----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CULTURAL REFERENCES GUIDE for ANIMANIACS (CRGA)
plus other RANDOM RAMBLINGS from ALT.TV.ANIMANIACS
Version 4.0 of May 3, 1998 covers Show #1 to Show #69
Currently edited by Suzanne Smiley
aka: Wakkanne Warner (wakkanne@hotmail.com) Email comments to me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER:
The information presented in this document is believed in good faith to be
correct. Be advised, however, that the editors have not necessarily
verified the accuracy of all information appearing herein. Use this
information at your own risk!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION:
As the title indicates, this document tries to be a compilation of
"interesting" things posted to alt.tv.animaniacs. Normally this will
include an explanation to the hundreds of obscure references thrown at us,
notes of DYNs in the background, and other notable facts. It covers all
episodes originally aired on the FOX network from shows #1-#69.
I am trying to glean everything off the net that is "interesting" in my
opinion. I hope that you too will find it interesting and fun to read.
This means that anything posted to a.t.a is fair game for inclusion in this
file! If you wish your material to be excluded or anonymized then let me
know.
Please do not be offended if you think some of the references are "too
obvious". Experience shows that the definition of "obvious" varies from
person to person.
You will probably also want to read the Animaniacs Future Episode List
(AFEL), the Nifty Animaniacs Reference File (NARF!), and the Animaniacs
Episode Summary (AES). These should be available at
file://ftp.ph.utexas.edu:/pub/misc/animaniacs/docs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GUIDE TO SYMBOLS:
+ == I am 100% sure of the origin, or at least the original poster of it
convinced me
0 == I have not confirmed it, but I believe it is right.
? == I have not confirmed it, and am not sure. Would like confirmation.
- == Just some random thought that someone posted. Or some junk.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTRIBUTORS:
Contributors are noted with their initials in the text. There is an
extensive list of names at the end of the CRGA. (WBB) means Will Bell
thought it up. (SWS) means that Suzanne "Wakkanne" Smiley did. No
attribution means many people mentioned it, or we thought it was so obvious
we didn't want to 'claim' it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANIMANIACS 101 (BACKGROUND): [see also the NARF!]
What is "TTA"?
+ Tiny Toon Adventures. The cartoon produced from 1990-1993 by Warners
and Steven Spielberg. Many of the staff of TTA moved to Animaniacs;
the characters make cameos every so often. Many fanboys of TTA are
also fanboys of Animaniacs. (or vice versa).
General notes on Yakko, Wakko, Dot, and the Marx Brothers:
+ Yakko is 90% Groucho, all the time. Neither of the others have that
kind of correspondence with any of the other Marx Bros., even though
they do steal the odd schtick here and there. (MF)
+ Wakko's voice is modeled after Ringo Starr. We have it on VERY good
authority, probably the best possible authority. (WBB)
- Dennis Falk insists that it is closer to George Harrison.
- Wakko combines Harpo's physical gags ("Would you expand on that?") with
Chico's talent for misinterpreting words and taking them too literally
("What's on your mind?" "My hat.") (MB)
- Fortunately, Dot doesn't look much like Margaret Dumont. (JB)
- A primer for potential Marx Bros. fans: DUCK SOUP (1933), A NIGHT AT
THE OPERA (1935). (WBB)
Tom Ruegger talks about his kids:
I have three boys at home, 9 and under, and they _are_ the zany
Warner brothers. My youngest son was a little disappointed that he
was turned into a girl, but he loves Dot. She is one of our most
popular characters. She gets a lot of mail. While they are
charming and cute, they also have the potential to be kind of
annoying to adults. They fight and do amusing things, like when I
put them to bed at night and I say, 'I don't want to hear another
peep out of you,' they go into their 'peep, peep, peep' routine.
(Thanks to Juan F. Lara for providing the info.)
Notes on the other characters:
- Skippy and Slappy together reminds me a lot of Shorty and Bugs in
the cartoon "Rabbit's Kin", and it isn't just the fact that they
have been colored the same way and have the same relative sizes.
(PH)
+ Ralph the Guard has appeared a few times in TTA.
+ The genesis of "NARF" was that TTA director & storyboard artist
Eddie Fitzgerald *did* and does say that particular thing...though
personally I always heard it as "neff!". Further, "Pinky" started
out as a mouse-caricature of Mr. Fitzgerald, though through various
redesigns it's morphed a bit afield from him. (AS)
+ The Brain's voice is supposed to be a parody of Orson Welles's
voice cf. "War of the Worlds". As well, the facial features of The
Brain and the older Welles are pretty similar, too. (AS, MF)
+ Runt's "definitely" shtick is a parody of Dustin Hoffman's
performance in the movie *Rain Man*. (WBB)
+ Mary Hartless appears in a number of cartoons; she is a parody of
Mary Hart, real life host of *Entertainment Tonight*. (WBB)
+ The mysterious birds appearing with the Hip Hippos are "Tickbirds":
A kind of bird that lives on Hippos and eat bugs off of them,
helping the Hippos by ridding them of pests, while getting a free
meal. You will almost NEVER see a Hippo without a Tickbird (In the
wild, at least.) (GM)
+ "Plotz", as in Thaddeus, is a Yiddish word meaning "burst" or
"explode." (AdamS)
The great theme song debate:
+ The Animaniacs have pay-"OR"-play contracts. No matter what your
best friend told you, or what you saw on the closed captioning, or
if you never heard of one before. That is what it is. Trust me.
It has been verified with Warners. (WBB, SS)
+ A "pay or play" contract is a standard Hollywood deal in which the
talent gets paid regardless of whether the project happens or not.
Naturally, only the biggest stars can demand such a contract. (BMc)
- That's why the toons are singing so happily and waving their
contracts proudly. A pay-or-play contract is a Good Thing and
something to brag about. (SS)
+ Mike Farren did an analysis of that bit and: "What did I find?
There's a beat from the orchestra simultaneous with the 'or' in
'pay-or-play'. That's what sounds like an 'f', but if you filter
that out, and just play the voices, it's 'or'."
Whence "Hello Nurse"?
As I remember the phrase was used in Vaudeville in the 20's & 30's,
usually in the "doctor" sketches, where an unusually well endowed
girl in a skimpy nurse's outfit would appear on stage at the
"doctor's" call. The resident baggy-pants comic would break out
with a call of "Hellll-ooooo, NURSE!!!" which would cause the
audience to collapse in hysterics. (Humor was different then.) In
time, during the later thirties and after, the phrase passed into
the common speech (it pops up in old movies from time to time) but
passed out of usage around the late forties/ early fifties. The
Warner brothers (and the Warner Sister), being of 30's vintage and
once vaudeville performers, would of course be familiar with the
phrase. (Thanks to Robert Haynie for this.)
Other notes of interest:
+ Kathryn Page is Tom Ruegger's administrative assistant. Her gag
credits are simply meant to be humorous, and should not be
interpreted as anything else. (PH)
+ According to Warners, the episodes DO NOT have names or official
production numbers (simply "Show #1" at WBA or "AN101" at Fox).
(PH)
+ There is also NO abbreviation for the name "Animaniacs" used at
WBA, though it continues to be debated endlessly on a.t.a. (PH)
- I'm surprised nobody's got the real reason YW&D make an appearance
in each short being chased by the lot guard. It's really very
simple. You see, it's a.... (drum roll).... "RUNNING" GAG! (RJR)
- (Dumber than advertised!)
Voice Actors:
+ Rob Paulsen (Yakko, Dr. Scratchansniff, Pinky), aka Arnold &
Concord on TTA. He also does voices for Taz-Mania and the Turtles,
among many others. (WBB)
+ Jess Harnell (Wakko), the current voice of Roger Rabbit, Hunter on
"Road Rovers".
+ Tress MacNeille (Dot, Hello Nurse, Marita), aka Babs on TTA. Tress
MacNeille does numerous other voices in current cartoons.
+ Chick Venerra, John Mariano (Pesto, Bobby) -- ?
+ Maurice LaMarche (The Brain, Squit), aka Dizzy on TTA and Dad on
Taz-Mania
+ Frank Welker (Ralph the Guard, The CEO, The Announcer, Flavio,
Chicken Boo, Buttons, Runt, etc), aka Gogo on TTA, Abu from
*Aladdin*, and creator of just about every weird animal sound known
to modern man. Frank has done toon voices for the past 25 years.
+ Nancy Cartwright (Mindy), better known as Bart Simpson
+ Sherri Stoner (Slappy), writer extraordinaire for TTA, Mermaid
model, Slappy writer, is there anything this gal cannot do?
+ Nathan Ruegger (Skippy), it helps to have friends in high places
(dad Tom Ruegger is the producer)
+ Bernadette Peters (Rita), is best known for her fabulous singing in
Broadway musicals, and in particular her work with Stephen
Sondheim. See, for example, "Into the Woods". (JW)
Best Animaniacs Anecdote Will has ever read:
The Fox-TV affiliate in Dallas, KDAF-TV channel 33, had a transmitter
failure during the last week of November 1993. From an article in
"The Dallas Morning News": There was a bright spot of sorts during the
77 1/2-hour shutdown. From 4:30 to 5 p.m. Monday, when the Fox
cartoon series "Animaniacs" regularly airs, more viewers watched
Channel 33's blank screen than the competing syndicated "Xuxa"
children's series on KXTX-TV (Channel 39). The Nielsens say Channel
33 had a 0.6 rating (almost 11,000 homes) during that time period;
"Xuxa" had a 0.4 rating (7,200 homes). (Thanks to David DeSimone for
providing this.)
============================================================================
RAVE REVIEWS FOR THE CRGA!!!
"... masterpiece!" (Paula O'Keefe)
"... very complete and well put together." (Brian Henderson)
"... interesting reading." (Mitch Shaw)
"I love your file." (Don A. Smith)
Buy one now! Operators standing by at 1-800-HELO-NRS!!
============================================================================
============================================================================
THE REFERENCES, PLEASE:
** Show #1 **
"Newsreel of the Stars" --
- Opening montage: (First picture, clockwise starting from upper
left:) Mary Philbin unmasking Lon Chaney in *The Phantom of the
Opera*, Harold Lloyd from *Safety Last*, Charlie Chaplin eating his
shoe from *The Gold Rush*, Buster Keaton from *The General*;
(Second picture:) Clark Gable; Jimmy Cagney and Mae Clarke from
*The Public Enemy* or*Angels with Dirty Faces*; Betty Davis;
Humphrey Bogart dressed as Rick from Casablanca with the Maltese
Falcon. (CH)
0 Hamton (from TTA) appears on a model sheet in Termite Terrace.
(W=BB)
+ The wooden bungalow used by Warner animators in the 30's and 40's
was known as "Termite Terrace". (MikeB)
+ Personnel in Termite Terrace are: (see also NotS in Show #48)
. Standing and talking: Henry Binder and Leon Schlesinger
. Hello Nurse is... ???
. Artists, clockwise from top: Ray Katz, Friz Freleng, Chuck
Jones, Fred Avery, Frank Tashlin.
. Animator drawing Yakko, Wakko, and Dot: Fred "Tex" Avery
. Animator drawing Road Runner: Chuck Jones. (MK)
+ Historical nits: The studio was not the "WB cartoon studio" in
1930. It was the Harman-Ising Studio from 1930-33, the Leon
Schlesinger Studio from 1933-45 and only the WB Animation studio
after that. The studio is also shown as occupying "Termite
Terrace" which was not the case until 1935. (DAG)
+? The three shocked fellows in the screening room, to whom the
Warners' cartoons make absolutely no sense, are the human Warner
Brothers: Sam, Jack, and whatshisname. (PO)
"De-zanitized" --
+ "Don't Tell Mom, the Babysitter's Dead" was a moderately bad
1991 Warner movie starring Christina Applegate. (WBB)
+ The picture of Dr. SNS with Jack Nicholson featuring Nicholson handing
Scratchy a piece of toast on a plate is an obvious [? -ed] reference to
FIVE EASY PIECES. (MF)
+ The scene where Scratchansniff meets with Plotz is a direct take-off
from a similar scene in the movie "Network" (CurtS).
"The Monkey Song" --
+ Watch for Dr. SNS to do a take on: Macaulay Culkin's famous
*Home Alone* pose and Edvard Munch's *The Scream*. (MP)
+ The original version of "The Monkey Song" was recorded by Harry
Belafonte from Harry's _Jump Up Calypso_ album, which was not available
on CD last time I checked. If somebody out there has it on cassette, I
would love to get a copy -- it's been about 15 years since I've heard
this song! (GF)
"Nighty-Night Toon" --
+ The voice (Jim Cummings) is intended to be an imitation of
Sterling Holloway (Winnie the Pooh's voice). (WBB)
+ Mr. Skullhead is a character from TTA, appearing in both of the
"Elmyra's Family" episodes. (WBB)
+ The story/subject is a parody of "Goodnight, Moon". (AS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #2 **
"Yakko's World" --
- The lyrics contain some non-countries and also omit some countries.
If you must know which ones, consult an almanac. (many)
"Cookies for Einstein" --
- A story floats around (maybe an urban legend) about Einstein and
Cookies: a little girl brought him cookies (which he wasn't allowed
to eat) in exchange for him doing her math homework. (GM)
- Einstein published his theory of Special Relativity in 1905. There's
no explanation of how the Warner siblings managed to be there when he
invented it, since they were supposedly "born" in the 1930's. (PH)
- Of course it is now obvious that all the Animaniacs have arbitrary
control over time. (WBB)
+ Einstein actually won the Nobel prize for his description of the
Photoelectric Effect. (AD)
+ E=mc^2 is not the relativity formula, it's the mass/energy conversion
formula. (RD)
+ There is a (famous?) photo of Einstein sticking out his tongue with
his hair messed up, cf. Wakko's photo. (DD)
+ Einsteinian math: S=BLT (Sandwich = Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato), H20=Wet,
P=BM^3 (Prunes = Bowel Movement cubed, or use your own twisted
imagination) (SK)
"Win Big" --
+ Infindibulator. Anyone remember Kurt Vonnegut Jr, and the
Chrono-synclastic Infundibulum? See *The Sirens of Titan*. (DavE)
+ One book had the author, "H. Pettibone" on it. He is listed
in the credits under Background Art (Hugh). Also "T. Craig"
and "Boyer", also both in the credits. (NDR, AS)
+ As P&B walk up the "Farmers Almanack" page, single-frames advertising
"Crazy Kexx's Cider-powered Rototiller" (or similar). Kexx is a
model designer. (NDR, AS)
+ Isle of Yap info: The Yap Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the
western Caroline Islands in the western Pacific. Yap is the largest of
the 14 islands. (MMc)
+ In a Honeymooners episode, Ralph goes on a game show and has Ed help
quiz him as preparation. His topic is music, and much to Ralph's
displeasure, Ed keeps playing "Swanee River" on the piano over and over.
Well, guess what song Ralph is given on TV for all the marbles? (DO)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #3 **
Unique song line -- "Come Back Shaney"
+ It is a play on a line from the Western movie SHANE. As the title
character is about to leave town, a little boy implores him to,
"Come back, Shane!" (TF)
"H. M. S. Yakko" --
+ The cartoon is a takeoff of Gilbert & Sullivan's operettas
*The Pirates of Penzance* and *HMS Pinafore*. (BW, WBB)
- Gilbert and Sullivan wrote them back in the late 1800's. *Pirates*
was redone as a Broadway play & a movie in the 1980's. (MF)
+ Carving on boat reads "Cap'n Mel is a meany". (WBB)
- A primer for potential G & S fans: "Gilbert & Sullivan Weekend"
by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Co. (WBB)
"Slappy Goes Walnuts" --
+ Slappy's signature musical theme in this and all Slappytoons is
Dvorak's "Humoresque". Those wacky TV guys! (WHH)
- The whole bit with the wolf looks distinctly Averyish, but in a way as
to parody Avery's parody-laden style. (RWA)
+ For those who are unfamiliar with it, "Bonkers" is a cartoon about
Bonkers the Bobcat (who sounds like, and sort of vaguely looks like
Roger Rabbit) which premiered the week before Animaniacs did.
+ During a transition shot over to the dog's house, there is a brief
shot of a Museum, with the name "UTTAM Art Museum". I finally noticed
that one of the StarToons production team is Uttam Kumar. (NDR)
+ I could tell exactly what tune Slappy would be playing when I saw the
dynamite under the xylophone. This is obviously a gag borrowed from
"Show Biz Bugs". (PH)
+ The significant thing about "Show Biz Bugs" is that the "Those
Endearing Young Charms" gag was actually done with a xylophone, like in
this cartoon. I think all the other times it was done with a piano,
like in "Ballot Box Bunny". And, for what it is worth, the gag was
also done (with piano) in the 1944 B&W Private Snafu cartoon "Booby
Traps". But this probably isn't the first appearance of the gag
either. (PH)
+ I wonder if anyone got one of the more obscure gags: The "World of
Walnuts" song was a parody of the old "Disney's Wonderful World of
Color" theme. Like Slappy sez, "Now THAT'S comedy." :-) (TF)
+ They also parodied the "kaleidoscope" background behind opening
titles. (BW)
+ Lionel Hampton was a big-band leader and famous vibraphone
(a xylophone-like instrument) player of the 40's and 50's. (WBB, CB)
"Yakko's Universe" --
+ This segment is borrowed from the Monty Python movie: "The Meaning of
Life" - the song right after the scene where the guy "donates" his
internal organs. It is called "Galaxy Song" in the credits of *TMoL*
(PH)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #4 **
"Hooked on a Ceiling" --
+ Title is probably a reference to the 1970's tune "Hooked on a Feeling"
by B. J. Thomas. But just to be painfully correct about it, the
version everyone remembers was by Blue Swede, who took the song to #1
in 1974. (Thomas took it to #5 in 1968.) (RWA, JB, MMcD)
+ Recurring musical theme is Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an
Exhibition". (WBB)
+ The narrator in the circle was patterned after John Houseman. (RDB)
+ The four creatures who he hooks away are the Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles, who were popular a couple years ago. One of the turtles was
named Michaelangelo, hence the relevance (they're all named after
famous painters). (WBB, RAR)
Nit The turtle who yells, "Hey, watch it dude!" sounded like Michaelangelo,
but was wearing a purple mask which would have made him Donatello.
(SWS)
+ "Ceilings, nothing more than Ceilings" == parody of "Feelings" by
Morris Albert. (RWA, JB)
+ Dogs playing poker -- famous cheezoid cheapo paintings from some time
ago. Doesn't EVERYONE have one of these prints lying around
somewhere? (WBB) --See "U.N. Me", show #72 in the NACRG--
+ Paintings with the big-eyed kids were a popular style some years ago,
alas. These paintings were originally credited to Walter Keane and his
wife, but it was later proven, more or less, that Mrs. (Margaret) Keane
was the true artist. (SS, MB, MF) --See "The Sound of Warners", show
#78 in the NACRG--
+ "He prefers the YOUNG Elvis" -- refers to the well-publicized poll
taken by the United States Postal Service regarding which image of
Elvis to put on his commemorative stamp (young vs. old -- the
Warners picked Old, the Americans picked Young) (WBB)
- The matador painting (half visible to the left of the dogs playing
poker), the dogs playing poker, the Keane kids, and the portrait of
Elvis are all classic examples of tacky art. (MB)
+ E.T. of course refers to Spielberg's famous movie.
+ The pose used for E.T. and Elliot is a wonderful combination of
Michelangelo's "hand of man touches hand of God" scene on the Chapel
ceiling and the "ouch" scene from "E.T." (MB)
+ "Mikey" (he likes it!) refers to the old Life cereal commercials.
+ "His Eminence" == Steven Spielberg, of course (WBB)
- The voice and model for Michelangelo was Kirk Douglas. See
Ren & Stimpy for more parodies of Douglas. (AS)
- There was a long discussion about Charlton Heston when the episode
aired. Charlton Heston starred in "The Agony and the Ecstasy" (a film
about Michelangelo painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel) and it
would perhaps have made more sense for the toon to parody Heston.
But the consensus is that the toon spoofs Douglas. (DD, MB)
"Goodfeathers: the Beginning"
+ Goodfeathers == Goodfellas (1990 Martin Scorsese movie)
+ Pesto == Joe Pesci
+ Bobby == Robert De Niro
+ Squit == Ray Liotta. The voice is a dead-on imitation of Ray Liotta,
including the "as far back as I remember" line that starts Goodfellas.
But some readers feel that Squit doesn't have much in common with Ray
Liotta's character in "Goodfellas". (MB, AS)
+ The Godpigeon == The Godfather (Bird resembles Marlon Brando)
- Goodfeathers is funnier if you watch Goodfellas, the Godfather movies
and Raging Bull. A lot of the parodies of Scorsese's style (like the
animated moving background to emulate the infamous 5-minute long
steadicam shot in Goodfellas) will make more sense. (AS)
- Pesto's blowing up routine ("are you calling me a ________?!?") is from
Goodfellas as well -- that's one you gotta see the original to get the
impact. (AS)
- Bobby's "You _____ with me?" bit is from "Taxi Driver". (MB)
- "Badabing..." is something James Caan says in Godfather Part I. (AS)
- A passenger on the subway resembles the "Waitress" (before version)
from *Hollywood Plucky*. (MA)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #5 **
Unique song line -- "The Rain in Spain-y"
+ Dot is dressed up as Eliza Doolittle from *My Fair Lady*. (SThomp)
+ It comes from _Pygmalion_, by George Bernhard Shaw, by way of
_My_Fair_Lady_, the musical adaptation. It's part of a pronunciation
lesson. Originally: "The Rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain." (RWA)
+ The song "The Rain in Spain" does, indeed, come from the musical "My
Fair Lady", and is by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. "My Fair
Lady was first produced in the late 1950s. "My Fair Lady" is based
directly on the play "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw, which was
written and first staged somewhere in the early part of this century.
