Yorker pigeons named Squit, Bobby, and Pesto (Maurice [=LaMarche=], John Mariano, and Chick Vennera) try to run the streets under the watchful eye of the Godpigeon; the trio lives on a statue of Creator/MartinScorsese.
33* '''Buttons and Mindy''': A toddler, voiced by Creator/NancyCartwright of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' fame, roams around unsupervised; she is completely oblivious to the dangers around her and [[ConstantlyCurious asks questions of everyone she meets]]. The family dog, Buttons (Frank Welker), [[BadlyBatteredBabysitter runs himself ragged trying to return Mindy to her parents]], and [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished invariably ends up being scolded by them for some minor mishap]] once she is safe.
34* '''Chicken Boo''': A giant rooster whose [[PaperThinDisguise lame attempts to pass as a human]] incomprehensibly succeed, [[YouHaveToBelieveMe one person's protests]] notwithstanding. A minor accident (losing a baseball cap, for instance) inexplicably reveals Boo's true nature to everyone around him, wherein he is shunned and kicked out, but he always brushes himself off and walks away to find the next big opportunity.
35* '''Katie Kaboom''': A girl (Laura Mooney) who literally develops into a monster and then explodes with rage (causing massive damage to the house and landscape) over minor, stereotypical teenage problems, such as her boyfriend being late to pick her up. She was based on the teenage daughter of one of the writers.
36* '''The Hip Hippos''': An exceedingly heavy hippopotamus couple, Flavio and Marita (Frank Welker and Tress [=MacNeille=], respectively), whose ''nouveau-riche'' lifestyle and utter reliance on luxury leaves them helpless in situations where money won't make a difference. They also have a tendency to get into dangerous situations, even though their heavy frames generally protect them from any actual harm. Occasionally shadowed by a naturalist named Gina Embryo (whose name is a parody of/reference to San Diego Zoo zoologist Joan Embery) who tries (unsuccessfully) to return them to the jungle or protect them from harm (which usually ends up befalling her instead).
37* Other supporting cast members included '''Mr. Skullhead''' (in the "Good Idea, Bad Idea" shorts), a [[NoNameGiven nameless]], disaster-prone [[EveryoneHatesMimes mime]], a kid named '''Colin''' who is the friend of another (never shown) kid named "Randy Beaman", and '''Mr. Director''' (a crazed movie director based on Creator/JerryLewis and voiced by production writer Paul Rugg).
38[[/folder]]
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40----
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42A DirectToVideo [[TheMovie movie]], ''WesternAnimation/WakkosWish'', was created following the show's run; rather than being a compilation of various shorts (old or new), it was a film with a self-contained plot which saw all of the show's main characters (and several background characters) interacting with one another. There was also a [[ComicBook/{{Animaniacs}} comic series]] which ran from 1995 to 2000, two years after the show ended.
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44On January 4, 2018, Creator/{{Hulu}} picked up the streaming rights for this show, ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'', and ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' while ordering two new seasons of ''Animaniacs'' direct to series. The [[WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020 revival]] premiered on November 20, 2020, with the Warner Siblings and the fan favorite Pinky and the Brain returning from the original series. On January 4, 2023, the 1993 series was removed from Hulu when its contract expired and was not renewed.
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46----
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48!!''We're An-i-mane-y! Totally insaney! Hanging a lampshade-y! An-i-man-i-acs! These are the tropes!''
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50[[index]]
51* Animaniacs/TropesAToI
52* Animaniacs/TropesJToR
53* Animaniacs/TropesSToZ
54[[/index]]
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56----
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