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Episode 35
This show knows how to play with the animation medium to
bring many creative instances to life.
This entire episode stretches the medium to bring about one of the most
creative instances imaginable. For that,
this episode is worth calling an Animaniacs Special Presentation!
Animaniacs
Stew (A)
We know that this show has a huge cast of characters, each
with their own specific formula. For
this show, what’s normally done with the characters is shaken up majorly. The cartoons are all about certain characters
from different segments starring alongside other characters that don’t fit
their usual norms. The result is a very
clever play on expectations and one of the ultimate ways of truly having fun
with the characters worked with.
If
that’s not enough, there are also short bumpers depicting how the unusual
team-ups come to be. This one features
the Warners throwing a large number of supporting characters into a stew, and
looking to see what cartoons they come up with.
It’s a funny visual metaphor of what it feels like to mix up established
teams and they don’t stop there.
For
now, here’s the first cartoon resulting from this stew:
In the
Garden of Mindy
A big reason these cartoons of mixed up characters works so
well is that not only are the pairings unique to whoever’s involved, but they
all approach the setup differently. We
begin with one pairing a character from a great segment, The Brain, with a
character from more divisive segments, Mindy.
Although this is a completely different change of pace for both
characters, they easily go with the flow of the cartoon. They act as if the setups to their usual
cartoons are as they should be and never question where their co-stars
are. This means that everything about
the cartoon works in successful humor with only the audience seeing what’s wrong
while the characters are unmoved.
Being
paired with Brain also brings in a very welcome change of events for
Mindy. This is the only time she stays
in her harness and her only starring role that takes place solely in her
backyard. Even with the single setting,
Brain’s usual egomaniacal ways succeed in entertainment. For him, it’s another attempt at world
domination involving constructing a stink bomb from a lawn mower engine and his
own pungent concoction.
Clashing with Mindy brings an interesting shift from his norm . It starts of minor with the addition of
impatiently waiting for Mindy’s mom to leave before he starts his plan. It really shows when he tries to explain his
plan to Mindy. Acting intellectual
around Mindy leads to slightly different outcomes. Pinky is unintelligent, but specializes in
responding to Brain with completely random statements, or surprisingly seeing a
simple little flaw Brain overlooks.
While he usually attempts to get Brain, Mindy doesn’t even do that. She just acts like a toddler who only wants
to play be cute with Brain. This
expected toddler behavior blends well with Brain’s fleshed out self-appointed
genius persona. It’s a dynamic that
works just as well as Brain’s usual one.
It’s put to good use at the cartoon’s climax when Mindy tries to follow
Brain’s orders of starting the lawn mower engine. Mindy surprisingly seems reliable as she does
that while still stuck in her harness.
It also brings to mind Brain’s bloated ego being his undoing. He told Mindy to start the mower, but not
what to do afterwards. It results in
humorous backfires, including Brain getting sliced by the lawn mower into funny
shapes with no marks of blood. It’s the
kind of comedic pain gags we can only dream that Buttons got regularly if
he absolutely had to keep getting hurt. Another
alteration from Buttons is that when Brain gets scolded by Mindy’s mom in the
end, it makes a lot more sense for Brain to get it for his actions. He never did anything heroic that’s
undervalued.
With this cartoon we’re off
to a great start with characters from completely different skits coming
together absolutely seamlessly. The
clashes of the formula are so successful, you may want Mindy and Brain to get
together more often.
By the way, the cartoon is also nice enough to showwhere Pinky was all this time.
He was in his usual setting with Rita in the place of Brain. This little scene is basically a playing of
the “Pinky and the Brain” theme song altered to accommodate Rita.
Like Mindy and Brain, they also go along with
the shift in setup well. However, they
do so a little too well since Rita, who’s always wanted a home, treats the lab
cage like her home, right down to eating Pinky like what cats would normally do to
mice. Funnily enough, in addition to
Rita being fully content unlike all her other cartoons, Pinky is also
completely fine with this setup. Rita
does have “roomy accommodations” after all.
It’s a short fun scene to end the cartoon on as we head over to the next
one.
A+
Animaniacs
Stew (B: Mixing Up the Scripts)
This episode’s bumpers don’t just compare to mixing up
characters to putting them in a stew.
They work in a lot of creative ways of crafting different pairs.
This time, the Warners are in a factory where
they cut up different characters’ scripts and staple them together into a
collage. One collage transitions into the
cartoons that make up the second act:
No Place
Like Homeless
While Rita was paired with Pinky, Runt is paired with Pesto
from the Goodfeathers. This pairing may
not be one of the strongest in this character mix-up, but there’s still plenty
of merit to it.
