This version is now being maintained by Ron O'Dell. Latest additions made on: 27 December 2018 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. According to Tom Ruegger, the character "was based on a beloved long-time gate guard at Hanna-Barbera named Bob Turnbull." + 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, MF) + However, the actual design of the The Brain was based off of WB director Tom Minton. Fitzgerald and Minton have quite different personalities, which led to producer Peter Hastings wondering what it would be like if Minton and Fitzgerald took over the world. (RO) + 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) + The Warners singing "Folderol, Folderee, Folderaa" etc. is a parody of a post-WWII German song called "Der fröhliche Wanderer". (WHH) 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) + "Why did the audience throw bowls at him?" During the Great Depression, each week movie theaters had a different piece of a dinnerware set (forks, glasses, bowls, etc.) to give out for anyone who bought a ticket. In order to get the whole set, you had to go see a movie each week when the piece they gave you changed. (From a YouTube post.) + The music is "You Oughta See My Gal", by Jelly Roll Morton, I believe. I'm told that this short originally was going to be set to the original 1929 recording but the animation came back with its timing off (even TMS isn't perfect), so Richard Stone arranged a new version of the piece. The same thing would happen later for "Toy Shop Terror". (RO) "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" -- + The last line stating that "cold and tiny Pluto is the furthest one of all" was inaccurate at the time of this song. Pluto has a highly eccentric orbit which periodically brings it closer to the Sun than Neptune. Such was the case between 1979 and 1999. (KL) - In 2005, with the discovery of Eris, a body even larger than Pluto, astronomers created a new "dwarf planet" classification, to which Pluto was added. Therefore, it is no longer relevant to this song, creating another inaccuracy. "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) + Writer Tom Minton explains: "The Brave Little Trailer" was absolutely never intended to be a parody of "The Brave Little Toaster." "The Brave Little..." has described far more nouns in print than "toaster." (This short) is more in the spirit of the 1951 Disney short "Suzy, the Blue Coupe" and the 1939 book "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel," if anything. "Suzy" had even been narrated by Sterling Holloway, whose vocal delivery Jim Cummings expertly channels here. "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), 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! = = = = = = = = = = ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The NEW ANIMANIACS CULTURAL REFERENCES GUIDE (NACRG) Version 6.0 as of January 8, 2000, covers Shows #70 - #99 & Wakko's Wish Edited by Suzanne Smiley aka: Wakkanne Warner --wakkanne@hotmail.com-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***DISCLAIMERS*** The information presented in this document is in good faith, believed to be correct. Be advised, however, that the editor has not necessarily verified the accuracy of all appearing information. Use the info in this document at your own risk! Animaniacs, characters, names, and all related indica are trademarks of Warner Bros. (and their sister), copyright 1993-1998. No challenge to ownership is intended or implied. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***THE INTRO*** For some time, I've wanted to maintain an a.t.a. document, and I've been dying to make a more updated version of the CRGA. Well, why not? I don't mind taking the baton. It's set up very similarly to the original CRGA, but I'm calling it the "New Animaniacs Cultural References Guide" (NACRG). It covers the episodes airing on the WB network from show #70 to the present. Updates are always being made. As in the original CRGA, started by Will Bell, this document will be a compilation of all those obscure jokes, mentionable sight gags, and more that the terrific program, "Animaniacs", continues to throw our way. Please don't be offended if you find any references which seem TOO OBVIOUS. After all, the definition of "obvious" varies from one person to the next. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***SYMBOL GUIDE*** (Ya oughta know the drill by now) + I'm 100% sure of the it's origin. 0 I believe it to be correct, although it hasn't been confirmed ? I'm not sure about this and would like some confirmation. - Simply some random thought. = There are direct associations between two things. DYN "Did You Notice". Usually referring to some obscure sight gag Nit If there's something to nit-pick about, it'll be here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***CONTRIBUTERS*** All contributors have their initials after each of their submissions. Credit is given to the first person who has me realize the reference. A list of contributors' full names along with their email addresses (if available) can be found at the end of this document. (SS) means that I "discovered" it. Numerous initials signify a collaborated effort or an additional comment to an existing one. Nothing means that either it's been mentioned by many or I have felt it so obvious, I didn't want to claim it myself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***BACKGROUND*** - The three Warner Brothers who would have been alive after 1927 were Jack (chief of production) Harry (president of the studio) and Albert (treasurer). There was a fourth brother, Sam, who died in 1927. (EOC) - "Bill Clinton" no longer "plays the sax" (though he still might) and they no longer have "wisecracks by the stacks" (though they certainly do.) In the new version of the theme song, the lyric after "Wakko packs away the snacks" is "We pay tons of income tax". + Nathan Ruegger is still doing Skippy Squirrel, Slappy's young nephew...but his voice has been pitched upward 5%. (He's getting older, and his voice is changing...) The intent is to have the voice be closer to the one in "Slappy Goes Walnuts". (JM) + [Katharine Page is] still at WBA, just in a slightly different place. She's now Jean MacCurdy's assistant while not busy guarding WBA from hordes of invading a.t.aers. (BD) - About the episode number now included in the credits: "I'd off- handedly commented at Animania IV that some sort of identification should be put in the episodes. I have no idea if that comment was even heard, or had anything to do with this. Makes me wonder, though..." (BD) - The truth behind "Helloooo, Nurse!": Years ago, Tom Ruegger was asked by Steven Spielberg to come up with new Warner Brothers cartoons. Ruegger invented "Tiny Toons," and the first character he came up with was Buster Bunny, who was to be the new Bugs. He wanted to come up with a new version of Bugs Bunny's famous catch phrase "What's up, Doc?" but all he could come up with was "Hello Nurse!" It just didn't make any sense for Buster to say "Hello Nurse," so the whole idea was dropped. Years later, Ruegger was once again asked by Spielberg to come up with new Warner Brothers cartoons, only this time completely original. Ruegger invented "Animaniacs," and finally found a use for "Hello Nurse." (MD) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And Now, Without Further Ado, The NACRG!!!! ***Show #70*** "Super Strong Warner Siblings" --- + Wonderful parody of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. A very nice parody on that show's stilted dialogue. The oddly rushed speech patterns of the villains come from the MMPR practice of taking footage originally shot in Japanese and dubbing American voices. (MB, JW) + Bogus rock music. Obvious parody of not only the Rock Vibe that The Mighty RAW got started on MMPR, but a general satire of other shows doing that. The falling/rising chords is a big show of this. Funny lyrics too, "Hey, Hey, Super Sibs," in ref to the MMPR theme. (DL) + Nerdy Grey Warriors. These specs wearing long-john'ed folk are the highlight of this bit with their off-the-wall zany Karate moves. Listen for the over-emphasized karate-chop "swoosh"ing sound effects. Also... notice their zombie-eyes are red; a direct pull from the Putty's red eyes in MMPR. (DL) - They manage to get away from "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" mild racism. MMPR put the African-American in black, the valley girl in pink, and the Asian in yellow. SSWS has Yakko in blue, Wakko is red, and Dot in yellow... A very nice comment on MMPR, if it was done on purpose. (JW) + Witch in mountain on moon with terrible voice is Rita Repulsa. The big pig with the husky-voice was a cross between Mordant (who's only in the movie...he's the body) and Goldar (attitude and voice). The guy in the professor's outfit with the green glasses was a Finster ripoff. (DL, JS) Nit Rita doesn't make monsters from preexisting creatures. Finster was her monster maker (which he sorta did here). Lord Zedd is the one who would zap something to make it a monster. (JS) 0 "Rita's" scepter looks just like the wand Sailor Moon uses... a crescent moon shape with a crystal (Red in Super Sibs, white for Sailor Moon) on it. This might be a coincidence, but then again... (KJT Dot, SC) 0 Flying WB Shield. This is an entirely unrelated reference to the original 1960's Batman series. (DL) 0 Center For Advanced Mathematics. Anyone who's taken the time to notice will find that the Rangers happen to be the most brilliant in the city (also, the most physically agile). So, accordingly, the Warners are teaching advanced mathematics to college professors; how quaint. (DL) - The equation they solve is X^2 + 2X - 15, natural root being 3 & -5. Does this hold any meaning to anyone else? (BJ) + Beeping WB wrist-watch pagers have "WB" written in lightening letters on their pagers just like how "Power Rangers" is written on MMPR's wrist communicators. (DL) + Dr. Otto Van "Zordon" Scratchansniff. This was a great opportunity to play upon the funny stuff that would be Zordon's head-tube. (DL, JW) + "What's wrong with your mouth?" This is a ref to the fact that on MMPR, there's only a tiny amount of actual Zordon footage. The reason Zordon's (and, by parodial extension, Scratchy's) mouth is fuzzy is because they have to use that tiny bit of footage for everything Zordon ever says. (BL) + When the large bug first falls backward and trashes a building, the building is the headquarters for Saban Entertainment (The company that does MMPR) This building, while not on the WB lot, is just a few blocks away. (RW) + On the super sibs' exaggerated gestures: The costumes aren't made for talking, so when someone is talking or something, s/he makes really exaggerated movements to show who s/he is. (JEO) ? The Warners shout 'Tower of Power' right before they jump into the tower-zord. Tower of Power is a legendary jazz/pop band, dating back at least to the early 70's, and still going strong today. (The Rizz) + The WaterTowerMegaZord. That was the most excellent idea. :) This also looks a lot like the movie. (DL, JW, LC) - The funniest part of this episode (when I and the Animania IV gang viewed it) was when the conference table was taken away... because we were sitting at that table at the time (or at least a table just like it, since we were at WBA in Sherman Oaks, rather than at Warner Bros. in Burbank. But hey, they can fudge; it's a cartoon!) (RO) + Glass-jar sound when they take off their helmets; the trend of the 2nd season is found out fast. (DL) - Finally, the issue of all that property damage in MMPR is addressed! (JS) "Nutcracker Slappy" --- + The music is the well known Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite". (DG, MB) - Pieces of the ballet that were used include a snippet of "The March" (from the first act) played over the title card, a good chunk of "Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy", then all of "Dance of the Flutes", "Chinese Dance", and "Trepak". (RD) + This short is directed by Charlton "Baynarts" Woodchuck, who first appeared on "Hollywoodchuck". (DG, RW) 0 "I Can't Dance, Don't Ask Me" is a song from the 30s or 40s. Not sure whether it's by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, or George and Ira Gershwin. (MB) 0 Charlton mentions, "It's in my contract that when I got old enough, I could direct" I think it refers to Ron Howard, former child star and director extrordinaire...and Slappy does look suspiciously like Steven Spielberg... (BC, DG) + When Slappy attacks the walnut with the knife, it's straight out of the Hitchcock movie Psycho, complete with screaming violins. (JM) 0 The quick bit where Slappy is behind the tree and peeking out at the frog owes an awful lot to Fantasia. (Jon) - The vehicles used to try and run over the nut: skateboard, tricycle, (Skippy runs over the walnut with a Marx Big Wheel, a staple of any kid who grew up in the '70's.), bicycle, Model T or A Ford (those old cars always throw me), Jeep, Cadilac convertible, Acme Van, "Express" Bus, Steam roller, Tank, (The plane Slappy uses looks suprisingly like the "Yellow Peril", which was a W.W.II trainer. The thing that has me puzzled is that Skippy was in back, and if my memory serves me, the rear seat on most biplanes was were the pilot sat.) (BJ) + The "Walnut Cluster Bomb" that Slappy drops combines "Walnut Cluster", a type of candy, with "Cluster Bomb", a type of weapon. (MB) Nit The direction of the lettering on the bomb changed between the shot where Skippy pulls the bomb out of the plane, and the next one, where he drops it? (ASL) 0 Later, Slappy calls Charlton "Von Stroheim" referring to famed German director, Eric Von Stroheim. (NV) - One complaint about this cartoon, too: It assumes people actually had the stomach to sit through Hollywoodchuck... (JM) "Wakko's New Gookie" --- + Wakko is interviewed by a parody of CNN's Larry King. (DG) + The two people who called into the Larry Kling Live show are the same two people who called Howie Tern in "Morning Malaise." Some people just have no lives, ya know? (JW) 0 Was it just me, or did one of his new gookies look a lot like Ren of Ren & Stimpy? (Egg) - The people Wakko consults include Kirk Douglas (still in costume and on the set from "Hooked On A Ceiling"), Bob Hope, Katherine Hepburn, and Larry King. (MB) + Charlie Callas (to whom Bob Hope referred) is a comedian (at least its what some people claim) who has been around for many years, although not much lately. He had bit parts in at least three Mel Brooks films ("History Of The World - Part I," "High Anxiety" and "Silent Movie"). He also had a bit in the film "Amazon Women on the Moon." (RN) + The "Spencer" that [Hepburn] kept referring to was Spencer Tracy, with whom she starred in many films and with whom she had an off- screen romance. In fact, Kate has talked about it on several occasions. Interestingly, she would never marry him since she didn't think it would be proper for her to marry a divorced man. Go fig. (RN, NV) 0 The style of the set and the manner of reminiscing in the Hepburn segment reminded me of the AMC series "Reflections Of The Silver Screen", where stars from Hollywood's golden era talk about their careers. The stars sit in nearly identical chairs and in the same positions as in this short. (BC) ? Did the caller from Detroit really call it a "nookie"? (RD) - Yakko's new catch phrases (transcribed by Rylan Hilman): ."Yessirreebobbaroonie!" ."Got any ham?" ."I feel so free!" ."Don't laugh, it's paid for." ."My eyes are burning!" ."I always wear cowboy boots." ."Looks like a pump, feels like a sneaker!" Slogan for Easy Spirit shoes. For some reason, I have no problem remembering a bunch of women play basketball in high heels. Hmmmmmm. Is this something I should worry about? If not, why not? (NV) ."Slap my fanny!" ("Steven won't like that one...") "A Quake, A Quake" --- + According to Rob Paulsen, the lyrics on the CD were changed from the animated ones to NOT include the specific history and geography. (The animated lyrics were the original lyrics.) Rob also made some uncomplimentary comments about the censors and this subject... (RW) Nit The Northridge event (January 17, 1994 earthquake) was on a blind thrust fault off the Frew Fault, not the San Andreas, and while preliminary USGS reports listed it as magnitude 6.8, the human- reviewed Mw magnitude of 6.7 is the generally accepted figure. The entirety of Los Angeles rests on the Pacific Plate, which is an oceanic, not continental plate. (BD, AV) + When Yakko says, "This is the city," he's imitating Jack Webb (Dragnet). (RN) DYN Mr. Director alarm clock in the watertower. He must make a vicious alarm clock. (SS, BN) DYN Wakko sleeping, sucking his thumb: Awwww! How cute! Dr. Scratchansniff sleeping, sucking his thumb: Ewwwww! How sick! Freud would have a field day with that one. (SS) - After the quake begins, the Warners are bouncing throughout the tower, Yakko on his bottom, Dot on her feet, and Wakko on his head. (SS) DYN When the sibs bounce past the fridge, it opens and Wakko grabs a ham out of it. (SS) DYN Again, while the Warners are bouncing, they pass two Warner Bros. posters on the wall. One had a picture of feet the other, a title: "Oh My Rash". The posters were both supposed to be from cartoons Yakko, Wakko, & Dot did back in the 30's. First introduced in the ep. "Temporary Insanity". (SS, JW) + Those are ink blot prints (like in the Rorschach tests) on Dr. Scratchansniff's bedroom wall ... although not very good ones. (SS, JW) + This episode, along with #84 is the one that proves that Yakko is left-handed. Well, at the very least it proves ambidexterity. Who knows? Maybe -all- 'toons are ambidextrous. (JW) ? Then does this mean that Dot is left-handed too? Dressed as