"The Taming of the Shrew", which was written by William Shakespeare
a few hundred years before Shaw was born, has nothing to do with
any of this. (MB)
- Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" is often cited as the basis
for "Pygmalion", which basically contemporized Shakespeare's
writing for the day. "My Fair Lady" is an adaptation of "Pygmalion".
With "The Taming of the Screwy", the process has come full circle,
referencing back to Shakespeare. (RJR)
- Mike Farren says: "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Pygmalion" have so
little in common that to consider them linked at all requires a stretch
of the imagination that only Wakko's neck could allow. (MF)
- Never let it be said that this guide does not provide you, the reader,
with EVERY LAST DETAIL! (WBB)
- Did you know that "The Last Detail" was a movie starring Jack
Nicholson? (MF)
"Taming of the Screwy" --
+ Dr. SNS's comment about a headache "THIS BIG" is from the old
Excedrin commercials. ("I have a headache THIS BIG (making
hand gesture) and it's got Excedrin written all over it.") (RO)
? Hollywood caricatures: The reporter is Mary Hartless from
Entertoonment Tonight; Robert Patrick as T2; Geena Davis & Susan
Sarandon as Thelma & Louise; Celebrity with 'Y' baseball cap is Spike
Lee ['Y?' Y not?]; Bea Arthur and Danny DeVito (as the Penguin);
Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci are Lethal Weapon trio; Bald woman
is Sigourney Weaver, and the Alien is herself; Dot's other pet is a
mutant Jerry Lewis; Michael Keaton as Batman; Jack Palance; Slappy
calls Luke Perry (Johnny Depp?) a very mature Johnny Quest; Michelle
Pfeiffer as Catwoman; "Thing" from the Addams Family appears in a
glass of milk; Wayne & Garth (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey); Beauty and
the Beast; Whoopi Goldberg with Billy Crystal; Kid with annoying voice
is Urkel (Jaleel White); Guy with mallet is Gallagher; Madonna.
(MH, PH, RJR)
+ Yakko and Mr. Kato's conversation:
Yakko - Tokyo wa totemo omoshiroi tokoro desu ne.
[Tokyo is a very interesting place.]
Kato - Zehi irasshite kudasai.
[Please come (to Tokyo).]
(Kato uses Zehi to mean "must", but is still asking please.)
Yakko - Mada iki-basho ga areba ne.
[If it's still there.] (AM)
+ I showed the episode to a friend of mine who is a native speaker, and
he translated the last line as, roughly, "If there is still a place
for me there," or, "If there is still room for me there." There is no
direct translation becuase, as many suspected, this is an in-joke with
Tokyo residents. It is a reference to the crowded and generally
run-down condition of most of the city. He complimented the script
writers on their knowledge of Japanese culture. :) (TF)
? One voice, Mr. Kato, was credited as Bob Ito. Could this,
perchance, be Robert Ito, of Quincy and Buckaroo Banzai fame? (RJR)
+ On the first run of the show, "Joe P.", "Danny D.", "Jack P.", and
"Spike" were cited in credits. Second (and presumably future) runs
have replaced these with "Star #1", "Star #2", "Star #3", and
"Star #4". You tell ME why. (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #6 **
Opening intro --
+ A parody of the theme song of "Flipper".
"Temporary Insanity" --
- Note pictures of famous WB toons on the walls of the CEO's office.
(Buster, Elmyra, Hamton, Batman). (RWA)
+ Dot's exchange with Mel Gibson about taking a summer cruise is lifted
from an identical exchange with Gene Wilder and a Broadway director
in the Mel Brooks film *The Producers*. (RG. MT)
- When Dot is talking to Arnold (Schwarzenegger), her comment about the
recipe almost certainly refers to Arnold's mother's apple strudel recipe.
Her strudel is available at Planet Hollywood restaurants. (BD)
+ Yakko's typing routine is borrowed from a Jerry Lewis movie --
the consensus is that it's "Who's Minding the Store", but no one has
yet had the bravery to watch the movie to verify. (BH, WBB)
- The typing tune is incredibly similar to a song called "The Typewriter"
by Leroy Anderson. (WBB, MP)
"Operation: Lollipop" --
+ The fanfare that plays as Buttons grabs onto the landing gear of
the plane is the exact same fanfare in the Buster Crabbe Flash
Gordon movie serials. (RO)
- The Fanfare was written by Richard Wagner and is from his "Flying
Dutchman" Overture. (RAR)
"What are We?" --
- No noteworthy comments so far.
Ending Tag -- "I can't think of the ending of this show.
I can't think of anything else!"
+ This refers a piano gag in the Marx brothers' film *Animal Crackers*.
Chico is playing the same music over and over until he confesses,
"I can't think of the finish." To which Groucho replies, "That's
strange, I can't think of anything else." (WBB)
+ Wakko makes a Gookie here (see AN 123 for more details).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #7 **
"Piano Rag" --
+ After Tympannini destroys the piano, the Yakko says "very Pete
Townsendesque". Pete Townsend was the Guitarist for the Who, and was
known for smashing his instruments. (MMcA)
+ Did you notice John Rhys-Davies? Solly from the Indiana Jones
movies and the Russian KGB head in the Bond movie "The Living Daylights",
as well as others. The voice of Tympannini! (RJR, TK)
"When Rita Met Runt" --
- The title is probably a reference to the movie "When Harry Met Sally",
which starred Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan (who bear no resemblence to
Rita and Runt). (MB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #8 **
Opening intro --
+ Parody of Gilligan's Island theme, of course. (WBB)
"The Big CANDY Store" --
+ Sign at "Burt's World of Cheese" says: "Yes, we _will_ cut the
cheese!" (RD, SM)
+ Other shops: Tammy's Galaxy of Yarn, Sy's Universe of Big Galvanized
Drywall Screws, and of course Flaxseed's Totality of Candy. (SM)
+ The Candyman song is spoofing a tune from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate
Factory", which was later a hit by Sammy Davis Jr. tune. (WBB, MB)
+ Football team is from "Notre Lame", and the music playing during
their entrance is similar to the Notre Dame fight song. (DO, WBB)
"Bumbie's Mom" --
+ Bumbie == Bambi, of course. (WBB)
+ Bumper == Thumper, one of Bambi's pals. (WBB)
+ Socks-rolling-under-the-house bit is stolen from *The Wizard of
Oz*. (BEC)
+ Old Yello == Old Yeller, another Disney movie where the animal
gets shot. (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #9 **
Unique song line -- "Shirley MacLaine-y"
- The Warner writers seem to have some obsession with Shirley MacLaine.
First in TTA, and now here. (WBB)
- MacLaine is well known as a believer in all sorts of New Age stuff
(reincarnation, etc.), which has gotten her a reputation as sort of
flaky. This makes her an easy target for stuff like this. (MB)
"Wally Llama" --
+ Wally Llama == Dalai Lama (celebrated wise monk of Tibet)
+ MacLaine watch II: Shirley asked Wally Llama a really dumb
question. (WBB)
+ Regarding the big question: the short answer is that buns have
traditionally been baked in batches of eight, and the standard weight
for hot dogs settled out at 1.6 ounces, thus a one-pound package
contained 10; therefore dooming them to mismatch forever. (RDB)
"Where Rodents Dare" --
0 Where Eagles Dare. A war movie about Allied forces invading (you
guessed it) a high-in-the-mountains castle (the Eagle's Nest) inhabited
by Nazis. I might have my references slightly off here, but that's
the movie we're supposed to think of. (RD)
+ THX-1138 is an old science fiction movie, by either Lucas (I think) or
Spielberg - it's one of the 1984 big brother type movies. (RD)
+ THX-1138 was George Lucas' award-winning student film from his USC
days and was later remade as his first feature film. (TK)
+ The world leaders in the Brady-Bunch-like news graphic are:
Fidel Castro Queen Elizabeth George Bush
Nelson Mandela Manuel Noriega Yassir Arafat
Boris Yeltsin Mihkail Gorbachev Dan Quayle (SM)
+ The man frozen in the lab is a caricature of Brian Mitchell
(Storyboards.) (AS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #10 **
"King Yakko" --
+ Staff names on map: Sarnoff (Tim Sarnoff, production executive), Lake
Radomski (Eric Radomski, producer of BTAS) (WBB, MC)
DYN Also on the map, the names, DUNLIKUS (don't like us) and LIKUS (like us)
are pretty obvious, but had anybody noticed, IHADENOV (I had enough)
and ENOVISENOV (enough is enough)? (SWS)
+ Perry Coma == Perry Como (and just about as exciting, too)
+ Another reverse ref (sorta), in the part where Yakko is asking the
people to make the faces, at one point, he says, "GOOD!". I just
realized that they use that, "GOOD" in the Golden Sound Storybook,
"Animaniacs: Fair Game". (SWS)
+ Court Jester #1 == Bob Hope, and the cue card gag refers to the fact
that Mr. Hope now relies heavily on cue cards for all his specials
and appearances. (MN)
+ Large Wooden Anvil == Trojan Horse
+ Numerous references to the Marx Bros. movie *Duck Soup*.
+ Yakko definitely took on the mantle of Groucho Marx in this one.
"Citizens, I stand before you because if I stood behind you, you
couldn't see me." is a classic Groucho line. (BC)
+ Watch for Beauty and the Beast to waltz by during one of the
"Polka, Dot" dances.
+ Yakko's bit: "Straight to you with no middle-man: I *am* the King"
parodies a series of commercials from the mid-80s. The ads were
shown in the LA area and featured Paul "the King of Big-Screen",
a television salesman. The ads show him wearing a crown, and the
commercials always end with him saying, "I *am* the King." It is a
joke that I imagine only LA residents would pick up on. (BH, RayD, BW)
+ Wakko, when the prime minister offers her hand, sticks his leg into
it -- an often-used Harpo Marx gag. (RWA, WBB)
+ The voice for Umlatt, is Chistopher Guest, known for his role in
*The Princess Bride*; his assistant is performed by Michael McKean,
known for playing Lenny in "Laverne & Shirley", among other things.
The two of them together must refer to their pairing in the classic
rock parody film *This is Spinal Tap*. (WHH, RT, Wolfboy1)
- A recurring theme of music in this episode is, of course,
The Anvil Chorus from Giuseppe Verdi's `Il Trovatore'. (RO)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #11 **
"No Pain, No Painting" --
+ We open with Picasso painting on everyone's favorite, Dogs Playing
Poker. (MB)
+ Again, Mussorgsky's *Pictures at an Exhibition* is the theme. (MP)
- Even though Picasso was Spanish, he moved to France in 1904, and lived
there the rest of his life. It was in 1907 that Picasso developed
cubism, his most famous style, and the one featured here. So the
setting was accurate. Whether the accent sounded Spanish or not is
left as an exercise to the reader. (KJP, EW)
0 All Picasso's previous paintings appear to be Red Skelton-style "sad
clown and/or happy clown" paintings. (SM)
- The music while Picasso shows the Warners his "blue period" art
is, of course, Strauss's "Blue Danube Waltz."
+ The picture that cross-dissolves from a drawing to a painting at the
end is a caricature of Rich Arons (producer.) (AS)
"Les Miseranimals" --
+ A parody/tribute to *Les Miserables*. (WBB)
- The hotelier seems to bear a striking resemblance to Basil Fawlty. (DCR)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #12 **
Unique song line -- "Citizen Kane-y"
+ Reference to the movie of the same name. Yakko holds up
"Rosebud" the sled. (WBB)
"Garage Sale of the Century" --
+ Title spoofs the name of a cheezoid game show, "Sale of the Century".
(WBB)
+ Buster, Babs, Dizzy (from TTA) and Batman (from BTAS) appear in
a crowd scene. (many)
- When Wakko pushes the button on the remote to get two people to rotate
through 180 degrees, the two people appear to be Yoko Ono and Julian
Lennon (A gratuitous Beatles reference?) (DCR)
"West Side Pigeons" --
+ A tribute to/parody of *West Side Story*. (WBB)
+ The dance happens at a "Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert".
Bernstein is the late composer of *West Side Story*. (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #13 **
"Hello Nice Warners" --
+ The name is a takeoff of "Hello Nice Lady!" (RD)
+ Man with bowtie == Jerry Lewis, of course (WBB)
- Paul Rugg actually does a pretty good job of doing Lewis's voice. (RD)
+ "Three little maids from school" is from *The Mikado*. Someone at
Warner is obviously a Gilbert & Sullivan fan. (WBB, BW)
+ Dot is painting on Edvard Munch's "The Scream". (ST)
+ Jan Murray was a comedian and game show host of the 1950's. He and
Lewis became close friends when they co-starred in the 1970 bomb
"Which Way to the Front?" (WBB)
+ Stanislavski was a famous acting teacher who invented the technique
known as the Method acting style. With the Stanislavski Method, the
actor is supposed to "feel" the character and "become" the character,
and let actions flow naturally from internal motivations. The
"Stanislavski Moment" was the tiny pause while the Jerry Lewis-type
person was "getting in character" for the scene. (SS, FL, RD) --See
show #74 in the NACRG--
- Believe me, if you've ever had the misfortune of seeing a Jerry Lewis
movie, this short was incredibly hilarious. It makes the ending
understandable as well. That was the French national anthem playing in
the background - they consider Lewis a comic genius. (RD)
- The shoe store bit takes place at "Imelda's Shoes". Imelda Marcos,
wife of the ousted tyrannical ruler of the Phillipines, was known
for owning thousands of pairs of shoes while her people suffered
poverty and starvation. (WBB, CC)
- I believe the shoe store bit (trying to fit small shoes on a woman
with large feet) was borrowed from Lewis's "Who's Minding the Store"
(1964). (TMcC)
+ "Old Screamer" == another shot at *Old Yeller*. (WBB)
+ Illinois Smith == Indiana Jones, of course (WBB)
"La Behemoth" --
+ Title refers to the opera "La Boheme", but the cartoon itself has
little relation to that famous opera by Puccini. (AdamS, WBB)
"Little Old Slappy from Pasadena" --
+ The song was a real song by Jan & Dean (#3 in 1964). (WBB, RDB)
+ Slappy drives a Dodge Viper (Dodge is mentioned by name in the song).
When she's in the desert, she ends up racing the Road Runner.
'Roadrunner' was the name of the high-performance Plymouth of the '60s.
They were a Charger R/T variant and were the terror of the tracks until
the mid-'70s. I do believe this race was intentional as the Plymouth
Roadrunner is the only car named after a cartoon. (MikeB, LoA)
- Some water sprinklers go off inside the garage after Slappy goes roaring
off. During every Space Shuttle launch, a vast amount of water is
poured onto the launch pad and is turned into steam by the intense heat
of the boosters. If it wasn't for that water, the launch pad would get
scorched. (BF)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #14 **
"Mime Time" fillers --
+ Tom Bodett is an Alaskan native who's done some writing and radio work,
and his real claim to fame is those Motel 6 commercials. "We'll leave
the light on for you." That was him in today's episode. It's amazing
the people they get. (RD)
"La La Law" --
+ This cartoon is a spoof of the TV show "L. A. Law".
- The name is a reference to how Northern Californians refer to L.A. and
environs as "La La Land." (RO)
+ Elmyra's sister Amanda appears in the courtroom audience, and TTA Movie
Mogul Cooper DaVille is in the jury. (WBB)
Buttons & Mindy intro --
+ The whistling music and basically the whole bit is scene-for-scene a
takeoff on the intro to the old TV show "Lassie". (MN + many)
- [ed note. This is one of those I thought was "too obvious" but
clearly I was mistaken!]
"Cat on a Hot Steel Beam" --
+ Title refers to "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof".
+ Mary "Another Cameo, Another Paycheck" Melody, of TTA fame, is
skipping rope as Buttons runs by. (JJN)
+ "Green Bean" is of course a reference to Popeye's Swee' Pea.
+ Tom and Jerry clones appear.
+ Marvin the Martian cameo on the moon.
+ Cartoon makes fun of numerous other cartoons where someone/something
gets out on the high steel to walk around while the other characters
try to rescue him/her/it. (BW)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #15 **
Unique song line -- "Andromeda Strain-y"
+ A reference to the Michael Crichton novel of the same name. (WBB)
- Note that Crichton's novel had little to do with space travel, even
though the scene implies this. "Andromeda Strain" was a code name
of a suspicious organism that came from space, and the bulk of the
novel focuses on earthbound attempts to study it. (WBB)
"Space Probed" --
+ "Turn out that light!" is a reference to countless WWII era cartoons
which used that same phrase. This refers to the mandatory blackouts
of cities to prevent against night bombing. (WBB, AS)
+ Missing celebrities: Elvis Presley, Amelia Earhart, Bigfoot,
Jimmy Hoffa (WBB)
+ The entire scene where Dot releases her Pet is lifted from the scene
in _Alien_ where the character Brett gets eaten. (KevinP)
- Yakko's pedicure bit is a reference to Bugs Bunny's monster manicure
in "Hair-Raising Hare". (WBB, RWA)
+ Seen in the waiting room: Marvin the Martian, Darth Vader, and
Jean-Luc Picard. (BW)
+ "Jane, stop this crazy thing!", refers to the ending sequence of
*The Jetsons*, complete with Jane Jetson alien! (BW)
? This could be an obscure referance to the popular song "Stop this crazy
thing!" which for some reason only 5 people in the world know about.
The reason for this is attributed to the fact is was a dismal failure
and failed to sell more then 5 records... (CB)
"Battle for the Planet" --
- The title for this segment was written in all capitals over a starfield
and that the letters were tapered at the top? This bore a STRIKING
resemblance to the Title Card used on the old "Battle of the Planets"
(usually better remembered as "G-Force") cartoon show produced by
Sandy Frank. (Cor, KenS)
- BOTP was the Americanized version of the Japanese "Gatchaman" and had
a comic book as well, which used the same title style. (PO)
+ Brain's pirate broadcast interrupts the Duffs (from TTA) watching
Steve Urkel (from the insipid ABC show "Family Matters"). (ST, ErikS)
+ When Brain credits Desi Arnaz with the three-camera system, he's
referring to the fact that "I Love Lucy" was the first TV show to use
three cameras and perform the entire show in order. TV shows at the
time were setting up and filming each scene with a single camera,
the way most movies are made. (MB)
+ Brain's comment "Oh, the humanity", as Pinky destroys the "city"
is a reference to the coverage of the crash of the Hindenberg.
The news announcer became very emotional during the crash, and cried
out this famous line. (DY + many)
Kathryn Page credit -- "Bobbie's sister"
+ Bobbie Page is a production assistant on Animaniacs. (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #16 **
"Chalkboard Bungle" --
+ "Blackboard Jungle" was a 1955 movie starring Glenn Ford as a teacher.
Two of the students are Sidney Poitier and Jamie Farr (billed as
Jameel Farah, his real name). At the end, of course, he wins the
class over and they give him a present at the end. "Stand and Deliver"
is done in the same way. (DR, TMA, WBB, BH, Leonard Maltin)
+ "Mrs. Flamiel" refers to Jerry Lewis's favorite nonsense word
(in this show, anyway). (WBB)
"Hurray for Slappy" --
+ The newspaper that Slappy shreds has pix of Buster, Babs, a disfigured
Plucky, and a headline about "Elvis living in WB water tower!" with
the King and YWD. (TK)
+ Newspaper headlines:
. ELVIS ALIVE! LIVES IN WATER TOWER WITH WARNER BROS. AND SISTER DOT
. BUSTER BUNNY TOO COOL?
. PLUCKY DUCK CON MAN?
. BABS SHARES HER BEAUTY SECRET (SM)
- "Slappy the Slap-Happy Squirrel" could be taken from a character
appearing in 1950s MGM Cartoon Comics named "Screwy the Screwball
Squirrel". (DAG)
+ Note that the villains are staying at the "Hotel California", which
has "plenty of room". This comes from the famous Eagles song.
"The Great Wakkorotti: The Master and his Music" --
+ Wakkorotti == Luciano Pavarotti
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #17 **
"Good Idea, Bad Idea" bits --
+ Tom Bodett returns. --See "Mime Time", in show 14.
- One of the kittens being fed to the bear is Cleopatra/Pussyfoot,
Chuck Jones' little Jellicle cat. She was also the kitten in _Cat
On a Hot Steel Beam_. (PO)
"Roll over, Beethoven" --
+ Title from the song of the same name by Chuck Berry. The Beatles
covered it in 1963. (RWA, DF)
+ DYN: the busts of Frank Sinatra and Elvis in the introductory camera
pan. (RWA)
+ The tune that the Warners hum and burp is, of course, the first
four notes of Beethoven's famous *Fifth Symphony*.
+ Dot's piano solo was the third movement of the "Moonlight Sonata".