For one thing, there are
different perspectives of starring with a different character than usual. Pesto is apathetic to the whole thing, acting
like he’s always starred alongside Runt from the beginning. Runt goes along with starring in the cartoon
with a pigeon, but has some awareness that this isn’t how his routine always
goes. It’s mostly through him frequently
asking Pesto to sing like Rita would.
Plus, there’s some charm and humor from a big dumb dog and a
temperamental pigeon as a comedic duo trying to find a home. Runt and Pesto stay true to themselves making
for a nice blend of big dumb innocence and explosive tempers. There’s even a nice twist to Pesto’s rants
when he takes offence to Runt calling him a dog. Unlike Squit, Runt means what he says even if
Pesto really isn’t a dog and isn’t fearful when Pesto starts threatening
him. His innocence also has him
inadvertently run over Pesto before the bird can end his rant by beating him
up.
As to why Runt runs over Pesto, the
reason comes from being called over by one of the more memorable parts of the
cartoon, an old woman wanting to take Runt in.
She’s quick to welcome the dog in a kind gentle manner before suddenly
shifting to a woman mad with force as she beats up any pigeon she sees. She’s also self-aware of how simple her
standards are after letting her pet parrot Crackers know she’s the dearest
thing in the world to her.
It’s here
where Pesto shows that he’s not completely savvy to the formula after all. He doesn’t get that he and Runt are supposed
to be looking for a home and intends to get him and Runt out of the old woman’s
house. This isn’t before he takes
offense of Crackers saying the name “crackers” over and over, thinking the
parrot, who’s just doing what parrots do, is calling him crackers. This incites another hilarious rant ending
with Pesto beating all the feathers off of Crackers. Finally, Runt saving Pesto from landing in the fire is enough for the old woman to throw both
strays out. To give the cartoon a good
finish, there’s some heart to this pairing as Pesto finally sings for Runt and
takes pleasure in Runt saying it was good.
As you can tell, the plot is a thin in which something
happens and just ends after a few minutes.
Even so, it’s made nice and entertaining by the random pairing of
characters we follow with prominent traits working off each other. I mean, it’s not often you see a dog and a
pigeon starring together.
A-
Katie
Ka-Boo
While this episode is known for many cartoons mixing up
characters to great effect, it’s also noteworthy as the debut appearance of
Katie Kaboom. Unfortunately, this isn’t
exactly a good thing.
First of all, her
appearance in the series frankly comes out of nowhere since she was never seen
or heard in the themes song. This means
anyone watching the show for the first time with no knowledge of it would be
caught totally off guard by her. It
wouldn’t be an issue if she was just a one-off, but she appears a few more
times in the first production season, and near the end of it at that. This is a good indication that maybe this is a
character who truly didn’t work out very well.
You see, the thing with Katie Kaboom is that she’s an average teenage
girl who enters as a sweet daughter until one little thing ticks her
off. This is depicted as her turning
into a monster who terrorizes her family and destroys the house. That’s basically all there is to her cartoons
with little to no variation in setup which isn’t really a pleasant one. I can give credit in some areas. The idea of a teenage girl’s rage portrayed
as random monsters is very creative, and a strong variety
of monster designs which the plots lack.
There’s also some heart to these cartoons’ background. This DVD volume’s sole bonus feature reveals
that writer, Nicholas Hollander, was inspired by his stepdaughter going through
the phase of acting monstrous over something minor. It’s a fine real-life example of the creative
process and explains why a couple of Katie Kaboom cartoons were made.
The problem is that in addition to being
beyond formulaic, they’re some of the show’s most mean-spirited moments. Even if Katie’s behavior is relatable and
becoming a monster because of it is creative, it shouldn’t be allowed to
escalate. It’s disturbing that she
becomes this monstrous and her family is too helpless to stop her. That’s not even mentioning that they barely
do anything to discipline her when she’s so out of control like good family
members would do.
Honestly, the one
thing that makes the Katie Kaboom formula in this cartoon work is the inclusion
of Chicken Boo, keeping with the episode’s theme of mixing up characters. This time he’s disguised as a boyfriend for
Katie, and unlike with Katie, his setup has some welcome variations. Unlike just one person seeing through Chicken
Boo’s disguise, all of Katie’s family does so.
It’s also a rare instance where the suggestion that he’s a chicken
sticks instead of being held off until the disguise comes off. This direction means that it’s what gets
Katie to go into monster mode as her family runs for cover like they’re in a
war zone. I’d admire the creative
approach if the family’s fear wasn’t so real.
