"Animaniacs" Reboot Ordered to Series at Hulu

[JamesG]

"Animaniacs" Reboot in Development From Warner Bros., Steven Spielberg
by Andy Swift
May 30, 2017


After nearly two decades in captivity, the Warner Bros. Studio’s worst nightmares are plotting their next escape. (Details are scarce at the moment, but it’s safe to say there will be much running. And it will be amok.)

Per a report from TVLine’s sister site IndieWire, Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation are in early talks to bring back "Animaniacs", the Steven Spielberg-produced cartoon series about three out-of-control children — the Warner Brothers, Wakko and Yakko and Dot.

It’s unclear which network would host the new "Animaniacs", which originally aired on Fox Kids (RIP!) from 1993 to 1995, before moving over to Kids’ WB (also RIP!) for an additional three years. Spielberg is reportedly involved in the rebooting process.

http://tvline.com/2017/05/30/animani...dot-returning/

[MA]

This is wicked exciting! I sure do hope that Pinky & The Brain return.

[MrCleveland]

I may watch this...especially if there's the other cartoons.

[king of comedy]

YEAH!!!! The best cartoon from the 90s.

[Edison]

Okkay!

[JamesG]

"Animaniacs" Reboot Gets Two-Season Straight-to-Series Order at Hulu
by Denise Petski
January 4, 2018

Yakko, Wakko and Dot are coming back. A rebooted version of the Peabody and Emmy-winning cartoon "Animaniacs" has gotten a two-season straight-to-series order at Hulu, with original series EP Steven Spielberg returning as executive producer, for premiere in 2020.

Co-produced by Amblin TV and Warner Bros. Animation, the new Animaniacs centers on Warner brothers, Yakko and Wakko, and the Warner sister, Dot — three inseparable, irascible siblings who have a great time wreaking havoc and mayhem in the lives of everyone they meet. They have been locked away in the Warner Bros. water tower for a very long time, but they have found a way to escape. And escape they do — every day! Causing chaos and comic confusion, Yakko, Wakko and Dot run loose in the city, turning the world into their personal playground.

Fan-favorite characters Pinky and the Brain will also return to make appearances in each episode.





In addition, Hulu and Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution inked a new pact that makes Hulu the exclusive streaming home to the complete library of all 99 episodes of the original "Animaniacs", as well as "Pinky and the Brain", "Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain", and the complete "Tiny Toon Adventures" collection.

All are available for streaming beginning today on Hulu.





“We cannot wait to work with Steven Spielberg and the entire Amblin and Warner Bros. teams to bring more sketches, catchphrases, songs and laughs from the Animaniacs to kids and adults everywhere,” said Craig Erwich, SVP of Content, Hulu.

“Now one of the most beloved, inventive and funny animated franchises in history, Animaniacs and its cast of witty characters can live on, on Hulu. This marks yet another big move for us as we continue our efforts to be the #1 streaming destination for premium animated content.”





“I am so pleased and proud that Animaniacs will have a home at Hulu,” said Spielberg.

“Together with Warner Bros., we look to bring new audiences and longtime fans into this wild world of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. I am also excited that the full library of Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures episodes are included in the deal.”





“Yakko, Wakko and Dot have been waiting impatiently inside the water tower, and now their hilarious brand of animated chaos will be unleashed — again! We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with Amblin and Hulu for new episodes of Animaniacs, filled with endless laughs — and ongoing plots for world domination by Pinky and the Brain,” said Sam Register, President, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Digital Series.

“Parents who grew up with the cartoon now have new episodes to share with their own families.”

http://deadline.com/2018/01/animania...lu-1202235778/

[JamesG]

"Animaniacs" Reboot Premiering on Hulu this Fall
by Andy Swift
August 7, 2020


Hulu’s reboot of the classic animated series "Animaniacs" (1993–1998) will premiere on Friday, Nov. 20, TVLine has learned.

The 13-episode first season also welcomes back iconic characters Pinky and the Brain. (Also worth noting: The show has already been renewed for a 13-episode second season, set to premiere in 2021.)

Steven Spielberg is executive-producing, alongside Sam Register, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey and Wellesley Wild.

https://tvline.com/2020/08/07/animan...premiere-date/

[king of comedy]

Yes!! I loved the original. More than Tiny Toons. Welcome back!

[JamesG]

All new episodes November 20, only on Hulu!