The incidental music also quoted the well-known piano piece "Fuer
Elise" several times, as well as, towards the end, the first and the
third movements of the Fifth Symphony. (DG, many)
+ Vienna sausages for lunch are "apropoo" because Beethoven lived and
worked in Vienna. (MB)
+ Dot's lounge singer bit was a parody of Michelle Pfeiffer's character
in "The Fabulous Baker Boys". In the film, she sings "Makin' Whoopee",
in a sequinned dress, on the piano. Dot's version is, "He's writin'
hooey". (JB, SM)
0 "Maybe a sunflower will cheer him up" -- Van Gogh had a famous
painting called "Sunflowers", was auctioned off to Japanese investors
awhile back for $40 million, the largest amount ever paid for art (to
date). (WBB, BW, RC)
"The Cat and the Fiddle" --
+ Stradivarius was, of course, a famous viola maker. He made violins out
of the leftovers scraps. ('Cellos, too.) And to give you an idea of
the current value of Stradivarius violas, one of the last surviving
violas was destroyed in a bar fight. (DRostker)
Ending Tag -- "Clap on, Clap off, Clap on, Clap off... show's over!"
+ This is taken from a commercial for a product called the "clapper".
Clapping your hands causes a power toggle on whatever you plugged
in to it (a lamp, normally). (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #18 **
"Pavlov's Mice" --
+ Pavlov wanted saliva to study (his Nobel prize was for digestive
system research) and wasn't really interested in conditioned response,
per se. (ES)
- For what it's worth, the Russian crown jewels were usually kept in the
Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, in the White Room. They would be moved
to Moscow for coronations. That's also a fairly accurate caricature of
the vapid last (or next to last, depending on your historical views)
emperor of Russia, Nicholas II. (EOC)
"Chicken Boo-ryshnikov" --
+ Obviously a take on Mikhail Baryshnikov, the famous ballet dancer,
and on his time in New York. (DavE)
+ In the audience in a previous shot (silhouette only) are, from
screen left Bob Sledge, Dave Kuhn, Fred Gardner (partially obscured),
Mike Milo and Kevin Frank. (AS)
"Nothing but the Tooth" --
+ Shriners actually ride in little cars like these in parades. (RD)
+ Rasputin wasn't hypnotizing the Czar, but since he was the only
person who could treat the Czarovich (Prince heir apparent) for his
hemophilia, the Czar pretty much did everything Rasputin wanted. I
guess that was too gruesome an idea for a cartoon, and both would have
taken too much background material to be worthwhile. (ES)
0 Rasputin's hypnosis may have been an "Aladdin" reference, too. (ES)
+ Anastasia was the daughter of the last czar.
- Many believe that Anastasia alone survived the execution of her family
by the Bolsheviks, in 1918, to emerge years later in a German asylum.
This, btw, is why Yakko's reference to the Czar "I see nothing but good
things in his future" is so darkly hilarious! (CA)
+ Rasputin wasn't fired. He was first poisoned with enough arsenic to
fell a couple of horses. When that didn't work, they shot him a few
times, then tied him up and threw him in the river. The autopsy said
he drowned. (TEB)
+ In real life, Rasputin's influence was exercised mostly through the
Tsarina, not the Tsar. (Treesong)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #19 **
Unique song line -- "Where's Lon Chaney?" --
+ Lon Chaney, Sr. (known as "The Man of a Thousand Faces" due to his
expertise with makeup) played Quasimodo in the 1923 film version of
HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, and also starred in PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. (DT)
+ Lon Chaney, *Jr.* was contemporary with Karloff and Lugosi. Junior not
only created the role of THE WOLF MAN, but he also played most of the
classic Universal Studios monsters: Dracula in SON OF DRACULA,
Frankenstein's Monster in GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN and the Mummy in THE
MUMMY'S CURSE. He did *not* play Dr. Jekyll. (DT)
"Meatballs or Consequences" --
+ The original title of this short was "Death or Consequences", but
was changed over objections from Fox censors. Other references
to death were also removed. (PaulA)
+ "Robert's Rules of Death": _Robert's_Rules_of_Order_ is a good-sized
tome describing parlimentary etiquette. (RWA)
+ The Franklin Mint is well known for producing a number of totally
useless pieces of wannabe art, including many expensive chess sets.
The civil war chess set is one of them. (WBB)
+ The checkers game is a direct reference, and the deadpan voices &c. an
overall stylistic reference, to the 1956 Swedish film *The Seventh
Seal*, directed by Ingmar Bergman. This explains Death's Swedish accent.
*Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey* stole the idea, too. (LC, BM, WBB)
+ After Yakko and Dot have their weird conversation and putdowns, they
both do a silly sort of fighting stance: Yakko puts his fists up and
stares Dot down, while Dot does the same thing but moves her foot back
and forth. This is almost certainly a reference to a similar gag done
by Chico and Harpo Marx. It was a running gag in which after a
"confrontation", they'd do that little fight dance. (Spatch)
"Dot's Poetry Corner" --
- Possibly modeled after "Bullwinkle's corner", but probably just
a general reference to the "beat" coffeehouses of the 50's and 60's.
(Note finger-snap applause and funky music.) (MB, WBB)
- "Noble" street in the opening is probably a tribute to long-time
Warner layout man Maurice Noble. (ML)
"A Moving Experience" --
+ The woman who didn't want them to leave the jungle was "Geena Embryo".
This refers to Joan Embrey, who works at the San Diego Zoo and was on
Johnny Carson a lot with monkeys and other furry friends. (SM)
+ Geena Embryo was also in the cartoon, "Taz-Mania". (SWS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #21 **
+ The little "escape" sequence at Mount Rushmore, where the Warners'
plane pops out of Lincoln's nose, is a reference to the original title
of Alfred Hitchcock's "North By Northwest": "The Man In Lincoln's
Nose", so-called because in the Mount Rushmore sequence, Hitchcock
wanted to have Cary Grant hide in Lincoln's nose and then have a
sneezing fit. The scene didn't make it into the movie, so the title
was changed. (JJW)
Unique song line -- "Eisenhower Mamie"
+ Ike's wife was Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower. (WBB)
"Four Score and Seven Migraines Ago" --
+ "Ich bien ein Gettysburger" -- refers to JFK's famous flub at a speech
in Berlin (Ich bien ein Berliner == I am a jelly doughnut.) (WBB)
+ Many other quotes from FDR, Churchill, Truman, etc. (TK)
+ Parody of TTA theme:
W: "I'm lanky," D: "and frankly," Y: "this war has got me cranky."
YWD: I'm proud to be a Yankee. How're ya' doin' Gettysburg?" (WBB)
- It's a reference to Lincoln, who's often described as lanky. (MB)
- When Yakko delivers his version of the address, he's doing a Jimmy
Stewart impression. I don't know if Stewart has ever played Lincoln,
as Henry Fonda and Raymond Massey have, but he did star in "Mr. Smith
Goes To Washington." This may be another weird cross-reference, as
with Michelangelo. (MB) --See show #4--
- Lincoln at one point bemoans the fact that they'd name a savings and
loan after him. Lincoln Savings and Loan was a large thrift controlled
by Charles Keating. Its collapse was one of the most notorious of the
collapses of the S&L crisis, in part because Keating promoted the sale
of debentures in American Continental Corporation, the parent of the
thrift, that were uninsured by the then FSLIC. Hence a lot of people,
especially older people, lost big time. It was a very big deal in
Southern California, and made headlines around the nation. (EOC)
"Wakko's America" --
+ Nit: Lindsay Wagner's name is misspelled in the first clue. (DWT)
+ Things on Wakko's America Map: The Space Needle in Seattle, The
Hollywood Sign, The Grand Canyon & The Colorado River, Saguarro Cacti
in Arizona, The Rocky Mountains, The Mississippi River, The Capitol
Building, The Empire State Building, The Appalachian Mountains, An
Alaskan mountain, Old Faithful, A fish with sunglasses in Florida. (GM)
+ Maryland is more famous for their crab, and while I'm pretty sure they
have darn good clam chowder, I doubt they have 'Wonderful' Clam
chowder. Trust me, the Clam chowder center of the world is in New
England, and runs along the shoreline from New Haven, Connecticut to
Westerly, Rhode Island. I lived in southeast Connecticut for a good
while, and that's the place to get wonderful clam chowder. (RWA)
+ Well, I live in Marlyand and I've heard of Maryland CRAB Chowder and
CRAB Soup, but never Marlyland Clam Chowder. Although we are pretty
famous for our crab soup, white marlin fishing, and on Delmarva,
chicken farmers. If you order clam chowder at a restaurnt in MD,
you'll most likely be getting New England Clam Chowder. (SWS)
"Davey Omelette" --
+ Title refers to Davy Crockett, of course. (WBB)
- At the end, the old woman says, "We're having pioneer chicken!"
Pioneer Chicken was a fast-food chain. The last time I saw one
of the restaurants was in the mid- or late-1980s. I don't know
if that particular line is mimicking a Pioneer Chicken ad, but
it could be. (RO)
"The Flame" --
+ Nepotism update II: Luke Ruegger voices the Flame. (WBB)
Note --
- Subsequent airings of Show #21 have the shorts rearranged in this order:
"The Flame", "Davy Omelette", "Wakko's America", and "Four Score...".
No one knows why.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #20 **
Opening intro --
+ A parody of the intro of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." (WBB)
"Hearts of Twilight" --
- (See other Jerry Lewis comments at "Hello Nice Warners", show #13 above)
+ The short is a parody of *Heart of Darkness*, the Joseph Conrad
novel that the movie *Apocalypse Now* was based on. Also, the documentary
on the making of Apoc. Now is titled, "Hearts of Darkness". (SS, many)
+ The weirdo songs (This is the beginning, this is the middle, etc).
spoof the song 'The End' by the Doors, who did much of the music for
*Apocalypse Now*. (SL)
- Yeah, but the lyrics ("This is the middle--the middle of the story...")
were a blatant knock-off of a similar Monty Python routine. (TF)
DYN When the 'This is the middle...' song starts, the Warners are driving
through some abandoned sets; in one of them there's a picture of ACME
Labs. (MHI)
+ "Universe Studios" -- pokes fun at Universal Studios theme park and
its King Kong, Earthquake, and Stunt Show attractions. (RWA)
+ "The Wretched Clown" is a reference to that unreleased movie of
Jerry's, about a clown entertaining kids in a Nazi death camp.
The title was "The Day the Clown Cried" and it's generally agreed by
those who saw it that it never should have been made. (RWA, HS)
+ YW&D were sent to stop a director who was going horribly over budget;
Coppola went very far over budget with *AN* and had the studio very
worried. He also managed to bankrupt his own Zoetrope studios. (JR)
- The scene with Wakko on the roof of the cart (performing Tai-Chi like
moves) parody the opening of *AN* which shows Martin Sheen doing
likewise in his hotel room until he smashes his mirror. Another toonatic
suggests that this bit was was a takeoff of later in the movie, when the
surfer, starts getting more and more whacked out on drugs as they travel
down the river and starts doing tai-chi on the prow of the boat.
(JR, ASepin)
+ Yakko's narration was in the same tone as Sheen's character. (JR)
- The trip (backwards) through the Universe Studios tour probably
parodies the stop made in *AN* at the last bridge where there is chaos,
and no one knows who is in charge. (JR)
+ The photographer was a *great* parody of the journalist (Dennis
Hopper's) character. In the movie he talks to Sheen's character about
how Kurtz (parodied by the Jerry Lewis character) is doing gods work,
and he shouldn't be stopped. (In the movie Kurtz wants to be stopped -
killed - to end his own madness) (JR)
- Janet reads *The Plain Dealer* while riding in the car. (FNF)
+ All agree that "Froyn laven" and "flamiel" are just nonsense words
with no real meaning, just general parodies of Lewis's shtick.
(German: Freundleben == "friend life") I checked a Yiddish dictionary
and came up with nothing. (WBB)
+ At the end, the Warners run over Jim Morrison (of the Doors).
- Amazingly enough, both "Eek! the Cat" and "Taz-Mania" also did spoofs of
*AN* about this time. (WBB)
"The Boids" --
+ Parody of Alfred Hitchcock's famous scary film, *The Birds*, and
features pretty good caricatures of Hitch and Tippi Hedren. This
cartoon directly parodies several key scenes in the movie. (WBB)
+ Here, "Universe Studios" appears because most of Hitch's films were
released through Universal. There is also an Alfred Hitchcock
attraction at Universal Studios Florida. (WBB)
+ "Norman", the clapboard guy == Norman Bates, the killer from *Psycho*,
another scary Hitchcock film. Norman is of course a dead ringer for
Anthony Perkins. (WBB, PO)
- The crow has a Jack Nicholson voice, possibly because one of Jack's early
appearances was in a Roger Corman flick "The Raven". (BHB)
+ Pesto's comment "Heeeere's Johnny!" refers to Nicholson's role in
"The Shining". (BD)
+ The man who was helping [Hedren] into the car was presumably meant to
be Rod Taylor. The two birds in the cage are the lovebirds Hedren's
character purchases as a joke on Taylor, and indeed the humans do take
them along at the end. (DT)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #22 **
"Guardin' the Garden" --
+ The announcer here is "The Voice of ABC", Ernie Anderson. He is
currently the announcer for both of ABC's "America's Funniest..."
shows. (RJR)
- I am pretty sure the snake's voice and delivery are based on the late
British comedian Terry-Thomas. Active in movies in England in the 50's
and 60's, he was also a presence on American late night talk
shows, particularly Jack Paar's. See, for example, "Those Magnificent
Men in Their Flying Machines". (STedder)
- More importantly, Terry-Thomas voiced Sir Hiss, the snake sidekick to
the Sheriff of Nottingham in Disney's "Robin Hood" movie. I'm sure
this is where the parody stems from. (WHH)
- The animators did a delightful spoof of the deliberately placed
branches, etc. to avoid showing genitalia and breasts. (RWA)
- As they walk out of the scene, Adam throws the branch away! (RJR)
+ Fuzzy Zoeller is a golf pro who had a problem with a snake in one
game. (RWA, RJR)
+ The front of Slappy's door step says "GO AWAY." (RJR)
- The snake hops and sounds like the snake from the video arcade game
Q-Bert! (RJR)
+ The duck playing miniature golf was Little Plucky, for all you
non-TTA fans. Listen for a bit of the TTA theme. (WBB)
- God was voiced by Malachi Throne, best known to TV rerun addicts as
Robert Wagner's government contact/boss in the 1968-70 series "It
Takes A Thief." He also played the mysterious villain False-Face on
1960's "Batman". (ML)
+ The snake comments, "Colonel Mustard did it in the kitchen."
And then: "Or was it Miss Scarlet?" Both refer to that great
old Parker Brothers game "Clue". (WBB)
"Plane Pals" --
+ The gremlin pilots the plane in the opening shot. (RJR)
- In the terminal, scene approaching the ticket counter, look closely
at the characters in shadow. First two at the window look like
outlines of Abbott and Costello. Then, standing at the counter, some
distance behind Blowski, appear to be outlines of Fred and Wilma
Flintstone. These only appear for a few frames - freeze frame almost a
must. (RJR)
+ Airport poster #1: "Visit Beautiful Berwyn":
. A giant mushroom in the shot. (RJR)
. Berwyn is a suburb of Chicago, and was a running gag on a local
horror-host show ("Svengoolie") back in the early 70's. (DT)
. I suspect that the reference really had nothing to do with
Sven/Son of Sven beyond (possibly) an awareness factor. (DH)
. The mushroom comes from Berwyn's premier cultural event: The Houby
Festival (Houby is Bohemian for Mushroom). Included in this event
are the Houby Day Parade, the Houby Marathon, the Houby Horseshoe
Throwing Contest and the all-important Houby Queen Beauty Contest. I
am not making any of this up. (DH)
+ Airport poster #2: "New Richmond, Wisconsin"
. Population 5106, about 25 miles west of St. Paul. Someone please
find out what is significant about this town. (BD)
. At bottom: It's Fun. (RJR)
. The guy is wearing a wedge of cheese on his head. (RJR)
+ Airport poster #3: "Gary, Indiana", with smoke stacks.
. At bottom: It's Not So Bad. If you've ever driven through Gary on
I-90, you know how appropriate that picture is! :) (RJR)
+ Guy standing just to the right of the posters is wearing a Batman
t-shirt. (RJR)
- Blowsky == Ivan Boesky, convicted for insider trading (many)
- Plane passengers include: The Gremlin; Siskel & Ebert; Bull from
"Bully for Bugs"; Nun from the Candy Store; Urkel; Jack Palance(?);
Faboo belly dancer; One of the Rugrats in lower right corner; the Fat
Elvis; Charlie the dog (usually paired with Elmer or Porky); an Old
Elmer (traveling in disguise?); Charles and Di(?), two rows apart;
Woman next to Charles - Mature Little Orphan Annie (note eyes)
(MH, RJR)
- When the airplane is on the runway, it passes a brightly lit sign that
says "Runway Condition", similar to signs on L.A. freeways that say
"Freeway Condition". (BEC + many)
- One of the disasters mentioned in the safty video was a blown cargo
door, which really happened to a United 747 en-route to Austrailia a few
years ago. (BEC)
- Right after Blowsky sits down, Yakko (imitating a fighter pilot) says
"Tora, Tora, Tora", the Japanese code for complete surprise during the
bombing of Pearl Harbor, which later begame the title of a movie about
the attack. (BEC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #23 **
"Be Careful What You Eat" --
"Up the Crazy River" --
- The title could refer to the Robbie Robertson song "Somewhere Down
The Crazy River". (DY)
- Or it could refer to "Up a Lazy River", by the Mills Brothers. (RSG)
"Ta Da Dump, Ta Da Dump, Ta Da Dump Dump Dump" --
+ Title is a reference to the familiar theme from "The Lone Ranger",
aka Rossini's William Tell overture. (WBB)
Wheel of Morality -- "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind" --
- When Yakko asks if the others know what time it is, Wakko's response
is "Time to make a Gookie?" The face he makes while saying this
(puffed out cheeks, etc.) is in fact a fair imitation of a Gookie, a
facial expression made famous by (wait for it) . . . Harpo Marx. (MB)
- "Gookie" was a man who Harpo remembers from his childhood who worked
at a General Store. He rolled cigars in the store window. Harpo
remembers the man's expression and used it foreverafter. (Spatch)
+ The moral was a line from the Bob Dylan song "Blowin' in the Wind",
which was later a huge hit for Peter, Paul and Mary. (many)
+ "... except in NJ, where what's blowing in the wind smells funny," is a
ref to all the garbage dumps which are on the New Jersey side of the
river as you travel the NJ Turnpike on the way to New York. (SWS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #24 **
"Good Idea, Bad Idea" (stop & smell the roses) --
+ The musical cue when Skullhead is smelling the roses is "To a Wild
Rose" by Edward MacDowell. (MacDowell's Opus 51, Number 1.) (BD, RO)
"Warner's World of Baldness" --
- The "... for only $19.95" is probably a parody of Earl Scheib, who
uses ads like that for his chain of car painting outlets. (MB)
+ Yakko's final "I'm not just the president..." is a reference to the
TV ads for the Hair Club for Men (with Sy Sperling). (MB)
"Opportunity Knox" --
+ The last name "Perkins" is the most common name in the Elizabethtown
Kentucky area, which is a mere 10 minutes drive from Fort Knox. (RV)
"Wings Take Heart" --
- No noteworthy comments so far.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #25 **
"Disasterpiece Theatre" --
+ Title is a take on the PBS series "Masterpiece Theatre".
"Hercule Yakko" --
+ A general pastiche of mystery parodies:
+ "Hercule Yakko" == Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's detective;
+ Wakko is "Dr. Wakko" (refers to Sherlock Holmes stories);
+ Dot is "Number One Sister" (refers to Charlie Chan movies' "Number
One Son") (MB, TDB, RWA, WBB)
- The intro to this cartoon as well as the whole mystery-on-a-boat
theme is a take on Agatha Christie's *Death on the Nile* (RJ)
- Look for the (poorly-animated?) Colombo parody. (RWA)
+ When looking for prints, Dot finds Prince (the rock star). She refuses
to finger him. (WBB)
+ Dot's "Night at the Opera" comment refers to the very famous scene in
the Marx brothers movie of the same name. The Marxes are hiding out in
a tiny little stateroom, until one of the brothers (Chico?) decides
he wants dinner. Somehow this turns into having every possible ship
service called into this dinky little room, finally culminating in
Margaret Dumont opening the stateroom door and having everyone spill
out CRASH! (BW)
Rita & Runt theme song --
- Did anyone besides me understand the "[Lynn] Fontanne and [Alfred]
Lunt" reference in R&R's intro? It rhymes delightfully, and one
generally wouldn't group them with the other pairs listed. (DWT)
+ Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt were known for their Broadway work
in the 1910's through the 1950's. They were also married. (WBB)
"Home on de-Nile" --
+ Sonny Bono, the better half of Sonny & Cher, was indeed the mayor
of Palm Springs. (WBB, DavE)
+ "We're not worthy" is stolen from *Wayne's World*. (WBB)
+ Furrball (from TTA) is a rejected candidate for sacrifice. (WBB)
+ Cleopatra and Marc Antony are inspired by Liz Taylor and Richard
Burton (who played them in the flop 1963 film). Cleo's violet
eyes are the giveaway. (CA, ML, MF)
- The "Who's Afraid of Cleopatra" song is a nod to "Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf", also starring Burton and Taylor. (CA)
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" --
- The line "...else to 'scape the serpent's tongue..." which Dot
translates as "what he said" is actually a reference to the audience
hissing at the actors. (DovS)
+ The one and only cameo by Robin from BTAS on Animaniacs. (Cor)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #26 **
Notes on Testimonials --
+ Jack Benny, George Burns, and Milton Berle are all famous radio and TV
comedians who, as is implied here, got their start in vaudeville. (JJW)
+ Fanny Brice was the famous "Ziegfield Follies" comedienne whose story
was told in the Barbra Streisand musical "Funny Girl." (JJW)
+ The Algonquin was the hangout of the group of trendy New York
intellectuals in the '20s known as the "Round Table." Robert Benchley,
a humorist, was one of this group's most famous members. (JJW)
"Babblin' Bijou" --
- Of the several "older" Warners cartoons, this one seems to most
closely resemble the actual 1930's cartoons. For example, note the
way the characters bob up & down while staying in place. (EW)
+ The actor playing the Arab sheik who Dot swooned over was Rudolph
Valentino, the silent film actor who was so phenomenally popular that
when he died suddenly in 1926, several of his fans committed suicide.
