Airdate: September 13th, 1993
Opening line:
Dot: "Here's the show's name-y!"
A newsreel detailing the story of the Warner Brothers and their origins is given for first-time viewers. Initially created in Hollywood, 1930, the Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) were deemed too zany to control. They were locked away into the water tower never to be released, until this very day... when the Warners escaped.
"Newsreel of the Stars" contains examples of:
- Artistic License – History:
- Termite Terrace is shown as existing in 1930, when, in fact, Leon Schlesinger Productions only began operations in 1933 after Harman and Ising left Warner Bros.
- The extended version of the newsreel shows Chuck Jones creating the Road Runner, a character that won't debut until 1949.
- The Cameo: Hamton J. Pig appears as a sketch that can be briefly seen as the Warner siblings are being drawn.
- Continuity Snarl: Both Ralph and Hello Nurse are seen working at the studio in the 1930s and look exactly the same as they do today. What's their secret to not aging?
- Establishing Character Moment: For the Warner siblings, who were shown to be zany and uncontrollable from the moment they were drawn.
- Kilroy Was Here: "Yakko Was Here" graffiti is seen on one of the studio walls.
- Old Shame: In-universe. The Warners' films and the Warners themselves were supposed to be locked away forever, due to the studios' displeasure with them.
- Splash of Color: The Warners' noses are red, even though the cartoon is all black-and-white.
- Shout-Out: The title card has some animated recreations of classic film scenes such as Harold Lloyd hanging from the clock from Safety Last!, Charlie Chaplin eating a shoe in The Gold Rush, and Christine unmasking the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera (1925).
Warner Bros. studio psychiatrist Dr. Otto Von Scratchansniff has a session with another psychiatrist as he recounts the day the Warner Brothers (& Sister) first escaped the studio's iconic water tower. Thaddeus Plotz orders Scratchansniff to get the Warners under control, since he is a psychiatrist after all. In his first attempt, he tries to keep them under control together, but they repeatedly annoy him with their shenanigans. Frustrated, he then tries to talk to each of them one on one, each of which goes awry for one reason or another. First, he pulls the Inkblot Test on Dot, but she repeatedly gets sidetracked with the quality of his "art" (even though he insists he didn't draw it). Wakko's session continually dead-ends when he pulls Literal-Minded responses to questions such as "what are you feeling?" Finally, Yakko's session promptly goes problematic when he starts Scratchansniff's "say what comes to mind after I say a word" activity early. He finally gives up out of frustration, convinced he will never get them under control. Back to the present day, Scratchansniff finishes his talk with the psychiatrist, who of course happens to be the Warners in disguise, sending him fleeing to Mars.
"De-Zanitized" contains examples of:
- The Cameo: Porky Pig stops by the gate to greet Ralph before going into the Warner Bros. studio.
- Comically Missing the Point: Pretty much all of Scratchansniff's therapy sessions end up like this.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Yakko and Wakko are so enamored of Hello Nurse that their crazy antics temporarily grind to a halt.
- Everyone Meets Everyone: This episode shows how Scratchansniff met the Warners, and also introduces several prominent characters seen around the Warner lot, including Thaddeus Plotz, Ralph the Guard and Hello Nurse.
- Get Out!: Dr. Scratchansniff screams this three times as he prepares to literally kick Yakko out of his office after Yakko begins the word-association test before Scratchansniff actually begins it.Scratchansniff: Get out, get out, get out!
Yakko: Leave, leave, leave! - Gratuitous Rap: When Scratchy tells the Warners, "I think it's time we got down to business," they start rapping in front of a business growth graph.Yakko: Now, our first quarter figures are really low,
As this-a business-a graph will hopefully show!
Scratchansniff: What are you doing?
Yakko: We're getting down... to business! - Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Dr. Scratchansniff is first depicted with a full head of gray, Einstein-esque hair. By the time his first meeting with the Warners is over, he's pulled out every follicle on his head in frustration and remains bald for the rest of the series.
- Hand Puppet: Scratchansniff has one called Mr. Puppethead, which he suggests the Warners talk to. He demonstrates by having a conversation with the puppet.Yakko: Um, are you sure you don't want to see a p-sychiatrist?
Scratchansniff: I am a p-sychiatrist... I mean, psychiatrist! I am, I am, I am, I am! [In a fit of frustration, he tears out some of his hair with Mr. Puppethead's mouth.]