[JamesG]

[TMC]

Hulu's Animaniacs reboot leaves a sour taste trying to comment on the world of today

"The new Animaniacs, premiering on Hulu 27 years after it first debuted and in a world where the iconic WB water tower recently got an HBO Max makeover, is well aware of what its preemptive critics might think of it," says Caroline Framke. "In one of the first new episodes, for instance, Warner brothers Yakko (Rob Paulsen), Wakko (Jess Harnell) and their Warner sister Dot (Tress MacNeille) sing a peppy song about Hollywood’s conveyer belt of reboots that ends with them all sitting on a giant pile of cash while the Hulu logo blares behind them in bright neon. In the tweaked opening credits, one of TV’s most enduring theme songs gets pointed lyric updates advising mad nerds to remember that the Animaniacs 'did meta first,' and assuring the audience that this reboot is appropriately 'gender neutral' and 'ethnically diverse' for its new era. (Sure.) So while the 1993 Animaniacs was aggressively self-aware, this 2020 version feels aggressively so, even defiant, as it constantly works to justify its existence." While the original Animaniacs took shots at the entertainment industry, the new version focuses too much on the Trump era. "If you don’t think about it too hard, this Animaniacs reboot at least looks and sounds an awful lot like its predecessor, with its Looney Tunes music cues and elastic shenanigans," says Framke. "Occasionally, it hits on a smart way to update the old sensibility in a way that makes perfect sense, particularly when it switches up the animation style to explore a different world. But more often than not, its focus on how messed up the world is now gives 2020’s Animaniacs more of a sour aftertaste that keeps it from being as effervescent as it once was, and could be."

ALSO:

• Where is the humor coming from, and who is it for?: "Having watched several episodes, I still have no idea who the target audience of the new Animaniacs is supposed to be. If I had to guess, well, it’s the people making it. This Animaniacs is supposed to be both nostalgic and a new show for a new generation, but it doesn’t succeed at either. The series fails in part because it didn’t update its nostalgia to make sense for fans who were kids then but are adults now. Instead, it’s stuck in the ‘90s. This presents itself in dated references to things like Seinfeld’s 'The dingo ate your baby' and a Cold War-esque view of Russia. During times Animaniacs skews more modern, the satire is not 'biting,'—as Dot herself claims in an early episode—it’s weak. At one point, the characters literally have to turn to the camera and explain that the episode’s storyline about multiplying 'buns' (bunnies) was actually a commentary on guns. I’ve seen better stuff on TikTok—using the Animaniacs."
• Animaniacs makes a reboot work by treating it like a sequel: "Hollywood is in love with reboots," says Rafael Motamayor. "The reasons are many, but it’s best to let one Yakko Warner, one of the stars of Hulu’s new reboot of Animaniacs, explain it: “Reboots are symptomatic of a fundamental lack of originality in Hollywood. A creativity crisis fueled by terrified executives clinging to the past like rats to the debris of a sinking ship. Where most reboots resort to replicating what the original did with just slight changes, Animaniacs makes its reboot work by treating it like a sequel. The reboot acknowledges how much things have changed in the last 22 years despite its immortal cartoon characters not changing at all."
• It feels more like a gimmick than a true revival: "The episodes have their strengths for sure, suggesting that the full series does as well," says John Maher. "For one, it’s all traditionally animated, harkening back to the original series while sleeking up its looks. The design won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but for the most part, it works. For another, the iconic main cast is back: Rob Paulsen as Yakko, Jess Harnell as Wakko, Tress MacNeille as Dot, plus Maurice LaMarche and Paulsen again, as the world-domination-seeking lab mice Pinky and the Brain. Their voice-over work is as tight as ever. Spielberg’s attention to detail and general excellence of execution remain. The series has an original orchestrated score, and is packed with original songs. And these characters are still full of potential, lending themselves to nearly endless interpretations. But will the show take full advantage of the base concept’s range and malleability? That remains to be seen. The handful of review episodes hint at a risk-averse series that relies fairly heavily on the nostalgia around its original IP, without entirely remaining true to its spirit. And they streamline the premise to the point where it’s hard not to worry that too much of what made the original unique was cut."
• The reboot is sharp, hilarious and zany: "Since the script for this episode and the rest of the first season was written back in 2018, they have to take plenty of off-the-wall, wild guesses about what has happened in the last two years," says Ethan Anderton. "It’s superb satire, and it’s only the first great song of this episode. A second one dives into the culture of reboots and remakes, and, I s*** you not, those weirdos behind the scenes somehow figured out a way to make a reference to Oldboy. Yes, that’s Oldboy, the super violent South Korean neo-noir action thriller from 2003 that was remade by Spike Lee. This show is great!"
• Animaniacs revival misses the zany magic of the original: Showrunner Wellesley Wild and the new writers "are clearly aware of what made the old show special, but they’re too wrapped up in bringing the characters into contemporary America to do those things," says Alan Sepinwall.
• Animaniacs is mired in its meta-commentary: "Given the meta-commentary of shows like BoJack Horseman and the colorful surreality of series like The Amazing World Of Gumball, it’s no wonder someone at Hulu thought it was time once again for Animaniacs," says Danette Chavez. "And the reboot, which is overseen by Wellesley Wild and Gabe Swarr, comes out guns (or rather, buns) a-blazing. That 'golden era' line from the opening takes a potshot at the animated shows that premiered after the original series ended its run, while the revised theme derides the antisocial 'trolls' who will say the show is passé, because you should see the Warners’ new contracts. The reboot strives for the same mix of satire and silliness, but the balance is off in the five episodes (of 13) screened for critics. Just as in the original, nothing is off limits for sending up, but this reboot is fairly itching for a fight. Pinky and the Brain, the only other Animaniacs characters to return (sorry, no Chicken Boo), end up mired in a toothless social media riff and some election satire. Russia, girlbosses, streaming services, apps, the overreliance on smartphones, fancy doughnut shops, and the current president all come under the line of parodic fire."
• Animaniacs writers tried to make the show as timely as possible, despite writing it in 2018: “We were like, ‘OK, what’s gonna happen? What are the big events coming up? Let’s write to those,'" says showrunner Wellesley Wild. “We were going to be two years behind in terms of anything we could comment on or make fun of. So we wrote to the Olympics and the election. And some of those things, because of the pandemic, did not come to pass, so we’re left holding the torch, I guess you could say.”
• Wild wanted a revival that's worthy of the original: "Let’s try to imbue every frame with that balance of cartoon violence and satire, parody, meta-humor, musical comedy and sometimes quasi-ish educational content," he says. Now that it is time to share their work with a fan base that is “so particular and rabid about the show,” Wild says: “I’m terrified.”
• Explaining the "Catch Up Song": “We needed to address the last 22 years — we couldn’t just start with the Warners suddenly being aware of TikTok,” says Wild. “After throwing around a few ideas, we realized that the most efficient and fun way to do that was through a song.”
• Voice artist Rob Paulsen talks returning to Animaniacs after surviving throat cancer
• How Animaniacs introduced a generation to comedy, setting the stage for Family Guy and 30 Rock