Two of his most popular films were desert epics called THE SHEIK and
SON OF THE SHEIK. (EW)
+ But the title of the "movie" on the theater's marquee is a reference
to FLESH AND THE DEVIL, a 1927 movie starring Greta Garbo. (EW)
"Potty Emergency" --
+ Note "MST3K" lettering on the spaceship in the terrible movie.
For those not "in-the-know" this refers to Comedy Central's show
"Mystery Science Theatre 3000", a show which makes fun of terrible
movies (like the one the Warners are watching). (WBB)
0 I believe that the "Abyss Boy" is a reference to History of the World,
Part I (French Revolution). (JT)
DYN When Wakko runs from the woman's room, he gets bonked on the head
with a roll of toilet paper... poor guy. (SWS)
- The opera into which Wakko wanders is Tannhauser by Wagner. The
overture, which is playing, depicts an ocean tempest of epic
proportion, appropriate given our hero's dilemma. It was really
funny when I realized this. (DRostker)
"Sir Yaksalot" --
+ The whole "dragon" bit is a tribute to a running gag from
"Hellzapoppin'," a long-running '30s revue by the comedy team of Ole
Olsen & Chic Johnson (made into a movie, 1941). The gag was that a
large, domineering wife was looking for her husband, wanting to give
him a talking-to. She shouted "Oscar! Oscar!" (Her hubby's name) and
walked offstage looking for him, but her voice boomed loudly from
offstage: "Oscar! Oscar! Oscar! Oscar!" Finally either Olsen or
Johnson was fed up and said: "Would someone please stop that woman
from yelling Oscar!" "Oscar! Oscar!" "I said, would someone please--"
*Sound of a gunshot from offstage* "Thank you!" (JJW)
- According to an Informed Source, the movie version of "Hellzapoppin'"
was screened for the "Animaniacs" staff midway through writing the
first season. As for the movie itself, it has a hilariously funny opening
sequence and then goes downhill once it starts telling a story. (JJW)
- At the beginning of the short, there's a sign reading "Notice: No rain
until sundown". (That may not be exact, as I'm working from memory.)
That's a near-quote from the title song of the musical "Camelot". (MB)
+ King Arthur is a parody of Richard Harris who starred in the movie
version of Camelot. (BW, CB)
+ Also note that the narrator is imitating Richard Burton who starred in
the Broadway version. (CB)
+ Merlin is a caricature of hippie ex-magician Doug Henning, who had a
stage show called "Merlin" back when he was still popular and was fond
of saying "it's maaaagic!". An anvil is appropriate. (BW, CB)
+ The bit with "S'alright? S'alright." refers to the shtick of the
(famous?) ventriloquist Senor Wences. (many)
+ The Japanese out-of-sync generals are from Godzilla (and some scenes
with the dragon resembled Godzilla). (BW)
+ In the War Room, the fellow with the out-of-control arm is Dr.
Strangelove, from the Stanley Kubrick movie of the same name. (MB)
+ Raymond Burr, who appears in the war room, was dubbed into *Godzilla*
to make it more palatable to American audiences. (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #27 **
"You Risk Your Life" --
+ A parody of Groucho Marx's 1950's game show "You Bet Your Life".
The show is close to Groucho's format, except with his a duck came
down and the players won money if they said the secret word. And
of course there was no cheezy live-action applause. :) (WBB)
+ The female contestant is a dead ringer for Elmyra's Mom, but she isn't
named Duff. (WBB)
- Whenever something happened in "You Bet Your Life", Groucho's theme
song ("Hooray for Captain Spaulding" from the Marx movie "Animal
Crackers") would play. The same thing happened here, except Yakko's
theme song was "I am the Very Model of a Cartoon Individual". (KevinP)
- --See show #77 in the NACRG--
"I Got Yer Can" --
+ The can used to contain "Acme Diet Walnut Soda".
+ Allen Funt was the host of the long running show "Candid Camera".
The show would set up dippy situations (e.g. talking mailboxes)
and film people's reactions. Obviously Slappy thinks she's been a
victim. (WBB, KevinP)
+ Slappy calls herself "Victoria Sifuentes", a reference to Victor
Sifuentes, a character on L.A. Law. (DY)
+ The game show that Candie appears on spoofs elements of the oldie
game show "Let's Make A Deal" with Monty Hall. (e.g., dressing up
in bizarre outfits and having joke prizes behind Door #X.) (RO)
+ The scene with Candie typing the same line over and over refers to
a scene in *The Shining* where Jack Nicholson does the same thing.
(WBB)
"Jockey for Position" --
- "Publishers Smearing House" refers to Publishers Clearing House,
that great American institution responsible for making several
millionaires and for selling several million magazine subscriptions.
+ Horse names:
. Flamiel -- The Warner Writers favorite word
. Isle of Yap -- a Gyp-parody category (from "Win Big", see Show #2)
. Phar FigNewton -- a combo of a famous horse named Phar Lap and
Volkswagen's word "fahrvergnugen"
. Leggo-my-Egoiste -- a combo of "Leggo my Eggo" (waffles) and
the "Egoiste" cologne that had the cool commercial. (WBB, RWA)
- In the Marx Brothers movie 'Horse Feathers' Harpo's character is named
Pinky. He also has a horse-drawn truck. In his only scene with the
horse, Pinky fed it flowers and kissed it. I think it's definitely
more than just a coincidence. Unfortunately they never mentioned the
horse's name. (BB)
Dot's Poetry Corner -- "Fuzzy Wuzzy"
+ Ed Asner is the bald guy who played Lou Grant in "The Mary Tyler
Moore show" and "Lou Grant". (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #28 **
"Moby or not Moby" --
+ "Captain Stuebing" was of course the captain on "The Love Boat." (WBB)
- The Ernest Borgnine comment probably refers to the sitcom "McHale's
Navy", where he played a Naval captain in WWII. (MB)
- Amazingly, both Gavin MacLeod (who played Stuebing) and Borgnine
co-starred in "McHale's Navy". (ML)
+ The Warners mention *Star Trek IV* in their song to Ahab. Whales had a
large part in saving Earth in that movie. (WBB)
+ The "Don't Kill the Whales" song is sung to the (familiar?) tune
"(What Shall We Do With A) Drunken Sailor". (SS)
+ Dot's "High C on the High Seas" is a tribute to Louis Armstrong. (BrettM)
- Starbuck looks a lot like Scotty of Star Trek. (RJR)
+ The "stroke" bit -- as in "stroking one's ego", the sycophantic things
that Y,W,&D were saying to Ahab. (SS)
+ Ahab sees Pinocchio in the whale because in the movie, Pinocchio had to
rescue Gepetto from being stuck inside a whale. Saw that one coming a
mile away. (WBB)
+ Ships are: SS Minnow, the Titanic, and the Edmund Fitzgerald. (WBB)
+ "The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald" was a song in the 70's, by
Gordon Lightfoot. About a Great Lakes ore ship that sank and
everybody died. Tres depressing material for a hit tune. (SS)
"Mesozoic Mindy" --
+ The opening sequence (everything up until Mindy emerges from the
bushes) is a shot-for-shot swipe from the "Rite of Spring" sequence of
FANTASIA. In FANTASIA, the dinosaurs are reacting in terror to the
approach of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Apparently, Mindy is at least as
frightening. (DT)
"The Good, the Boo, and the Ugly" --
+ Title, of course, refers to the 1969 Clint Eastwood flick, "The Good,
The Bad, and the Ugly", the third of Sergio Leone's popular
"spaghetti westerns". (WBB)
+ "The Man With No Personality" == Clint Eastwood's character in
these movies, Man With No Name. (WBB)
+ The two characters eating the pasta were caricatures of Eli Wallach
and Lee Van Cleef, Mr. Eastwood's costars in *TG,TB,ATU*. (RJR)
+ Ending lines refer to two other Clint Eastwood movies:
. A Fist Full of Feathers == *A Fistful of Dollars*
. A Few Feathers More == *For A Few Dollars More* (JR)
0 *A Fistful of Dollars* was the movie which established the
spaghetti western, so called because these movies were filmed in
Italy. (WBB)
+ Chicken Boo was crowing the love theme from *TG,TB,ATU* at the
end. (MS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #30 **
"Hot, Bothered, and Bedevilled" --
- The Richard Rodgers / Lorenz Hart song "Bewitched, Bothered and
Bewildered" provides the source for the title. (ML)
+ Note in the opening Baghdad shot that all the people were waving
toilet plungers. (RD)
0 The Hell Singers are based on the Andrews Sisters (Patty, Maxine,
and Laverne) (SteveTX)
+ One form of torture in hell is forcing people to watch reruns of
"The Facts of Life" (WBB).
+ Six Flags over Flushing pokes fun at the chain of Six Flags theme
parks. (WBB)
+ Some shots taken at Thomas Brothers... for those of you outside of
the area, Thomas Bros. maps are _the_ way to get around cities in
California. (RD)
+ Dot's full name is Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca
Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Third. The last part comes from
Shirley Lee's song "The Name Game". (WBB)
+ The whiny protest singer is a parody of Bob Dylan. (PH)
+ Yakko talks to his siblings in a Jim Kirk manner near the end. (PH)
+ The voice of Satan was done by Ron Perlman, known for his work in
"Beauty and the Beast" (the TV version!) and "Phantom of the Opera".
(WBB, JC)
- DYN: The Warners' table in the scene where they get the Devil to
do impressions. Dot and Wakko seem to have ice cream sodas, but
Yakko's is clearly something different. Maybe he really *is*
lactose-intolerant? (PO)
- Nit: The River Styx, which YW&D escape over, was a mythical Greek river
which carried the dead to the afterlife, not purgatory. (BEC)
"Moon over Minerva" --
+ The use of Claude Debussy's "Arabesque" in the intro music
is itself an obscure and obtuse ref to Debussy's best known composition,
"Clair de Lune" ("Moonlight" in french...). The piece itself is used
when the moon appears. (DF, RO)
+ Full moons are 29.53059 days apart, and not 28 as Wilford said. (PH)
+ The dancing frogs bit refers to Chuck Jones's famous cartoon,
"One Froggy Evening". (WBB)
+ The voice of Wilfred was provided by Peter Scolari, who we all remember
from those great shows "Bosom Buddies" and "Newhart". (WBB)
"Skullhead Boneyhands" --
+ The Mr. Skullhead theme was originally sung by Elmyra in the TTA
episode, "Take Elmyra Please". (TEB)
+ An obvious parody of *Edward Scissorhands*, right down to the
funky-colored houses with a mysterious castle at the end of the
block. (WBB)
- In the beginning of the cartoon, as the mom walks through the garden,
there is a skeleton of a rabbit striking a rather classic pose. (DGreen)
+ "I was going to marry him" refers to Winona Ryder's aborted marriage
to Johnny Depp. (Winona played the Blond, and Johnny played Edward
in *ES*) (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #29 **
"Draculee, Draculaa" --
+ In case there exists a person who never saw "Sesame Street", that
show features a Dracula-like muppet called "The Count" whose job
is ... wait for it ... to teach kids to count to 20. (WBB)
+ "I've seen *Witness* twice" -- a reference to the 1985 Harrison Ford
movie where he hangs out with an Amish family.
+ Dracula's voice is provided by Dan Castellaneta, best known for
Homer Simpson. Listen for a "D'oh!". (RWA)
"Phranken-Runt" --
+ The bride-o-frankenstein character is a takeoff of Madeline Kahn's
character in *Young Frankenstein*. (many)
- Her Elmer Fudd accent, however, is taken from Kahn's performance as
Lily von Shtup in "Blazing Saddles". (MB)
+ The joke rhyming tombstones, such as the one appearing here, are
fairly common at places like Disney's Haunted Mansion. (MB)
- I still say the "walkies" bit refers to Barbara Woodhouse, the famous
British dog trainer. (WBB)
- The songs, especially the bride-o-frankenstein's song, are reminiscent
of songs from *The Rocky Horror Picture Show* and *Little Shop of
Horrors*. (WBB, RWA)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #31 **
"O, Silly Mio" --
+ The opera singer sings pieces from Bizet's *Carmen*. (WBB)
"Puttin' on the Blitz" --
+ "Definitely 147 rocks" -- the first concrete reference to
*Rain Man*. (WBB)
+ Nit1: The Warsaw train station, while depicted correctly, was
flattened several days before Warsaw was taken. (RP)
+ Nit2: The map shown at the start omits the fact that Poland was also
invaded from the east, showing captured territories as part of the
USSR. (RP)
+ Anti-nit: The German troops shown were SS, which were actually used
to garrison Warsaw. (Any other force would have been mauled in short
order.) (RP)
"The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert" --
+ Today's belching was to the tune "Dance of the Hours" by Ponchielli.
Should be well known to cartoon fans everywhere, since it was used in
*Fantasia* (remember the dancing ostriches, hippos, elephants, and
alligators?) (MB)
+ This piece is from the opera "La Gioconda". (SCL, DF, RO)
+ This is also commonly known as the tune to "Hello Muddah, Hello
Fadduh", by Allan Sherman. (RWA)
Kathryn Page credit -- "Zamboni Driver"
+ A "Zamboni" is a machine used to resurface ice skating rinks. (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #32 **
Unique song line -- "Dana Delany" --
+ She's best known for her roles in "China Beach", "Wild Palms", and
"Housesitter". In Wild Palms she was James Belushi's wife, who was
killed by Angie Dickinson's character. In "Housesitter" she was the
ex-girlfriend that Steve Martin was trying to win back. She won two
Emmy awards for her role in "China Beach". (DD, MMc)
"Chairman of the Bored" --
+ Restaurant name of "Impetago" is probably a combo of the icky skin
disease (impetigo) and a trendy LA hangout (Spago). (WBB, MB)
+ Cameos in restaurant --
+ Jack Nicholson watches Cher dump sugar into her coffee --
a reference to Cher's commercials for Nutrasweet
0 Arnold Schwarzenegger (?) and a ham
+ Michael Richards (as Kramer from "Seinfeld"), sits between Meryl
Streep & Dustin Hoffman (stars of *Kramer vs. Kramer*). Show me
ANY 10-year-old who would get THIS gag. (WBB)
+ Michael Keaton and Arsenio Hall
+ Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood's dialog is stolen from
the Eastwood vehicle *Unforgiven*. (SFO)
+ Marlon Brando talks about Columbus (Brando had a bit part in
*Christopher Columbus* for which he was outrageously paid)
to Tom Selleck in his Godfather persona. (WBB, DavE)
+ The "Please, sir, may I have some more?" "*MORE?*" was taken from
Oliver Twist. (HS)
+ The "Free at Last!" line is a reference to M. L. King's famous speech;
not moving to the back of the bus refers to Rosa Parks. (CA)
+ Ben Stein performs Pip, and is rather famous (and also, unfortunately,
rather typecast) for portraying terribly boring people. Probably his
most famous bit is "Bueller... Bueller..." from *Ferris Bueller's
Day Off*. (WBB)
? Is it a coincidence that Pip's first name is Francis as in Francis
Albert Sinatra? For years Frank Sinatra has been known as Chairman Of
The Board. (HS)
"The Planets Song" --
- No noteworthy comments so far.
"Astro-Buttons" --
+ The title is a reference to one of the early Japanese animated series,
Astro Boy. (DavE)
+ In the background we see a "Gilligan's Island" parody, with the
castaways stranded on a planet. There _was_ a short lived cartoon
called "Gilligan's Planet" with this theme. (DY)
- The 3-D chess set is definitely an artifact of the original ST series.
Definitely. (MN)
Notes on Gag Credit: "And remember, 'Yakko' spelled backwards is 'okkay'!"
0 This line is possibly from one Bugs Bunny has used. In one of the rare
Looney Tunes cartoons in which Wile E. Coyote actually speaks, he says
to Bugs at the end, "Hello, my name is mud," to which Bugs replys, "And
remember, 'mud' spelled backwards is 'dum'." (SWS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #33 **
"Noah's Lark" --
+ "Shecky" Hollander and "Boom-Boom" Stoner are mentioned again.
Their claim to fame is writing the TTA short "Lame Joke". (WBB)
+ Noah is a parody of comedian Richard Lewis. (many)
- He even had the one-hand-out-in-space mannerism. (DM)
+ Indiana Jones tells Noah what an ark is, then Tasmanian Bushmen
chase him away (to the tune of the *Taz-Mania* theme.) (WBB)
- Noah's "What's an Ark?" is probably a reference to Bill Cosby's comic
routine on that same subject. (VT)
+ Buster and Babs (of TTA fame) are the two bunnies. (many)
- Noah's line "1,2,3,4,5,6,7. All good children go to heaven. etc"
is from the Beatles' song "You Never Give Me Your Money" off of
Abbey Road although it did originally come from an old nursery rhyme.
(CD, SWS)
- The "Love Ark" refers directly to, and Gavin McLeod refers to the
captain of, everyone's favorite Spellingmobile, "The Love Boat". (CD)
- Nit: the Hippos offered Noah some Unagi (ie: Sushi) and claimed that
it was raw eel. While Unagi is eel, it is not raw. It is both smoked
and heated before being served on rice. (RAR)
+ Squit carries the olive branch back to the ark. --See also show #72 in
the NACRG--
"The Big Kiss" --
- The music consistently behind the director is Gounod's "Funeral March
of a Marionette", which is the theme of the Alfred Hitchcock TV show.
Strangely enough, the director didn't look much like Hitch. (DavE)
"Hiccup" --
- Jogging in the park: Dustin Hoffman (see "Marathon Man"), David
Letterman, Macaulay Culkin, and his two HOME ALONE 2 pursuers (Joe
Pesci and Daniel Stern). (RWA, WBB, GD)
- Pesto cries "Pastitsio!" at one point, which is actually a traditional
*Greek* meat/macaroni casserole! (PT)
+ Musketeers -> Mouseketeers, which is why Pesto brings up Annette
Funicello. (Hey, it took me a few seconds to realize this :) (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #34 **
"Clown and Out" --
+ Jerry Lewis shtick for the third time. See more comments on Lewis
at shows #13 and #20.
+ "You'll never laugh alone" mocks "You'll never walk alone", a song
from Rodgers & Hammerstein's *Carousel*. Also done by Patti LaBelle
& the Blue Belles (#34 in 1964) as well as the Muppets. (RDB, MB)
+ "Nice and Chubby Baby" appears to be more nonsense thought up by
our friends in Sherman Oaks.
- "The Clown is not a spider" is probably a reference to Stephen
King's *It*. It features as the 'abominable creature which must be
destroyed', a giant spider who appears to the children it kills and
eats as a white-faced clown. The spider lives in a sewer. (SL)
+ On Mars, the clown entertains mini Marvin-the-martians.
+ Last words on "Freundleben": Freundleben isn't Jerry Lewis, it's a
parody in broad terms of what Lewis sounds like in his gibbering bits.
Rather like using "pastafazool!" to indicate Italian. I've definitely
heard Lewis do bits which had the same rhythm, tempo, and feeling as
"Freundleben", but, as I said, he's usually saying something like "Nice
Lady!". Translate that into Lewis' accent, and you'll get the idea -
"Nawycelaydee!" and "Fruendlayben!" are *very* similar in tone. (MF)
"Bubba Bo Bob Brain" --
+ Willie Ray Cyprus == Billy Ray Cyrus
+ "Empty Hollow Head" == "Achy Breaky Heart", Cyrus's terribly annoying
hit song that swept the nation.
+ "Colonel Pinky" refers to a famous rock star manager, "Colonel" Tom
Parker, whose most famous client was Elvis. (AL)
+ Glenn Campbell sings a takeoff of "Wichita Lineman" (the electric line
repairman song). (BrettM, JD)
- DYN: The call letters of the country station are K-HIX, i.e. hicks.
They are just visible on the wall behind the DJ. (CMc)
+ Garth Brooks and Crystal Gayle emcee the awards ceremony.
+ Kenny Rogers sings a parody of "The Gambler".
+ Dolly Parton is the guest on the TMN talk show. The set looks exactly
like one on TNN ("Music City Tonight"?) (RO)
+ "Yee Haw" is a parody of that great corny show "Hee Haw".