At least Chicken Boo standing around all chicken-like while Katie acts
up is funny enough. When his disguise
comes off, Katie’s enraged reaction to find out she’s dating a chicken adds to
the rage already present. Oddly enough,
Chicken Boo’s been through worse rejections than this considering how bad Katie
gets. In fact, she’s more saddened by
this “break-up” in the end.
While this
cartoon works fine for Chicken Boo, it makes itself clear of what we’re in for
with Katie Kaboom, which is not a very pleasing experience. The fact that this is one of her better
starring roles is a good sign that it’s downhill from here with her.
B
Animaniacs
Stew (C: Old Computer)
The creative ways of showing how the characters get mixed up
continues in a short scene of how the Warners found an old computer, fixed it,
and used it for this last cartoon. Plus,
it’s an interesting look at past technology with a look at how big and complex
computers used to be.
Before the cartoon really starts though, we get a short scene
of Dot in the place of Slappy Squirrel.
It’s just a short playing of Slappy’s theme tune, but Dot still gets
into character, acting appropriately grumpy, and throwing a bomb at the chorus
for calling her Dottie. The following
cartoon reveals where Dot’s brothers the real Slappy are.
Baghdad
Café
It’s fitting that the last cartoon of the episode brings
together characters from what are, in my opinion, the two strongest segments of
the series, the Warners and Slappy Squirrel.
It unfolds in a setting that’s very risqué for family shows and features
a caricature of one of the darkest dictators in history, Saddam Hussein. Just as he’s about to lead the Iraqi armies
in an invasion, the plans are pre-empted by the arrival of Yakko, Wakko, and
their sister… Slappy.
It’s this cartoon
where the various perspectives on starring with characters who don’t belong
with them comes to the most hilarious effect.
Yakko and Wakko are eager as ever to go along with the cartoon as normal
as if Slappy was always their sister despite being "older than sand.” Out of all the characters seen in this
episode, Slappy is the least willing to go along with the format. In fact, she’s totally out of it and confused
as to why she’s even in this cartoon right down to questioning the actual
script. When trying to leave with
Skippy, she only gets aggravated more when Flavio the hippo suddenly breaks
through the door claiming to be her nephew.
All three principal characters bring top-notch comedy while in Saddam
Hussein’s fortress. Yakko keeps insisting
that the fortress is an actual Baghdad Café to go to for brunch. Wakko eats
Saddam Hussein’s stuff. Slappy shows even more entertaining agitation with the
whole cartoon. All of these hilarious
actions bring many annoyed reactions from Saddam Hussein. They’re made all the more entertaining when
all you need to know about Saddam Hussein was that he was a really bad guy. To end everything, Slappy does the best thing
she can by simply putting dynamite down Saddam Hussein’s pants, causing a big
explosion.
This does mean the cartoon
ends quickly, but what we get is still really winning comedy. Yakko and Wakko
are great as ever, and Slappy using a quick tactic to end the cartoon is
perfect for her character. Not to mention,
her general annoyance shows just how ridiculous mixing up characters really
is. Good thing all the featured cartoons
execute the concept well.
A+
This is easily one of the most ingenious episodes this show
has ever crafted. Putting various characters
together makes for many unique alterations to everything known about them. It also helps that while some go along with
the changes, others are either confused or frustrated of not following what
their used to. This makes everyone feel
well-rounded and thoroughly entertaining.
Above all, it’s a testament to the versatile spirit of the show where the
stories and the characters can cover any ground, no matter how unusual. If you want to see just how well this show
plays to animation, then look no further than this amazing highlight.
A+
Cartoon Ranking
- Chairman of the Bored
- Hot Bothered and Bedeviled
- Bubba Bo Bob Brain
- Baghdad Café
- In the Garden of Mindy
- O Silly Mio
- Phranken-Runt
- Clown and Out
- Jockey For Position
- Sir Yaksalot
- Potty Emergency
- Puttin’ on the Blitz
- The Big Kiss
- Draculee Draculaa
- Babblin’ Bijou
- No Place Like Homeless
- I Got Yer Can
- Astro-Buttons
- Moby or Not Moby
- Noah’s Lark
- Skullhead Boneyhands
- The Good, the Boo, and the Ugly
- Hiccup
- Moon Over Minerva
- Katie Ka-Boo
- Mesozoic Mindy
Miscellaneous Ranking
- Animaniacs Stew
- Testimonials
- Cartoons in Wakko’s Body
- You Risk Your Life
- The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert
Song Ranking
- The Planets
The next Animaniacs review shows how Slappy Squirrel handles criticism and the Warners act as the three muskateers.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Let's Take a Moment" from OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes.
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