Yakko: Mr. Puppethead's hungry. - Head-Turning Beauty. Hello Nurse. When she first appears, Yakko and Wakko are so lovestruck by her that they cease their wacky behavior, and obediently follow her out of Scratchansniff's office.
- Hurricane of Puns: Much to Scratchy's ire, the Warners do this.
- Inflating Body Gag: Wakko's session involves this.Scratchansniff: Just tell me how you feel.
Wakko: I feel fine.
Scratchansniff: Good! Now we are getting somewhere. Um, would you care to expand on that?
Wakko: Okay. [He inflates himself like a balloon.]
Scratchansniff: Oh, no, no! No, no, no! Not that kind of expanding! Stop it!
[Wakko pricks himself with a needle, then flies around the room as the air loudly rushes out of him. He lands in Scratchansniff's lap.]
Wakko: 'Scuse me. [Gives Scratchansniff a "Take That!" Kiss and runs off.] - Inkblot Test: Dot's session involves this. And of course, it goes over poorly, just like all the others.Scratachansniff: What do you say to this?
Dot: I'd say you're not a very good artist. - Left the Background Music On: It seems that Hello Nurse's walk is accompanied by a tom-tom, later revealed to be played by Wakko.
- Literal-Minded: The Warners do this constantly, much to the annoyance of Scratchansniff. Wakko's one-on-one session is especially loaded with this.
- Loophole Abuse: Scratchansniff tells the Warners not to pull any more jokes, then requests them to plant themselves on the couch. They end up literally planting themselves on the couch and turning into flowers. When Scratchansniff scolds them for disobeying, Yakko retorts with "This isn't a joke, it's a visual gag!"
- Overly-Long Tongue: After Hello Nurse departs, Yakko's and Wakko's tongues roll out of their mouths and across the floor like carpets. Dot walks across them, stretches them out, then lets them snap back into her brothers' mouths, where they spin like window rollers.
- Porky Pig Pronunciation: From the Trope Namer himself:[Porky Pig arrives at the gate of the Warner Bros. studio]
Ralph the Guard: Good morning, Porky.
Porky: G-go-go-g-go-go-g-good m-m-mo-mo-mo...
[The person behind Porky honks the horn of his car]
Porky: [To the driver behind him] All right, all right! [To Ralph] Hello. [Drives into the studio] - Running Gag: Scratchansniff pulling out his hair in frustration. He ends up doing it so much that, presumably, that's how he went bald in the first place.
- Shout-Out: At one point, while the Warners are following Scratchansniff around the room, they change into Egyptian costumes, then into English costumes, accompanied by the theme from Masterpiece Theatre.
- Somethingitis: At the end of the flashback, the episode cuts back to Scratchansniff, lying on the psychiatrist's couch and whimpering that the Warners are still driving him kooky.Scratchansniff: And they're still not de-zanitized. Am I crazy, Doctor?
[He looks over at the therapist's chair. To his horror, the Warners, with glasses and white beards, are sitting in it.]
Yakko: You are suffering from acute Warneritis.
[Scratchansniff screams, then jumps from the couch and through the roof, becoming a human comet and landing on Mars.]
Yakko: Was it something I said? - Take That!:
- When Mr. Plotz complains to Scratchansniff about the Warners wreaking havoc throughout the studio:Plotz: I haven't been this upset since we made Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead.
- Also, when Scratchy has a session with Ronald Reagan, who tells him about his dreams about being President of the United States, he writes in his notepad, "Delusions of grandeur, incurable."
- When Mr. Plotz complains to Scratchansniff about the Warners wreaking havoc throughout the studio:
- Whole Episode Flashback: The episode is recounted by Scratchansniff to an unseen therapist (revealed at the end to be the Warners themselves).
- Word Association Test: Scratchansniff tries this on Yakko. Unfortunately, Yakko does the test before he even begins. (Yakko: Starts!)
In this musical short, Dr. Scratchansniff sings a cover of The Monkey Song, about how he can't keep the Warners under control. In his words, "I don't know what to say, the monkeys won't do!"
"The Monkey Song" contains examples of:
- Balloonacy: When Dr. Scratchansniff runs into his apartment, Buttons and Mindy float by on some balloons. Slappy later pops the balloons with a spitball, causing the two to land on The Mime.
- Butt-Monkey: The Mime. When Scratchansniff, Hello Nurse, and the Warners run past him as he juggles for a bored Skippy, an orange tree falls on his head. In a later scene, when the Mime recovers himself from the fallen tree and dances, Slappy shoots down Buttons and Mindy's balloons, causing them to fall on him.