+ The Grand Ole Opry is considered the "big time" in country music,
so Brain had truly come close to succeeding in his plan. (AL)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #35 **
Opening --
+ The opening title with the swirling word "ANIMANIACS" was stolen from
the old "CBS Special Presentation" title. (SS)
"In the Garden of Mindy" --
+ Zoysia grass is a real thing; it was developed by the US Government
and the US Golf Association for use as golf course turf. (WBB)
- Script errors: telepathy cannot be used to move objects, that's
telekinesis. (SK)
"No Place Like Homeless" --
+ Mrs. Mumphead calls Pesto a "nosferatu", referring to F. W. Murnau's
classic silent vampire film. (PO)
"Katie KaBoo" --
+ Katie's freak-out scene is based on the "teenage psychic girl goes
berserk" scenes from "Firestarter" and, of course, "Carrie." (EW)
+ Katie's dad's voice is REAL close to Jimmy Stewart's. (DavE)
"Baghdad Cafe" --
+ Title comes from the 1989 Percy Adlon film "Bagdad Cafe" (sic). (MMc)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #36 **
"Critical Condition" --
+ The two movie critics, Lean Hiskill and Codger Eggbert, are
of course parodies of real-life critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert.
+ The three clips are indeed from the classic WB cartoons. They are
even available on (separate) laserdiscs from Warner Home Video.
+ The object Slappy moves to get to the secret hideout looks
suspiciously like an Emmy. (DY)
- The 'Secret Headquarters' looks suspiciously like the 'Slugman and
Leech-boy' hideout from _Fox Trot_ fame, which of course resembles
the original Bat-cave from the 60's series. (TK, MN)
- The theater looks suspiciously like Mann's Chinese Theater, which
is popular for big premieres. (MMcA)
0 We're unclear on the male/female couple caricature. Choose from
Richard Gere, Dustin Hoffman, Cindy Crawford, Julia Roberts, .... (WBB)
+ Clint Eastwood follows the above two.
+ MacLaine watch III: Shirley the Loon (from TTA) and Shirley MacLaine
attend Spielberg's movie.
+ The movie is *Jurassic Park*, more or less.
- Hiskel and Eggbert quotes about "very realistic" and "good special
effects" about JP were from their actual review of the film. (Cor)
"The Three Muska-Warners" --
+ The Marx Bros. movie DUCK SOUP features a similar, repeated, musical
non-entrance by Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho). (KT)
+ DYN: The Warner's take-home pay (Yakko's check) is only $3.00. (WBB)
+ When "Wakkos" calls out his name, he's wielding a swordfish instead of
a sword. In the Marx Brothers movie "Horsefeathers", the password to
get into a speakeasy (that's a Probihition-era illegal bar, in case you
didn't know) is "swordfish". Harpo gets in by pulling a swordfish out
of his coat. (MB)
+ Yippee, Yappy, and Yahooey were dog musketeers who were trying to
protect a king. One of Hanna-Barbera's more forgettable toons.
IMHO -- not that they were bad or unfunny, just fairly bland. (PS)
+ The closing parodies the classic closing from the old Jackie Gleason
Show. JG would come out dressed in robe, as if he just removed his
last costume, and talked to the audience, introducing the guests and
regulars. The ubiquitous coffee cup is the giveaway. Rumor had it
that it was filled with more than just coffee! (RJR)
+ Sheila McRae (Alice Kramden) and Jane Keane (Trixie Norton) starred
along with Gleason in *The Honeymooners* during its revival in 1966.
(Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph played them in the original.)
Art Carney played Ed Norton in all versions. (MB, WBB)
+ Also, the line "Miami Beach audiences are the greatest audiences in the
world!" is a direct quote from Gleason. (MB)
+ Later episodes of the JG show were shot in Miami. (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #37 **
"Dough Dough Boys" --
+ "Dough boys" are WWI American GI's. (RWA)
+ The two generals are named General Storr and General Admission. (WBB)
+ One of the birds' swear words, "Topo Gigio", refers to a puppet mouse
that used to appear on Ed Sullivan's show a lot. (ESkinner)
"Boot Camping" --
+ Dot is wearing a inflatable ring with Plucky's head on it.
+ The barber was "borrowed" from Mayberry RFD (Floyd Lawson) -- he even
makes a comment about Opie. (DD, ML)
+ The soldier that precedes Wakko in the barber shop is Private Snafu,
star of a series of Warner shorts shown to soldiers during WWII.
(DAG, ESkinner)
"General Boo-regard"
+ The Clark Gable reference is to "Gone With the Wind." Oddly enough,
Gable was shown as a northerner here, although he was a southerner in
the movie. He also never wore a uniform or fought in the trenches -- he
was a profiteer. (DD)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #38 **
"Spell Bound" --
- DYN: One of the trees in the opening pan looks like Rita; One of the
towers of the castle looks like a milk bottle; Sign: Welcome to
Camelot -- Ask about our Round Table; Stylized 'W' (for Warner?) over
the main gate. (Cor)
+ Merlin's incantation: Sonny Tufts, Sonny Bono, Lorna Luft, Yoko Ono;
Paula Abdul, Chip 'n' Dale, Hillary Clinton, Quinton McHale.
. Sonny Tufts: Enjoyed a brief career as a leading man in many
1940's films. In the 50s, Tufts fought both legal and drinking
problems, and became a camp figure. His very name became a joke and
the mere mention of it in a nightclub or on a TV talk show brought
down the house in gales of laughter. (MMc)
. Lorna Luft is a fair actress and singer, but not great at either.
She probably wouldn't be well known at all if she weren't Judy
Garland's daughter. (MB)
. Quinton McHale is from the TV show "McHale's Navy".
. If you can't figure out the others then you need much more cultural
awareness than this CRGA can provide.
+ Merlin's recipe for pie is: Sift one pinch powdered spider nostril,
1 maggot's armpit, 1 smoked tapeworm. Set aside. Blend grumph from
a troll's belly button, 2 goat's hoof-jam. Add powdered mixture.
Puree until creamy. Add fruit to taste. (Speeeew!) (WBB)
+ Table of contents page from Merlin's spellbook: Tabby Cat turned into
dog; Tabby Cat turned into duck; Tadpoles, magic uses of; Tahoe, how to
win at Blackjack; Take over the World spell; Vultures turned into
frogs; Wombat powder, uses of; Zebra gizzard soup. (JC)
+ Some of the stuff on Merlin's reagent shelf: Squid Brain; Powdered
Spider Legs; Eye of Newt; Bat Wings; Toad lips; Generic Bile; Ishtar
Box Office Receipts (empty, of course); Schmaltz; Sugar; Freeze-Dried
Flea Brains, Aqua Vitae (L., "Water of Life"), "Hampster" bits. (JC, BD)
+ Merlin's second incantation: I win, you win, Edwin Newman, Lee of
Kathie, Regis Philbin.
. Edwin Newman was an NBC news reporter.
. Kathie Lee Gifford and Regis Philbin are the stars of the
insipid show "Regis & Kathie Lee".
0 The Hansel & Gretel characters are the same as in one of the 'Looney
Tunes-era' cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny (I'm not sure but think, the
title was 'Bewitched Bunny', how apropoo). (MHI)
? The mice pass a unicorn surrounded by flying insects. This must be
a reference to something. Does anyone know?
+ The Warners have stolen a Dean Martin singing harp. (WBB)
- Also, in the instructions for the Take Over the World spell in the
spell book, Gennifer Flowers is misspelled as Jennifer Flowers, despite
all the hype about her name starting with a G. (BD)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #39 **
"Smitten with Kittens" --
+ The old lady in "Smitten With Kittens" was a *perfect* Ruth Gordon
tribute. If she weren't dead, I'd have sworn it *was* her. Go see her
in "Any Which Way But Loose" or "Any Which Way You Can", where she
plays Clint Eastwood's mother -- I think you'll see more than a slight
resemblance. (DD)
- Better yet, see "Harold and Maude". One of the all time great movies.
(MB)
"White Gloves" --
- No noteworthy comments so far.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #40 **
Opening intro -- "Casablanca" --
+ A very nice rendition of Bogie in the plane bit of *Casablanca*. Just
a couple of slight changes in Bogie's speech, but otherwise exact. (RWA)
"Fair Game" --
- The announcer, Ned Flat, sounds VERY much like the Ned Flanders
character from the Simpsons. The similarity of names suggests this
was done on purpose; Harry Shearer can do a number of distinct
voices. (WBB)
+ Tori Spelling plays Donna on the FOX show *Beverly Hills 90210*.
"The Slapper" --
+ Another parody of "The Clapper" -- see Show #17
+ Bob Saget comment refers to the insipid shows "America's Funniest
Home Videos", which Saget co-hosts, and "Full House", which Saget
stars in. (RWA)
"Puppet Rulers" --
+ Meany and Treacle were a send-up of the old Beany and Cecil puppet
show (later cartoon show) by Robert Clampett. BTW, I thought it was a
pity that the puppeteer didn't look like Clampett, or even Stan
Freberg (the voice of Cecil). (BW)
+ Cecil was a "sea-sick sea serpent", and Beanie was a little kid who
hung out with him. Meany looked just like Cecil, not counting the
nasty expression, and Treacle parodied Beanie very well, including the
hat, the hair, the squinty expression, and the too-sweet personality.
Treacle, by the way, is a kind of molasses, so it certainly fits. (DD)
+ As for the bit with Einstein: Freberg's autobiography mentions an
anecdote about Einstein interrupting a meeting just so he could watch
Time for Beany. (BW)
+ Meany says to Treacle, "Eat smoke, you dirty lampry!" a lampry is like
an eel with a circular mouth that bites and siphons out the insides of
its victims. Not a pretty picture for the happy-go-lucky puppet
featured here. (WS)
+ All the kids in the audience resemble Ralph Phillips. Ralph was
featured in Chuck Jones's famous cartoon, "From A to Z-z-z-z". (BW)
- Meany does _not_ look at all like Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, but
like the evil twin of Oliver Dragon from the "Kukla, Fran and Ollie"
puppet show. (BrettM)
- Brain's says "You can call yourself 'Mary Pickford' for all I care"
and refers to the very well known star of silent film. E.g. Rebecca of
Sunnybrook Farm (1917) and Pollyanna (1920). She and husband Douglas
Fairbanks Sr. have been called "Hollywood's first royal couple." (BrettM)
+ A little Bill Clinton buys his ears at Bubba's. (WBB)
+ Little Bill looks up at the TV to see President Kennedy say "Ich bin
ein Noodle Noggin." This is another reference to Kennedy's famous
gaffe (see Show #21).
- In a shot of the kids all wearing their BE&NN clothing and surrounded
by various BE&NN toys and such, there is a balloon (possibly a ball?)
with Noodle Noggin's picture on it that clearly says "BRAIN" on it, not
Noodle Noggin (or even The Iconoclast). (JJacoby)
- When Pinky says that they missed the disco era, Brain gets angry for a
few seconds while they play a few measures of Mussorgsky's "Night on
Bald Mountain", which was released on the _Saturday_Night_Fever_
soundtrack (in a disco-fied version, of course) as "Night on Disco
Mountain". (DM) (Too close to be a coincidence IMO. -WBB)
+ P&TB interrput "America's Funniest Furniture" to announce their
comeback. (JJC)
+ Marvin T. Martian is on the side of a building posing with a
basketball. Obviously a reference to the Nike ads. (ST)
- DYN: When the Big Ears/Noodle Noggin fans show up to hand over the
therapy bills, each one is wearing a t-shirt with outlines of a heart,
a clover, and a lollipop ("Love, Luck, and Lollipops"). (DC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #41 **
Opening Intro --
+ Obviously a total takeoff on those milk council "Milk: It Does a Body
Good" commercials, where the kid who's snubbed turns into a total
hunk/babe because he/she drinks milk. (RD)
"Broadcast Nuisance" --
+ Title is a takeoff of the movie *Broadcast News*. (WBB)
- The Warner's cafe is probably called "Sam 'n' Ella's", but they
make it sound like Salmonella (a bacteria found in spoiled food).
(RS, WBB)
+ Dan Anchorman probably got his name from Dan Rather, but he is
obviously a caricature of ABC's Sam Donaldson. (WBB)
+ The "We're Beatrice" is from the Beatrice company campaign about eight
years ago, when they were emphasizing how all their subsidiary labels
were part of the Beatrice megacorporation. Beatrice was trying to get
some publicity -- either to ward off a takeover, or make them more
attractive to one. (RD, RDB)
+ "Duanne Sewer" == Diane Sawyer, Donaldson's co-host on their
show "Primetime Live".
+ Wolf Spritzer == Wolf Blitzer of CNN Gulf War fame. (RD)
+ William F. Yakkley == William F. Buckley, Jr. (RD)
- The music that plays when William F. Yakkley appears is the theme
music to the public television show "The Firing Line" with
William F. Buckley. (ShaneB)
+ The Warners slapping into the wall and turning inside-out is stolen
from similar behavior by the T-1000 in *Terminator 2*. (MMcA)
+ "Ground Control to Major Tom" --> a direct quote from the 1969
David Bowie song "SpaceOddity". (SK + too many)
- The 1983 Peter Schilling song "Major Tom" was likely a tribute to
the Bowie song. (too many)
+ During the part where Mr. Anchorman (SNL's Phil Hartman, BTW) is
flipped into the Godzilla movie, he is squashed by a very poorly drawn
Godzilla foot (with BIG claws). This is from Marv Newlin's excellent
animated short "Bambi meets Godzilla". (TEB, BW)
+ Bulk Logan == Hulk Hogan, has-been of the WWF. (RD)
+ "We are outta here!" This is (was) Dennis Miller's News schtick from
Saturday Night Live. (RD)
"Goodfeathers" theme --
+ A "That's Amore" takeoff. Dean Martin song. (RD)
"Raging Bird" --
+ A parody of the Martin Scorsese film "Raging Bull", which starred
Robert De Niro as a boxer and Joe Pesci. Perfect cross-references. (WBB)
+ Carloota and the sparrow gang appear along the walls. (many)
+ Pretty Boy Robin == Stallone. The "Yo, Adriaaaan" is probably the most
quoted line from the Rocky movies. (RD)
+ "I couldda been a contendah! I couldda been someone!" is from "On the
Waterfront", with Marlon Brando, of course. (MF)
+ "Look at these wings... little girl wings." substitute hands and you
got a movie quote. (RD)
- I believe that the scene where Bobby demands that Pesto hit him
is based on a scene with Pesci and De Niro from "Raging Bull".
Very appropriate to reenact it with Bobby and Pesto. (DY)
+ Max the Manager ("Ya bum!") parodies the Burgess Meredith character
from the Rocky movies. (ML, RJR)
- The freezer scene is like a Rocky I scene where he's in a meat locker
beating up a side of beef hanging from a rope. (RD, MB, ML)
+ Running up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum -- that's a Rocky
reference, and that was Rocky. (RD, RC)
+ The "freeze frame hits" are from the Rocky movies. (RD)
+ "No way I'm goin' down, I don't go down for nobody!" -- Raging Bull
(RD)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #42 **
"Can't Buy a Thrill" --
+ "Klaatu Barada Nikto" is the famous line originating in the movie
*The Day the Earth Stood Still* and referenced in numerous sci-fi
movies after that. It was the command told to Patricia Neal by Michael
Rennie to gain the help of Gort. Gort was guarding the saucer,
and no one could get by him without knowing this. As far as I can
remember, there is no translation given. (EAN, RJR)
+ The hippos comment on Hemingway: he wrote about bullfights often.
Presumably the Hippos are also criticizing his other work. (JonW)
- The music as Geena runs from the Bull is the Toreador's Song from
CARMEN by Bizet. Bwaha! (ZA)
"Hollywoodchuck" --
+ "Wheatina" is a brand of hot wheat cereal (ask your grandparents)
and obviously refers to the main product of Kansas. (AJB)
- DYN: Sign: "You are not in Kansas anymore." (DR)
+ The second auditioning woodchuck sings a brief snippet from "A
Chorus Line", a musical/movie about auditions. (JonW)
- There is a brief snippet of Kaa's theme (from the intro to "Trust
in Me" from Disney's "The Jungle Book") when the snake first slithers
upon our hero. (RT)
Ending tag -- "Sit, Ubu, Sit" --
+ Refers to the tag appearing on shows produced by Gary David Goldberg's
production company (Ubu productions). See, e.g., "Family Ties". (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #43 **
"Of Nice and Men" --
+ Title refers to Steinbeck's famous *Of Mice and Men*. (WBB)
+ "Solvang" is a city in California known for its Scandinavian
origin and decorum. (MF)
+ Most of the opening lines (except Brain's) are straight from OMaM, and
not just from those old LT/MMs. (RWA)
- The sudden transition shot after Brain asks "AYPWIP?" led toonatics
to believe that the cartoon had been edited, and that the first run
had shown Brain smacking the tree. But checking the archives confirmed
that such a shot never existed. (WBB)
+ George and Lenny were from the book that the cartoon takes its title
from. Also, the fact that G&L were seen near a rabbit ranch is a
reference to how in the book _Of Mice and Men_ the great goal of the
pair is to own a rabbit ranch. Lenny's always asking, "Will I get to
tend the rabbits, George? Can I tend the rabbits? Can I? Can I?"
etc. They attempted to have Runt say this, I noticed, but it came out
"Can I *take care of* the rabbits, Rita?" (DAG)
+ The rat Rita met in the barn was stolen *directly* from the rat in the
Disney film "Lady and the Tramp". (DAG)
+ In case by some miracle no one caught it, I'll mention that John
Steinbeck, who wrote "Of Mice and Men", placed many of his stories in
and around Monterey. (DD, MF)
- As Rita sings about a cypress tree in her first song, we get a shot
of such a tree. That tree is sort of one of the symbols of the
Monterey Bay area. (RO)
+ "Happy Bob" appeared in TTA as "Bicycle Bob". He's also appeared
in the Beanstalk short (see Show #51). (Treesong)
+ Referring to Rita's comment about Sondheim: many of the Animaniacs
tunes bear a more than passing resemblence to Sondheim songs,
especially the ones Rita sings. Listen to "What Are We?" again - pure
Sondheim, nobody else does phrasing like that - "Maybe we are dogs,
cute little dogs with ears" could have come directly from Into The
Woods, as could Rita's various "Mama" songs. (MF)
"What a Dump!" --
+ Refers to Bette Davis's famous line (which is used a few times by
Babs Bunny). (RWA, WBB)
+ The wide-angle pull-back shot of all the recycling containers in their
stacks that Buttons faces after losing track of Mindy. Straight out of
"Raiders of the Lost Ark": the scene at the end where the warehouse
employee pushes the crate with the Ark to where it'll be stacked and
likely forgotten. (JDB)
"Survey Ladies" --
- The mall is labeled "The Maul". The episode was animated by Freelance
in New Zealand, so presumably this was not a spelling error. It's
certainly appropriate. (RWA, RO)
+ The whole bit with the taped mission and the self-destructing tape is
a direct reference to "Mission: Impossible." (WBB)
+ Shops in the mall include:
. Crystal Shack
. Arons Fine Art
0 Rich Arons is a producer
0 The sibs pass a sign early in their visit to the Maul (grin)
that reads "Aron's Art Shop" or "Aron's Fine Arts"...
(visual memory NOT my long suit... that's being cleaned!)
This is a reference, I think to a local chain in SoCal
called Aaron Brothers' Art Mart which sells artists'
supplies, drawing boards, animation supplies, frames and
everything else. Excellent stores. I wouldn't be a bit
surprised if they were a supplier to Warners. (Swan)
. Learner's Books, Wright's
. Oedipus Rex Clothery (Mother would hate it) -- Sophocles's Greek
tragedy *Oedipus Rex* is about a guy who accidentally murders his
father and marries his mother. And gets his eyes removed, and a
few other things. (WBB)
. "Viscott's Friendly Trendy Boutique -- Clothe your Inner Child"
. Judy Judy Judy -- Reference to a line that Cary Grant imitators
often used
. Zipper World, Just Hangers, Body Suits
. Fifi Le Fume's (sic) perfume -- Fifi is the famous skunk from TTA.
. The Music Box
+ Little Plucky repeats his famous line ("Elelator go down the hole")
from the TTA short, "Going Up". (RWA)
- In case anyone was wondering where this story concept originated,
taking a trip to the Sherman Oaks Galleria should answer the question.
The Galleria is located very close by the studio, and the Warner Staff
frequently visits for lunch/breaks. There is a permanent contingent of
maybe five or six predatory survey ladies roaming and hiding at the
tops and bottoms of escalators. They attack without mercy. (AS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #44 **
"The Senses Song" --
+ MacLaine watch IV: you need a sixth sense to understand people like
SM who wear crystals they bought at the mall. (WBB)
- FYI, the melody is reminiscent - although not a duplicate - of Tom
Lehrer's "Irish Ballad". (A wonderful little ditty about a girl who
kills her family in a variety of unpleasant ways.) (TK)
"The World Can Wait" --
+ Pinky's girlfriend is Phar FigNewton (see Show #27). (WBB)
+ Billie the mouse is based on the Billie Dawn character played by Judy
Holliday in the Broadway and original movie versions of Garson Kanin's
play "Born Yesterday". The name, the voice, the naivete of the
character...it's Judy to a T. Also a 1958 movie. (ML)
+ The bit with the loved feeding lines to the unloved was first done
in Rostand's *Cyrano de Bergerac* and redone in the Steve Martin
vehicle *Roxanne*. (WBB, RWA)
"Kiki's Kitten" --
+ Kiki throws a grass hut against the glass. A bushman climbs out of
it (to the "Taz-mania" theme).
