'Toon Reviews 14: Animaniacs Vol 1 Part 2: Yakko's World/Cookies for Einstein/Win Big

Episode 2

Yakko’s World

As an animated variety show, this series is particularly fond of song sequences, and with its great tribute to animation in general, they turn out to be some of the highlights.  This song is one of the absolute strongest highlights and one of the first things most people think of when the series comes to mind.  On the surface it might not seem like much.  It’s just Yakko dancing around while singing names of the nations of the world to the tune of “Mexican Hat Dance” and pointing to them.  However, the great appeal of the song all comes from the idea of just how much of a challenge singing the nations of the world really is.  While it’s easy to think of the names of a few nations, there are bound to be at least a couple that don’t come to mind as quickly, and ones you most likely hardly even heard of.  For that, it’s amazing that the segment acts like it’s no challenge at all and compiles the nation names into a well-known melody.  The whole song may just be one whole mouthful of nation names, but it feels like something uniquely entertaining in execution.  Adding to how much of a feat is just how fast the names of the nations come at you, making it very difficult to sing it on a whim when you struggle to remember the names and keep up with the beat.  I, personally, can at least sing the first verse of the song without the aid of lyrics. 

The whole musical feat is so exclusive to this show that pretty much the only person who can sing the nations of the world flawlessly is Yakko’s voice actor, Rob Paulsen, who can still sing it flawlessly to this day at age 62.  It really goes to show how much of a dedicated voice actor he is when singing all the names of the nations feels like something a fast-talking cartoon character like Yakko would do.  The last bit of amazement to this song is the visuals.  Again, it might not seem like much, but the way Yakko dances around impressively matches the music that just keeps getting faster as the song goes on given how many nations he has to point to.  The dance movements are smooth, there’s plenty of room for characterization from Yakko, and it, along with the music, just drags you into the scene for its sheer entertainment.  Not only does this deserve its status as one of the show’s best, but also one of the greatest animated sequences in all of entertainment history. 10/10

Cookies for Einstein

One great thing about cartoons starring the Warner siblings is that rather than being limited to one location and time period, they’re often placed in different ones, leading to many great story opportunities.  Oftentimes, when they’re placed in different settings from the usual Warner Bros studio lot in the 90s, historical figures are involved, and through their brand of cartoony antics, they help said figure make a famous discovery they’re known for.  For this cartoon, the historical figure is Albert Einstein who’s having a hard time figuring out the theory of relativity.  As for the Warners, they enter the cartoon in a random role as members of a scout troop out selling cookies for merit badges, and it turns out that Einstein is the last person they need to sell cookies to.  Their entertainment comes from all the energetic tactics they pull in the name of such a simple task.   They put their own spin on little things he mentions as they get to the point of their presence such as taking him for a dermatologist when he mentions black holes, trick him into leaving his own house, popping in on him out of nowhere after he kicks them out, and turn their simple cookie sale into a full-blown commercial.  Everything they do is overflowing with hilarity and appeal, further impressing with how well they utilize the animation medium for all its versatility.  Sure, they may be annoying Einstein when he’s in the middle of something important, but it hardly matters since they’re so entertaining regardless.  Now, while the Warners are easy to enjoy, Einstein is also a good character to get behind.  Rather than being a stiff and serious genius one would expect him to be, he’s portrayed as a more innocent human figure who takes pleasure in his scientific equations and theories, giving him some charm.  However, when he has the difficult task of coming up with a relativity equation, his frustrations and self-pitying are sympathetic, not to mention identifiable to anyone who has trouble with how to complete something.  In fact, Einstein is so endearing in this role, the Warners, albeit not fully understanding what he’s doing, actually do something about his sadness which works in a clever solution to the problem.  They sing a catchy little ditty on their favored brand, Acme, and Wakko, in his odd-ball ways spells it backwards, and interestingly enough, Acme spelled backwards amounts to e=mc², street name: the theory of relativity as we know it. Now, it is too convenient that Wakko’s a looks like a 2 and this reveal won’t really work for those with different handwriting, but it’s still a clever realization some wouldn’t see coming, and Einstein’s reaction is a pleasing end to his arc.  Overall, as the first of many times the Warners team up with historical figures, this is a charming and funny one whose strength lies within the clever jokes and conflict resolutions, and likable characters on all sides. 9/10

Win Big

With this episode, we’re given our first official look at Pinky and the Brain in action.  They’re genetically-altered lab mice, which means they can talk and think intelligently (to an extent anyway). They use the night to pull off many insane schemes of world domination and fail every time, though it wouldn’t really be a good reflection on our world if they actually succeeded.  The heart of the characters is how vastly different both Pinky and Brain are from each other making for a lot of hilarious interactions as they go along with the plans.  Brain is highly intellectual and is the usual mastermind of the attempts at world domination constantly applying his ego, form of logic, and condescendence of human nature to them.  Pinky is much more of a free spirit who is nowhere near as intelligent as his partner, and goes along with the plans with the simple intent on having fun through it all.  It’s a crystal clear example of different dynamic personalities at work, and animation is the perfect way to show them at work to hilarious effect.  While the cartoons are very similar in setup, it’s the different types of plans and attempts to execute them that make them standout.  This cartoon in particular has Brain plan to take over the world by getting the entire population stuck to the ground with their pocket change (assuming that there is change in everyone’s pockets), and going on a game show, Gyp-parody, to get the money needed for a vital part, appearing in a human-sized mechanical suit to compete.  As this is the first cartoon to star the lab mice duo, what they do introduces winning factors of their formula.  There’s Pinky, through his simple-mindedness, pointing out a flaw in Brain’s complex plan for him to correct, as well as giving a wacky unrelated remark when Brain asks him if he’s pondering what he’s pondering, and Brain showing no hesitation with telling a random person who he really is and no one caring.  Everything builds up to the actual game show to decide the fate of the plan, and it plays out in an interesting manner.  As the questions are presented as they would on the show Gyp-parody is parodying, Brain, as you’d expect a genius to, answers them all leaving all competition in the dust.  The interesting part about all this is how Brain ultimately fails.  The final question is on a TV character line Pinky kept repeating throughout the cartoon, and it was something Brain constantly brushed off.  Its importance realized, Brain is unable to answer correctly and loses everything.  That’s the twist to these cartoons.  You’d think that since Brain’s smart and Pinky’s dumb, Pinky would be the reason for the failures, when in turns out, more often than not, Brain’s ego brings everything down by shutting out all possibilities, including the grating and unintelligent ones.  He really would’ve gotten the money he needed if he had listened to Pinky.  Granted, it’s hard to imagine that he wouldn’t know who said the line since Pinky kept bringing it up despite him putting it down, but the effectiveness of the twist is still apparent and makes you wonder who is really the genius and who’s insane.  With this cartoon, Pinky and the Brain offer a highly interesting and entertaining look at what’s to come from them, and why even though they may never take over the world, they’re destined to be one of the greatest cartoon pairings of all time. 9.5/10

Cartoon Ranking

1. De-zanitized
2. Win Big
3. Cookies for Einstein

Song Ranking

1. Yakko’s World
2. The Monkey Song

Miscellaneous Ranking

1. Nighty-Night Toon

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Warners face off against a villain to the music of Gilbert and Sullivan, we get the official debut starring role for Slappy Squirrel as she goes the comedic route to get walnuts, and we experience the wonders of the universe in what might be the greatest song ever written for an animated TV show.

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