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For
the last time, the Warner Bros water tower is opening up with a DVD set of some
of, if not, the most fun you’ll have with animation:
Animaniacs (Volume 4)
Basic Premise
After
covering ¾ of the series already, I think my blog has made it perfectly clear
why I consider Animaniacs to be the
highest of all top-tier animated series.
The genius writing, diverse characters, clever humor, and passionate
music amount to the ultimate experience with the visually appealing art
form. Sure, some works are more
successful than others, but for how consistently strong the show is, any weak
point doesn’t hinder the experience a bit.
Yet, after 75 episodes of content, you can’t help but wonder if the show
still has the strength to pull off the grand scale entertainment it’s
shown prior. I mean there were quite a few
instances in the last set of episodes that suggested that feeling, especially as it
portrayed the move from Fox Kids to Kids WB.
It mostly came from a lack of variety in episodes and some characters
not being as strongly written as they used to be. Nevertheless, the show’s animated spirit and
versatility showed itself incredibly well enough to leave its strong
impact. With these last 24 episodes on
the Volume 4 DVD though, there will be a much broader look at how this new Kids
WB era shaped the show all the way to its end.
To
truly finalize this blog’s look at Animaniacs,
once all the Volume 4 episodes are covered, there will also be a look at its
feature film, Wakko’s Wish. If you know a lot about what goes on there,
it’s actually a very good ending place for the original series as a whole. Plus, it will be just great to get in one
last look at the series before work on it is officially completed. That said, I am clearly getting ahead of
myself and know that there are a lot of cartoons, songs, and parodies to cover
first. As usual, I’m excited as ever to
share my thoughts on them all with readers everywhere.
So
with that, the Warners have escaped again, so it’s time to get started with
looking into the totally insane-y Animaniacs! Those are the facts!
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Episode 76
Gimme the
Works
The
key appeal of this cartoon is how it plays with the audience’s
expectations. After the vast majority of
the series, a formula with the Warners facing a jerky adversary is set in
stone. However, there’s a shift in the
way things play out with the show becoming aware that everything that’s going
on is just a TV show.
The cartoon starts
with the Warners running up to a random hotdog stand guy who’s easily agitated
and yells at anyone not coming to buy something. At this point, you’d expect
the Warners to just keep bugging the man as karma for his bad behavior, but
then there’s the catch. Dot just happens
to be very out of sync with the routine, coming off as nowhere near as
enthusiastic as Yakko and Wakko. When
asked about this, Dot simply says that she’s just not feeling it today. Instead of making an entire plot about it,
the truth of this being nothing more than a show is revealed as the Warners
decide to just skip the cartoon altogether.
Yes, after just a little over a minute, the Warners just walk out of
their own cartoon and it just ends.
Selling the feel even more is the hotdog stand guy begging them to come
back since this cartoon was apparently going to be his big break, but to no
avail.
While nothing ends up happening,
the cartoon still works well for doing something truly unpredictable. It pulls the audience in with an authentic
title card and full animation suitable for a real deal cartoon only to do
something that’s unsubstantial but clever enough for a basic setup. It’s ultimately not the strongest or most
interesting thing of the show, but still pretty clever given the circumstances.
A-
Buttons in
Ows
One
of the biggest surprises of many of the cartoons in the Kids WB era is that many of the lesser characters get better
material. This especially holds true with
Mindy and Buttons whose cartoons are honestly more enjoyable than the majority
of those in prior episodes. Maybe it’s a
result of a more expressive animation studio working on them, or maybe it’s
because they go for something broader than just certain locations. Regarding the latter point, the main subject
of Mindy and Buttons’ chases in these episodes is of pop culture references. Case in point, their first cartoon of the
Kids WB era puts them through one of the most revered family films of all time,
The Wizard of Oz.
The cartoon turns out to be a very authentic
take on the classic. I mean Mindy and Buttons live in the black and white world
of Kansas, and things go to straight to Technicolor when they get to Oz for a
start. It also makes for a few
alterations to their formula. Toto the
dog is treated like a pet to neighbors that Mindy’s family know well. While he does fulfill the role of the cute
thing that attracts Mindy’s attention, Toto is more than just a cute
distraction to her. All throughout the
chase, she genuinely wants to play with him bringing no unfortunate side
effects whatsoever. It’s simply an
instance of a girl wanting to play with the neighborhood dog, the most innocent
route to take in a scenario such as this.
Toto’s role also adds a fresher perspective to the obligatory chase
Mindy and Buttons are inevitably set on.
Rather than solely done as part of the nature of the characters, as this
cartoon is an obvious Wizard of Oz parody,
the chase is its unique way of going through the motions of the film. Mindy, Buttons, and Toto don’t get to Oz the
normal way of just Mindy chasing after Toto.