- Kiki looks a bit like the female gorilla in the Bugs Bunny cartoon
Gorilla My Dreams. And behaves a *lot* like the male one... (BW)
- Koko is/was a female Gorilla. There was a psychiatrist that was
teaching her sign language. The Gorilla got quite proficient at it.
One day, the P-sychiatrist asked her what she wanted for Christmas.
The Gorilla responded that she wanted a kitten. She got one and was
happy. The kitten lived with the researcher at night and hung out with
Koko in the day. When the kitten was accidentally hit by a car, Koko
mourned its death just as we would. Koko eventually got a second kitty
to replace the first. KOKO'S KITTEN, by Dr. Francine Patterson, is
available via Scholastic Books (0-590-33812-9). (SThomp, SWS, DT)
- Before we see Kiki's pen we see two others. One is Dian Fossey's
Gorillas in the Mist (famous researcher, see also the Sigourney
Weaver movie), and the other is Bob Fosse's Puttin' on the Ritz. Bob
Fosse was multi-talented but known for his work in broadway musicals
and occasional films. (JS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #45 **
Opening intro --
+ A parody of the theme from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". In that show,
MTM throws her hat in the air at the end of the song. (WBB)
+ DYN: the newspaper Dot's holding says: "Elvis seen again eating
burrito". (RWA)
"Windsor Hassle" --
+ The opening announcer is a takeoff on John Cleese, and we hear strains
of the theme from *Monty Python's Flying Circus* (Sousa's "Liberty
Bell March"). Also, the title card introducing the silly little cartoon
was stolen from *MPFC*. (many)
+ For future generations, it should be noted that there actually was a fire
in 1992 in Windsor Castle, causing large amounts of damage. This came at
a time when the Royal Family wasn't as financially well-off as they used
to be, and how to pay for the renovations was an issue. (DY)
+ The queen's use of the royal "we" causes the Warners to think she is
schizophrenic. So they call her Sybil, in reference to the famous
patient named Sybil who had 16 personalities. (Her story was also made
into a TV movie starring Sally Field). (WBB, JJ)
+ I did notice Elvis waiting in line (wearing some *thick* glasses) and I
believe Yakko was serving a steak to Granny from the old Merrie
Melodies cartoons! (MH)
- The Queen Mum reminds us of: "gramma" from a "New Twilight Zone" skit;
"gramma" from the book-on-tape of Stephen King's story "Gramma"; Anne
Ramsey (Momma in *Throw Momma from the Train*). (RJR, EAN, JJ)
"...And Justice for Slappy" --
- The cartoon is a take on the 1942 WB cartoon "The Trial of Mr.
Wolf". The bit about the wolf skipping through the woods in a Lord
Fauntleroy outfit started here (and later re-appeared in "The
Turn-Tale Wolf," but with a different wolf). (DAG)
- The lawyer's voice is not modeled on Raymond Burr (Perry Mason), but
Charles Laughton. From the original "Witness for the Prosecution"
in the '30's, co-starring Marlene Dietrich. (DavE, JM)
+ DYN: 'ROCKNROL' is the license plate on the catapult-car. (RWA)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #46 **
"Turkey Jerky" --
+ The turkey's gobble-song is "Turkey in the Straw". (WBB)
+ Wakko-coughing-bullets bit appeared in the 1944 Daffy vehicle
"Slightly Daffy". (DAG)
- Title possibly stolen from 1946 Avery cartoon "Jerky Turkey". (DAG)
- Seeing that Dot was playing the "Princess", I'm surprised she didn't
call herself Pocadot. (CB)
- I also see Miles Standish as styled after Gaston in Beauty and the
Beast. (CB)
+ The book that Dot reads while talking about her TV movie is called
"SAG Actresses", where SAG is of course the Screen Actors Guild.
The names she drops (Valerie Bertenelli, "Jackie" Smith) are TV
actresses known for starring in countless tacky TV movies. (WBB)
+ "The Doctor is IN" sign was stolen from *Peanuts*.
+ Yakko's "Screwball" sign is an old reliable Looney Tunes gag.
"Wild Blue Yonder" --
+ Nepotism update III: Cody Ruegger voices "Birdie".
- Tom Ruegger has 3 sons, so there will not likely be a nepotism
update IV unless he decides to get his wife or brothers into the
act. (WBB)
+ Military nit: the plane was a F-117A Nighthawk, not a B-2 Stealth.
Or in other words it was a stealth fighter, not bomber. (RP)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #47 **
"Video Review" --
+ DYN: Poster in the movie store: "Coming soon- X-Toons!" with what
looks like Wile E. Coyote as Wolverine. (No, not the one from Buster
and The Wolverine!) (RWA)
- A natural continuation of the numerous similar cartoons made in the
40's. Perhaps the best known is Bob Clampett's "Book Revue".
- Way too many movies and actors to type in. From what I could see
the movies matched the actors accurately, with the few comedic
exceptions: Bugs Bunny is "Bugsy" (not Warren Beatty), Baby Plucky
and Daffy are "The Mighty Ducks" (not Emilio Estevez and friends),
Hello Nurse is "The Babe" (not John Goodman).
- DYN: In "The Mighty Ducks", Baby Plucky morphs into Big Plucky
all of a sudden (diaper changes to tank-top). (RWA)
+ The "bombs" thrown at the dinosaur are: Heaven's Gate, Ishtar, Howard
the Duck, 1941, Leonard Part 6, and Dune. All were greatly hyped
movies that had great expectations but turned out to be flops.
(WBB, RWA)
- Near the end they sing about the titles on the shelves, and the lyrics
say "The Presidio" when the shot is of "Medicine Man. Both star Sean
Connery (pictured), but are otherwise unalike. (DavE)
"When Mice Ruled the Earth" --
+ Machine comes from H. G. Wells's book *The Time Machine*. (Treesong)
- The design of the machine itself, were swipes from the 1979 film
TIME AFTER TIME, with Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen. In the
movie, the vehicle also rotated as it began its journey through time.
Even the "tunnel" effect seen in WMRTE is similar to the depiction of
time travel in the earlier film. (DT)
- They weren't just "similar" they were identical! Right down to the dish
antenna to collect solar energy and the little key hole in the side
(which was not used in the cartoon). "Time After Time" is one of my
favorite movies so I was having quite a time spotting all the FX
references used. Especially good was the coloring effect used when the
ship disappears, this was exactly the same (it looked hokey and cheap
in the movie but was quite impressive for a cartoon!) (PC)
Ending Song --
+ The final song and ear-pulling is from the ending of "The Carol
Burnett Show". Carol always tugged at her ear as a signal to her
grandmother that she was well. The Warners overdo it a bit. (MB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #48 **
"Newsreel of the Stars" --
+ Today's instance of NotS is slightly longer than usual. Yeah, I know
you fast forwarded through it; you didn't miss much. (WBB)
"Mobster Mash" --
+ Title stolen from the novelty song "Monster Mash". (WBB)
+ The name of the cafe was Mario Puzzo's Restaurant. Mario Puzo (one Z)
is the author of several organized crime novels, including *The
Godfather*. (DS)
+ When the Warners are dressed as clowns and singing at the Godfather,
the song they were singing was a parody of "Speak Softly Love", the
theme from *Godfather I*. (BW)
- But I thought Wakko was scared of clowns!
"Lake Titicaca" --
+ There's a chance you already knew this, but Lake Titicaca, on the Peru-
Bolivia border, is the world's highest naviagble lake, at 12,507 feet.
It's not even the first time it's been mentioned in a cartoon, as
Donald Duck once visited the area (you might recall his misadventures
with a llama and a suspension bridge). (KJP)
"Icebreakers" --
+ In case you live in a cave, or maybe live outside the US, the person
that Rita and Runt were helping was Ross Perot. He was famous for
his dropout then re-entry into the 1992 US Presidential race, among
other political innovations. (WBB)
+ Geographical nits: none of the major rivers anywhere near Fairbanks
has a waterfall, and secondly, in the middle of winter, everything is
very well frozen and hence not navigable by boat. BTW, Fairbanks is
located right in the heart of ALASKA, at least 200 miles from Canada,
as estimated by looking at a map, and nowhere near any ocean. (BF)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #50 **
"Slippin' on the Ice" --
+ Parody of the famous Gene Kelly song "Singin' in the Rain". (WBB)
- While Singin' in the Rain is associated with the wonderful version
danced by Gene Kelly, it should be noted that the song was written by
Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed (who produced the Kelly movie),
originally for a 1927 movie, and then for "The Hollywood Revue" in 1929.
(Source: "A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film" by Richard
Barrios). There's also a nifty use of it in the Tex Avery MGM cartoon
"Big Heel-Watha." (EOC)
"Twas the Day before Christmas" --
- Sonny Tufts is mentioned again. See Show #38.
"Jingle Boo" --
+ "Marcy's" == Macy's
+ Another useless fact: DYN at the end of the line of kids waiting to see
Santa were a bunch of strange-looking adults who didn't have any kids
with them? They are a bunch of caricatures of the layout crew. (AS)
+ "He is the real Santa!" / "He's a chicken, he'll poke my eyes out!"
is an obvious ref to the movie "A Christmas Story" and the book on
which it was based, Jean Shepard's "In God We Trust - All Others Pay
Cash". (MF)
"The Great Wakkorotti: The Holiday Concert" --
- Notice liberal reuse of animation from prior TGW bits. (RWA)
"Toy Shop Terror" --
+ Finally, Warners uses the ACTUAL music from Raymond Scott's
"Powerhouse". Rush out and get the Raymond Scott CD if you like this
song. (WBB)
+ The old guy who owns the shop shows up in several 30's period cartoons
(note the eyes), usually as a shop owner. In one cartoon he's a
shoemaker. He usually plays a secondary role - in the shoe shop
cartoon, for instance, the brownies get all the screen time. And the
thing was reminiscent of the 30's cartoons in that everything was set
to music. (RD)
+ The closed-captioning for this short says merely: "klezmer-type music
playing". Klezmer music is a style derived from Yiddish musicians,
Russian and Polish mostly. It was brought over here by Jewish
immigrants, and remains quite popular. Klezmer was very often used for
the soundtracks of early animation. Powerhouse ain't klezmer, though,
it's not even close. (MF)
"Yakko's Universe" --
- This segment was re-used here because it has "a Christmas feel"
to it. (PH)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #49 **
"A Christmas Plotz" --
+ The Nth takeoff on Dickens' classic *A Christmas Carol*.
- There is probably significance to Slappy's demand for $464. Best
guess to date: it is the minimum amount that must be paid to a SAG
member with a speaking role in a movie. (JH)
+ Plotz's office view of the "Forest Woodlawn" cemetery refers to the
actual cemetery (Forest Lawn) that is south of the WB lot. It is a
"celebrity" cemetery. (FS, RHom)
- At the end, the close up of the bells ringing in the tower is just
like the ending of "It's A Wonderful Life". (DY)
"Little Drummer Warners" --
- This episode generated much discussion about overtly religious tales
and their place in afternoon TV, but little in the way of DYNs and
references (probably because there were none, except to the Bible,
of course). (WBB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #51 **
Cold Opener -- "Branimaniacs"
+ Smellog's == Kellogg's, of course
"The Warners and the Beanstalk" --
+ Spoofing the old Jack and the Beanstalk tale, of course, and probably
spoofs the Disney treatment of the tale, "Mickey and the Beanstalk".
In particular, note the use of a Sterling-Holloway-like narrator, a
singing harp, and a giant with a mop of red hair. (DGreen)
+ The extended bit discussing Gold Eggs and Meat was teasing the
famous Dr. Seuss story "Green Eggs and Ham". (many)
- The 'meat' was Spam, right down to the gelatinous covering. (KS)
DYN The General that appears evacuating the people in the lower right
corner of the screen in the 'Godzilla'part is exactly the same as in
the War Room scene of 'Sir Yaksalot' (quite an obvious ref since that
part was supposed to be a scene from Godzilla). (MHI)
"Frontier Slappy" --
+ The little songs about Daniel are stolen from the 60's TV show
"Daniel Boone". (many)
+ The "in color" tag on the title is a ref to some of the early
broadcast shows in the fifties'/'sixties (presumably so the
coonskin cap set would convince the 'rents to go buy a colour set.
Many drama shows, announced that they were in color. It almost
seemed like part of the title. For instance, at the beginning of
every episode, the announcer would declare, "The Invaders, In
Color!", or "The Fugitive, In Color!" It was pretty standard among
shows at the time. (chance, RO, SWS)
+ The three singers that Daniel Boone fires are "The Dover Boys"
and taken from a relatively obscure 1942 Chuck Jones cartoon
of the same name. (many)
+ "Up With People" is a very 60's, very clean-cut group of inspirational
singers. They did lively, cleaned up, mainstream versions of pop and
rock tunes. (GD)
+ Slappy: "You can call me Norma Rae. Or you can call me Bob & Ray".
? Norma Rae (lastname?) was a woman who defied authority and unionized
her sweatshop. Sally Field won an Oscar for her portrayal of
Norma Rae in the 1979 movie of the same name. (WK, MF, WBB)
. "Bob & Ray" were a popular comedy radio team from some time ago.
Bob is Bob Elliot, father of Letterman kook and "Get A Life" star
Chris Elliot. (many)
. The use of two of them together resembles similar rhyming gags
used by Groucho Marx. (KT)
- The super-detailed disgusto-close-up on the plate of bugs is either
parodying or copying similar shots done in the Ren & Stimpy show. (many)
- The Flying Wallenda's were/are a family of tight-rope walkers /
flying trapeze artists. (DC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #52 **
"Ups and Downs" --
- Note that the WB admin building has no 13th floor. Many buildings
are 'missing' floor #13 for superstitious reasons. (TM)
"The Brave Little Trailer" --
- A ripoff of *The Brave Little Toaster* by Thomas Disch which later
became a Disney video. (WBB)
- N.B.: Disch has written some pretty creepy stuff for the big kids.
Check the horror section of your bookstore. (WBB)
- Or, it could be a ripoff of a Mickey Mouse cartoon entitled,
"The Brave Little Tailor". (many)
+ Jim Cummings performs the (quite good) Sterling Holloway imitation
here and also for Disney. (WBB)
"Yes, Always" --
+ For those who don't (or can't) watch the credits, the caricatures are:
Tom Ruegger (Senior Producer), Peter Hastings (Story Editor and writer),
Andrea Romano (Voice Casting and Direction), and Harry Andronis
(sound engineer for Soundcastle/Postmodern recording studio). (WBB)
+ FWIW, most of the Pinky & The Brain cartoons have been written by
Hastings. (WBB)
+ Andrea says: "I can't believe that guy, I Taft-Hartley'd him on his
first job!" The Taft-Hartley act was a union-related piece of
legislation. In the Hollywood sense, it means a producer can hire a
non-union actor for a union production if she then writes a letter to
the union explaining how crucial the actor was and requesting to let
them join the union. Andrea had obviously done this for Brain and he
wasn't showing the proper gratitude for her starting his big-money
union-paycheck career. (SS)
+ The number "Animaniacs 406-859" that Pinky keeps referring to was
the actual production number for this short.
- Brain's dialogue is 99% word-for-word from a series of outtakes of
Orson Welles doing some really low-grade commercials. Only words like
"sh*t" were changed to "cheese" for obvious reasons. It's hilarious to
listen to, especially to hear Orson intone "show me a way to say that
and I'll go down on you." Of course you're kind of missing half the joke
if you haven't heard the tape. (AS)
- And yes, the directors are really as stupid as Pinky's lines suggest
they are. (AS)
- "Get yourself an impressionist" could refer to the fact that
Maurice LaMarche often did Jon Lovitz impressions when Jon was
unable to make it to the recording studio (to record his voice for
"The Critic". (KS)
- The length of this entry should indicate to you how... unique this
cartoon was for the average viewer. :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #53 **
"Drive-Insane" --
+ The French being spoken in the film is actually from the kiddie
songs "Alouette" and "Frere Jacques". This bit is really funny
if you know that the lyrics of "Alouette" translate to nonsense
but the actors make it sound so serious!
- The French movie in "Drive-Insane" is based on a real French movie,
Francois Truffaut's "Jules and Jim," about a tragicomic love
triangle. The three people in the movie are caricatures of the
stars of the original movie: Jeanne Moreau (the woman), Henri Serre
(the guy with the beard), and Oskar Werner (the guy who doesn't
have a beard). It's a good movie, actually. (JJW)
- Francios Truffaut had a role in Speilberg's Close Encounters, that
of a French scientist. See, everything comes full circle. (BC)
+ DYN: *Free Willy* poster in the Snackaterium. *FW* was the Warner
movie about a kid & a whale.
"Girlfeathers" --
+ Squit's comment about Lake Edna refers to a past ad campaign
for KFC (formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken). It features a
KFC in "Lake Edna" that has odd things happening (celebrities stop
in, aliens land, etc.). The tag line for these commercials is
"Coming soon to Lake Edna, and your neck of the woods". I do not
believe there is a specific Lake Edna in any US State. (WBB)
+ DYN: On the sign, "Niagara Falls" was misspelled as "Niagra Falls"
in both of the shots of the sign. (BD)
"I'm Cute" --
+ The pianist is a caricature of Dudley Moore, which fits with the
lyrics but leaves me questioning their meaning of "cute". (many)
+ Too bleeding obvious is the reference to "Birth of Venus" by
Botticelli. (The bit where Dot coems out of the lake and she's
standing on a half-shell.) (PJR)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #54 **
Randy Beaman -- "Pop Rocks"
- The story is a well known urban legend that some say happened to
Henry Thomas [E. T.'s pal -- could this be a super far-flung
reference??!! ;-)] and to Mikey of the old Life cereal commercials.
It is untrue. (WBB, TEB)
"Brain meets Brawn" --
0 The character design for Jekyll & Hyde was borrowed from Looney Tunes.
First appeared in Friz Freleng's "Hyde and Hare", and also appeared a
few years later in "Hyde and Go Tweet". (WBB, BW, many)
- 1859 inscription on the pendulum must have some meaning. Best guess:
The Great Hall at Westminster burned down and was rebuilt from
1840-1860. Maybe that's when the clock was installed. (MR)
- Useless fact: Big Ben is the name of the bell that chimes the hour,
*not* the name of the clock it's a part of. (MF)
- Big Ben was named for Chief Commissioner of Works Sir Benjamin Hall.
Properly, it refers to the hour bell in the Clock Tower (St. Stephen's
Tower) of the Houses of Parliament. The 13-ton bell (replacing an
earlier bell that cracked) was installed in October, 1858. There are
also four quarter bells whose weight ranges from 1 to 4 tons. The
clock as a whole is now popularly referred to as "Big Ben." (Source:
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable) (EOC)
"Meet Minerva" --
+ Newt's voice was provided by Arte Johnson, who you may remember from
the 70's kookfest "Laugh-In". He played (among others) the German
soldier who would always pop up and say "Verrrry interesting!" (WBB)
- Newt's line "You make me feel like a schoolgirl!" is accompanied by
a brief bit from "Three Little Maids" (see Show #10). (WHH)
- Newt's line "Oh, baby, that's what I like!" was the signature line of
The Big Bopper (from the song "Chantilly Lace"). (DF)
+ The Spike Lee "Pleasebabypleasebabypleasebaby!" is a reference to
Lee's first movie, "She's Gotta Have It." Besides directing the
movie, Spike Lee played the character of Mars, whose used that phrase
as a way of coming on to his girlfriend. (EW)
- Some readers think that Trudie's cousin was a caricature of Andrew
Dice Clay (from appearance, and because he asks Minerva to pay for
the date [making the woman pay is from Clay's routine]). (KB)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #55 **
"Gold Rush" --
- Historical nits: In 1849, dynamite is well-known (though it was
invented in 1867), and crude oil is valuable (though it really was
just a pain in the neck for farmers and miners before gasoline-powered
vehicles became common). (DWT)
"A Gift of Gold" --
+ The workman that steps on the wrapping paper, tears a piece off,
spits into it and throws that into the garbage has "Local 839" written
on his shirt. The Local 839 is the union of Motion Picture Screen
Cartoonists. Amazingly enough, the production number for this cartoon
is 406-839! (PH)
- The homeless man looks just like the hapless construction worker
from the Merrie Melodie "One Froggy Evening". (many)
"Dot's Quiet Time" --
+ The music heard as Dot reaches the desert island is the one from the
(very) old cartoon show, 'Popeye'. (MHI)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #56 **
Theme --
- No, you're not cracking up, today the theme song was sung in French.
It appears they just dubbed out the English and dubbed in the french,
especially from the poor sound quality.
"Schnitzelbank" --
+ A "Schnitzelbank" is a drawing-horse, a bench that you can sit on
while holding a drawknife or spokeshave while using your foot to
operate a pedal to alternately clamp and release the workpiece.