Animaniacs revival is too much like the original, which is why it doesn't work in a post-BoJack Horseman world

"Mostly, the new Animaniacs seems to be attempting to succeed using the old formula," says Joshua Rivera. "Trouble is, there have been other shows doing excellent showbiz satire in the Animaniacs’ absence, like BoJack Horseman, which managed to skewer Hollywood and the new media ecosystem that now covers it. Rick and Morty is a genre-hopping adventure that lampoons genre tropes while also having plenty to say about the entertainment landscape. And Family Guy has created a whole genre of television where the whole point is in self-aware asides to the audience. (It’s worth noting that the showrunner of the Animaniacs reboot is a Family Guy alum.) Animaniacs, meanwhile, spends a whole Pinky and the Brain segment lambasting Seth Meyers and cute animal memes. It’s an odd segment that makes fun of a version of Seth Meyers with no basis in reality — Meyers being the late-night host most openly interested in giving airtime to unusual topics and more incisive political commentary. Applying the same joke to a more frivolous host, like Jimmy Fallon, would not be much funnier, but at least it would kind of make sense. The problems with the show partially lie in the changes in the industry around it. The original Animaniacs existed in an era where the monoculture reigned; the presumed audiences watched the same shows and movies, which kids picked up on. (A recent GQ profile of George Clooney has the star stressing how different that industry was at a time when a TV show could have 40 million viewers watching.) Parodying celebrities was dependable fun at a time where no one had the easy access of perusing a celebrity’s Instagram account, and it was even funnier to see a 'children’s' cartoon doing those parodies. Things are different now than they were when Yakko, Wakko, and Dot were first making a mess of the Warner lot. The reboot seems stuck just pointing that out."

[JamesG]

"Animaniacs" Renewed for Season 3 at Hulu
by Denise Petski
February 25, 2021


Hulu has given an early Season 3 renewal to "Animaniacs", ahead of its season 2 launch later this year.

Hulu has ordered a 10-episode third season of the popular animated series from Steven Spielberg, Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation. The renewal was announced during Hulu’s presentation at the TCA press tour.

https://deadline.com/2021/02/animani...rg-1234700998/

[JamesG]

Season 2 of "Animaniacs" will premiere on November 5th, only on Hulu.

[TMC]

Animaniacs is still struggling to find its place in today’s landscape as it returns for Season 2

"Is it aiming for the first incarnation’s audience, namely people my age? Is it trying to appeal to middle-grade kids? Does it even know?" asks Tim Stevens. "To be fair, Animaniacs has always been a backward-looking show. In the mid-90s, it was repeatedly referencing film noir and gangster films released before my parents were born. So when the show utilizes a reference that was current 20 years ago, it isn’t that different. Or perhaps it shouldn’t be. But by pulling from pop culture that its first incarnation unfolded alongside, it feels less like the show is drawing on evergreen references and more like it is rehashing its own heyday. When diving into the current zeitgeist, as in a Pinky and the Brain feature that involves YouTube prominently, it feels similarly adrift. The references make sense, but the jokes feel a little aged. They’re more like the kind of cracks a Millennial would make about a Gen Zer’s viewing habits than something a Gen Z kid would observe about themselves. For a show that once seemed like it very much understood its audience, the distance is noticeable."

[Mario500]

Originally Posted by JamesG

Season 2 of "Animaniacs" will premiere on November 5th, only on Hulu.

(finds certain parts of what I had believed to had been some songs in what I had believed to had been certain segments of this "Season 2" to had been unnecessary and vulnerable to being interpreted as parts suggestive of attempts at profanity (specifically certain segments I had believed to had been ones named "Wakkiver Twist Part Two" and "A Brief History of History"))