- Call-and-Response Song: Whenever Scratchansniff sings, "I don't what to say, the monkeys won't do!", the Warners sing back, "Don't know what to say, the monkeys won't do!"
- Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: At one point, the Warners are chasing Scratchansniff while he's wearing only a Modesty Towel. In the middle of the Chase Scene, Scratchansniff is suddenly wearing his usual lab-coat outfit.
- Continuity Nod: In "De-Zanitized," Scratchansniff, fed up with the Warners' mischief, tells them, "No more jokes, gags, or monkey stuff."
- Dangerously Close Shave: Yakko nearly gives one to Scratchansniff's already bald head, using toothpaste as shaving cream. After one look at the straight razor Yakko's holding, Scratchansniff flees the bathroom.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Aside from Rita and Runt, practically all the other supporting characters make their first appearances here before we get to meet them in any shorts of their own.
- Fun with Flushing: At one point, Wakko flushes Scratchansniff down his toilet.
- Mad Hatter: Lampshaded by the Warners at the end of the song.Warners: We're not monkeys, we're just cuckoo.
Don't know what to say, the Warners won't do! - Monkey Morality Pose: After having his shower interrupted when he finds the Warners messing up his bathroom, Scratchansniff runs out of the room, only to find them assuming this pose on the psychiatrist's couch.
- Mouse Trap: When Dr. Scratchansniff runs to his apartment, he passes by Pinky and the Brain, both of whom are carrying a mouse trap. In a later scene, Brain walks away with his head caught in the trap.
- Running Gag: Squit playing the flute and accidentally injuring Pesto, causing him to go berserk.
- Shower Scene: Scratchansniff takes a shower, puts on a Modesty Towel, then opens the shower curtain to find Dot putting on makeup and Wakko Non-Nude Bathing in the sink.
- Singing in the Shower: The scene where Scratchansniff takes a shower qualifies, since the entire short is sung by him (with backup from the Warners).
- Squirrels in My Pants: Wakko does this to Dr. Scratchansniff by pouring bugs down his pants, revealing that Scratchansniff wears white boxer shorts with red hearts.Scratchansiff: Monkeys dance, then I dance, too!
- Stewed Alive: Scratchansniff does this to the Warners, only for them to do it to him a few lines later.Scratchansniff: And if they don't leave, I'm inviting you
To my house for dumplings and monkey stew!
[He lifts the lid of a pot to show the Warners taking a bath in the stew.]
Scratchansniff: I don't know what to say, the monkeys won't do!
Warners: Don't know what to say, the monkeys won't do!
[The Warners are now out of the pot, and Scratchansniff is in it.]
Scratchansniff: Now I'm in the stew... oh, pooh.
Warners: Don't know what to say, the monkeys won't do! - Title Theme Drop: A variant: when Pinky and the Brain walk by, one riff of their theme song plays (even though the full song only appears in the next episode).
An Affectionate Parody of Goodnight Moon, featuring a narrator (Jim Cummings in full Winnie the Pooh mode) who says nighty-night to all the toons in the studio.
"Nighty-Night Toon" contains examples of:
- Big "SHUT UP!":Narrator: Nighty-night, squirrel lady in nightgown and cap.
Slappy: For crying out loud, will you button your yap? - Early-Bird Cameo: Similar to above, several more characters make their first appearances here such as Rita and Runt.
- Goofy Print Underwear: The last line of the story is "And nighty-night, Wakko's underwear!" said by Yakko as he holds up a pair of white boxer shorts with hearts on them, which Wakko snatches from him in embarrassment. Odd, since Wakko doesn't wear any pants.
- I Am Big Boned: Marita takes offense to the narrator calling her and Flavio fat, but Flavio assures her that they are "simply bigger than life itself." In a later scene, Marita tells the narrator that she and Flavio are big-boned, not fat.
- I Am Not Weasel: The Brain takes offense to the narrator calling him a rat, saying that he is a mouse.
- Mustache Vandalism: Wakko draws a mustache on a picture of Ralph, who the narrator calls a "big baboon."
- Rhymes on a Dime: All of the narrator's dialogue is done in rhyme, and the toons occasionally join in the rhyming as well.
- Stand-In Portrait: The framed picture of Ralph the "big baboon" comes to life when Wakko draws a mustache on his face. In a later scene, Wakko pulls Ralph out of the frame and puts him in the log flume that Yakko and Dot send him away on.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To Goodnight Moon.
Warners: "Gooooodbye, nurse!"