It is NOT a "hot-dog-bank". (RH)
- Neither the lyrics nor the music go quite [as televised], and it's not
a "friendship song"; it's either a silly song for kids, or a drinking
song to get you tongue-tied, or both, judging from the lyrics. (JoeT)
(For the full posting by Joe complete with the german lyrics, ask for
filename 'schnitz.txt').
? Ronnie Simonds says this is yet another Marx Brothers reference.
Any more details, anyone? I did recently see a Three Stooges
short where they had a Schnitzelbank gag. (RS, WBB)
- Note that the CD version has slightly different wordings and also
has Jess Harnell performing Prof. von Schnitzelpusskrankengescheitmeyer
instead of Jim Cummings.
"The Helpinky Formula" --
+ "The Helsinki Formula", developed at the "Helsinki Institute", was
one of the first products to be marketed via the infomercial. (CW)
- Readers remember it touted as a hair-growing cream (despite disclaimers
at the bottom of the screen saying it didn't work) and as a skin-care
cream. Perhaps it was both. :) (CW, RD)
- For those foreign readers who may not know, an "infomercial" is the
common term for "program-length advertisements" -- 30-minute commercials
masquerading as TV shows. They are often shown late at night on cable
channels. The products are often useless and/or of dubious quality.
- The cartoon is a brilliant spoof of the infomercial world, complete
with insipid hosts, happily applauding 'audiences', and pointless
celebrity stars. (WBB)
+ Lyle Waggoner starred in the Carol Burnett show for some time. He
also did an infomercial hawking a cure for male impotence! (MMcD, WBB)
+ Cher did an infomercial for hair-care products.
? La Toya Jackson obviously did an infomercial for something, but I
don't know what. I don't think it was for her Psychic Connection
thingy.
- Brain's comment about being "not only the president, but also a..."
refers to the Hair Club for Men commercials which close in the
same way (many).
- The rotating bottle flying into the audience is a dead ringer for the
one prominently featured in WATCHMEN issue #9 (a graphic novel by
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons). (DT, TEB)
"Les Boutons et Le Ballon" --
- The whole red balloon bit was taken from a short French film from
1956 called Le Ballon Rouge -- produced and directed by Albert
Lamorisse. It won an Oscar for the best original screenplay. The
film was shortly made into a wonderful children's book of the same
name! (Slacker)
- Mark Bernstein gets a plug for recognizing this reference based
solely on the (English) title of the cartoon.
- Small child coming out of Notre Dame (followed by horde of nuns):
Madeline, an accurate representation of a semi-popular animated
character from France, based on a series of children's books.
Madeline featured her as one of twelve girls overseen by one nun (as
opposed to the one girl/pack of nuns). (RS, WK)
- Ending hot-air balloon reference: (choose one)
. the first hot air balloon was created by the Montgolfier(sp)
brothers, who were French. (RJR)
. movie "Around the World in 80 Days" based on the book by
Jules Verne (french SF writer of the 19th Cent.). Note that
no balloon actually appears in the book; it was added for the
movie. (DF, MF)
- Amazing double reference: there is a restaurant in the Eiffel Tower
called Jules Verne. (EEK)
"Kung Boo" --
+ Obviously referencing/spoofing "The Karate Kid". Ralph Macchio
is the one who sees through Boo's disguise, and Pat Morita is the
sensei. (RWA)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #57 **
"Of Course You Know, This Means Warners" --
+ It was common for animation studios to produce wartime promotional
cartoons such as this. Perhaps the best-known of these stars
Bugs Bunny and is entitled "Any Bonds Today?" (RWA)
+ In case you never knew what a 'Rube Goldberg device' was: Goldberg was
a early-20th century cartoonist who drew machines with a utterly
ridiculous amount of steps to accomplish really simple tasks. (RWA)
- Historical nit #1: Goldberg lived until the sixties. During WWII, he
wouldn't have been the old man they showed. (MF)
+ DYN: Ralph Kramden in the scrap line? (RWA)
- Nit #2: Jackie Gleason wasn't popularly known at the time. (MF)
+ After Yakko receives his medal for Courage, he intones
"Ain't it the truth, Ain't it the truth!". This was a line
stolen from the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz. (WBB)
+ J. Edgar Hoover was known for, shall we say, a nylon fetish, which
makes his appearance even funnier if you get the gag! (WBB)
- Nit #3: Nylon wasn't developed and available commercially until fairly
late in the war. And nobody, I mean *nobody*, would have "traded in"
their nylons - those were precious items. Replacements for silk
stockings, which were totally unavailable, as the silk went to wartime
uses. (MF)
- Nit #4: The term "recycling" was not used in this period. (MF)
"Up a Tree" --
- The song used a line from the popular tune "Misty":
'Look at me, I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree'... (many)
- The birds harassing Rita in the tree are none other than the
sparrows from "West Side Pigeons". (KevinP)
- The other cat's name (Maybeloota Marabella Missy McCoy) is an obvious
reference to the name of one of the characters from Disney's
The Aristocats, which was something like Theodore DeLacy Giuseppe
Tracey Thomas O'Malley (The Alley Cat). (RossS, RO)
+ The fly buzzing "Help mee!" refers to the original version of
*The Fly*. (many)
"Wakko's Gizmo" --
+ TOON magazine said this is 'the ultimate Rube Goldberg Device'.
See above.
+ DYN: Buster Bunny doll in the fish tank.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #58 **
Cold Opener -- "Oh, Oh, Ethel" --
+ Ethel Merman is (was) the famous loud singer of yesteryear.
"There's No Business Like Show Business" was one of her
signature tunes. (WBB)
+ Ethel Mertz was, of course, Lucy Ricardo's neighbor in
"I Love Lucy".
Wraparound -- "Inkblot"
+ This is another 'oldest joke in the book' entry. This same joke
was used in *What About Bob?*, for example. (WBB)
"Meet John Brain" --
+ Larry Kling == CNN's Larry King
+ Suzanne Slimmers and her Thighmonster parallel Suzanne Somers's
real-life endorsement of the Thighmaster.
+ DYN: Supporters wave signs reading Kansas, Texas, & Jupiter. (RWA)
+ Other media personalities: Wolf Blitzer & Barbara Walters.
? 'Admiral Pinky' is a reference to Ross Perot's running mate,
Admiral Whats-his-name Stockdale.
+ Stockdale opened his segment of the VP debate with the rhetorical
questions, "Who am I? What am I doing here?" (TK)
- I don't know about you guys, but I swear that I saw Roz from
Night Court in this Pinky and the Brain episode. She was two
places: outside the TV store watching the commercial and in
the convention hall. (AB)
- When the tomato splatters behind Brain, it looks very much like one of
the ten Rorshach blots. (Yes, there are only ten, and they're always
in the same order). (CS)
"Smell Ya Later" --
+ Montel Williams hosts one of the many afternoon talk shows.
He is bald in case you didn't assume that. :) (WBB)
+ "Doggie go down the hoooole" would have made more sense coming
from Baby Plucky, but since Nathan Ruegger does both voices I
guess it doesn't matter. Anyway, this whole bit with Baby Plucky
(and this joke) come from the TTA short "The Potty Years". (WBB)
+ Stinkbomb's voice was provided by everyone's old pal Jonathan
Winters, whom you may remember as Hamton's dad from TTA. (WBB)
"Boo Knows" --
+ Written by ex-TTA writer and (ex-)BTAS writer Paul Dini.
+ Great parody of the famous Nike commercials featuring Bo Jackson.
Kathryn Page credit -- "Scared of Internet"
- No comment here except that it's nice to be noticed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #59 **
Tower Escape -- "Condor"
- The California Condor is not extinct as previously conjectured.
There are tens of them living, and hopefully breeding, in
captivity. (many)
- Nit: condors are carrion eaters, they would never have gone for
seed. (BEC)
"Ragamuffins" --
+ Nit: the short was from 1929, but according to Newsreel of the
Stars, the Warners weren't created until 1930. I know they've
done this many times but this one seemed particularly egregious
to me for some reason. (WBB)
+ In particular, Warners was not making talking cartoons until 1930;
the first Warner animators (Harman & Ising) were working for Disney
in 1929. (EW)
- The style is very Harman-Ising, but the one real cartoon they did
in 1929 ("Sinkin' in the Bathtub," not released until 1930) was FAR
more primitive than this. The stylings of this film remind me of
Bosko cartoons circa 1933, not 1929. (DAG)
+ The bull/manager looks like Donald Duck with horns after he is
squirted with the frosting. (WBB)
+ Yakko, Wakko, and Dot look like Groucho, Harpo, and Chico Marx
respectively after THEY get doused with frosting. Note Wakko
is making a gookie. (WBB)
+ DYN: Coloring nits: Bull's cape was (mistakenly?) colored red in a
few frames; a lightbulb is yellow; the bull's nose is red for a few
frames. The Warners' noses don't count, silly. (RWA, CS)
+ The music is almost exactly the same music as the TTA short
"Sound Off", which was also done in the "30's style". (WBB)
"Woodstock Slappy" --
- Maurice LaMarche imitates Walter Cronkite describing the "tumultuous
sixties". (GD)
? Nit: *Hair* did not hit Broadway until 1970. (NT)
+ The first song, while Slappy and Skippy go down the road, was 'Going
Up The Country' by Canned Heat. (GW, MF)
+ "Something's happening here / What it is, ain't exactly clear" is
from the song "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield. (many)
+ Slappy asks to hear "The Sound of Silence", which was actually an
excellent psychedelic song by Simon & Garfunkel (WAY too many).
+ The endless routine with "Who / the band" is of course a ripoff
of the famous Abbott & Costello routine "Who's on First?" and was
also done on an old episode of SCTV. (WBB, PaulA)
+ "Brand New Cheese" is a parody of Melanie and her song "Brand New
Key". Nit: this song didn't appear until 1971. (DWT, JustinC, MF, PO)
+ The long-haired singer with the moustache was Country Joe McDonald, of
the band Country Joe and the Fish. The lyrics he sang ("Two, four, six,
what am I singing for?" etc.) *DIRECTLY* parody the song "I Feel Like
I'm Fixin' To Die Rag". (JustinC, GD)
- The African-American guitarist in one of the far shots was Jimi Hendrix.
He's even wearing the same outfit. (RO)
- Of course, the Who's smashing of the instruments was their trademark
since the early British tour days. The song they sang at first was a
take off of 'See Me, Feel Me', from the musical 'Tommy'. (JustinC, GW)
- "If I had a tin ear/would you throw a tomato a me?" singer was
(obviously?) Joe Cocker doing his cover of the Beatles tune "With a
little help from my friends" -- the voice is gravelly enough, he looks
kind of like Joe, and the lyrics match well. (PA)
+ Slappy playing "The Star Spangled Banner" on the accordion is a ref to
Jimi Hendrix playing it on electric guitar at Woodstock. (PaulA)
+ DYN: Scratchansniff appears at the top right corner of the magic bus
as everyone is piling in, amidst much dust. He looks worried, then
glances at the camera, and disappears. 4 frames from what I saw. (CF)
+ During the 'Polka Evacuation' toward the end of "Woodstock Slappy"
there's a 2 second sequence which is a mirror image of the evacuation
of U.S. Embassy in Saigon. (Mirror image as the original TV footage,
people were climbing up and to the right into a helicopter; the
animation had them climbing up and to the left.) (TK)
+ The ending dove-on-a-branch referred to the Woodstock logo. (many)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #60 **
"Karaoke-dokie" --
+ "Oh, it's a whole *Star Trek* gag thing. Heh heh." Enough said.
+ One of the kiddos in the audience sports a mustache and strongly
resembles Charles Barkley (many).
+ William Shatner released an album of "songs" called "The Transformed
Man" which were really dramatic readings of Shakespeare and then-popular
songs like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". Leonard Nimoy released
several albums; one of them was "The Way I Feel". He isn't a real
bad singer -- but he isn't real good either. Look for the Rhino
compilation "Golden Throats" to hear these gems yourself. (EM)
+ Dot asks about "Disco Duck", which was a real song from the disco
era. It was way cool. :) (ZA, WBB)
+ DYN music available from the karaoke machine: HEHAW, SWING, LAMBADA,
SALSA, PICANTE, RUMBA, CHACHA. (SM)
- The bit with Slakmer's "odd" side-shot appearing probably refers to
a TV performance in which he "sang" Lucy in the Sky, or somthing like
that, with the same video effect. (I believe it is so his enormous ego
can sing backup.) (JDB)
- Regarding Yakko's comment about a ballot from Chile: It seems that
politics is Chile is a real family affair, with a large number of high
ranking politicians (President, senators, big-city mayors) all related.
Hence, the ballots have all similar names. (BEC)
- --See also show #77 in the NACRG--
"Cranial Crusader" --
+ The Caped Opossum and Mr. Badnote had voices remarkably similar to
their counterparts on "Batman: the animated series" (Batman and
Joker, voiced by Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill).
"The Chicken Who Loved Me" --
+ Title, obviously, is from *The Spy Who Loved Me*.
+ Note Bond movie titles in the dialog: "Never Say Never Again" and
"For Your Eyes Only".
+ Dialog line, "Nobody does it better" refers to the song featured in
*The Spy Who Loved Me*.
+ A handful of comparisons: Moneypenny = Hennypenny, M = P,
Oddjob = Daylabor, Dr. No = Dr. Not., etc. (RWA)
- Silly joke lost on those not paying attention: "I have to go, P."
- --See also show #87 in the NACRG--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #61 **
Dot's Poetry Corner -- "Jack Sprat"
+ Macrobiotic refers to a special diet which supposedly has spiritual
properties. There are several levels, of which the ultimate has you
living (dying, actually) on nothing but brown rice... All of the levels
are pretty devoid of any sort of food which is actually fun to eat. (MF)
[Obviously a California thing. -WBB]
"Baloney and Kids" --
+ SBS logo pokes fun at a PBS logo of some time ago. (SK)
+ Obviously Baloney == Barney, the purple dinosaur that you currently
can find on PBS as well as lunchboxes, underwear, etc.
+ When the Warners imagine Baloney to be out of oxygen, Dot is dressed
as Lt. Uhura from *Star Trek*. (many)
+ Warners' masks: Vladimir Horowitz is a classical pianist; Gertrude
Stein is an early 20th century novelist. (RT)
+ "The Goodbye Song" mocks Barney's signature tune.
"Super Buttons" --
- Obvious references to Superman elements.
+ The mayor's voice mocks Ted Kennedy's, much like Mayor Quimby's
on the Simpsons. (RT, WBB)
"Katie Ka-Boom: The Driving Lesson" --
+ Basically the whole episode is a visual homage to the work of legendary
cartoonist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, who drew for CARtoons magazine.
Specifically when Katie turns into a big-headed scaly monster with lots
of sharp teeth, then rips the roof off the van (revealing an engine with
a ridiculous number of pipes and blowers for a family vehicle) the van
looked exactly like a "Big Daddy" cartoon. (CWM)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #62 **
"Scare Happy Slappy" --
- DYN: Clone of Randy Beaman's Friend (RBF) in cowboy dress; Kid dressed
up as the Brain; Girl dressed up as Elmyra, even doing the trademark
Elmyra shuffle; RBF dressed as a pirate. (MK)
+ Skippy is dressed up as Buster Bunny.
+ Scene with bats in front of Wolf's house is just like the opening
from Scooby Doo, as Slappy points out. (MN)
+ Benihana's is a chain of Japanese restaurants. (WBB)
"Witch One" --
+ All the songs are ripped off from *Beauty and the Beast*: the opening
number by the judge is reminiscent of "Belle"; the first tune by Rita
is a ripoff of "Gaston"; the final tune is a blatant knockoff of "Beauty
and the Beast". Perhaps they SHOULD worry about lawsuits! (JP, WBB)
+ Witch Hazel (from Looney Tunes) makes an appearance.
+ Horse calling Runt "Wilbur" is from the TV show "Mr. Ed". (SK)
+ The little speech before they dunked Rita was definitely influenced
by a similar speech in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (the suddenly
pronounced English accent, and the phrase 'scientific reasoning' make
it almost impossible not to see this one) (MN)
+ Look for a sign on a barrel: "Fish Barrel - No Shooting!" (MMcA)
"MacBeth" --
+ From the famous Shakespearean scene, of course: Act IV, Scene 1,
lines 10-15, 18-25, and, slightly modified, 61-62. Dot is "Second
Witch", Slappy is "Third Witch", which leaves Hello Nurse as "First
Witch", which sounds like a nice role, but it doesn't have any solo
lines in this segment. (This has been another useless fact.) (KJP)
+ Yakko's line, "Dig'd in the dark is a gas, baby, can you dig it?"
This is a reference to "Grazin' in the Grass", an instrumental by Hugh
Masekela which was covered with lyrics by the Friends of Distinction. A
repeated line is "Grazin' in the Grass is a gas, can you dig it?" (EEK)
+ Brew ingredients:
+ Eye of Newt -- Minerva's adversary Newt (see Show #54)
+ Toe of Frog -- Michigan J. Frog from Looney Tunes
+ Wool of Bat -- Batman from BTAS
+ Tongue of Dog -- Buttons
? Scale of Dragon -- an unrecognized dragon
+ Tooth of Wolf -- Walter Wolf
+ Brew result: see Show #13 and Show #20.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #63 **
"With Three You Get Eggroll" --
+ Title source: 1968 flick "With Six You Get Eggroll" (which btw has
nothing to do with the plot of this cartoon.) (MB, WBB)
+ "Made an offer he [Pesto] couldn't refuse": from *The Godfather*,
delivered by Brando (SK)
+ "Zacky" is a reference to Zacky Farms, the famous-to-Californians
poultry producer. (many)
"Mermaid Mindy" --
+ Theme song is yet another spoof of *The Little Mermaid*.
- When Buttons is being squeezed by the octopus, his head looks like
Sonic the Hedgehog's head, and then he bounces off things making
pinball noises like in the Sonic games. (PaulA)
"Katie Ka-Boom: Call Waiting" --
+ DYN: The number dad dials: 212-3452. (MMcA)
+ Katie asks Dad if it was Mike or Joel who called. This is almost
certainly a reference to the two hosts of MST3K. (see also Show #26).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #64 **
"Lookit the Fuzzy Heads" --
+ Elmyra is from TTA, for those who never watched that show.
+ "Cute Olsen Twins" == Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, stars of
"Full House" and singers of insipid tunes for kids. (WBB)
+ "The Last Arnold Film" and "Jurassic Picnic" are at the multiplex.
+ Sitting behind the Warners in the movie are Norman from "The Boids"
and the Winona Ryder character from "Skullhead Boneyhands". (CWM)
"No Face Like Home" --
+ Slappy's reads "Hollywood Schmooz" with Minerva on the cover. (MK)
+ Skippy reads "Hilites for Squirrels" while waiting for Slappy's
surgery to finish. This teases a longtime kids magazine called
"Highlights for Children". (KJP, DavE)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #65 **
"The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special" --
+ "My Father the Tuna", the pre-empted show, was being painted on a studio
wall during the episode "Wakko's Gizmo". Also, wasn't that Hollywoodchuck
on the couch speaking? (BEC)
+ Dorothy Chandelier Pavilion == Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in LA
+ "Buddy" really did star in a number of Warner cartoons in the 1930's;
he was as bland as they portrayed him. (WBB)
+ Nit: Bugs Bunny, having been created in 1940, could not have told the
Warners to get an agent in 1934. (KJP)
+ Buddy becomes a nut farmer in Ojai, a real (small) community in Ventura
County, CA. Ojai was home of both Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers
(the bionic man and woman). (BEC, GDepew, HS)
+ Irving "Swifty" LaBoo == Irving "Swifty" Lazar, a famous, now-deceased
Hollywood agent. Known for throwing a huge party after Oscar
ceremonies. (WBB)
- Professor Kingsfield talking about Herman Mankovitz is a double
reference to Orson Welles's *Citizen Kane*. Mankovitz worked with
Welles on the screenplay (how much has been open to debate for years),
and John Houseman, who played Professor Kingsfield in the Paper Chase,
was a producer on that project. (Ripcity)
+ The sequence where the Warners have flypaper stuck to their behinds is
most likely a takeoff on the famous "flypaper" sequence from the Disney
cartoon "Playful Pluto." That sequence is hailed by the Disney artists
as "...the first time a character seemed to be thinking on the screen,
and, though it only lasted 65 seconds, it opened the way for animation
of real characters with real problems." ("Disney Animation: The Illusion
of Life," pg. 100-101.) (EW)
+ "Make a Gookie" song parodies "The 59th Street Bridge Song"
(aka "Feelin' Groovy") by Simon & Garfunkel (JMcA)
+ Memorable characters include: Bugs, Porky, Yosemite, and the gang;
Spartacus [Kirk Douglas]; Baby Jane [Bette Davis (from "Whatever
happened to Baby Jane?")]; George Bailey [James Stewart (from "It's a
Wonderful Life")]; The Gipper [Ronald Reagan, the only celebrity to
speak in the first episode!]; Jimmy Cagney, YW&D's "special friend"
[James Cagney was well known to play nasty characters in old movies];
Mysterious man in chair [an obvious spoof of Dr. Claw from the Inspector
Gadget series]; Professor Kingsfield [John Houseman from "The Paper
Chase"]; Mr. Director [Jerry Lewis]. (WHH, many)
+ For some reason, they made up a name for the disco dancer, instead of
using his name from Saturday Night Fever. In any case it was
John Travolta. (WBB)
- "The Page Sisters" likely refers to Animaniacs staffers Kathryn Page
and Bobbie Page.