the scientist, she writes with her left hand. However, in "Temporary Insanity", she's drawing the pic of her and Mel with her right. Maybe she's just ambidextrous. (SS) Nit The plates are on top of, not between, the crustal mantle. (BN) + "We won't let it get us down/we're Californians," a very correct take on the attitude of most native Californians to earthquakes. (JW) - The original, animated line works so much better, and made me clap in hysterics. "We won't let it get us down, Get beneath the door frame" (from the rewritten CD version) doesn't work anywhere near as well. That line made me laugh almost as much as I did the first time I read the lyrics to this song, when, the very moment I read the final word, there was a small earthquake here. Nature has a great sense of comedic timing! (RO) - Cameos in this short: Dr. Scratchansniff, Mindy & Buttons, Pinky & Brain, Slappy, Flavio & Marita. (SS) - The final scene has the frame filling with water. This is western California falling into the sea after the big one. As one of the catastrophic urban legends says... Thrust fault quakes such as the Northridge quake actually build mountains, keeping Los Angeles safely above sea level. What will actually occur is that the L.A. area (and the entire western coast of California south of San Francisco) will continue to slide to the northwest for many millions of years, until Los Angeles directly adjoins San Francisco on the southeast side. At that point, the land masses will separate, and western California, with Baja California still attached will become an island in the Pacific. They'll stay that way for many more millions of years until they eventually crash into Alaska and get subducted. (BD, RW) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #71*** "Variety Speak" --- - I suddenly remembered hearing long ago of another planned-for- theatrical-release short called "Variety Speak". I guess it ended up not being chosen for the cinema. "The Ballad of Magellan" recently was sent overseas to be animated, and it, too, is in cinematic aspect ratio. (RO) - Actually, this was originally written by Randy Rogel to be part of a proposed-but-never-produced "Animaniacs" movie, the plot of which was to center around the Warners arriving in Hollywood to make a movie. So of course Wakko had to learn how to speak Varietese. Perhaps the animation company used the original letterboxed storyboards, or maybe they actually began production of it. Or maybe the nice folks at WBA thought it would be cool. (EG) - This would explain why "Variety Speak" & "Ballad of Magellan" are both in letterbox format, just as "I'm Mad" which actually did make it to the big screen. Hmm... Makes me also wonder about "Wakko's Two Note Song", which was in that format as well. (SS) + "Variety" is the best known and most prominent newspaper covering the entertainment industry. There are both daily and weekly editions. (MB) + Wakko's soliloquy after Dot asks him to "Play Dead" is a ref to the classic book and movie, "Little Caesar". It's a novel about a gangster named Rico; at the end of the novel, Rico, says, "Mother of God, is this the end of Rico?" In the movie, I believe the line was changed to "Mother of Mercy." Edward G. Robinson starred. (RN) + When Dot says "speak," Wakko does the Richard Nixon "I am not a crook" routine. (SS, DY) + The banner headline on Variety was "Hix Nix Pix", which is a ref to the famous Variety headline, "Stix Nix Hix Pix" as seen in the 1946 WB musical, "Yankee Doodle Dandy", starring James Cagney. An aging George M. Cohan (Cagney, in his favorite role) "translated" to a bunch of "jive-talking" teenagers thus: "'Stix': Small towns; 'Nix': Refuse; 'Hix': Rube; 'Pix': Pictures. 'Small towns refuse rube pictures'; Stix nix hix pix." (JW, MrC) + This is sort of a reference in reverse. Spielberg makes an inside joke in his new blockbuster. There's a movie poster in the video store window in "The Lost World" that really DOES have "Schwarzenegger doing 'King Lear'!" (SS) + At the mention of critics, Hiskel and Eggbert appear on the scene (Siskel and Ebert knockoffs). (DY) + "Daville Studios" in background: Reference to Cooper DaVille from Tiny Toon Adventures, I presume. (RO) - We see a rack of polka-dot dresses from King Yakko. (RW) + "Lethal Weapon 5" splash screen in the backdrop for the next scene. (DY) + "Disney's up a nickel a share"--M. Eisner shown playing in a pile of money. (Dr Yakko) + "Stallone cuts deal for a major reel"-- Sly Stallone is planting his Rocky gloves in the concrete outside the famous Chinese Theatre. Other prints in the cement...Roy Rogers and Trigger (w/hoofprint), Rita Hayworth (1 hand and high-heels), Fred Astaire, plus one Wakko's sitting on. (DY) + "If you want the poop..." YW&D appear with Beethoven (the dog, not the composer) (DY) + "Boffo smash makes Warner cash"--Batman appears with a cane on a poster advertising "Batman XVIII". (DY) + "Oliver Stone...Home Alone"--Macaulay Culkin bounces out of the Home Alone house, firing his machine gun madly. Oliver Stone appears in scene. (DY) + "...the crowd that's chic..."--Taking place at the Oscars. (DY) + The conference room is the one at Warner Bros. Animation. That table in the shape of the WB shield is much bigger than they show, though: it's big enough to accommodate 20 people with no crowding. It's one huge slab of marble. (JM) "Three Tenors and You're Out" --- + Dodger Dogs are hot dogs plus various condiments and about $1.50. (spurdy) + Right before they play the national anthem, YW&D (in silhouette) run up and shake hands with the conductor (also in silhouette). This is a ref to the Disney movie "Fantasia", Mickey's and the conductor do the same. (Nnicole) + The Three Tenors are: Luciano Peperoni, Placido Domino, & Jose Carumba, parodies of Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti and Spanish tenors Placido Domingo & Jose Carreras. (DY, CLM, DG) - During the nat'l anthem, we see: 1. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria with baby (Arnold's in his French maid's apron). 2. George and Babs Bush with Candace Bergen (Candace drops the famous "Sprint pin" from the commercial, and is carrying her baby from Murphy Brown, who, incidentally, is waving a "Quayle" banner. Kudos to Odosbucket for figuring this one out solo.) (DY) + Clint Eastwood, starring as the Secret Service agent from the movie "In The Line Of Fire." (RN) 0 The actual date when Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti appeared at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles was July 16, 1994. (RN) + Slappy sez one of the "umps" is related to Shamu, referring to the Sea World orca. (DY) 0 Slappy yells at Pepperoni to "get back on that Slim-Fast diet", a ref to Tommy Lasorda's series of Slim-Fast diet commercials. (DY) + Slappy tells the crowd to "put a salary cap on it", which was likely a poke at the baseball strike/lockout. The strike lasted from 8/12/94 - 4/2/95, but will probably be remembered as the 1994 strike. A salary cap is the most that a single player can be paid, or that a team can pay its players total. This was much of the reason for the strike. (DY, BD, spurdy) - Broken Slurpee machines really do make that noise. They spray a little bit of Slurpee, but mostly a lot of air, producing a hiss. (spurdy) + One of the tenors' songs is set to the tune of the Dance of the Hours from "La Gioconda" by Amilcare Ponchielli. (RO) 0 I have no idea why they were wearing the clown costumes, which are for Verdi's "Pagliacci", while singing the list of baseball players to the tune of the "Toreador Song" from the opera "Carmen" by Georges Bizet. (MB, RW) - The Alou brothers were Felipe, Matty, and Jesus; all played from the early-mid 60's to the mid-late 70's. At one time, all three played in the San Francisco Giants' outfield. Moises is Felipe's son, and plays outfield for the Montreal Expos. Felipe manages the Expos. (AV) + The "Hoy-ya-ta-ho" song is "The Flight of the Valkyries" from Wagner's opera cycle, "The Ring of the Nibelung"(sp?). That's an odd choice for tenors, since the Valkyries who sing it are sopranos, and, of course, female. (MB) + "Slippin' On The Ice" was first sung by the Warners as the cold opening for Animaniacs Episode 50. Here, Slappy is driving a Zamboni, a machine used to smooth the ice in skating and hockey rinks. (HB, MB) + During the channel changer bit, we see Droopy Dog in a clip from "Northwest Hounded Police", MGM, directed by Tex Avery (one of the classics), the intro to the Andy Griffith show, and a short bit from the Yankees game. We note that when the runner is "safe", only the men stand and cheer. The women look very bored. (GL, DY) Nit The baseball announcer makes a surprising error, he said the runner was sliding into second. That was clearly home plate. And when the US flag is raised, it only has 28 stars. (probably due to the difficulty of trying to draw 50 stars and making it look right). (BNorm) Nit The baseball scene on the scoreboard is riddled with continuity and animation errors. In early shots, home plate is depicted as a bag like 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. In a later shot, it's correctly shown as a pentagonal plate, but facing the wrong direction, with the point facing the pitcher instead of the catcher. You'd think the animators would be paying attention each time Taiwan crushes the U.S. in the Little League World Series... (BD) 0 The organ that comes out of the ground with Skippy playing is an exaggerated version of the kinds of organs found at baseball stadiums, and sounds like it too. You'd *never* use one of those at a classical concert. The organ has a large "O" on it, but otherwise resembles the organ from "Take My Siblings, Please", which had an "N" for Nemo, although was misanimated at one point to have an "M". I predict the next organ we see will have a "P" on it... (MB, BD) + Skippy: "They're heee-eeere", backed by an eerie light. A take on "Poltergeist". (DY) 0 The entire spaceship and music routine is taken from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Slappy is sitting in the spaceship with Steven Spielberg. (DY) 0 Many have noted the riff on CEotTK - but it seemed to me this was also a ref to the closing of the Summer Olympics in L.A. several years ago. I seem to recall that at the closing ceremonies, they staged a visit from a flying saucer. The saucer was a decorated blimp, and there was a big light show. (RN) 0 Slappy's final sportscaster bit (the hat, the "Holy cow, he's outta here!") is a reference to Chicago sportscaster Harry Carey. The voice however, was more like Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto (Yankee ex-player/broadcaster/legend). And somebody put out a book of Rizzuto's on-air ramblings, rearranged to look like free verse, entitled *O Holy Cow!* As for that hat, could it possibly be a ref to the radar gun operator at Dodger Stadium? When they show the batter from the center field camera he is always there behind the screen with the gun. He always has on that same white hat also. (MB, JS, Ucalegon, BJ) "Bingo" --- - The attendees of Animania IV were present for the scoring session of this episode. (RW) - The Doctor is apparently 50-ish. (JW) + Some of the numbers Wakko claims to get Bingo from are impossible on a real Bingo card, of course. (O9, N4, G10...) (RO) + Dr. SnS says I-30 which Wakko interprets to be I'm thirsty (with a bad lisp), Wakko hands Dr. SnS an Abyss Boy. This is the same drink Wakko had in "Potty Emergency". (BNorm, JW) 0 The prize box at the end reads "Das Prizes". It's a German thing. All nouns have a gender-specific version of "The" that goes with them. But actually "Die" is the proper article. Since "prizes" is a plural it would following the rule that all plurals in German take the article "Die" in the nominative case. Whew! Getting mighty close to Grammar Anality there. (RW, NV) "Finale" --- - Animaniacs theme, as interpreted by The Three Tenors. + Variable Verse: "Spaghetti Stain-y" (DY) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #72*** Previously On Animaniacs - The fact that none of these scenes has anything to do with anything ever aired on the show should be of little concern. 0 Very similar to the "Previously on..." parodies that Conan O'Brien occasionally does. Yes, I realize that he by no means invented the format, but take a look at it. His parodies are very similar to what we saw here. (BD) - This short been broken into its component parts for discussion... (thanks Jonathan Woodward for posting the scenes in order.) .Plotz & Yakko, "Yakko, it's insane!" - Based on Yakko's gear, possibly Cliffhanger. (MB) .Wakko & Dot, "It's big, and it's headed right for us!" - "The Abyss" .Charlton Heston, "Oh... my... BOOM!" (War Room) - The man saying "Oh, my" is Charlton Heston, perhaps to make up for snubbing him in "Hooked On A Ceiling". :) (MB) .Scratchy, "I don't think I love you." - Donald Sutherland said that line to Mary Tyler Moore at the end of "Ordinary People". (MB) .Warners, "It's gotten to the blood." - From John Carpenter's remake of The Thing (since the original film omitted this aspect of Campbell's story.) (BM) .Wakko & Babe, "I'll hit one out of the park." - "Don't worry kid, I'm gonna hit a ball right out of the park just for you." William Bendix as Babe Ruth in "The Babe Ruth Story". Or possibly John Goodman in the more recent "The Babe". Ruth once promised to hit a ball out of the park for a dying/sick child. (JW, MB) .Charlton Heston, "Oh... my... BOOM!" #2 (Boat) - Gray Lady Down (BM) .Scratchy & Yakko, "We're losing altitude!" .Plotz, "I sentence you to life imprisonment!" - The Shawshank Redemption (MB) .Charlton Heston, "Oh... my... BOOM!" #3 (Helicopter) - The Omega Man (BM) .Wakko, woman putting on stocking - Anne Bancroft seducing Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate". (MB, JW) .Yakko, "No, you're out of order!" + "You're out of order" is Al Pacino (...And Justice For All)...and "Don't ya see?" is Jimmy Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes To Washington). Yakko's specialty? Two references at once! (SC) .Tower blows up, "We'll rebuild!" - Possibly based on an old cliché; one of the most famous uses was at the end of the film San Francisco, when Clark Gable and others say they're going to build a new San Francisco after the great earthquake and fire. (RN) "Deduces Wild" --- + The title is a pun on "deuces wild", a term used in card games, especially poker, when deuces (2s) can be used as any card. (MB) + Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and their housekeeper are from the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. All the basic Holmesian "facts" are correct -- they supposedly lived at 221B Baker St., London, Holmes played the violin, and so forth. (MB) + The classical piece Sherlock Holmes was playing on the violin was "Minuet in A." by Luigi Boccherini. (RO) + Mariachi = Professor Moriarity; obviously, Holmes long time nemesis. (BC) + Mariachi is the name of Mexico's best known typical orchestra, and also the name given to its musicians. He wears Mariachi jacket and hat. (DG) - "El Mariachi", a movie produced in Mexico with a ridiculously low budget, that became quite popular. This director also did "Desperado" starring Antonio Banderas playing the same character. (ND) + "Flip over all the cards...": "What's My Line", an early TV game show, where celebrity panelists asked yes/no questions to help them guess what the contestant did for a living. The flip cards were used to keep track of how many questions the panelists had left, and were all flipped when someone guessed right. (MB) + The prize for winning the scavenger hunt was a guest shot on "Baywatch". "Baywatch" is a popular syndicated lifeguard drama, whose main appeal is lots of good-looking people in skimpy swimsuits. (MB, SS) + When the Warners pop out of the closet and yell, "DISGUISE!!!", Dot is dressed as an astronaut, Wakko a surgeon, and Yakko, @@@@@@@@hhh...a nun. (SS) - The things on the Warner's scavenger hunt list: .used dental floss - .a yam shaped like Elvis' dad Vernon - .Prince Albert in a can - From the famous prank phone call. "Prince Albert" is a brand of pipe tobacco. The idea was to call a tobacconist shop, ask if they had Prince Albert in a can, and if the answer was yes, say, "Then let him out!" and hang up. (RW, MB) .Princess Di in a leotard - ref to one of the British tabloids' pictures of Di in a leotard that they obtained by monitoring a camera in a health club where she was working out. The picture was somewhat revealing and quite unflattering. The tabloid was sued successfully. (BD, KM) .Prince Charles in a tabloid - ref to all the controversy over the break-up of the world's "perfect" couple. After recent events, though, this will most likely be the last Charles/Di jokes we'll be hearing. .A happy postal worker - Here in the US, postal workers have had some bad press for being disgruntled and shooting co-workers. (RW) .Edible fruitcake - The notion that fruitcake, a traditional Christmas gift, is inedible has been a joke for decades. .a funny episode of "Bonkers" - They continue to poke fun of the Disney cartoon, "Bonkers", which premiered the same week as Animaniacs did. .7 swans a swimming, 6 geese a laying, 5 golden rings, 4 calling birds, 3 french hens, 2 turtle doves, a partridge in a pear tree - ref to the song "12 Days of Christmas. .maltese falcon - From the Bogart movie of the same name, this was a valuable statue of a bird that everyone was chasing after. .lock of Yul Brenner's hair (the guy was famous for being bald! ex: "The King and I") .Burt Ward's career - ("Can't find it.") Ward played Robin on the 60s TV version of Batman, and hasn't done anything since. .bowling pins .batteries - Wakko throws out the Energizer Bunny .the