It is indeed time for Animaniacs. The Warner siblings are back in style as today sees one the 90’s most beloved cartoons go live on Hulu. If early indications from critics are to be trusted, it seems like Yakko, Wakko and Dot retain a lot of their original charm and zaniness, but that doesn't mean the Animaniacs are oblivious to the passing of time.
When the trailer for the revamped Animaniacs dropped in late October, it was obvious that the show was very much aware of its delicate status as one of many reboots in today’s entertainment, a callback to “golden era of animation” as the Jurassic Park inspired trailer puts it, but just how much of that is still there?
In a recent interview with The A.V. Club, Animaniacs showrunner Gabe Swarr and executive producer Wellesley Wild tried answering that question by commenting on their approach for bringing back the wacky Warner trio, the difficulties of planning two years ahead since production began in 2018 and some of the cultural differences that surfaced in that 20 year gap since the show ended.
One of the victims of this cultural paradigm shift was nurse Heloise Nerz (yes, she has a name), Yakko and Wakko’s crush and the blonde target for the brothers signature “Hellooo nurse!” catchphrase. As Swarr puts it, “immediately hello nurse was goodbye nurse”, noting that running gags like these simply wouldn’t work in 2020.
The interview goes a little further explaining how the characters and jokes were updated in several ways, including Dot being re-imagined as more of a feminine force that now outsmarts her brothers even more than she did in the past. It’s worth noting that while both producers seem very happy with how the Animaniacs look in 2020, the difficult animation process meant that pre-planned episodes featuring events like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are still featured despite the sporting event being postponed.
Those kind of challenges even affect the original voice acting cast, all reprising their respective roles, who have had to update their pop culture references to get a better feel of the Animaniacs more modern humor. As far as the rest of the show goes, the Animaniacs still promise to pack some punch, albeit being a different kind of strike to the face, that still manages to be provocative enough to achieve Spielberg’s original goal making viewers say “Wow, did I hear that in a cartoon?”.
Animaniacs is currently available for streaming on Hulu.
Source: The A.V. Club