They take the classic route of getting caught in the cyclone that lifts
up the house accompanied by random characters appearing in the wind. The trip is totally real too as the window frame
Buttons gets hit with doesn’t knock him out, but is just a simple blow to the
head like all his injuries are.
Then in
the color-filled world of Oz, there are stops to all the familiar scenes in
this Technicolor fantasy land. There’s a
run-in with Glinda to good witch, Mindy following Toto down this cartoon’s
version of the yellow brick road, and cameos from Dorothy’s travel companions. The unique charm of the characters and series
is also principal in moving the beats of the film along. Mindy’s ‘why’ conversations with the guard of
Emerald City convinces him to let the group enter, and there’s a major surprise
cameo of Pinky and the Brain as the wizard.
In addition to authenticity, the cartoon is also reasonable with Buttons
injuries. As a result, they bring out a
different side of him that’s smug and pretentious with most of the ways he gets
hurt coming off as self-inflicted. A
bonk on the head from Glinda and being knocked into a funny shape by the Tin
Man are a result of him not paying attention or being jealous of Toto. There’s also a scene where he flicks the
Cowardly Lion’s nose for no reason, resulting in him getting sliced as a
consequence. Finally, his scolding feels
much more deserved than normal when after they all get home, Buttons grabs Toto
out of jealousy just as Mindy’s mom comes outside. In addition, any possible sting is lessened
by Mindy saying she loves Buttons.
Overall, the cartoon isn’t just successful as a film parody, but more
importantly, it’s entertaining, and even creatively staged, as a Mindy and
Buttons work.
A
Hercules
Unwound
Interesting
setups can be good for cartoons, but sometimes they can be a tad
convoluted. They can even get
to the point where you can’t help but wonder what the cartoon is even trying to
do. In this cartoon that takes place in
ancient Greece, this is kind of what ends up happening.
For starters, it centers on the almighty
mortal with God-like strength, Hercules.
The catch is that his portrayal is very annoying and hard to sympathize
with. His gimmick is that he’s very
loud, whiny, and has an unnecessarily annoying voice. He simply brings discomfort and frustration
when his dad Zeus wants him to clean Augean Stables as part of his 12
Labors. Then the Warners show up, ready
to work their antics on his bothersome qualities. They even get off to a good start with a
funny scene of trying to figure out their cue. Claiming it to be when Hercules
says they’re bothering him suggests that trying to find it while reading
through the script was part of the act.
However, not even knowing their cue beforehand is an indication that
their role in the cartoon is actually a continuation of the shtick from the
first cartoon of this episode. They,
mainly Dot, just don’t have the feeling to go through with the comedy routine,
and decide to bail. Since they seemed to
have something decent in their short interaction with Hercules, there’
something disappointing about their departure here with Hercules being a brat
and all.
Then there’s suddenly a shift
to another famous Greek figure, Aristotle.
While he’s fairly entertaining with his frustrations of his class being
too dumb to get that Zeus’ power comes from his thunderbolt, it just feels like
he comes in out of nowhere. The most
substantial thing his intro scene does is bring Pinky and the Brain into the
spotlight when the Warners ditch it. I
suppose letting other characters be the stars can be seen as going all out with
the concept of them not feeling like it.
Now, for the most part, Pinky and the Brain carry the cartoon well. It’s natural for Brain to form a world
domination plan to ride on Pegasus, the
flying horse, to get to Mount Olympus at night and get Zeus' thunderbolt after hearing about it .
As usual, he and Pinky have a great dynamic but with Pegasus residing in
Augean Stables, it’s undercut somewhat.
This is mainly from a lot of uncomfortable shots of manure. At least a caricature of Medusa are solid
fun, and Hercules seems to have decent chemistry with her as her petrification
powers get subdued. By the time the mice
get to Mount Olympus though, it becomes way too clear to notice the fault in
Brain’s plan. He gets the thunderbolt,
but has no idea how to use it. Zeus has
all the control over it as he uses at Hercules as he goof off with Medusa. To make Hercules look even less sympathetic,
when Zeus’ thunderbolt breaks a dam and causes a river to flow and clean the
stables, Hercules gets all the credit.
You could argue it’s because of the shovel he was using I suppose. Plus, a river cleaning the stables is an
interesting tie to the actual mythology, and the Warners suddenly showing up
for Hercules to marry Dot as a reward is pretty funny.
Still it’s hard to shake off how many things
hold this cartoon back. Maybe if it
didn’t follow what “Gimme the Works” was doing, it could have been much better
fleshed out as a Pinky and the Brain cartoon.
Maybe it could have been more entertaining with a better portrayal of
Hercules. As it stands, despite its
flaws, with fun performances and character interactions, this cartoon rooted in
mythology is pleasing enough.
B-
Cartoon Ranking
1. Buttons in Ows
2. Gimme the Works
3. Hercules Unwound
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