Lusitania - British liner, carrying some American passengers sunk by German U-boats in 1915. It was also carrying armaments to England. Used as a rallying point to bring the U.S. into WWI. (BD) .Marlon Brando - He's in there, really" (aka: the Godfather) Wakko's inability to get him out of the sack, especially after pulling out an entire ocean liner, is a fat joke, since Brando has gained a lot of weight over the years. .railroad ties .the odd pair of ladies nickers - "Knickers" is a british term for women's underwear, and yes, the Victorian version did look like that. .a fat chubby sidekick with a curly mustache - ref, of course, to Sherlock's Dr. Watson. DYN The return of 'Two paddleballs at once!' (from "Hearts Of Twilight") (BN) DYN Dot's magazine is Modern Dot (Modern Toon would've been funnier) (BC) + After Holmes yells for quiet, the instrument Watson is playing is a mouth harp. (MB) + "Good answer, Good Answer! (clap clap clap)" from game show Family Feud. Also used in the short, "Fair Game". (RW, SS) + "Check your local listings." Since "Baywatch" is a syndicated show, when it's on varies from station to station, so this phrase is used whenever it's advertised. (MB) + Dot says, "Sometimes it's just worth the Hasselhoff," as in David, star of "Baywatch". (RW, SS) "Rest In Pieces" --- 0 Skippy quotes the 'Farm Film Celebrity Blowup" sketch from SCTV by saying Slappy made Walter "blow up good." (CL) + Perry Mason: the famous tv lawyer who starred in his tv show and specials from the 50's all the way through to the 80's. (SS) + "Hotel California": Title of an Eagles song, and also referenced in "Hurray for Slappy". (AV) - Voice note: Sid and Beany are voiced by Jack Burns and Avery Schreiber, who together had a very popular comedy act in the 60s. (MB) - One of the hardest things to do is write a good dumb line, and Beanie's "If you're not dead, how come you're talkin' to me?" is a damn good dumb line. (CL) + Sid and Walter's question marks, with which Walter assaults Beanie: This is an excellent ref to the original Felix the Cat series, where Felix would quite often get question marks and exclamation points appearing above him (a throwback to the problem of emotional expression for a b&w character in a silent film, ie, how the heck do you get him to emote??) and use them as devices for solving whatever problem was immediately before him. (MK) + The villains coughing after chuckling at their scheme to get Slappy was done before in "Scare Happy Slappy". (AV) - Mary Hartless, cheerful and perky at the funeral. hehhehehe. (AV) Nit Several of the male background toons have female voices. (JW) DYN In the church there are seven-arms Yiddish candlesticks, common at synagogues. (DG) + Slappy's remark ("Like I always say: Give people what they want.") has been around a long time & attributed to lots of Hollywood figures. In Halliwell's "Filmgoer's Companion", it's attributed to Red Skelton at Harry Cohn's funeral. Halliwell quotes Skelton as saying, "It proves what they always say: give the public what they want to see, and they'll come out for it." Harry Cohn was the chief of Columbia Pictures for many years. (RN) + The signs at the chapel are show-business oriented. A theatre is likely to have a "Performers' Entrance", and any place that does several shows a day might have a "Next Show (or in this case, Funeral) x Minutes" sign. (MB, SS) - Watch where Slappy hits Walter with the clubs. Oy!!! (AV) + Slappy's humorous eulogy, is reminiscent of a scene from "Amazon Women on the Moon" where the wife of the late Harvey Putnik (I think) ends up giving a lengthy comedy routine. Style of humor is the same also -- A sentence with a eulogy like start, but ending in a rim- shot humor line. (RW) 0 "Talk about stone faces. I get more laughs on Easter Island," is a ref to the mysterious stone carvings in the shape of large heads which inhabit that island. They are very old and nobody really knows who put them there. (SS) + "...I got a Mah Jongg game at three," Mah Jongg is an ancient Chinese game using marked tiles and is similar to gin rummy. Four players take tiles from a wall and try to build four sets of three (either three-in-a-row or three-of-a-kind) and a pair. There are two versions of the game. The regular version, which is very easy-going, and the "little Jewish grandmother" tournament version in which only certain combinations are allowed, according to the Mah Jongg Association. (JW) Nit Times on the bombs: Walter's watch reads 11:45; on Bomb 1 (in podium), the time reads 10:00; it's 9:00 when Slappy takes it out of the podium; on Bomb 3 the time reads 11:00....and why is there a fuse on a time bomb? (AV) ? Probably because there was one in "Daffy The Commando", a WB cartoon from WWII, in which Daffy makes a big deal about getting the right time from Kommandant Von Vultur, so he can set the clock on a bomb which -- in the next cut -- has a fuse burning on it when he hands it to the Kommandant. (MrC) + "Now that's what I call embalming (bombing)," Embalming fluid is what you use to preserve dead bodies. (SS) + "...there's no dyin' in the world of cartoons! Well, Bonkers." --See note on Bonkers in "Deduces Wild"-- (SS) "U.N. Me" --- + The tune is based on "Down By The River Side", an old hymn. (MB) + The United Nations building is, in fact, located on First Avenue between 42nd and 48th Sts, near the east river in New York City. (BD) + When Yakko sings the line "New York, on 42nd. St.", he is joined briefly by a chorus line. It's a ref to the title song from the musical "42nd Street" ("On the avenue I'm takin' ya to...42nd Street") is always accompanied by a leggy line of chorus girls. (SC) - 42nd Street *is* indeed a musical not only about chorus girls, but about the lure of Broadway. It takes place during the Depression. A bankrupted director tries to produce one last big show to try and save his career. The only financial backing he can get is from a rich Texan who says that his girlfriend must play the lead if he is to provide money. A shy girl from Allentown, PA auditions for the play and in her nervous bumbling opening night, causes the lead to break her leg. The show, which had a lot riding on it for a lot of people, seemingly must close and fail. Everything gets sorted out by the end, tho. The play gave us songs like "We're in the Money", "Lullaby of Broadway", "Shuffle Off to Buffalo", and of course, "42nd Street". It is a very dance-intensive show, with many Chorus girl tap numbers. (ES) + "Boutros Boutros Golly Gee". Ouch. Boutros Boutros Ghali is the name of the current Secretary General of the U.N. (MB) DYN The Nigerian has a "Nigerian Express" traveler's check. Don't leave Lagos without it. (AV) DYN Yakko and Wakko are drooling over a book titled, "Girls of the World". (SS) DYN The reflections of Dot in the mirrors are all different. (WS) + The tossing food at Wakko, climaxed by Dot handing him a mint which sends him crashing through the floor, is a ref to "Monty Python & the Meaning of Life", where they feed the world's fattest man, and then the waiter hands him a mint, which causes him to explode. (JM) DYN The Warners and the Dutch tourists exchange clothing while in the elevator. (SS) + The soda spills on the priceless painting to reveal one of those pictures of dogs playing poker. (MB, SS) DYN Squit with the olive branch. A takeoff of the dove and olive branch, representing peace. Squit made a similar cameo in the ep. "Noah's Lark". (SS) ? I saw the Lawyer from Hearts Of Twilight (the one who says "Isn't that SCARY??), and 'P' from The Chicken who Loved Me in the crowds. (WENDOID) + "Beat our swords into liverwurst" is a variation on the biblical reference to beating swords into plowshares, which basically means giving up war for peace. Negotiating peacefully between nations and avoiding war is the basic mission of the U.N. (MB) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #73*** Note on Alternative Lyric: "Penny Lane-y" + The visual is a very toony, VERY good re-creation of the cover of the Beatles album, "Abbey Road". "Penny Lane" is the name of one of the Beatles' songs from the "Magical Mystery Tour" album. Wakko voices the line here. Very fitting considering that Jess Harnell got the part of Wakko by using his impression of the Beatle, Ringo Starr. (SS, NV) DYN Scratchy is bare-footed, much like Paul was on the cover. Will this start a spate of "Scratchy is dead" rumors? Transposing the characters onto the album cover yields: Scratchy = John Lennon, Dot = Ringo, Wakko = Paul, and Yakko = George. (NV) - Wakko should have been barefooted, going by his position on the album cover, but at least they got the walking out of step part... (WENDOID) - For more info on the strange connections between the Warners and the Beatles, visit my Animaniacs/Beatles page at: http://www.geocities.com/wakkanne (dontcha LOVE shameless plugs?). (SS) "A Hard Day's Warners" --- + Extensive spoof of Beatles' 1964 flick, "A Hard Day's Night". Other Beatles films spoofed en passant. (Jon, SS) + It starts in black & white (and red noses) with the Warners running from fans while singing a parody of "A Hard Days Night" ("Running from our Fans"). In the opening of the Beatles' movie, "A Hard Day's Night" (which BTW, was filmed in B&W), the Beatles are running from their fans, trying to catch their train. (JW, SS) + Two of raving fans are Elmyra of Tiny Toons and Toondom's Biggest Fan, who they use a lot. (Jon, JW) + Magazine "Insanity Fair" = Vanity Fair. (Jon) DYN They are wearing wrong outfits. Wakko looks good in a skirt! (Jon) 0 In the beginning of the cartoon, it shows the Warners jumping in and out of garbage cans. In "Of Mouse and Man", Brain is riding on a train and some punks approach him, he proceeds to throw them out of the train into--you guessed it, the EXACT SAME GARBAGE CANS! (it's the exact same scene, okay.) (Maverick) + Direct ref to the movie: The sibs run into their dressing room Scratchansniff (like the Beatles' road manager in the movie) yells at them a bit, then makes them reply to their fan mail. (JW, SS) + Elvis makes obligatory cameo. (Jon) + The fan mail scene: In A Hard Day's Night, it is Ringo that gets the load of mail. Yet ANOTHER connection between Wakko and Ringo! The others blame it on his nose, say that Ringo has a large family, then say that it must have cost him a fortune in stamps... (WENDOID, JW, SS) + A number of cartoon booths at the convention were real cartoons, obvious onces: Tiny Toon Adventures and Batman the Animated Series. The Mask, the Jim Carrey movie and the cartoon (with Rob Paulsen's voice). (BEC) + In overhead shot of convention, look for "Carrotblanca" ref; there are at least two. (Jon) + John Wilkes Booth is the actor who shot Lincoln. He ought to be sorry! (Jon) + The Warners meet up with a dire fan, but fast-talk her into thinking that they aren't them. GIRL: "What to they look like?" WAKKO: "They look exactly like them." In the movie, a woman stops John Lennon in the hall. She insists that he's "him". WOMAN: "You look just like him." JOHN: (looking in mirror) "Do I?" (JW, SS) - Was I the only one expecting the fan-lady to think they were the Two Tones? (Jon) + Unmasked = The Mask, obviously. (Jon) + Masks change Warners to Elmyra, then Tex Avery's Wolf (from "Red Hot Riding Hood", among others). (Jon) + "And we did all that without computers..." - the movie, not the cartoon used a lot of fancy computer animation to make the star look like a moron. (spurdy, JW) + They hold a press conference in "A Hard Day's Night" as well. Notice the reporters in the cartoon all have British accents. The reporters ask ridiculous questions and the Beatles give equally ridiculous answers as the Warners do here. (JW, SS) + "Fame" was a movie and tv series about aspiring actors/dancers. (Jon) + On the classic 16-Ton Weight gag: The practice of using ton weights that are powers of two originates in the old method of weighing cargo for shipping. These weights, weighing 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 tons can then be combined to balance any weight up to 31 tons. This is also the origin of the weight for the song "16 Tons", in case you're wondering. (Yes, the song isn't about shipping, but a similar weighing system was used in mining.) The 16 ton weight therefore naturally became a Very Heavy Object. (BD) + "They Want To Laugh" = "Can't Buy Me Love" (RF) + Disney riff: castle, Yakko as Tinkerbell, clip from Beauty & the Beast ballroom sequence, best known for extensive use of computers and very few funny bits. (Jon) DYN The countdown test pattern shows "3... 2... $..." (SS) + Wakko's head on Belle's body is dancing with the Beast as in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". (JW, GS) + The bit during the second song with the succession of freeze- frames of the Warners (and Mr. Director) making funny faces was taken from the end credits to the Monkees' TV show, where Mike, Micky, Davy, and Peter were shown in similar poses and angles behind the credits. I'm going to insist that it's a Monkees ref for one reason: The color backgrounds. (RD) + This scene is also reminiscent of the end credits in "A Hard Day's Night". Two poses were exact from the movie: Yakko, holding up his hands up to his eyes like binoculars (John Lennon) and the one of the back of Yakko's head (George Harrison). The brightly colorful backgrounds cause me to point this reference at the Monkees' bits (which were stolen from the Beatles to begin with...) "A Hard Day's Night" was entirely in black & white; this short was not. Which is probably why they went with the background color ref from the Monkees' tv show. (SC, SS) "Gimme A Break" --- + Parodies segments of several movies: "Die Hard", "Speed", airplane disaster movies, James Bond movies. (DG) - Actors mentioned and appearing: Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brad Pitt, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Wesley Snipes, (Jon, DG, SS) + Pogs: really silly fad among kids involving small circular pieces of cardboard. (Jon) Nit Since when does grass crack? (Jon) + "Sitz bath". I'm not exactly sure what it is but I know it involves a tube of some sort.(Don't really want to know where it goes) You can usually find Sitz bath kits in the incontinence section of your local Pharmacy. I gather it's for the elderly. (BigGoobie) + Warners in bath: Mr. Bubbles, Plucky Rubber Ducky. (Jon) I believe that this could be an additional spoof to the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" movie (why not? this episode is laced with them). It's the scene where John is in the bathtub. (SS) + The woman with Bruce Willis when he first appears is supposed to be Demi Moore, his wife in real life. The kids are, presumably, their kids. (RN) + First bit spoofs Die Hard. Another ref to the "Hair Club For Men". Actor is Willis, who is balding. (Jon) --See also Yakko Warner's World of Baldness in the CRGA-- + Chocolates on bench is Forrest Gump, but you knew that. (Jon) + Next up is Speed with Reeves, who was more wooden than usual in Bram Stoker's Dracula. (Jon) 0 Keanu Reeve's accent was a lot closer to how he sounded in the "Bill & Ted" flicks. (SS) + Nancy - Sluggo: ref to comic strip "Nancy". (Jon) - Any of you who've seen Speed remember how silly looking this jump was. We watched it on campus, and a groan of disgust went up. For whatever reason, the bus gets a lot of lift that really shouldn't be there unless there was a lot more slope to the freeway. In GAB, the road is actually heading downward into the pit, and then the bus jumps upward. (spurdy) ? "Huh? I don't get it." "You're not supposed to." I'm not sure if this was a crack at airline employees or at Hello Nurse personally. Still, it fits and was funny either way. (SS) + Huey, Dewie, Louie, Daisy: Eww! More Disney! (Jon) + When Slappy gets on the plane, she walks by a girl on a stretcher with an IV bottle. This is (ready for this?) a reference to Airplane's gag, which was, in turn, a reference to Airport 75. In the original, Linda Blair was being transported in the lounge area of the 747 on a stretcher for some sort of operation. (Russ) Wesley Snipes is Passenger 57, but he's wearing his outfit from Demolition Man. (Jon) + On the airplane: Clint Eastwood was seated. Slappy sits next to William Shatner, who does a take from "Nightmare at 20,000 feet", the famous Twilight Zone he starred in, and then uses Slappy's sponge to beam him onto the Enterprise! (BEC, Jon, SS) This episode was also redone in 1983's Twilight Zone The Movie but starred John Lithgow in the passenger role. (WBB) + Arnold Schwarzenegger was the pilot and dressed as he did in "True Lies" (BEC, Jon) The co-pilot was Tom Arnold, Arnie's "True Lies" sidekick. Jamie Lee Curtis was also in the cockpit. (spurdy, JJW) - Deregulation was a reduction in the number of laws that the airlines had to follow, particularly in routes and hubs. Many believe that it's reduced safety in the industry. (BEC) + Plane crashes, brief bit with the hungry survivors from Alive. (Jon, RN) - "Alive" is the true story of a Uruguayan rugby team that crashed in the Andes mountains in the 1970's. Survivors ate the dead and survived for about four months snowbound. 