History WesternAnimation / Animaniacs

** Combining the two, one extended Rita and Runt segment is basically a parody of ''[[{{Theatre/ptitlenjisnv3p}} Les Misérables]]''.

* YouSexyBeast: In the Minerva Mink short "Moon Over Minerva". A geeky wolf, named Wilford B. Wolf, would turn into a hunky wolf when exposed to the full moon. Minerva won't give his geeky self the time of day, but she goes crazy for his moonlit self. Needless to say the short is pretty heavy on the {{Fanservice}} for both the male and female audiences?

** [[CompletelyMissingThePoint They're only 62 in the show's time!]]

The show was also very unique production-wise in that Spielberg gave the writers complete creative freedom over the direction of the sketches (just like with ''TinyToonAdventures'' and ''{{Freakazoid}}''), which is the reason why many fans hold such fond memories of it. People don't just love it because of NostalgiaGoggles; it was a genuinely creative and well-written show (and it has the Emmy awards to prove it). Kids even ''learned'' from it. Most of Generation Y will fondly remember trying to memorize "Yakko's World" and "Wakko's America" for geography tests. Raise your hand if you learned about the conquistadors because of "The Ballad of Magellan". Who says educational shows can't be fun?

* PinkyAndTheBrain: A pair of laboratory mice who plot to TakeOverTheWorld. The shorts became popular enough to get the duo their own SpinOff series, and (''Pinky Elmyra and The Brain'' notwithstanding) it is one of the few examples of such to actually be ''good''. The premise is better described on its own page.

* TheCameo: Fifi [=LaFume=] from ''TinyToonAdventures'' appears as a perfume store owner in "Survey Ladies".

*** Slappy also looks very similar to Fifi [=LaFume=] from ''TinyToonAdventures'', who actually makes a cameo in this show.

* {{Composers}}: Unlike TinyToonAdventures, Animaniacs used a comparatively small but stable group of composers: Richard Stone, Carl Johnson, Steve and Julie Bernstein, and J. Eric Schmidt.

* CrossOver: within itself, and with ''TinyToonAdventures, {{Freakazoid}}'' and ''PinkyAndTheBrain'' when they ran concurrently.

* LittleGuyBigBuddy: Rita and Runt; also arguably PinkyAndTheBrain and Buttons and Mindy.

* NotAllowedToGrowUp[=/=]OlderThanTheyLook: The Animaniacs' in-universe backstory states they were drawn in 1930, essentially making them all 80, and yet, none of them are geriatrics. It's particularly odd in that the Skippy and Slappy Squirrel segments make it quite clear that cartoon characters do age.

* ObfuscatingStupidity- The Warners can perform and explain Shakespeare; name every country, as well as every American state and capital, and every President, from memory; and generally make frequent references to science, history, literature, politics, and a host of other subjects. They are completely insane, but they are ''geniuses''.
** AlternateCharacterInterpretation- PinkyAndTheBrain. One is a genius, the other is insane. But which is which? The one who tries to take over the world every single night? Or the one who "accidently" foils his mad schemes every night with his convenient mask of idiocy?

* RunningGag: Again, too many to count. Notably "Wanna See My Pet?", the Animaniacs being chased by Ralph in the background of other shorts, and Yakko announcing "Good Night Everybody!" if something even ''remotely'' suggestive was said.

* SpinOff: ''PinkyAndTheBrain'' (and to an extent, ''[[{{ptitle17u4r74z}} Histeria!]]'' - two of that show's characters [[EarlyBirdCameo debuted on this show]]).

* AnimationBump: There were eight, count them, EIGHT animation companies that worked on the show; [[hottip:*: Those studios are TokyoMovieShinsha, {{AKOM}}, WangFilmProductions, StarToons, KokoEnterprises, Freelance Animators New Zealand, PhilippineAnimationStudioInc., and Varga Studios.]] all had different drawing and animation styles (and that does not even count the studios that {{TMS}} used under contract [[hottip:*: these included NakamuraProductions, {{Actas}}, AnimeSpot, TokyoKids, MizoPlanning, FlyingDragon, StudioJungleGym, and FarEastern.]] However, almost all of them used TMS's style).

* AnimationBump: There were eight, count them, EIGHT animation companies that worked on the show; [[hottip:*: Those studios are TokyoMovieShinsha, {{AKOM}}, WangFilmProductions, StarToons, KokoEnterprises, Freelance Animators New Zealand, PhilippineAnimationStudioInc., and Varga Studios.]] all had different drawing and animation styles (and that does not even count the studios that {{TMS}} used under contract [[hottip:*: these included NakamuraProductions, {{Actas}}, TamaProductions, FlyingDragon, StudioJungleGym, and FarEastern.]] However, almost all of them used TMS's style).

*** Slappy also looks very similar to Fifi LaFume from ''TinyToonAdventures'', another WB cartoon.

** And a Rita-and-Runt full-on musical parody of ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', and the Goodfeather parodies of ''Theatre/WestSideStory'' and ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof''.

** And a Rita-and-Runt full-on musical parody of ''Theatre/LesMiserables''.

* OffModel: Mostly with segments animated by FreelanceAnimatorsNewZealand. StarToons tended to dip into this, as well with the Slappy the Squirrel intro and "Wakko's America", though not to the extreme as Freelance, as well as [[TropesAreNotBad tending to make the animation even more expressive]].

* OffModel: Mostly with segments animated by Freelance Animators New Zealand. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] since they're more of a school than a studio. StarToons tended to dip into this, as well with the Slappy the Squirrel intro and "Wakko's America", though not to the extreme as Freelance.

* KnowYourVines: In "Sound of the Warners" After using the bathroom in a bush, Dr. Scratchansniff gets an awful itch, because he was in a poison oak bush

* ContinuityNod: The [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Package]] conversation from "Sound Of The Warners" contains one to PottyEmergency:

* KnowYourVines: After using the bathroom in a bush, Dr. Scratchansniff gets itchy, because he was in a poison oak bush.

* ContinuityNod:

-->Wakko: "I've got a package for you"? Excuse me?

* AnimationBump: There were eight, count them, EIGHT animation companies that worked on the show; [[hottip:*: Those studios are TokyoMovieShinsha, {{AKOM}}, WangFilmProductions, StarToons, KokoEnterprises, Freelance Animators New Zealand, PhilippineAnimationStudioInc., and Varga Studios.]] all had different drawing and animation styles (and that does not even count the studios that {{TMS}} used under contract. However, almost all of them used TMS's style).

* AnimationBump: There were eight, count them, EIGHT animation companies that worked on the show; [[hottip:*: Those studios are TokyoMovieShinsha, {{AKOM}}, WangFilmProductions, StarToons, [=KoKo=] Enterprises, Freelance Animators New Zealand, Philippine Animation Studio Inc., and Varga Studios.]] all had different drawing and animation styles (and that does not even count the studios that {{TMS}} used under contract. However, almost all of them used TMS's style).

* OffModel: Mostly with segments animated by Freelance Animators New Zealand, such as the Slappy the Squirrel intro and "Wakko's America". Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] since they're more of a school than a studio. StarToons tended to dip into this, as well, though not to the extreme as Freelance.

* AnimationBump: There were eight, count them, EIGHT animation companies that worked on the show; all had different drawing and animation styles (and that does not even count the studios that {{TMS}} used under contract. However, almost all of them used TMS's style).

* AnimatedTrope: [[{{Troperiffic}} ALL of them]]! Especially in the Warner Brothers and Slappy sequences, almost always with a bit of LampshadeHanging. It's in fact faster to list what WASN'T included.