Animaniacs (TV Series) De-Zanitized/The Monkey Song/Nighty-Night Toon (1993) User Reviews

Psychiatry, monkey songs and bedtime stories

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 5 June 2018]

Love animation to bits. It was a big part of my life as a child, especially Disney, Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera and Tom and Jerry (with tastes broadening further getting older with Pixar, Studio Ghibli and some of the more mature animations out there), and still love it to this day as a young adult whether it's film, television or cartoons. Actually appreciate it even more now, with more knowledge of the different animation styles, directors, studios and what work went into them.

'Animaniacs' has always been one of my favourites. From an early age, it always stood out as one of the most colourful, unique, funniest and cleverest shows, animated and otherwise, ever made. It is not to be dismissed as a show just for children. There is plenty for children to enjoy, any child who loves great animation, humour to laugh at and unique characters will be in heaven. There is more than plenty for adults too, especially the hugely clever in-jokes/poking fun that is likely to be better understood by older viewers with more familiarity for what is being referenced and poked fun at.

The show gets off to a great start here, with the only issue actually being the sloppy character designs in "Nighty-Night Toon".

Generally however, the animation is well done, with vibrant colouring, crisp beautiful backgrounds and convincing movements for the characters. The music is not only catchy it is actually memorable as well, with an instantly hummable main theme.

The scripts and humour are witty and hilarious with clever references and inside jokes in particularly "De-Zanitized". As are the situations no matter how silly they are the characters get into. This all springs from a great concept, some shows have a great concept but don't live up to it.

'Animaniacs' was always one of the finest examples of execution of a great concept doing that and superbly, with the story lines here being funny, touching and endearing. "The Monkey Song" faring best. The characters are immensely likable with unique personalities, with no exception.

Characters that are brilliantly voiced by the likes of Rob Paulsen, Tress MacNeille, Jess Harnell, Frank Welker and Maurice LeMarche.

Overall, great start, if with a still settling feel, for one of my favourites. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The Debut Of Yakko, Wakko & Dot

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 2 July 2009]

We are introduced to the characters in this zany cartoon series which ran for a half decade the 1990s, and was produced by famous film director Steven Spielberg. The series about three members of the Warner Brothers animated film family who never made it to the screen because they were "out of control." Supposedly, they've been "released" now, and we get to enjoy their antics.

The first thing that hit me was the number of references to the film industry. Then, the bold colors and nice look to these cartoons reminded of the excellent remastered prints of the Looney Tunes characters on those "collection DVD volumes." If the humor here can anywhere near match the great colors, this will be a fun series to watch.

There were three segments to this opening episode, the longest being the first, "De-Zanitized," and I wasn't all that impressed as the scene in the psychiatrist's office went on too long without much humor. However, once the shrink, "Dr. Scratchensniff" (voiced nicely by Mitsuru Ogata) finished interviewing the three Warner kids, it got very good and it encouraged me that maybe this series will indeed offer a lot of entertainment. Since I bought the DVD of the first 25 episodes, sight-unseen, I'm hoping it will.

The second part was a music segment, "The Monkey Song," a parody of an old Harry Belafonte calypso number, and it was fantastic. It featured very funny lyrics and pretty good sight gags. That was a fun five minutes with a lot of clever things to see and hear.

The final minutes was a rewritten nursery rhyme with a "good night" theme to all the characters we met and are going to meet in this TV program. The rhyming was excellent and humorous.

Overall, this opening episode left me intrigued and what I might see in future installments.

Yakko, Wakko, and Dot

[iptumcea · 10/10 · 4 August 2013]

Those are names that have been all but forgotten by the current generation, and unjustly so. They were the billboard characters of Animaniacs, one of the greatest shows to ever be created. This batch of shorts contain the following:

De-Danitized: A Hollywood psychiatrist is forced by the chairman of board of the Warner Bros. studio. to make the Warners (Yakko, Wakko, and Dot) less zany, hence the title. Overall, a great short with some good gags on its own, however, when compared to later Warner shorts, the only particularly special things about are that it's the first Warner and Animaniacs short to air and the animation from Wang is noticeably in a different style that makes everything seem like late afternoon with no lights and the Warners themselves are designed differently than later Wang efforts; They actually look like a crossbreed of the usual Wang, TMS, and Startoons designs.

The Monkey Song: As the other reviewer already mentioned, this is a take on a famous song, so I won't mention that here. This is the first shorts to be animated by TMS, and it looks great. It is also the the first song and possibly the longest as well (4:18). A step up from the previous short with its incredibly fast pacing and rapid-fire gags. Another thing about it is the fact that this is the first "crossover" and the first of only a few shorts to have every main character in it.

Nighty-Night Toon: A humorous rendition of Goodnight Moon, and the second short to have every main character, a format which would not appear again until almost a hundred shorts later in Hercule Yakko. This is probably the short with the least going for it, as although it's funny it's not particularly memorable to me. It also has the disadvantage of being the first Freelance animated cartoon, a studio which also had relatively okay or kind of bad designs for almost every character.. except for the main ones: Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. Their designs here is not as horrid as what's to come, but their incredibly slow-paced animation shows its ugly head already, as everything appears to be moving in slow motion. Although, I will give it props for having the only decent design of Rita apart from Wang and TMS, everything else ranges from okay(Rita) to worse than average (Pinky and the Brain, Goodfeathers) and absolutely heinous (Yakko, Wakko, and Dot). I'm sorry if this sounds cruel but to quote a writer of the show, The Warners eyes "looked as if they were melting).

So overall, a ten, which might have been a nine or eight if not for the first two shorts.