16 lived. (BEC, MHI) 0 The plane crash reminded me an awful lot of the crash at the beginning of "Cliffhanger." + Tony The Tiger is Frosted Flakes mascot; the one who always says, "They're Grrreat!" (Jon) + Poseidon: The Poseidon Adventure, a 70s disaster flick. (Jon) + Captains: Hook (Peter Pan, Hook), Kirk (Star Trek), Courageous (Captains Courageous), Bligh (Mutiny On The Bounty), and Stuebing (The Love Boat). (Jon) + Generic James Bond spoof, including guest appearance by mechanical Jaws from Universal Studios, which is also a ref to the silly Jaws character from several Moore-era Bond films, notably Moonraker (which bore no resemblance to the book, Moonraker, BTW). (Jon) "Please Please Please Get A Life Foundation" --- + Parody of a drug recovery center ad. - This short quotes parts of the original CRGA almost verbatim. (LC) - Several months ago I received email from Peter Hastings asking for copies of the CRGA by email and snail mail, which I provided. You can fill in the rest yourself. (WBB) - Like Knights questing for the Holy Grail, you have ended up becoming that which you seek--a Cultural Reference in the TV show Animaniacs. (furry) - Things in the first Geek's room. Yeah, we rewound the tape and freeze-framed...you think we'd pass up a challenge like that?: .Buster, Dizzy and Hampton dolls on the foreground shelf .Bugs, Tweety and Wakko dolls on facing shelf .Brain doll on the floor .Possibly a Slappy doll at the near left in the beginning .Big Minerva Mink poster .Small Dot Warner poster .Watertower bank .Kirk/Picard poster .Animaniacs poster .Bumper Sticker: "I speak Klingon" .Sign on door: "Flame at your own risk" ...Appropo for this group! .WB rug .Warner Brothers bedspread .A Wakko picture .A model of the U.S.S. Enterprise hanging from the guy's ceiling, except the body of the enterprise is in a really .odd spot in relation to the nacells. but Ahhh let's not be anal. (WY) .Possibly a Brain snowy ball as well as the A! snowy ball. (List compiled by Bryan Chaney and Red Adept) 0 Okay, so like in the opening scene, the guy at the computer says that Slappy races a roadrunner, which he says is a Dodge Charger R/T variant of the 60's.. Well it's NOT. The Plymouth Roadrunner is a Dodge CORONET variant in the 60's while the Dodge Charger *R/T* is a variant itself of a normal Dodge Charger while the Roadrunner didn't become a variant of the Charger until the *70's*. How could they get that wrong? (BB) --See "Little Old Slappy From Pasadena" in the CRGA-- DYN The coffee in the mug when Baloney was about to come on was a clear reference to Jurassic Park, when the same thing was done with numerous liquids that shook as dinosaurs romped around... (Berna) + I can now reveal the error that I spotted in this segment when the folks at WBA showed it to the Animania IV group... In the first geek's speech near the end, when he talks about the Beverly Hills 90210 reference in the Pinky and the Brain intro, he says that the chalkboard has BH90201 on it. This is, as anyone who is familiar with the intro or the CRGA entry referencing it can see, incorrect; he should have said BH91210. (JM) - What Jay didn't mention is that within 10 seconds of the laughter ending when we were shown PPPGALF at Animania IV, he pointed out this error to WBA. (Note that he was seeing it for the first time and did not have a copy of the CRGA handy.) After a moments reflection, Peter Hastings (I think) made the comment "It's very layered, isn't it?" Now everyone can decide for themselves (or debate it here)... Did WBA make the "error" on purpose? or was it a hook for us to byte? Remember, the folks at WBA are pretty damn sharp. (RW) It was at that point that Hastings named Maynard the PPPGALF's "Poster Boy". (SC) + At the end of the cartoon, the third "Please" is misspelt with two "e"s. I think that was intentional. And the "Iris Out On The Nose" bit's been done. Notes on gag credit: "Surlaw Eht T'nsaw Luap, Surlaw Eht Saw Okkay" + It's backwards: "Paul wasn't the walrus, Yakko was the walrus." This refers to the Beatles song "I Am The Walrus", from "Magical Mystery Tour" hence the backwards lettering of the gag credit. (JEO, Lari, SS) + In the Beatles' later years, odd lyrics, forwards and backwards, began appearing in their songs saying things like "Paul is the Walrus" and later, "The walrus is dead". Clues even popped up in pictures on the Beatles' album covers. The story, (which turned out to be an elaborate hoax), was that Beatle, Paul McCartney, had died in a car accident years earlier and was replaced without the public even knowing it. These odd clues were supposedly trying to tell the fans what couldn't be said in person. (SS) + This is also parodying another of the Beatles' songs, "Glass Onion" from The Beatles (the white album). Here are the lyrics in question, as best as I can remember them: "I've told you about the Walrus and me. You know that we're as close as can be. Well, here's another clue for you all: The Walrus is Paul." (Mat) - In the film Magical Mystery Tour, the Beatles sing "I Am the Walrus" while wearing animal costumes. It was actually John who was wearing the walrus costume in that scene. He wrote the line about "the walrus was Paul" partly as sarcasm -- all of "Glass Onion" is a complaint about people who read too much into Beatles songs, actually sorta like PPPGALF now that I think about it -- and partly as a conciliatory gesture toward Paul, because they were fighting a lot around that time. (BH) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #74*** "The Tiger Prince" --- + Note-for-note parody of the opening of Disney's "The Lion King", except for the "fall down, go boom" part. + The female singer is none other than the voice of Elmyra, Cree Summer! Poor little tiger-HEAD! (AV) DYN In the imitation of the African chant, you can hear them say, "I know eets joost a lotta walla." (SS) + `Walla' is the industry word for background dialogue. (RO) ? The line before it is definitely, "Ooh Galleria thatsa malla". (BD) + The TLK character Yakko parodies is Rafiki, the baboon. (DG) "The Kid in the Lid" --- + Parody of Dr. Seuss', "The Cat In The Hat", down to the animation stylings. (JW) + There's a ref to that case in which the parents went on vacation and left their kids unattended for a long time. ("...but in truth they'd been gone for a 90-day streak.") (JW) + Charlton Woodchuck is back, as 'Baynarts' from "Hollywoodchuck", the opener of "The 65th Anniversary Show" and "Nutcracker Slappy". He takes the place of the killjoy goldfish in the book. Charlton ends up in a much more ignominious place, though. :) (JW, SS, AV) + Dot and Wakko (Kid 2 and Kid 3) are Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the book. The water tower takes the place of the box the Things arrive in. (AV) - Wakko's reason for eating so much is revealed-- he's hypoglycemic! (poor kid) (JW) + Glidden is a brand of paint (available at a Standard Brands near you!). (BEC) + There's a ref to the Rice-A-Roni ads where Dot pulls up in a trolley car, and says "The San Francisco Treat" -- Rice-A-Roni's longtime slogan. I think that the "San Fransico Treat" bit was to point out "Plug here!" (JW, LC, BEC) + The hat of Yakko is similar to "the cat in the hat" character. (DG) DYN The military uniforms of the Warners are World War I style. (DG) DYN At the end of the "Kid in the Lid", they were eating green ham (as in Green Eggs and Ham) (Q-Girl, JW) "Method To Her Madness" --- - The Stanislavsky Method of Acting teaches the actor to enter into the mentality of the character. In order to fully understand the character, one must "become" the character. (DG, ED) --See show #13 in the CRGA-- + Skippy says something about "comrades", and Slappy calls him "Ivan" in response. This is a ref to the '50s phobia about Communism: the normal reference to the Soviets personalized was Ivan, much like the Germans were called Jerry in WWII. (JM) - Celebrities recognized: Marlon Brando (who acts with Skippy), Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Elizibeth Taylor, Ricardo Montalban, William Shatner, Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason (DG, BC, BEC, MB) - They did a little cheating/time compression here, mixing actors of different generations. Most of the people shown in the class came to prominence in the 50s and early 60s, while Nicholson made Easy Rider in '69. (MB) 0 At the end when they play pool-- from the movie "The Hustler", Jackie Gleason played Minnesota Fats and Paul Newman played the title character, "Fast" Eddie Felson. He reprised the character for "The Color of Money" a couple of years back. (MB, chance) + Marlon Brando played Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire", the origin of the "Stellaaaaa!" yell. (AV, BC) + Skippy's speech is from "On The Waterfront". (BC) + "Offer you can't refuse" is from "The Godfather". (BC) Notes on "All the Words in the English Language" segments + The melody (same as in "Yakko's World") is the Mexican traditional, "El Jarabe Tapatio". (DG) DYN The earphone-microphone Dot wear changes to the side of the head at the end of the short. (DG) + Dick Button is a figure skating commentator for ABC Sports. His performance here is in the exact style of his figure skating commentary... (JM) + Yes, his performance was perfect, right down to his pronouncing 'Yakko' wrong, like he does with half of the figure skaters. What he said sounded more like Yokko, when he was talking about the mistake. (WENDOID) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #75*** - Very surprised to see Pinky & The Brain back into the theme song for one episode. (RO) "The Presidents Song" --- + The song's to the tune of the "William Tell Overture by Rossini, aka, the "Lone Ranger" theme, but the first few notes of it are really from the president's "theme", "Hail To The Chief". (SS, LC) - As recorded on "Variety Pack," they said Jefferson wrote the Constitution. This was corrected to the "Declaration" in the cartoon version. (RN) DYN "The Flame" on the right as Jefferson writes the "Declaration of Independence". (BEC, ME) DYN When the Warners sing of the Civil War, they have the titles: Lieutenant Colonel Dot, Lieutenant General Wakko, and Brigadier General Yakko. Wakko's coat is too big on him. (SS) - When it mentions "Rutherford Hayes wins by just one vote", there's a drawing of a newspaper with "DEMOCRATS LEAD POLLS" and the following text (as best as I can make out): "...of the five year arc, the "Babylon 5" series ends...if I have anything to say about it it???? I do. If something more follows, we'll see what that is, but it won't be..."--fold--"...The 5 year arc is worked out considerable detail. 500 single spaced pages in a triple- encrypted file. There is a five- year story arc, yes. What's..."--fold--"...' holographic storytelling.' I asked him what the hell this meant. He said that the image of pictures side by side. linear storytelling, wasn't right. That..." --fold-- So, it's all stuff I've seen JMS write, though some lines are cut off. It's cool to see some ref to B5 in A! however subtle it is. I remember seeing some B5 stuff on a cubicle wall at WBA, so there's certainly one big B5 fan there. Apparently the person has access to r.a.s.t.b5, or read it off the Lurker's Guide. (RO) Nit "In 1913 Woodrow Wil-son takes us into World War I" While that was the year he was sworn in, it still leaves an impression that was the year the US joined the war, which of course was 1917. Furthermore, of the four battles flashed on the screen, only one (Argonne) is arguably a battle (or, more accurately, a campaign) in which US troops fought. Gallipoli, for example, was a campaign that featured British, French, Australian, New Zealand, Turkish and German troops, but no Americans. The Somme was principally a British- German conflict, and Verdun principally a French-German conflict, all three battles taking place *before* the US entry in 1917. If they want American battles/campaigns, they ought to try Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood, Catigny, and/or Meuse/Argonne (granted, there's not much to choose from, since US troops really had only about six months of sustained participation in combat, from about May to November, 1918.) (EOC) - In the recording, they said "Warren Harding, he does fine, It's Calvin Coolidge next in line." In the cartoon, this was corrected to "Warren Harding next in line. Calvin Coolidge he does fine." I question whether Coolidge really did fine, but he was better than Harding. Coolidge's policy of letting business do whatever it wants helped lead to the Great Depression, but the Republicans seem to believe his policies were better than what followed, and since I suspect there are a number of right wingers on the ANIMANIACS writing staff, I won't argue the point. (RN) - Note the change in lyrics. They changed "President Kennedy, he got shot" to "Kennedy had Camelot," (JW, BEC) For those of us who are old enough to vividly remember the Kennedy assassination it sounds a little too flip to reduce his role in history to "he gets shot" (although that REALLY is what he's remembered for). (RN) - "Clinton, first name Hillary!" changed to "Clintons, Bill and Hillary!" (JW) I'm not a Clinton fan, but even most Republicans have given up on espousing the idea that Hillary is really the one in charge. (RN) I think they just decided that it wasn't very funny (which it isn't), just as the conspiracy theories about kicking Clinton's sax out of the theme proved groundless. (Plato) + When they sing about Kennedy, the brothers dress up like JFK jr. and salute, taken from that footage of JFK's funeral procession. I can't tell whether they're being kind or not. (JW) "Don't Tread On Us" --- + The title, is a play on "Don't tread on me", a popular slogan during the American Revolution. (ME) - One proposed official flag for the U.S. (before the "Stars and Stripes" design was chosen) was a coiled rattlesnake with the caption "Don't tread on me". Ben Franklin used the image in an editorial cartoon either during or shortly after the revolution, depicting a snake cut into thirteen pieces, to show that cooperation was necessary. But that's another story. (BEC) - Akom forgot to color Pinky's nose in one segment (when Brain threatens to hurt him in a Neolithic primitive sort of way). Overall nice work by Akom. Their camerawork is much cleaner than Wang's, in general. (R0) Nit Pinky and the Brain are in the bell tower when Jefferson rings the bell, which is shown with the very noticeable signature crack... but, at the time the Declaration of Independence was signed (the Bell was rung to call citizens to the first public reading of it - 8 July 1776) the bell was *not* cracked! The bell began to crack during the 1800's, was repaired (by making the crack larger, so the edges would not vibrate against each other), but was finally silenced after it was rung for George Washington's birthday in 1846. (HB) - Contrary to popular belief, the Liberty Bell, was not created or commissioned for the American Revolution. In fact, it was made long before that. So why is it the *Liberty* Bell? It was crafted by an abolitionist who wanted a bell to ring every time a slave was freed. Cynicism made him use not-so-durable materials (hence the crack). As to why it was used for such patriotic events? Well, it was the cheapest bell the Continental Congress could find. They weren't exactly rich back then. (There also wasn't any income tax for over a century.) (JL) - The Boston Tea Party was actually in 1773. Note the "East India Tea Company" on the side of the box. The British government allowing the company to sell directly to the colonists, instead of through colonial merchants, is part of the reason the Party happened. (ME) 0 Detroit, Michigan is the home of Motown Records whose haydey in the 60's features well-choreographed signing groups. (ME) + The "Declaration of Independence" served notice to the world that the colonies and especially Britain intended to become an independent nation. (ME) + The substitute of the "Independence Declaration" is titled the "Obedience Declaration". (DG) + Pinky's response to AYPWIP? refers to "Yankee Doodle", the song made up by the British to ridicule the Americans but was instead used by the colonists to ridicule the British. (ME) + Ben Franklin is talking with John Adams, who later became the second President of the United States. Both were on the committee charged with drafting the Declaration. (ME) Nit Ben Franklin used a kite during a thunderstorm in 1752, not 1776, to find out if lightning was an electrical discharge. The experiment wasn't done the way depicted in the cartoon (and most everywhere else, to be fair) and the kite (luckily) was not struck by lightning. (EG, ME) I read somewhere that Franklin used another string that he kept dry to hold onto the wet string, and he stood in a stable, so that the lightning wouldn't zap him. From his experiments, he invented the lightning rod. (EG) I remember learning that he detailed the experiment in his journal, but never actually carried it out. I know that he *did* perform many important experiments in electricity, and I believe that he is responsible for messing up the sign of the electron's charge. (Note: I mean "messed up" in the nicest possible way.) (MMA) + French people are stereotyped in the U.S. as being rude. + Cameo appearance of Elmer Fudd (Looney Tunes). (DG) DYN The end title says "Fin", which means "End" in Spanish (and maybe in French). (DG) "The Flame Returns" --- + The Flame helps a caricature of writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and of course, the story is an adaptation of his "Paul Revere's Ride". (DG) + Paul Revere's friend is interpreted by Ralph the guard. (DG) + Other cameo appearances are: The little blue bird, Buttons, Rita and Runt, Yakko, Wakko and Dot, Slappy and Skippy. (DG) + The other birds with the Bluebird were two of the Girlfeathers. Yes, that is Chicken Boo. He only looks a little different because we've never seen him drawn by Wang before, but you only have to notice his coloring (albeit in "night colors") and his size to tell. (R0) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #76*** "Gimme the Works" --- 0 The hotdog seller resembles the one in the Disney movie, "Oliver and Company". (DG) - This is the shortest Animaniacs cartoon with a title card by a comfortable margin: it's 1:03, while the next