Note --
- A departure from the regular format is in order for this episode.
The entire credit list follows, with jokes explained as much as
possible. Thanks to: Jesse Waldack, Allen Lee, Kevin J. Podsiadlik,
Michael K. Neylon for transcribing.
~~~~~
SENIOR PRODUCER: Tom Ruegger PRODUCER: Rich Arons
MUSIC BY: Richard Stone VOICE DIRECTION: Andrea Romano
STORY EDITOR: Tom Ruegger, Paul Rugg CITY DESK EDITOR: Lou Grant
+ Ref to "Lou Grant" TV show (Lou was the CD editor)
~~~~~
STORYBOARDS: Joe Banaskiewicz, Christopher Dent, Bucky Beaver, Jerry Mathers as
the Beaver, Charles Visser.
+ The transition from Dent to Beaver is probably by means of
the former baseball player Bucky Dent. (RO)
+ Bucky Beaver: Animated pitchman for Ipana toothpaste in early/mid
'60s. "Brusha brusha brusha new Ipana toothpaste". (DSchoo)
+ Jerry Mathers: See "Leave it to Beaver"
MODEL DESIGN: Julienne Gimeno, Julienne Fries, Bob Doucette
+ Julienne Fries: shoestring potatoes
SHEET TIMING: Jeff Hall, Monty Hall, Kids in the Hall, Norm McCabe, McCabe
& Mrs. Miller, Tom Ray, Man Ray, Sting Ray, Bob & Ray, Ray Stevens, Darrin
Stevens, Larry Tate.
+ Monty Hall: host of "Let's Make a Deal"
+ Kids in the Hall: Canadian sketch comedy show, comparable to Monty
Python
+ Norm McCabe really does sheet timing, but "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" is
a film from the 70's by Robert Altman. (MB)
- Man Ray: American surrealist painter & photographer.
+ Bob & Ray: radio comedy team, see Show #51
+ Ray Stevens: singer of funny joke songs like "Ahab the Arab"
+ Darrin Stevens & Larry Tate: see "Bewitched"
SLUGGER: Bill Knoll, Grassy Knoll.
+ The "grassy knoll" is a place in Dallas that plays a major role in
most conspiracy theories concerning the Kennedy assasination. (MB)
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER: Baseball Bat.
SLUG: Slimey Gooey Thing.
~~~~~
B.G. KEY DESIGN: Dan McHugh, Marty Strudler, Apple Strudler, Peach Cobbler.
B.G.s: Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb.
+ Refers to disco kings The BeeGees, of course. (too many)
B.G. COLOR: Brian Sebern
SPECTRUM COLORS: Roy G. Biv
+ Mnemonic for remembering Red,Orange,Yellow,Green,Blue,Indigo,Violet.
COLOR KEY: Bunny Munns, Richard Daskas, Carolyn Guske, Robin Kane, Charles
Foster Kane, Chris Naylor, Eric Nordberg, Linda Redondo, Redondo Beach,
Florida.
+ Charles Foster Kane: main character in CITIZEN KANE
BATHROOM KEY: Cannot be Duplicated.
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY: National Anthem Writer.
KEY LARGO: Starring Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall.
~~~~~
MARK UP: Jean DuBois, Lisa Leonardi, Valerie Walker, & Clint Walker as
"Cheyenne".
+ 1955-63 show called "Cheyenne" starred Clint Walker. Originally
ran under the umbrella title "Warner Bros. Presents"! (WBB)
MARK DOWN: "Goof Troop" Tapes at K-Mart.
ANIMATION CHECKING: Jan Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Brenda Brummet,
Brenda Brummet Browning, Jennifer Damiani, Jennifer Damiani Browning, Bunty
Dranko, Elizabeth Barrett Bunty, H.M.S. Bunty, Karl Jacobs, Karl Jacobs
Jingleheimer Schmidt, Howard Schwartz, John Jacob Jingleheimer Schwartz.
+ Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a famous poet. (MB)
+ HMS Bounty featured in "Mutiny on the Bounty" (WHH)
INTEREST FREE CHECKING: With a $2000 Deposit.
~~~~~
PRODUCTION ADMINISTRATOR: Alyson Brown, Charlie Brown, He's A Clown, That
Charlie Brown.
+ "He's a clown...": a song from the ?0's
COPYING & SHIPPING: Carlton Batten, Carlton Batten Browning, Carlton Batten
Down the Hatches, Ana Durand, Duran Duran, Ana Duran Duran, Que Sera Sera,
Whatever Will Be, Will Be, The Future's Not Ours To See, Ana Duran Duran,
What Will Be, Will Be.
+ Duran Duran is an 80s glam-pop band
+ "Que Sera Sera" is an older song sung by Doris Day, see Hitchcock's
"The Man who Knew Too Much"
DIGITAL PRODUCTION: Alan G. Brown, Sweet Georgia Brown, Sweet Elizabeth
Barrett Georgia Browning.
+ "Sweet Georgia Brown" is an old tune from the 10's or 20's and now
the theme of the Harlem Globetrotters (WHH, RO)
~~~~~
POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR: Joe Sandusky.
GUY WHO CUTS OUT ALL THE BORING STUFF: Joe "Snippy, The Animator's Best Friend"
Gall.
ADR COORDINATOR: Kelly Ann Foley.
ADDITIONAL FILM EDITING: Al Breitenbach, Kelly Ann Foley, Theresa
Gilroy-Nielson, Leslie Nielsen.
+ Leslie Nielsen is the goofball from "The Naked Gun" movies, among
many others
SOUND READING: Bradley Carow, Denise Whitfield, Steve Siracusa, N.Y.
+ Syracuse is a city in NY
VIDEOTAPE SUPERVISION: Jay Weinman, Scott Williams.
~~~~~
THE SOUND MIX IS BY: Thomas J. Maydeck, C.A.S., Russell Brower, Pat Rodman, 2nd
Engineer.
THE TRAIL MIX IS BY: Nabisco.
MIX COORDINATOR: Richard Freeman.
MONKEY SCREECH SFX BY: Russell Brower, Robert Hargreaves, Matt Thorne, "Thorny"
Thornberry, Ozzy's Zany Next Door Neighbor.
+ In the old "Ozzie and Harriet" TV show, the next door neighbor was,
indeed, "Thorny" Thornberry. (MB)
MUSIC EDITOR: Tom Lavin For Triad Music.
ADR RECORDING: Mark Keatts.
~~~~~
DIALOGUE EDITORS: Mark Keatts, Nick Brooling, Bob Lacivita, Andrew I. King,
Aaron L. King, Alan King, Martin Luther King, Chicken a la King, Old King Cole,
Larry King Live, Don King, Don Corleone, Don Juan, Don Quixote, Don Wilson,
Dondi, Dondi Duran Duran, Whatever Will Be, Will Be.
+ Alan King: long-time comedian (MB)
+ Martin Luther King: civil rights activist
+ Chicken A La King
+ Old King Cole: a merry old soul (nursery rhymes)
+ Larry King Live: CNN program
+ Don King: fight promoter of yesteryear
+ Don Corleone: see *The Godfather* movies (Marlon Brando)
+ Don Juan: famous lover, see Mozart's _Don Giovanni_ or perhaps
Bizet's opera *Carmen* (WHH, TK)
+ Don Quixote: see Miguel de Cervantes' book
+ Don Wilson: Announcer and cast member on the Jack Benny show (MB)
+ Dondi: main character of a (thankfully) extinct comic strip (MB)
VOICE RECORDING ENGINEER: Harry Andronis, Of the Chicago Androniseseseseses,
Danny Shaw, 2nd Engineer, Casey Jones, Train Engineer.
+ Casey Jones was an engineer, who took control of a runaway train,
saving many lives but dying himself. There is a folk song about
him. (many)
~~~~~
POST PRODUCTION FACILITY: The Post Group.
SOUND SERVICES PROVIDED BY: Monterey Post Productions.
VOICE RECORDING STUDIO: Alpha Studios.
RECORDING ADMINISTRATOR: Leslie Lamers.
VOICE OVER ASSISTANT: Erin Keeler.
AMBLIN STORY CONSULTANT: Douglas Wood, Mary Woods, Natalie Wood, James Woods,
Ed Wood, Jr.
+ Natalie Wood: famous deceased actress, see for example
"West Side Story"
+ James Woods: actor; see, e.g., "The Onion Field" (MF)
+ Ed Wood, Jr. was the director of numerous super-bad movies such as
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. (EM)
LABORATORY SERVICES: C.F.I.
LAVORATORY SERVICES: Mr. Potty Man.
~~~~~
ANIMANIACS NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION PER SERVING:
with with with
8 oz. 8 oz. 8 oz.
milk cola Weed Memlo
Fat............4g..........65g.............73g.............84g
Calories.......143.........213.............475.............512
Protein........1g..........12g.............14g.............17g
Carbohydrate...17g.........15g.............17g.............39g
~~~~~
KATHRYN PAGE: Kathryn Page.
EPISODE ADOPTED BY: Bette Milder.
+ In California, organizations or individuals can "adopt" a stretch
of freeway. You agree to clear off the highway and they put up a
big sign telling everyone who you are. A part of the 101 that runs
very very very close to WBA has been adopted by Bette Midler. She
also has a larger, gaudier sign than normal. (SS)
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS: Geno DuBois, Dustin Foster, Bobbie Page, John Morris,
Paul "Godzilla is My Friend" Trandahl.
DONORS - $10 OR MORE: Jon McClenahan, Dave Marshall, The Gimeno Family, Nick
Hollander, Kirk Tingblad, Elizabeth Barrett Tingblad.
ORGAN DONORS: Thomas, Baldwin, Vox, Wurlitzer.
+ Musical organ manufacturers, nyuk nyuk nyuk.
~~~~~
ANIMATION SERVICES PROVIDED BY: Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co., LTD.
ANIMATION DIRECTORS: Kenji Hachizaki, Keiko Oyamada.
FAVORITE LAWRENCE WELK QUOTE: "When You Have A Minute, I Want To See You
Right Now."
IF YOU'RE COUNTING. This Has Been Episode #65.
~~~~~
CHICKEN BOO APPEARS COURTESY OF: Zacky Farms.
+ Zacky Farms is a well known (at least in California) producer of
poultry products. (BD)
PROMOTIONAL FEE PAID BY: "Ouchies", The Sharp Prickly Toy You Bathe With.
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Ojai Consortium, Memlo Memorial Archives, Mary Margaret
Memlo, Curator, The Smellog Foundation, Craig T. Nelson & All His "Coach"
Co-Stars, The Pew Charitable Truss.
+ The Pew (sp?) Charitable Trust is a charitable foundation, which
contributes heavily to public radio, among other things. (MB)
~~~~~
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Barbra J. Gerard.
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Ken Fredrich Boyer.
BEAN COUNTER: Chuck Ansel.
BEANS COUNTED: 235, Definitely, Definitely 235.
ANNOUNCER: "Hey Warners, You've Just Finished the 65th Episode of Animaniacs.
What are You Gonna Do Now?"
WARNERS: "We're Going to Euro-Disney!"
~~~~~
EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE OF PRODUCTION: Jean MacCurdy.
EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE OF PRODDING: Liza-Ann Warren.
EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE OF BAZOOKA: Tim Sarnoff.
EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE OF OVERSEAS PRODUCTION: Ken Duer.
EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE OF THE WRITERS: Barbara Simon Dierks.
~~~~~
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Steven Spielberg.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #66 **
Theme --
+ Out: "While Bill Clinton plays the sax"; In: "We've got wisecracks
by the stacks". Replacing the footage of Bill is a clip from "Taming
of the Screwy".
"Take My Siblings Please" --
- A takeoff of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff". (many)
+ Dot sings her own version of "The Girl from Ipanema". The hit version of
this song was by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto. (KevinP, BHarvey)
+ The song Wakko whistles, that he is sick of, is the theme from
Tiny Toon Adventures. (WBB)
+ The contract Wakko holds up the troll clearly reads, "Pay-OR-Play".
Please let this debate rest, now.
"The Mindy 500" --
- The symbol on the sign above the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the
actual symbol, a tire with wings, though the real one also as a slew of
flags coming out the top of the tire. (KevinP)
"Morning Malaise" --
- Howie Tern == Howard Stern, of course, and "A Robin" == his real life
sidekick, Robin Quivers. The way Robin "explains" things to Howie is
just like the real duo. (DO, RO)
- The end bit with "We'll be there" was also used by the Three Amigos.
Both refer to John Steinbeck's *The Grapes of Wrath*. (PaulA)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #68 **
"We're No Pigeons" --
- The title "We're No Pigeons" is a reference to the Robert DeNiro movie
"We're No Angels." No plot similarity, though. (PaulA)
- When the skunk goes hopping away, listen to the music. It's the music
that normally accompanies Pepe LePew when he's hopping around. (PaulA)
"Whistle Stop Mindy" --
- No noteworthy comments so far.
"Katie Ka-Boom: The Broken Date" --
- No noteworthy comments so far.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #67 **
"Miami Mama-Mia" --
+ Steven Seagull == Steven Segal
+ SeaQuest refers to the rapidly-sinking-in-the-ratings NBC show,
*Seaquest DSV* also done by Spielberg). (WBB)
"Pigeon on the Roof" --
+ A witty parody of the famous film "Fiddler on the Roof". See the
AMLF for lyrics & parody sources. (WBB)
+ "Coo-coo-kachoo" -- line from Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson".
Wraparound -- "Stay Coo"
+ Parody of "Cool" from *West Side Story*. Probably footage that was
excised from "West Side Pigeons" for time reasons. (WBB)
Good Idea, Bad Idea -- "McLean"
+ McLean Stevenson, was formerly of M*A*S*H fame, and is now firmly
entrenched in celebrity has-been-dom.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Show #69 **
"I'm Mad" --
- No noteworthy comments so far.
"Bad Mood Bobby" --
- Tony Danza starred in the insipid sitcom "Who's the Boss". (SK)
- Bruce Springsteen - obvious reference to his nickname, the Boss. (SK)
0 I'm surprised nobody was struck by the black bird that Pesto laughs
about. I'm pretty sure that it appeared on one of the 'Merrie Melodies'
or 'Looney Tunes' cartoons, with the same music and form of walking. I
don't remember what the situation was, though. (MHI)
"Katie Ka-Boom: The Blemish" --
- No noteworthy comments so far.
"Fake" --
- No noteworthy comments so far.
============================================================================
============================================================================
CREDITS:
TIRELESSLY EDITED BY: Will Bell
SPECIAL THANKS: to the following people who contributed substantial
amounts of information to the CRGA:
Robert "The Mystic Mongoose" Armstrong (RWA), Mark Bernstein (MB),
Ron Dippold (RD), Mike Farren (MF), Paul Hendry (PH), Ron O'Dell (RO),
Robert J. Repas (RJR), Sally Smith (SS), Brandi Weed (BW).
THANKS: to our other contributors:
A
Chris Adamson (CA), Marie Antoon (MA), Packy Anderson (PA),
Paul Asente (PaulA), Zachary Adams (ZA).
B
Allen B (AB), Bill Bereza (BB), Brian H. Bailie (BHB),
Cuyler Buckwalter (CB), Charles Brown (CharlieB), John Berger (JB),
James D. Bong (JDB), John D. Baker (JohnB), Kenneth M Blunck (KB),
Mike Beebe (MikeB), Ron Bauerle (RDB), Steve Back (SB),
Shane Bodrero (ShaneB), T. Erik Browne (TEB).
C
Ben Cohen (BC), Brian Eirik Coe (BEC), Bryan Chaney (BryanC),
Christopher Cruz (CC), Dave Cole (DC), EOCostello (EOC),
Joshua Carpman (JC), Justin J. Clark (JJC), Justin Carpenter (JustinC),
Lori Corrin (LC), M Coale (MC), Paul Carnell (PC),
Richard Chandler (RC).
D
Adams Douglas (AD), Brendan Dunn (BD), Cam Davie (CD),
C. DeRosia (CDeR), Dan Day (DD), Gary Dryfoos (GD),
Geoffrey Depew (GDepew), Jack Decker (JD),Ray Dawson (RayD),
Tristan De Buysscher (TDB).
E - G
Jay Elmore (JE), Bob Ferguson (BF), Chris Foley (CF),
Greg Fishbone (GF), Timothy Fay (TF), David A. Gerstein (DAG),
David Green (DGreen), Rich Garrett (RG), Robert Shannon Gregg (RSG).
H - I
Brian Henderson (BH), Brian Harvey (BHarvey), Chris Hansen (CH),
D Hosek (DH), Josh Harrison (JH), Mark Hadley (MH),
Roland Hutchinson (RH), Raymond Hom (RHom), Wei-Hwa Huang (WHH),
Matías Hernández (MHI).
J - K
Jim Joyce (JJ), James Jacoby (JJacoby), Ronald Jones (RJ),
Erik E Katz (EEK), Matthew Kurth (MK), Steve Kramer (SK),
Gym Z. Quirk aka Taki Kogoma (TK), Vincent Krause (VK),
William Kucharski (WK).
L
Allen Lee (AL), Felix Lee (FL), Gayle Beth Liles (GBL),
Mark Lewis (ML), Stephen Lignowski (SL), Stephen C. Litterst (SCL).
M
Avi Melman (AM), Bill Marcum (BM), Brett Middleton (BrettM),
Bruce McDiffett (BMc), Chris McMullen (CMc), Chris W McCubbin (CWM),
Doug McBride (DM), Eric Meyer (EM), George "Toonatic" Mhyre (GM),
Jim Murdoch (JM), Steve Miller (SM), Tad Morgan (TM),
Mitch McGowan (MMc), Michael McAvoy (MMcA), Todd McClary (TMcC),
Mark McDermott (MMcD).
N - P
Erik A. Nielsen (EAN), J.J. Nicholson (JJN), Michael K Neylon (MN),
David Orozco (DO), Synth Oberheim (SFO), John Payson (JP),
Kevin J. Podsiadlik (KJP), Kevin Pezzano (KevinP),
Marc Pawliger (MP), Rick Pikul (RP).
Q - R
David Romm (DavE), Dani Roloson (DR), Duncan Richer (DCR),
David Rostker (DRostker), Jim Richmond (JR), Mike Russell (MR),
Niles D Ritter (NDR), P.J. Remner (PJR), Niles D Ritter (NDR),
Robert A. Rosenberg (RAR).
S
Allen Smithee (AS), Alan Sepinwall (ASepin), Adam Schindler (AdamS),
Chris Sedlak (CS), Curt Schimmel (CurtS), Daniel Scheraga (DS),
Daniel Schoo (DSchoo), Dov Sherman (DovS), Eric A. Schwartz (ES),
Ethan Skinner (ESkinner), Erik Sojka (ErikS), Ethan Solomita (EthanS),
Fred Snyder (FS), Hank Shiffman (HS), Jeff Smith (JS),
Kevin L. Stamber (KS), Ken Salper (KenS), Mike Swaim (MS),
Pete Stein (PS), Ronnie Simonds (RS), Ross Starkey (RossS),
William Smiley (WS).
T
David Thiel (DT), David W. Tamkin (DWT), John M. Turner (JT),
Joe Thiel (JoeT), Kevin Takahashi (KT), Mimi Taylor (MT),
Noel Tominak (NT), Peter J. Tampas (PT), Ryan Torchia (RT),
Scott Tadman (ST), Steve Tedder (STedder), Scott Thompson (SThomp),
Vince Taluskie (VT).
U - Z
Randolph S. Vance (RV), Chad White (CW), Eric Walker (EW),
Gray Whitten (GW), Jeff Wise (JW), Jaime J. Weinman (JJW),
Jon Woodward (Jon), Daniel Yungk (DY).
NICKS
"The Masked Avenger" (TMA), "Lord of Anvils" (LoA), "Chance" (chance),
"Corinthian" (Cor), "Ripcity" (Ripcity), "SteveTX" (SteveTX),
"TV's Spatch" (Spatch), "Slacker" (Slacker), "Swan" (Swan),
"Treesong" (Treesong), "Wolf Warner" (Wolfboy1), "J McA" (JMcA),
"EMeyer" (EM).
============================================================================
============================================================================
DISTRIBUTION AND OTHER CAVEATS:
The Animaniacs characters and names are trademarks and (C) 1993-1998 by
Warner Bros., Inc. This document is neither endorsed nor approved by
Warner Bros., Inc.
This document is a unique compilation of previously published material and
is (C) 1993-1995 by Will B. Bell and (C) 1996-199? by Suzanne Smiley. This
document is freely redistributable through standard electronic methods
(email, ftp, USENET). However, neither the document nor any derivative
works thereof may be:
* sold in any way;
* included on any mass archive or compilation such as a cd-rom;
* included in commercial publications (books);
* electronically transferred outside of the standard USENET
media (e.g. uploaded to a pay service like CompuServe)
without express written permission of the current editor, Suzanne Smiley.
This document represents the collective effort of many USENET Animaniacs
fans. We appreciate your honoring of this policy.
Iris out already, please!
(
geocities.com/hollywood/lot/2636) (
geocities.com/hollywood/lot) (
geocities.com/hollywood)