shortest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, is 1:56. Quite a few segments of filler are longer than Gimme the Works...There seem to be two reactions to this one: either slack-jawed astonishment or rolling-on-the-floor laughter... and no in between. I was in the latter category... I love metahumor (humor about humor), and this one was dead on the mark for me. We can now scratch one off the list of "They'll never do that in a cartoon..." ...Still, I have to wonder... Why would they do one this short? That makes fitting it into an episode a bit difficult. While discussing it on IRC, we came up with one possibility: The gag matches up perfectly with the one used later in "Hercules Unwound". Could it be that they needed an extra minute of air time to make this episode work, and knocked this one out? Which came first? Only the producer knows for sure... In any case, this makes the first appearance of a real running gag in Animaniacs - at least intentionally - and it worked well. (JM) "Buttons in Ows" --- + The title is a double ref. It refers to Oz, as the whole ep is a take off of the movie Wizard of Oz, and the song "Buttons and Bows". (BC) - I've never seen "THE HARVEY GIRLS," so I can't say for certain that "Buttons and Bows" was not sung by Judy Garland in that picture. However, it seems unlikely because "THE HARVEY GIRLS was made in 1946, and two years later "THE PALEFACE," a Bob Hope movie, won the academy award for best song for "Buttons And Bows." Why would it win an academy award for that song if it had been in another picture two years previously? (RN) + This is a parody of MGM's "The Wizard of Oz", starring Judy Garland. Many elements were spoofed almost directly; there were a few alterations. (SK, DG) - The only other Wang-animated M&B we've seen so far is "Up the Crazy River". (RyH) - Buttons and Mindy look VERY differently drawn in this short!! Buttons more so than Mindy; Buttons looks very young and almost clean-cut, leaner, too. More rudimentary and simple than Buttons usually looks. (SK) + Many things flew by in the tornado; the most notable of which were the Warners rowing in a rowboat, and Wile E. Coyote in his infamous "Bat-Suit" with wings (NOT BatMAN, you fools :). (SK) + Yellow Brick Road became the Ochre Brick Road! (hee) (SK, DG) + When the house lands on Buttons, his feet curl up exactly the way the feet of the Wicked Witch of the East curled up when Dorothy's house landed on her (um, the witch, that is, not Dorothy). (MB) + "Oooh! Technicolor!" - a ref to the fact that Kansas sequences in the movie were B&W, whereas Oz sequences were color. (spurdy) 0 The good witch wears a headdress similar to Beetlejuice's (BC) DYN When Mindy reaches the entrance of Emerald City, there's a flower on her dress that wasn't there before. (DG) + The doorman was a perfect spoof of the movie. Basically, Dorothy just confuses him until he decides it's okkay for her to come in. Mindy is good at nothing else. (spurdy) - The Cowardly Lion was not very cowardly at all; in fact, he sliced and diced Buttons when they met face to face. (poor Buttons) (SK) + The Wizard was Brain. CLASSIC green-flamed floating face of Brain above a throne. :) (This would be a _hot_ cel, IMHO :) (SK, DG) - Both Brain and Pinky were behind the curtain with the "Wizard's" equipment. (SK) + Toto (Dorothy's dog) appears in the short. (DG) + The Wizard of Ows is interpreted by The Brain. (DG) - While they made the effort to have Buttons in the house & knocked on the head, this, unlike the movie, was very obviously not a dream. Consider the way they returned home. (spurdy) + The escape balloon featured in the film: the "wizard" is the only one who gets away, while Dorothy apparently wakes up. In Buttons in Owz, Buttons and Mindy ride the balloon to safety, and, since the balloon was real(the bit with the windmill), it stands to reason that Ows was real...let's not start another philosophy debate, tho. (RyH) "Hercules Unwound" --- 0 A parody of "Hercules Unchained". (BC, RN, JW) A godsawful movie starring Steve Reeves, in which he loses his memory, cheats on his wife, drinks a lot, and wrestles some tigers. The only reason I know is that it was on Mystery Science Theater 3000. (JW) + The signs on the signpost point to Delphi, Olympus, Athens, Sparta, and Gyro. All but the last are actual place names from the period. Gyro is a type of Greek sandwich. (MB) - Um... well, first of all, as long as we're being anal, the singular of "gyro" is gyros, the plural gyroi. Pronunciations a pain to indicate, though, without the International Phonetic Alphabet. The g should be pronounced as a voiced palatal fricative. For an english speaker this sounds mostly like a "y" with a bit of a "zh". The r should be trilled. The "oi" should be pronounced like the e in elephantiasis, not like in goyish or ehap...Frankly, however, just as I don't get mad when English speakers pronounce "hors d'oeuvres" as "ordrrrvz", I don't care when people say geerow. Gyro like gyroscope does kinda bother me, but frankly so does yeero. If you're going to affect a modern-greekk pronunciation, you can at least do it right. (Justin) DYN At the beginning, someone runs by in the background carrying a torch? This is a reference to the Olympic Games, which originated in ancient Greece. (MB) + In that initial pan (pun not intended) shot, there are grape vines in the foreground. These are correct for the setting and much beloved of Bacchus, god of wine. (MB) 0 The statues leading up to the one of Hercules are of Zeus, Hephaestus (god of the forge, and maker of Zeus' lightning bolts), and Artemis (goddess of the hunt). (MB) - I think the list Hercules holds up of the 12 tasks is correct. (MB) - Hercules had to perform all those labors because he'd killed someone in a fit of pique (he lost more relatives and friends that way), and Zeus told him that only his half-brother, King Euresthenes(sp?) could purify him of the crime. Due to some sibling rivalry, Heracles got stuck with twelve "impossible" tasks. But I guess that was too bloody and detailed for a short. (Mike) - Heracles' 12 labors were assigned to him from Hera (not Zeus.) Hera (who was Zeus' wife and the lady on the couch on Mount Olympus) gave Hercules 12 nearly impossible tasks to perform. The first, cleaning out the Aegean Stables, was accomplished by diverting a river through it (not by busting a dam). (DS) - Pinky & the Brain also appeared in this episode, with Pinky being called "Pinkus". (SK) + Pinky for a brief second imitates the famous pose of the discus- thrower. Also, shots of Olympus are accompanied by Wagnerian strains (via "What's Opera, Doc?"). (Plato) + The Warners appear as "Yakkoleus", "Wakkomeno" and "Afrodotty, the Goodness of cuteness". (DG) + The names the Warner Bros. give for themselves are Yakkolaus and Wakkomemnon, based on Menelaus and Agamemnon, which is appropriate because Menelaus and Agamemnon were also brothers. Menelaus was the King of Sparta whose husband Helen was taken away by Paris, starting the Trojan War. Agamemnon was the King of Mycenae. On the subject of names, the name "Pinkus" sounded more Roman than Greek to me, but I'm not really an expert on this. (RN) + Aphrodottie's entrance (I guess she'll put up with the name if it involves godhood) on a giant clam is based on the famous painting by Botticelli, "The Birth of Venus". (Venus was the Roman version of Aphrodite.) (MB) + Socrates' most famous teaching technique (known as the Socratic Method) was to ask his students leading questions, forcing them to think about the answers. Either it works a whole lot better with philosophy (Soc's real field) than with fact-based subjects, or he's stuck with one braindead class here. :-) (MB) ? The classroom instructor uses Roman numerals... did the Greeks use Roman numerals? I was under the impression that they didn't, but please correct me if i'm wrong. (SM) + Actually, that was meant to be Aristotle, who founded the Lyceum, the first university of Western Civ ("Lyceum...rah..."); notice also that Aristotle paces back and forth a bit, which was supposedly a habit of his that led to his teaching method to be called "peripatetic" (i.e. "wandering"). (GHOST DANCE) ? Did anyone else think Zeus looked like Orson Welles? This would have been funny in its own right, but given that the Brain was trying to take his place, it was particularly amusing. (spurdy) + A fragment of the Pastoral symphony plays after the stables are cleaned; refs to that sequence in "Fantasia" which has a Greek god theme. (BC) - There was a Trojan Horse in the stables which Hercules was using as a manure receptacle. It had a sign on it saying "Open." In case the Trojans were as dumb as Hercules? (ASL) + Medusa, whilst chatting with Peg, refers to the winged messenger as "Mercury". This was, also, the Roman name. The Greeks referred to him as Hermes (which has nothing to do with social diseases, btw). (SM) + Medusa/Rivers' joke about Mercury ("I just flew down from Olympus, and my feet are killing me!") refers to the fact that Hermes (Mercury was the Roman name) is often depicted as having wings on his ankles. (MB) + Another Useless Fact (re above) If I recall my mythology correctly... When Perseus beheaded Medusa, the winged horse, Pegasus sprang from the blood that spilled out of her (um) severed parts. So, Medusa and Pegasus in the same place doesn't work. (raven) - Oddly, Hercules did NOT turn to stone when he looked at Medusa, even close up. It would have made for a shorter toon', but I was looking forward to seeing that... (SK) - BTW, since she was never referred to by name, we can't be sure that's Medusa. Medusa was one of three Gorgons, but the only one who wasn't immortal. She was beheaded by Perseus. (This has been another Useless Fact.) (MB) + "Come and share the moment"- General Foods International Coffees ad. (BC, CL) + Pinkus and the Brain were being chased by the three-headed dog Cerberus, who guarded the entrance to Hades. (DS) --See also, "Hot Bothered and Bedeviled" in the CRGA-- DYN The markings on the top of one of the buildings on Olympus are those of a helipad, or helicopter landing pad. (MB, SK) + Pinky speaks of when Bactine is invented after he and Brain get banged up. Refers to a commonly used disinfectant which supposedly doesn't sting. (SK) - Let's just say that everyone's concepts of the Greeks and the Romans are pretty mixed-up. Roman Numerals: The Greeks used the first few letters of their alphabet (plus the digamma, which disappeared from the alphabet at some point). (MB) + Names of gods and heroes. Mercury, as you pointed out, should have been Hermes. Hercules should have been Heracles. (Mike) + Togas. The Greeks didn't wear them, and that thing Hercules was wearing _certainly_ wasn't a toga. Proper togas are made of yards and yards of wool, and they don't stay on unless you stand with great dignity (the famous Roman gravitas), and hang on to key portions with one hand. (Mike) - Of course, stuff like "Hercules Unchained" was just as bad, so maybe this was more satire :-) (Mike) Notes on Wheel Of Morality "2B or not 2b; that is the pencil." + "To explore Rush Limbaugh?" Rush Limbaugh is the most prominent conservative talk-show host in the U.S., and is, shall we say, rather large. (MB, SK) + "To share a pie with Newt Gingrich?" Newt Gingrich is the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, and probably the most powerful person in the U.S. Congress. The debate currently under way in Congress is over the federal budget, often referred to as "splitting the pie" of government funds. (MB, SK) + "To be, or not to be" is, of course, from Shakespeare's "Hamlet", though the original quote ends "that is the question." Pretty good trick, having a pencil be sharp and pointless at the same time. :-) (MB) + 2B is a grade of pencil "lead" hardness, being a fairly soft lead. The most common, of course, is 2H...or "not 2B." (RJR) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #77*** "This Pun For Hire" --- + Pokes fun at all those old dee-tec-a-tive movies. (SS) + Parody of the movie "The Maltese Falcon", starring Humphrey Bogart. Instead of a falcon, the statuette is Squit, The Maltese Pigeon. (AH, DG) DYN Yakko's reading "Pulp Fiction" in the opening scene. (SM, SS) The ref that perhaps both A! & Tarantino were aiming for was the fact that back in the 30's-50's there were quite a lot of cheap dime-store novels, and they were mostly printed up on the cheapest paper the printers could find... ones with lots of "pulp" in them.. hence, "pulp" fiction. (SM) + When Yakko says to the mysterious Hello Nurse, "So sister, what's your story?" Dot replies with "I was born in the wagon of a traveling show/ Mama used to dance for the money they'd throw/ Papa would..." which is from "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves", by Cher. (JW) DYN Between the time Dot does the Cher thing and Wakko makes his "I'm confused..." comment about it, 1 minute and 35 seconds have passed. Phew! Kinda makes you wonder how that little guy's mind really works. (SS) + The "that is exactly correct" bit is a Groucho Marx ref. --See show #27 in the CRGA-- + The woman who keeps coming out singing ("No, not her, HER!") It sure looks like Bette Midler, who did recently star in a period piece set in the 1940's ("For The Boys") (BEC, SS) + Freakazoid made an appearance. (BEC) ? Dot's inquiring of Freakazoid, "And you aaaarre...": Could this be a reference to David Spade's incredibly annoying SNL character? (SM) + Dot was dressed like Carmen Miranda (BEC) + Yakko gets slipped a mickey... Mouse. (JW) - The statuette is reclaimed by Hello Nurse in the name of Paramount, by Minerva Mink in the name of Fox, by Ralph in the name of Universal and independently by Dr. Scratchansniff. (DG) + Paramount is owned by Gulf+Western and Fox by Rupert Murdoch. Luckily for Ralph, Universal was sold by Matsushita to Seagram's. (BEC, SC) ? The way Ralph was stumbling over his words, he reminded me of the big dumb Giant/Ghost of Christmas Present character from Disney's "Mickey and the Beanstalk" and "Mickey's Christmas Carol". (SS) + There's a TRIPLE reference at the end... The first is to Shakespeare's "THE TEMPEST", when Prospero says, "We are such stuff as dreams are made on." The second, like so many refs in this cartoon, is to "THE MALTESE FALCON". At the end of the film, Sam Spade (played by Humphrey Bogart) is holding up the fake statue of the Falcon which everyone has been chasing after throughout the film (not knowing it was a fake until the end), and someone - I think it's a cop - asks him what it is, and he says, "The stuff that dreams are made of." I may not have his quote exactly right, but that's close. The third, is to DREAMWORKS, the studio formed by Katzenberg, Spielberg, and Geffen. (RN, JW) "Star Truck" --- + In case you've been living in a cave for the past 30 years (or just got a TV this morning), this is a Star Trek parody. 'Obvious' varies from person to person, eh? (RH) - Well done. Trek fans will throw their phasers at their TVs. The rest of us will simply sit back and laugh. It's a real shame that voice crediting rules (one role per actor per episode) keep us from knowing who did which voice, since most of them were quite good. (The one that missed the mark the most, IMHO, was Spo[rc]k, and that's surprising after the dead-on Nimoy in Karaoke-Dokie.) (JM) + The Starfleet delegates are playing an old Atari game. I'd guess Space Invaders. (RH) - Wakko's "Squatty, Squatty, Squatty!" sounds a little like his lines from Potty Emergency. (RH) + The whole thing about Scotty's weight is probably because he was sizably larger in the films than in the series. As an interesting side note, this is probably one of the first times that a character's number of fingers is accurate; James Doohan has only four fingers on one hand (He lost one in an accident years ago). (BEC) DYN There are three restrooms: men, women, and alien (with a picture of the alien from "Alien".) (RH, JW) + The Warners run out of the potty, and start humming the original Star Trek theme. (SS) + "We're Kingons! Get it?" a race of aliens of the Star Trek world. (SS) + "Live long and perspire." = "Live long and prosper." + When the Warners are suggesting all sorts of adventures to the captain, many were refs to actual Star Trek episodes or movies. (SS) Harry Mudd, "Spock's Brain", "Space Seed", "The Trouble with Tribbles", Star Trek 2, Star Trek 4, "Plato's Stepchildren" (or did Spock chase Nurse Chapel in that ep? It would have made more sense if she walked through that door) (RH) Also, "The City on the Edge of Forever". (That's the one that was written by my very own Harlan Ellison!) (AM) DYN Wakko shines the light into the captain's ear and it comes out the other side, nearly blinding Dot. (SS) + "I wanna swim with the whales!" is a ref to "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". (SS) + The donuts falling out of the chute onto Scotty look a lot like the tribbles falling out on Kirk in the original Star Trek series. (AH) + The evil villian is Khan Soong, from the TOS episode "Space Seed" and later the movie "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn". His ship was a good representation of the "Avenger" class USS Relient, NCC-1864 (latest date commissioned February 16th, 2275), a starship that Kahn hijacks in the movie and uses to attack the Enterprise. (BEC, RH) Kahn, of course, was played by Ricardo Montalban. (BEC, DG) - During Star Trek 2, Stardate 8130.3(January 28th), Chekov was the first officer on the Reliant and had a rank of Commander (promoted Stardate 7823.6). But in this episode, he's still an ensign stationed on the Enterprise. This covers the time span from Stardate 3034.6 through 6384.91. (RH) ? When the crew members are shown getting gassed, is that Commander Wil Riker of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"? - Red meant security and engineering (or ships services) in the old series. It switched to meaning command in the new series. And, yes, you're right. Anyone wearing a red shirt was definitely doomed to certain death. :) (BEC) DYN When Yakko sits in the captain's chair, he pulls out a tribble from the "Star Trek" ep. "Trouble With Tribbles". (BEC, SS) 0 Dot's "Fancy Fan Dance" is taken from Uhura's Fancy Leaf Dance in Star Trek V: The Search For A Plot. (JW) + Did anybody else notice that Pinky and the Brain had KEYCHAIN phasers? A salute to the merchandising that is Star Trek. (Russ) - --See show #60 in the CRGA-- "Go Fish" --- - Well, if we needed any more proof that Wakko was weird... (JM) + Yakko and Dot are reading Variety magazine. This pops up a lot since "Variety Speak". (SS) + That bit with Dot: "Ward, I'm worried about the Beaver," is from the 50's television program, "Leave It To Beaver." (MM, SS) DYN The picture of Scratchansniff on the wall with darts in it. (SS) "Multiplication" --- + The song (which has a slightly different tune than the one on the CD) is a tribute/rip-off of Tom Lehrer's New Math. The music and some of the lyrics are nearly identical. (JW) It matched the version on the CD pretty well, and worked for me. The music is _not_ the same as Tom Lehrer's "New Math", but it's close. (JM) - Bit of trivia: I think Ms. Flamiel holds the record for highest ratio of animation studios to appearances: 1.000..three appearances, three studios. (Of course, this excludes one-shot characters.) (JM) Nit When Yakko was singing on the desk after multiplying the ones digits, the problem was already finished on the blackboard behind him. The unfinished portion looked different in colour/brightness from the first ... as if it were intended to be added later? (Still, a solitary error in a relatively exceptional episode.) (SF, BT) Nit And Yakko carried that 5 into the hundred's place, not the ten's place, despite what the lyrics said! The hundred's place, I tell you! (AM) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #78*** "The Sound of Warners" --- - The 11:32 first act of this cartoon gives this episode the latest first commercial break of any episode thus far. That act may even be the longest single act in the show's history. Add in the 1:07 theme song and you've got quite a fair span of time without a commercial break for a half-hour show. (RO) The previous longest was Plane Pals, at 11:22. (JM) - Song Parodies -- ."Burbank" = "The Sound of Music" ."A Problem Like Maria" = "Children Like the Warners" ."Poison Oak" = "Edelweiss" ."When I Am Afraid" = "My Favorite Things" ."A Grumpy Chicken" = "The Lonely Goatherd" ."Eat All Your Oatmeal" = "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" DYN The Maul from "Survey Ladies". (SS) + Brunella Flanderghast = Maria of "The Sound of Music". - Both Hello Nurse and Ralph can sing if they try. (JM) 0 Little-known fact: When speaking Morse code (for practice, usually), dots are pronounced "dit". (JM) + "We'll sing, we'll dance, we'll bicycle wearing clothes made of upholstery fabric," Maria and the kids did all this stuff in "The Sound of Music". (SMC, SS) + Scratchansniff says to Wakko, "Look who's talking, Mr. Potty Emergency!" That's a ref to one of Wakko's episodes, "Potty Emergency". (SS) ? "Scratchy's itchy!"?! Aw, c'mon, guys...isn't that a little blatant? (For the three readers who've never seen The Simpsons, their favorite cartoon is "The Itchy & Scratchy Show".) (JM) Nit The Warners aren't sleeping in their bunks. (Plato) + Yakko mumbles in his sleep, "United States, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti, Peru ... You left one out! Left One Out," is another reference to "Yakko's World". BTW, the one he left out was, "Panama". (SS, RO) + Dot swoons in her sleep, "Mmm, Newt Gingrich!" This is foreshadowing the upcoming song `Dear Mr. Gingrich'. I wonder if the brief musical cue at this moment is part of that song. (RO) + "Why don't you go bug the kids on 'Goof Troop'?" They're poking fun at another Disney series. (SS) 0 Refs in the song "When I am Afraid": ."fun Bob Hope specials" - From how A! treats Bob Hope, this line is definitely sarcasm. ."Spam on the griddle" - Spam, the world famous processed luncheon meat in a can. .Mary Heart's the co-host of "Entertainment Tonight". A! has it's own parody of her, Mary Heartless. .Shriners are famous for those miniature cars that they drive in parades. ."paintings of children with really huge eyeballs" - called "moppets". (see "Hooked on a Ceiling" in CRGA for more) ."Paul Harvey's head" - Paul Harvey, it turns out, is the guy they parody in Freakazoid!, in those "Now you know...the rest of the backstory!" blackouts. There's more about him in the F!CRG at http://www.netcom.ca/~jacjud/freaka.html (LC) .Leonard Maltin's the famous movie critic, who puts out those video review books every year. ."those Olsen twins" - Need I even comment? Their sappy videos make my skin crawl. (SS) - The Warners' animation changes quite a bit when they visit the kid and her dad. (JM) What was with that middle segment when the Warners describe to the girl (Ricola -- the name of some Swiss cough drops, thus poking around the reference area for The Sound of Music) about their moral code? The artwork was totally different there. They had separated teeth, the frame rate was different... Much of the time it didn't look like Wang at all. Was this segment added in later, or was there a conscious effort to make the Warners seem different when they appeared in "real life"? (RO) My guess is it was added later. I even thought it might have been animated by Akom. (Plato) - This sets the Warners' moral code: They can't hurt someone until they've been antagonized. Because Prunella simply was too nice, they couldn't do anything, no matter how annoyed they were by her. This kind of proves the argument people give to those who claim the Warners are destructive for no reason: They're only purposefully destructive to those who deserve it. (RO) DYN Their train appears again, and again is number 49. I'm told this number is significant for some reason. Haven't figured it out yet. (RO) - Is it me, or is it really kinky for the Warners to nod and "uh huh" enthusiastically at the idea of being spanked? I'm reminded of Yakko's wink in `Boot Camping' when he says, "Frankly, we'd prefer the spanking machine." (RO) - I was pleased to see Wang didn't draw Slappy all puffy, as usual. Why can't they do her own cartoons like that? (Plato) Nit Slappy says, "If Skippy comes by..." which sounds more like he doesn't live there (as the very first cartoons suggested, as opposed to the others from this season). (Plato) + The house in Austria that Prunella crashes into is the Von Trapp residence. (Maria, the Julie Andrews character in "The Sound of Music", was a novice in a convent who was assigned as a nanny to the Von Trapp children, and ended up falling in love with and marrying their widowed father, Captain Von Trapp. It's based on a true story.) (SS, MB) + In the end, Mary Poppins shows up to be the Warner's new nanny. Both nanny-type characters from "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music" are played by the same actress, Julie Andrews. (SS) "Yabba Dabba Boo" --- - There's a new Chicken Boo theme, eliminating the question about what the line is. (JM) One of the legendary arguments on a.t.a was over the line "You wear a disguise to look like human guys." Some people insisted that the final word was `guise', even though that makes no sense in syntax or grammar. So those sneaky WBA people decided to solve the argument by throwing new lyrics at us: Chicken Boo, What's the matter with you? You don't act like the other chickens do. You're jumbo-sized and you wear a disguise But you're not a man, you're a chicken, Boo. (And the closing lyrics...) He's jumbo-size and he wears a disguise But he's not a man, he is Chicken Boo. (RO) - Once again, we meet the crew at WBA. The guy at the head of the table, leading the meeting, is a caricature of senior producer, Tom Ruegger. The one with the frizzy hair is called "Shecky" by the Ruegger character. This is Nicholas Hollander's nickname. I don't remember what Nick looks like, but I guess it's a safe bet that that character is supposed to be him. The other speaking male character is a caricature of producer Peter Hastings. We also see Andrea Romano, John P. McCann, Paul Rugg, and Audu Paden, Sherri Stoner(?) as well as more folks I don't recognize. (RO, JM, BC) + "Larry Gelboo" is a reference to Larry Gelbart, noted TV writer/story editor. If my memory's right, he worked extensively on M*A*S*H. (RD) + "I hear he completely salvaged Casper.": Sherri Stoner and Deanna Oliver did exactly that. (JM) + In case you really missed the boat, the movie they are discussing is "The Flintstones" which was produced by Amblin. Note that Amblin offices are Acme Loo (from TTA) (BC) - Unlike "Yes, Always", none of the staff provides their own voices. Too bad, really... (At least, if they did, they weren't credited.) (JM) - The Tom Ruegger character is Rob Paulsen -- pretty much his natural voice, too. Had they done their own voices, they would have been credited again. (RO) Nit The depictions of the staff aren't as good as in "Yes, Always", either - and Wang animated both cartoons. (JM) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #79*** "My Mother The Squirrel" --- (No noteworthy comments so far) "The Party" --- + The song that Wakko burps is the traditional Mexican melody, "Las Chiapanecas". (DG) DYN The melody is Mexican, but the musicians are Spanish dressed. (DG) + The Warner's guest, Steven Botner, is the first guy that appears in "PPPALF". (DG) "Oh Say Can You See" --- (no noteworthy comments so far) "The Twelve Days of Christmas" --- - The orchestra: Back row: Marita (xylophone), Flavio (trombone), Rita (flute), Runt (alto clarinet), Ralph (tympani). Second row: Buttons (trumpet), Mindy (cymbals). Third row: Dot (contrabass), Wakko (viola), Yakko (violin), Scratchy (violin), Hello Nurse (harp). Bottom row: Pesto (saxophone), Bobby (clarinet), Squit (saxophone), Pinky (pole, with triangle dangling), the Brain (metal rod to strike the triangle), Skippy (recorder?). (RO) - Slappy's conducting... I think this is a bit of continuity with Three Tenors and You're Out. (JM) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #80*** "Dot's Entertainment" --- + Andy Lloud Webby is a caricature of theatrical author, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. (DG) + When Andy Lloud Webby picks Dot, they show what appears to be a parody of the opening to the classic tv series "That Girl." (TADXN) + The music is parody of several Webber theater pieces: "Sunset Boulevard", "Phantom of the Opera", "Cats", and "Evita". Also, "The Sound of Music". (DG) + The first song, "Cats of Phantom Boulevard" is just a mix of some of those titles: Cats of Phantom [of the Opera] [Sunset] Boulevard. DYN The title card is drawn in the style of the poster of "Cats", and there are Dot silhouettes in the cat's eyes. (DG) "The Girl With the Googily Goop" --- + Of course, a parody of Max Fleishcher's character Betty Boop, created in 1931. Betty Boop really disappears because of the censure in 1939. (DG) + Frank Sinatra mentions Bimbo, Betty's sidekick. (DG) - Many credit the Talkartoon "Dizzy Dishes" (released August 9, 1930) as the first Betty Boop cartoon. She actually appears more as a dog than as a human, but the character is clearly recognizable. (EOC) - Many sources actually prefer to credit Grim Natwick, rather than Max Fleischer (= Leon Schlesinger, that is, the producer) as the creator of the character, since he did all of the original design work for Betty Boop. (EOC) - The "censure" refers to the fact that in 1934, the MPAA instituted the Production Code, which dampened some of the more risqué elements seen in a number of cartoons and movies, most notably Betty's fellow Paramount star Mae West. The series continued on for some years, Betty playing opposite characters like cheery inventor Grampy and a dog, Pudgy. Many believe that when the sauciness went out of the character, a lot of the vim went out as well. The last Boop cartoon, "Yip Yip Yipee" was released in August, 1939. (EOC) + "The Girl With the Googily Goop" gets a lot of its humour from the fact that it accurately spoofs a notable feature of cartoons produced by the Fleischer studio in the 1920s and early 1930s -- many cartoons feature normally inanimate objects coming to life (e.g. the animated towel that dries off Betty Boop in "Betty Boop's Penthouse"(1933) The opening shot of the character peering through a curtain decorated with caricatures, while a song plays in the background, is a direct spoof of the opening of many of the early Betty Boop cartoons. (EOC) - For more information, I suggest consulting "The Fleischer Story" by Leslie Carbaga, which is one of the best sources on the Fleischer cartoons, and is liberally illustrated. (EOC) - "Will Hays" was in fact the censor (who ran the Hays Office) that pretty much killed the Betty Boop cartoons. (MrC) "Gunga Dot" --- + Based in the poem, "Gunga Din", by Rudyard Kipling. (DG) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #81*** "Soccer Coach Slappy" --- + The announcer's comment "No Goal!" refers to the famous "Goal!" yell when ever someone scores a goal in a soccer game that airs on Univision. The popularity of the yell reached its peak (for now) when it was yelled during the 1994 World Cup. (JK) "Belly Button Blues" --- (No noteworthy comments so far) "Our Final Space Cartoon, We Promise" --- + Parody of the movie based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel, "2001: A Space Odyssey". (DG, SS) + Ship's main computer is "AL-5000". The name in the movie is "HAL-9000" (DG, SS) + AL-5000's voice is, of course, a caricature of US vice-president Al Gore. (DG) 0 I would presume that the 19.6 seconds AL sets on the clock is a reference to the election year 1996. (RO) + Dot comments on how Wakko got lost on Magnolia. Magnolia Street, like most of the streets in L.A., are very long, very straight, and built with clearly-marked intersections. It is therefore very hard to get lost on a street in L.A. (JW) "Valuable Lesson" --- + The Snugglers are a parody of the Smurfs, the blue gnomes created by Peyo (Pierre Culliford). (DG) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #82*** "Wakko's Two-Note Song" --- ? When they do the country version of Wakko's song, are those the same audience members as in "Bubba Bo Bob Brain"? "Panama Canal" --- + The tune is a parody of the old folk song, "Low Bridge, Everybody Down", although it is often misnamed "Erie Canal". Those words are sung during the part where "Panama Canal"'s lyrics are "High lock, Up goes the ship. (J!) - Just a completely useless bit of info, the real lyrics to "Low Bridge" are "15 miles on the Erie Canal" referring to when the boats were pulled through the canal by mules, which are only able to pull the boats for 15 miles a day. This leads to not only the "15 miles on the Erie Canal," but also the first line of the song, "I've got an old mule and her name is Sal", which is directly reflected in Yakko naming his ship Hal. (J!) 0 The decals on Yakko's ship are as follows: Ear Canal, Canal No. 5, Eerie Canal, Steven & Canal, Alimeatary Canal, Martian Canals, Canal St. NY, Suez Canal, Root Canal, Panama, Khenklo Canal. (SS, J!) + Yes, that's Pinky and Brain in that little sub that pops up. They're in the sub from "Das Mouse". (SS, JW) "Hello Nurse" --- DYN Dot's room at the beginning is identical to the one in Katie Kaboom's introduction. (DG) DYN Yakko is reading Variety magazine. (SS) - The books in Hello Nurse's room are "The Complete Works of Shakespeare", "Don Quixote", "War and Peace", "Foucaults Pendulum" (I think), and "Grayit's -------" (can't tell 2nd word). (SS, WS) + We find out that Wakko is only seven years old (in Warner years, right?). (SS) "Ballad of Magellan" --- + The tune is a parody of the old folk song, "Get Along Little Dogies". (SS) - Has a historical note. The expedition continues after Magellan's death under the rule of the Spanish Juan Sebastian Elcano, who concludes it in 1522, in what today is the port of Cadiz, Spain. (DG) + The Warners are leaning against a barrel marked "GROG", which BTW, Wakko is drinking out of with a straw. Grog is an alcoholic liquor, most likely rum, mixed with water. Naughty Wakko! When someone would get drunk on grog, that person was said to be "groggy". (SS) + "Evita Coming Soon" sign in Argentina: that's where the musical's story takes place. (SS) "Return of the Great Wakkorotti" --- + The melody is the "Chinese Dance", from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite". (DG) - Members of the orchestra: Yakko (Director), Skippy, Mindy, Pinky, Brain, Slappy, the Goodfeathers, Dr. Scratchansniff, Flavio, Hello Nurse, Minerva, the mime, Rita, and Chicken Boo. (SS) - The things that Dot puts into the Great Wakkorotti's glove: talcum powder, perfume, Creme de la Hand (Cream of the Hand? SPEWWWW! Ok, ok, so it really just means "hand cream".) ketchup, Golden Mustard, relish, 2 hotdogs, chili, and sauerkraut. (SS, WS, J!) DYN That last "note" the Great Wakkorotti performs, is not done by his hands. hmmm... (SS) "The Big Wrap Party Tonight" --- 0 The stars at the party are as follows (most of these are names which aren't directly mentioned in the song): Jack Palance, Sharon Stone, John Tesh, Whoopi Goldberg, Batman, Mr. Director, Freakazoid, Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Julia Roberts, Michael Keaton, Bob Hope, William Shatner (ala Captain Kirk), David Letterman, Alfred Hitchcock, Dustin Hoffman, Cher, Jay Leno, Beast (as in "Beauty & the ..."), Mel Gibson (of course), Scratchansniff is chatting with Elmer Fudd, Ms. Flamiel is with Veena Waleen (aka: Bumbie's Mom), Pip (aka: Francis Pumphandle), Luke Perry, Woody Allen, Gean Siskel & Roger Ebert (or Lean Hisskill & Codger Eggbert), Mike Tyson, Michele Pfeiffer, Stephen Spielberg & wife: Kate Capshaw(?), Bea Arthur, Jack Benny(?), Plucky Duck, Gogo Dodo, Babs and Buster Bunny (no relation), Dizzy Devil, and Hampton J. Pig. (SS) DYN Plotz's credit card has "Take Your Money and Run Credit Agency" written on it. (WS) Nit The line in the song says, "Sylvester wants a parakeet-a" while the cat in question is being shown chasing Tweety. Tweety is a canary. (SS) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #83*** "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock" --- DYN Freakazoid is on the cover of Slappy's TV Guide. - Talk show hosts which are parodied: Jenny Jones, Geraldo, Ricki Lake, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue (with Gordon Elliott), Oprah Winfrey, Sally Jesse Rafael , Maury Povich, Jane Whitney, Jerry Springer, Mike [Burger] & Matty, Rolanda, Regis [Philbin] & Kathie Lee [Gifford], Rosie O' Donnell. (SS) + In the talk show montage, you can hear "Uma, Oprah". David Letterman said this in a joke when he MC'ed the Oscars introducing Oprah Winfrey to Uma Thurman. (RM) DYN Wakko on the TV set when Skippy comes in. CHECK THIS OUT!! Wakko moves into the likeness of three widely publicized Wakko pics. See if you can spot the one where he's ... (1) jumping with his hands out (half concealed by Skippy's head), (2) yanking on his collar, & (3) face front with his ears half-way out of his cap. (SS) + The doctor is supposed to be ER's George Clooney. (SS) + Skippy saying, "Okay, I love you, bye-bye," is, of course, in ref to the Mindy & Buttons cartoons. + Several cartoon character parodies can be found at the nursing home: Wile E. Coyote, Tom & Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, Goofy, Mighty Mouse (called Rocket Rat), Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse(?). (SS) + One of the nurses at the rest home is another character from ER. (SS) DYN Slappy gives the orderly a bedpan as a "parting gift". (SS) + A ref to that swift, Mexican, WB mouse, Speedy Gonzoles, is used. Slappy even says, "Arriba, arriba! Andale!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #84*** "Cutie and the Beast" --- + Obvious parody of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". DYN In the opening shot, the two gargoyles on the Beast's castle, look strangely like those from another Disney animated movie, "The Hunchback of Notre Damme". (SS) + "Mr. United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama," is of course, referring to "Yakko's World", in which Yakko sings, "the nations of the world". DYN When Dot makes the comment about Wakko not bathing and the Warners start to argue, if you listen carefully, you can hear Wakko object, "I'm allergic ta water!" (SS) DYN Dot bumps the "real" Belle from the movie into a well. (SS) 0 One of the French guys was from the movie in "Drive In-Sane" and PatB's "Napoleon Brainapart." (JW) + Just before the Warners enter the Dark and Mysterious Forest, Pinky & the Brain run through, dressed in their outfits from "Spellbound". (JW) - After Dot says the line, "What is this, Make Fun of Your Sister Day on Animaniacs?" she and Yakko argue again. Here's what they say: Dot: "You know, this isn't really right, You've got issues man, serious things ... You can't pick on me like that, You're not the boss of me!" Yakko: "Oh, c'mon, Why don't you just, Oh just, You can't take a joke, you know, you're really driving me nuts, I can't listen to this, Oh c'mon!" (SS) + The whole "do that funny thing that you do" is from a Tiny Toons short with Babs and her family called "It's All Relatives", from the episode, "Pledge Week" (the 2nd-season premiere). (JW, ED, LC) DYN When miffed, the Warners lash their tails. A nice touch, I think. Another nice bit is how often they shoot nasty glances at each other... these are both neat extras that really lend an air of reality to them. (JW) "Boo Happens" --- + Parody of Forrest Gump. + The title is a parody of a phrase Forest supposedly immortalized in the 80's: "Sh*t Happens". + Kennedy remarks, "I do believe he said, 'buck-bacaw'," just like in the movie, he quips, "I do believe he said he had to go pee." (SS) + Nixon saying, "He is not a cluck," parodies the ex-president's real line, "I am not a crook." DYN The hippies are beating Chicken Boo to a pulp with peace signs. Quite ironic. (SS) "Noel" --- + Captain Ahab was in the episode, "Moby or Not Moby". (SS) Cold Ending --- + Wakko says, "We're touched, so you be touched." This is a ref to the closing for the news show, "20-20". Barbara Walters says, "We're in touch, so you be in touch." (SS) + Yet another "Mystery Science Theater 3000" tribute, and very nicely done, I might add. (JW) + On MST3K, when they watch a newer movie (with end credits), they tend to riff on the credits much like the Warners do here. (See "MST3K The Movie" for a perfect example.) You don't see this much, because many of the movies on MST3K are from the 50s, 60s and early 70s, and end credits weren't really a de facto standard till the mid- 70s (before then, the production staff and all were credited at the beginning, and there was only a cast list at the end; also, not all of the staff got credited, as is the practice today). (LC) + The closing parodies news shows where the anchors, on a darkened set, commence in chit-chat between one another while the credits roll by and theme music is heard. (SS) + Although I believe the ending to be a MST3K ref, I don't necessarily think that the "news show" idea was off its mark. It probably was a mixture of the two. The "cold ending" has the Warners using microphones which they realize they've forgotten to turn off after they've made their "rude" comments. This is similar to the scenario in a "Murphy Brown" episode when the producers of FYI experiment with the "darkened set" concept for the first time. (SS) + Yakko says that "I have a headache this big, and it's got "Warner Bros." written all over it. "This is a ref to an old Excedrin ad (Scratchansniff said the first part once). (RyM) + I'm assuming you don't know Yiddish, Drek (or Dreck) means sh*t. Quite the mouth on Yakko, huh? (JW) But it isn't regarded with the same force, at least not in English. (LC) + When the Warners stumble over the name of the "executive producer", Dot ends the discussion with, "Mr. Kate Capshaw," the name of Stephen Spielberg's current wife. (SS) - Incidentally, Spielberg first met Capshaw while directing "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". Capshaw co-starred, with Harrison Ford, as singer Willie Scott, in the movie. (SS) - First full screen of gag credits: "Reading small print can lead to eye strain. Visit your optometrist regularly. And for that matter, don't forget to go to the dentist at least every six months. If not, you might get cavities or gingivitis or some nasty gum disease. As for me, I got a toothache right now that's killing me, so don't make the mistake I did. See a dentist! (And try using some mouth wash now & then, okay?) And remember to brush after every meal, and floss once a day." (SS) - Second full screen of gag credits: "This has been ANIMANIACS episode #84. Upcoming episodes are #85, #86, #87, #88, #89. And don't forget about show #90. Another good show you can look forward to is show #91! If you'd like even more episodes of ANIMANIACS, don't forget to write to Jamie Kellner, c/o Kids WB and say, "we want more ANIMANIACS." His home phone # is 555-1212." (SS) - The 555 exchange is used by various internal numbers of the telephone company, most of which cannot be dialed by the public. An exception is 555-1212, which is US long-distance Information. (411 is local info.) (jkennedy, LC, YJW) Hollywood has an agreement to use only "555" numbers (or sometimes KLondike 5 numbers, which are the same thing) for fictional purposes, so that mental defectives won't call numbers they hear in movies or TV shows. Use of "555-1212" in this particular case is a deliberate joke. (jkennedy, CB) ? The guys' phone number in the last screen has changed. The 1212 has something like a 1213 superimposed over it. Maybe someone called it. (RyM) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #85*** "Animani-rats" opener --- + For those without cable, "Rugrats" is a cartoon airing on Nickelodeon which is all done from the baby's point of view. This is a parody of the show's opening theme which it follows quite closely. (SS) DYN Rita & Runt are on the side of the milk cartoon, ala the missing children ads. Appropriate as they've been missing since season 2. (JW) + Wakko = Chuckie, Yakko = Tommy, Slappy = Grandpa, Skippy & Mindy = Phil & Lil, Dot = Angelica, Buttons = Spike, Dr. Scratchansniff & Hello Nurse = Tommy's Parents (Stu and Didi). (SS) - Interestingly enough, both Wakko and Chuckie are paranoid of clowns. (SS) DYN The milk carton instead of the bottle (has pretty much the same effect though). Parody of the toys using Pinky and Brain. (SS) "Jokahontas" --- - Wakkoum = Cocoum, Chief Yakhatan = Chief Powhattan, Pocadotas = Pocahontas, Genie&Beast = Ralph, Aladdin = Dr. Scratchansniff, Grandmother Willow = Grandmama Maple, Meeko = Skippy. (SS) + "Shuffle off, buffalo," is a probably ref to the song, "Shuffle Off to Buffalo", from the musical, "42nd Street". (SS) --See also, "U.N. Me" above-- + The Buffalo was doing a tap step combination called the "Buffalo" and part of the step is a shuffle. The buffalo is step shuffle hop step shuffle hop step or if you want to get tricky you can shuffle before the step and shuffle both feet while doing the buffalo. It's a very common step. Whenever in a performance the dancers do it for a while they always get applauded afterwards 'cause it's considered to be very difficult. But I personally don't think so 'cause I was taught it my first year of tap classes. (ED) + "The cast of 'Friends'? Are you kidding? Those guys are everywhere!" I totally agree. Never watched the show and STILL can pick all of them out. Especially that Jennifer what's-her-name. (SS) DYN Parodies of Flounder and Sabastian from "The Little Mermaid". (SS) + "First I tuned an aerial..." = Ariel of "The Little Mermaid, "Then I rang a bell..." = Belle of "Beauty and the Beast". (SS) DYN The Mickey Mouse helmet and shorts on John Smith. (SS) + See, the gag here with Mel Gibson as John Smith is simple. Dot loves the guy and he also did the voice for ol' Johnny in the movie. + When the paint splatters on Mel, he looks like his character from "Braveheart". (SS) + When the Warners break to the soda fountain, on the wall is an advertising sign for Moxie 5¢. Moxie is one of the oldest soft drinks in the USA, first carbonated in 1885 (some bottles/cans are labeled 1884). Up through the 1920s it was the #1 soft drink in the country, even outselling Coca-Cola. It had a lot of advertising in the form of tin signs, change trays ("Tip" trays), hand fans, the Moxie Horsemobile, and even sheet music ("Moxie" foxtrot, 1930, composed by Eddie Fitzgerald -- but not the same Eddie Fitzgerald who used to work on Tiny Toons; he's not that old!). Moxie is now only available regionally, mostly where it started in New England. Moxie memorabilia is still highly sought after and a tin sign in good condition can fetch several hundred dollars at auction. "Moxie" has its own entry in the dictionary meaning daring or full of nerve, which credits back to Moxie's original name: Moxie Nerve Food. (SB) + The Ice Cream Song was the tune "Hungarian Rhapsody No.2" by Franz Liszt. (SS) DYN The last three ice cream flavors listed are, "Asphalt", "Gravel", and "Macaroni & Cheese", which aren't all that bizarre if you consider some of the latest Ben & Jerry flavors. (SS, RO) - Yakko says Ben & Jerry will get the ice cream recipe "over my tootie fruity, Rudie!" as he drops the recipe down his pants. hmmm... (SS) 0 What I always thought was that "tutti frutti, Rudi" was a ref to Little Richard's song "Tutti Frutti". --Tutti Frutti, oh Rudi! (x3) A wap babaloobap a wap bam boop!-- (Michelle) "Boids on the Hood" --- + Title parodies "Boyz N the Hood", an "inner-city" film directed by John Singleton, but the parody ends there. For what it's worth, the movie came out in 1991, and was one of the first of the "inner- city" films to get recognition. Singleton got an Oscar nomination for "Boyz N the Hood"(?) in 1992. (LC, MN, JK) + Richard Wagner's "Flight of the Valkyries" is the tune. The title of the song is also referred to sometimes as "The Ride of the Valkyries". It's from Act II of Die Walkkure, which is performed on the first day of Ring des Nibelungen. (Source: "The Victor Book of the Opera" RCA, Camden, 1936) (SS, EOC) 0 The whole scene is a blistering spoof of the similar scene from "Apocalypse Now." (EOC) "Mighty Wakko at the Bat" --- + Parody of the classic poem, "Mighty Casey at the Bat", but with a happier ending! (SS) + Tiny Toons did a version of Thayer's poem, in the short, "Buster at the Bat" from the episode "Son of the Wacko World of Sports". Disney also did the poem straight in "Make Mine Music (1946)". The poem is in the public domain, I believe, so it got around. (LC, EOC) Nit The background artist has put a white line between first and second, and second and third, which is not generally done in professional baseball today. (And yes, this is pro baseball. Witness Plotzie's crack about not getting paid.) Lines are usually only painted down the first and third base lines, and in the batter's box. (EOC) + WB is being no-hit in the ninth, down 1-0. Note that the other team had no hits either (Scoreboard shot late as Skippy scores). This is not only possible, but has happened. (In 1917, there was a double no-hit game between the Cubs and Reds that ended only in extra innings, when the Reds broke up the no-hitter). Depending on the scorer, the no-hitter for the other team might still be intact, with the error charged to one of the outfielders. Score it E-8, if you want my view. There are numerous cases where pitchers have thrown no-hitters and lost (e.g. Steve Barber and Stu Miller for the Orioles in 1967 or Ken Johnson for Houston in 1964.). (EOC) DYN The sign for Freleng Fizz. Reference to Friz Freleng, Classic-era WB director who directed "Porky's Baseball Broadcast", "Baseball Bugs", and "Boulevardier from the Bronx," the last cartoon also having a baseball theme. (EOC) + One of the spectators in the stands was the same guy who bought the "gribble refiner" in "Garage Sale of the Century". (SS) - A gribble is a type of marine termite with fourteen legs. Dunno why it needs refining... (JW) + Minerva and Hello Nurse have certainly violated the rules about players from the bench venturing into fair territory while the ball is in play. Since 1955, it has also been illegal for any member or members of the offensive team to stand or gather around any base to which a runner is advancing, to confuse, hinder or add to the difficulty of the fielders. Such runner shall be declared out for the interference of his teammate or teammates. This would mean the other team would win the game, since the third out would occur before Skippy scored the tying run. (EOC) 0 I believe that the little kid with the high-pitched voice was Danny Dingle, who appeared in the Freakazoid ep "Hero Boy." At any rate, it was the same voice. (JW) + We find out that Wakko is "only three feet tall". (SS) + In the end, when you don't know if Wakko was safe or out, the lines are almost as exactly the same as the real poem. (SS) + The umpire's call is rather unlikely. Umpires very rarely change calls; that usually only happens when another umpire overrules them. Most likely, the umpire would not have made any call until *after* Wakko popped his head up, showing he touched home. Most umpires, when they give a decision, stick to it. (EOC) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #86*** "A Very Very Very Very Special Show" --- + This one parodies many of the "moral" shows that some series do once in a while. (MN) - TTA won a "humanitarian" award of the sort mentioned here. It was an Environmental Media Award for Children's Programming. Some of the shorts/eps that got it that award were as preachy as what the Warners were doing here...(Ex. "Whale's Tales", "Pollution Solution") (LC) "Night of the Living Buttons" --- - Watch for the Warners to do a run-through... WHOA, scary! + Mindy tells Buttons to "kiss the frog, baby," which was once the slogan of the WB Network. (RyM) + Near the end, Buttons dresses as Michael Jackson from his "Thriller" video, and the dance skit afterwards parodies this video. (MN) + The frog results in becoming Michgan J. Frog, the singing frog mascot of the WB network. (MN) "Soda Jerk" --- - The voice of the Soda Jerk is uncredited to Rob Paulsen, speaking in his normal voice. (MN) + The ice cream guy whistles the PatB tune. (JW) + The Center For Advance Research, from "Super Strong Warner Sibs" is back. (JW) + When they attempt shock therapy to cure Wakko, Yakko is dressed up as a prototypical mad scientist, and Dot as Bride of Frankenstein. (JW) - Wakko attempts to swim with the Polar Bear club, who always swim on the coldest day of the year. (JW) + An Alien and his Robot come down and zap Wakko... They are from "The Day The Earth Stood Still". (JW) + Acme Loo is holding the Medical Conference at the end. (JW) Nit One of the scientists is talking, but her lips aren't moving. (JW) DYN In the shot where everyone on earth except Wakko hiccups, someone hiccups on the moon. (RyM) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #87*** "From Burbank With Love" --- + A spoof of the James Bond movie series. + The title refers to "From Russia With Love", the second James Bond film in the series. (JK) + The plot of the short is lifted from the film, "Goldfinger". (JK) DYN The gun in the title song was a dart gun. (JW) + Blowfinger = Goldfinger + Municipal Bond, 0007 = James Bond, 007 + The voice of 0007 copies the original James Bond, Sean Connery. (SS) + "I'm Dot Warner, the spy who loves you," is a ref to the James Bond movie, "The Spy Who Loved Me". There was another A! short with a Bond theme: "The Chicken Who Loved Me". (SS) --See also show #60 in the CRGA-- ? Is it my imagination, or does Lionel Tempjob, throw his hat OFF the projector screen? (SS) - When the agents are being briefed on their mission, the Warners throw things at the projection screen because, as Dot explains, "He looks like our agent." This is what they throw: popcorn, candy bars, chicken drumsticks, soft drinks, and a pot of flowers. (SS) - They throw things a second time at a fly buzzing around the screen because they claim the room was "bugged". Here's what they throw this time: 2 lightbulbs, a pair of shoes, a golf club, 2 rolls of toilet paper, 2 wooden stools, an octopus, 2 drawers, a metal pot, an anvil (which rips through the screen and flys out the window), a tomato, and a golden trophy. (SS) DYN The road sign going into Kentucky says "Welcome to Kentucky. Home of Blue Cross, Ft. Knox, Blowfinger's Secret Hide Out!" (SS) + Tempjob's reaction to the 1996 movie, "The Cable Guy", (starring Jim Carrey as a maniac cable installer who makes life miserable for one of his subscribers) by lowering our heroes into a pit of acid and Yakko's remark: "He must have seen that movie." is a ref to the fact that even though this movie had high hopes, it was widely knocked by critics and movie-goers alike. (SS, JK) - Take note of Blowfinger's line, "When I rob Fort Knox, I buy two very big heads. hmmm... (SS) + The person the Warners are with at the end is McCloud from the show of the same name. (JK) "Anchors A-Warners" --- 0 The title of this short probably comes from the old movie, "Anchors A-weigh". (SS) + Anchors Aweigh (1945), prolly best known for having Jerry Mouse dancing with Gene Kelly. Synching animation to live action was rather rare back then. (LC) + The Lung Boat = The Love Boat. DYN The cast of "Gilligan's Island" waiting in line to get on the cruise ship. They are seen again later at the party. (SS) DYN Ms. Flamiel was on the cruise. (SS) Nit When Scratchansniff takes his disguise off, he mysteriously loses his pants and gets shorts. hmm... (JW) + The repetitive bingo jokes were from "Bingo". (JW) - Between this episode and "Drive-Insane", it seems that Dr. Scratchansniff has a thing for overweight women. Also in both episodes, the Warners call out to him, "Daddy, Daddy!" just to get old Scratchy in trouble. (SS) + "Could you do that 'No, no, no' thing again? ... I LOVE that!" was also in the episode, "This Pun For Hire". (SS) + The "Romp" stuff comes from the episode, "Take My Siblings Please". (SS) Travel Song --- (No noteworthy comments so far) Note on gag credit: "The Beaver: Jerry Mathers." + Refers to the show, "Leave It To Beaver". (JK) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #88*** "Papers For Papa" --- + The writer the Warners meet is Ernest Hemingway. (DG) + It should be noted that Ernest Hemingway's nickname was "Papa Doc". (JW) + One of the rejected opening lines Hemingway writes is a spoof of the Dr. Seuss story, "Green Eggs and Ham". (JK) + The show Hemingway watches is "Lamb Chop's Play Along". (JK) DYN All the references to books. "Farewell To Arms," "The Old Man and the Sea," "The Sun Also Rises," "The Green Hills Of Africa," and so on. (JW) - The weird eyeball alien from a PatB ep pops out of a spaceship. (Don't remember the title of the ep. It was the one where Brain changes the info in a probe, then gets taken to Fronabulax) (JW) + John Tesh is a former "Entertainment Tonight" host who is better known as a musician and a bad gymnastics commentator. (JK) "Amazing Gladiators" --- + Parody of "American Gladiators". + The ending has the hippos on "Baywatch". (JK) "Pinky and the Ralph" --- + Pinky and the Brain Parody. Notes on Hippos Commercial Parodies: + The first Flavio ad spoofs ads for the Soloflex muscle machine. (JK) + Although all of Flavio's ads were refs, the Soak ad was special because of the somewhat "controversial" nature of the Coca-Cola ad it parodied. (Controversial in that it showed sexism from a different point of view.) (JW) Note on gag credit: "When I Dance They Call Me Macerena." + The first line of the Bayside Mix version of "The Macarena". (JK) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #89*** "Ten Short Films About Wakko Warner" --- ? "10 Short Films About Wakko" = "32 Short Films About G. Gould." Never seen the movie, but I saw the soundtrack at Borders. (JW) + "Lunch With Steven". Wakko has lunch with Steven...Spielberg. (SS) DYN In "Volunteerism", Wakko arches his back like a cat at the petting. He also begins involuntarily kicking his leg as many dogs would do. (SS) + In "Wakko Plays Golf With Benny Hill", spoofs the usual credits scene on the "Benny Hill Show". That's a variation on the Benny Hill theme music being played in the background. (JK, SS) + The theme music that they played was technically, and legally, "In The Style Of" (without copying) what Benny Hill used as a theme song, which was "Yakety Sax" by Boots Randolph. (MrC) ? Is that Bob Hope seen with Hello Nurse? + "My Dinner With Wakko" is a spoof of "My Dinner With Andre". (JK) - The waiter refers to Wakko as a "puppy". (SS) + Wakko was doing "A Big Duet" with Frank Sinatra. Sinatra recently released an album featuring him singing duets with other famous singers, thus the short with him and Wakko sing "Pop Goes the Weasel". (SS, JK) + The guy in The Dollar Store was Mitch, who also worked at the drive-in's Snackaterium, from the short, "Drive-Insane". (SS) + He's in a Road Rovers episode too (A Day in the Life, I think) and the weird, fat guy that was in line behind Scratchy is now behind the counter with "Mitch". (RO, CS) "No Time For Love" --- DYN That canary looks strangely like the sparrow, Carloota, from "West Side Pigeons". (SS) DYN The can of "sufferin' succotash" with Sylvester the cat on it. (SS) "The Boo Network" --- DYN Plotz is reading Variety Magazine. An Animaniacs ad is on the back cover. (SS) + "60 Clucks" = "60 Minutes". + Molter and Tully of "The Egg Files" = Mulder and Scully of"The X Files" Get it? Molter as in molting birds. (SS) + The Wonderful World of Colonel Feathers Presents = The Wonderful World of Disney. Also, Colonel Feathers possibly a parody of Colonel Sanders, the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise guy? (SS) + "Charlie, the Lonesome Chicken" = "Charlie the Lonesome Cougar", the first Disney short that was done after Walt's death. (JK) + Emelda, Mickey, and Alice on "Melrose Coop" = Amanda Woodward, Michael Mancini(?), and Alison Parker on "Melrose Place". (SS) + David Featherman = David Letterman. + "Henhouse Improvement" starring Tim Illen = "Home Improvement" starring Tim Allen. + "Full Nest" with those adorable Olsten twins = "Full House", starring the Olsen twins. One also might have taken "Full Nest" to parody the comedy, "Empty Nest", but the mention of the twins makes the reference clearly the former. (SS) Note on gag credit: "If You Can't Say Something Nice, We'd Rather Not Hear About It." 0 Spoofs Thumper's famous line in the film Bambi. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #90*** "Pitter Patter of Little Feet" --- + The show Brain watches is a spoof of Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood. (JK) + Attica is a prison in New York where, during the 70's, the inmates took over after their demands to improve the prison weren't met. (JK) + The mixed-up stork is a classic cartoon gag, used in many cartoons of the '30's and '40's. In those cartoons, however, the bird was usually drunk. (CM) + The purple bear Brain tries to use to escape is, of course, a reference to the kiddie fad known as Barney the Purple Dinosaur, which I'm sure you'd all like to forget. (CM) "Mindy in Wonderland" --- + The plot, of course, spoofs the 1950 Disney film "Alice in Wonderland". Most of the scenes in this episode are taken directly from the movie. (CM) + Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber- Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, the stars of the film, "Dumb and Dumber". (JK) + The Cheshire Cat- Rita, of course. (JK) "Ralph's Wedding" --- - Nuptial wedding? Hm...apparently, Ralph's Catholic. (CM) + The address on the card reads "Burbank California, 90210", referring to the long-lived FOX show "Beverly Hills, 90210". (CM) - Characters appearing at the wedding: Hello Nurse and Dot (as bridesmaids), Miss Flamiel & Veena Waleena (Bumbie's Mom--interesting how this is the second time we've seen her appear with Ms. Flamiel, the first being "The Big Wrap Party Tonight"), Slappy & Skippy, the Hip Hippos, Pinky & Brain, Mindy & Buttons, Plotzy & Scratchansniff. (CM) Note on gag credit: "On The WB, Big Kids Go First. In Reality, Big Kids Sleep In." + Refers to the "Big Kids Go First" campaign on Kids' WB that only lasted five weeks before Freakazoid was moved to Fridays and Earthworm Jim aired every three weeks. (JK) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #91*** - Hey, you notice that this was the shortest Animaniacs episode ever? I think the material added up to about 18 minutes on the, er, dot. (JJW) Variable Verse: "Public Domainy" + Refers to information or material that is not copyrighted or the copyright as expired on. The television the Warners are watching has "It's a Wonderful Life" on the screen - An example of a movie that had fallen into the public domain. (RW) + "It's A Wonderful Life" did lose its copyright status in 1974 when the copyright wasn't renewed. This is what made it possible for all those ad nauseum shows of the movies from 1975 until recently. In the early '90s, Republic Pictures used a 1978 copyright law to renew the copyright and gain control of the negatives, music, and story. That's why you no longer see so many showings of the movie. The upshot of it is that NBC has near-exclusive rights to show the film on TV. (ME, JJW) + If memory serves, Republic Pictures was able to regain the copyright by asserting ownership of the *music* used in the film, which is why it's not plastered all over TV at Christmastime any more. (I know one local station bought a *VHS tape* of the film to broadcast a few years ago -- instead of paying a couple of hundred dollars for a professional dub!) (PC) "Message in a Bootle" --- + "Fan mail from some flounder?" A gag from Rocky & Bullwinkle. (PC) "Back in Style" --- 0 The history is pretty accurate--Jack Warner shut down the original Warner Bros. Cartoon Department the early 60s but he then farmed out the Looney Tunes series for several years to DePatie-Freleng, which produced some downright awful Daffy/Speedy shorts before WB got out of the animated short subject business in the late 60s. (RM) - Dates for the second closure of the studio (there had been a previous closure in the 1950s during the 3-D panic) vary. Some sources list 1962, others list 1963. (EOC) + The flavored drink commercial reference Bugs makes refers to the fact that Tex Avery directed commercials for Kool-Aid in the 1960s that featured Bugs Bunny. (EOC) ? Daffy's calling Bugs "Tex" is a reference to the fact that the rabbit we know as Bugs Bunny was created by Tex Avery, and his model sheet was originally labeled "Tex's Rabbit". (RM) ? EOCostello suggests that the model sheet in question was labeled "Bug's Bunny", after J.B. "Bugs" Hardaway, a writer at WB at the time. (ref EOC's WB Cartoon Companion). (MrC) + Animators leaving Termite Terrace: Chuck Jones on the left, and Friz Freleng on the right changing a Bugs Bunny drawing into the "Grey Panther". Freleng, directed/produced the Pink Panther cartoons (created for the Inspector Clouseau films, actually) after the WB cartoon studio shut down. (RM, JJW) + Reason Freleng sounds like Yosemite Sam is that (a) Freleng created Sam, and (b) Mike Maltese, who wrote the first few Sam cartoons, claimed that he patterned Sam after Freleng, who was also a little guy with a terrible temper. (JJW) - On the steps of the studio, conspicuous by his absence is Bob McKimson. Note Jones appears to be holding part of a light table. Others have correctly noted the origin of Friz's voice that's used here (though if you have ever seen "Bugs Bunny Superstar" you know what his voice is like). (EOC) + "Treg Green" is an homage/parody of longtime LTMM-era WBA sound effects editor Tregowith "Treg" Brown. (RM) Treg Brown actually had great success after WB closed -- he won an Oscar for sound effects for "The Great Race." (EOC) + Chicken Boo gets a workout here. A poster for "The Good, the Boo and the Ugly" (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, 1966) can be seen, as well as one for "Freebie and the Boo" (Freebie and the Bean, 1974) and "Shampoo" from 1975, and Boo is seen in a spoof of Youngblood Hawke, from 1964, which, by the way, was adapted from a novel by Herman Wouk, the author of "The Caine Mutiny" and an ex-gag writer for Fred Allen. (EOC) + The "loanout" thing is based on fact, sort of. In the early 70s, Warner Brothers "loaned" Porky Pig and Daffy Duck to Filmation, which made a TV movie combining Porky and Daffy with Filmation's "Groovie Ghoulies." (JJW) Nit The short claims that that is the FIRST time that the Warners were loaned out, thereby CONTRADICTING the short "The Girl With The Googily Goop" in which the Warners were loaned out to the Fleichmann Studios. (JW, Lari) + Phil & Schmo = Bill Hanna & Joseph Barbara + The Warners are rented out to appear in parodies of Yogi Bear, Scooby Doo, Underdog, Fat Albert, and the Beatles cartoon show. They matched the styles of the various studios DEAD-ON. (RM, RW, LC) - Calhoun Capybara = Yogi Bear, Loo Loo Lemur = Boo Boo Bear + A Capybara is a large South American rodent. (RW) + Calhoun wears a Kiss the Kook apron - Normally seen as "kiss the cook". (RW) + The jerkiness, the bad, flat animation and the comments about it by the Warners refer to the cheap animation used by Hanna Barbara in Yogi Bear and its other works. (RW) + One year of the long run of Scooby-Doo was an hour-long format called "The New Scooby-Doo Movies", each episode of which did feature celebrity guests in animated form, although I think they were mainly real people, rather than cartoon characters. (TB, EOC) + They even got the EYES right in the Scooby-doo riff. Very scary. (JW) + Background music styles were also similar -- lots of flutes. (PC) - Bristly = Shaggy, (with his catch phrase, "Zoiks!" depicted here as, "Zink!") Pheobe = Daphne, Fred is parodied too, but they don't mention a name, Uruhu = Scooby Doo... (SS) - Uhruhu looks a little like Scooby's cousin, Scooby Dumb, if he just had that red hat. He's the same color, anyway. (SS) - Adding to the pun, the character design of the girl resembled Uhura from "Star Trek", whose name is a feminization of the Swahili "uhuru," meaning "freedom," according to some accounts (disputed). (PC) + Or maybe you can read something into it by figuring that when Scooby talked, he replaced most of his consonants with "r" sounds... (PC) + Cheesy Rock songs - Typical music of Scooby-Doo - Among the cartoon shows referred to in Plotz's list are "The Perils of Penelope Pit Stop" "Hong Kong Phooey" "Hair Bear Bunch" and "Underdog". (EOC) - Thunderdog = Underdog - H20 Na2Cl - Water and Salt - Seawater + Thunderdog's magic feather seems in part to be a standin for the Underdog Energy Vitamin Pill, via Dumbo. (EOC) ? The Warners put the feather in a machine called the Gammalaminator. When it comes out, Wakko captures it in a book titled, "History of Fleas". Ummm, the point? There must be one somewhere. + It finally hit me as to the significance of that "drawbridge" joke in the Underdog spoof in "Back in Style." Simon San Simeon (great alliteration) is named for the fabled California estate of William Randolph Hearst, which is now a popular park. So, a drawbridge would be appropriate for someone named after an estate. (EOC) - Gee, but look where the door to the drawbridge is located. hmmm... + "Phlegmation" refers to the notoriously bad, "Filmation" studio, maker of less than quality animation. + Obese Orson was the Filmation-style parody. (MN) - Note the cheesey laugh track like in Fat Albert as well. + Video Wasteland - ref to former FCC chairman, Newton Minow's observation of '60's television as a "vast wasteland". (PC) Fat Albert and his gang hung out in a junkyard. 0 Todd-AO was (and for all I know, may still be) a filming process like Cinerama or VistaVision. That's probably Mike Todd, the impresario behind the process, being caricatured. (EOC) + The rock group cartoon was a parody of The Beatles, who just happened to have their own cheaply-animated series on ABC in the mid-60s. The music had the same Beatle-esque feel of "A Hard Day's Warners". The song they're singing is a parody of Day Tripper (LC, TB) - The animation looked almost identical to the animation for the old Beatles cartoon show. Only the hair color and who played what instrument was changed. Heck, I could even tell which one was which Beatle at a glance. I've seen quite a bit of the animated Beatles, and this was definitely a parody of it. Also remember that the Beatles in the animated Beatle series looked nothing like the animated Beatles in Yellow Submarine. Maybe that's what's throwing people off. (D&D) + A reliable source has informed me that the Beatles caricatures that wear kilts were a ref to the long gone Bay City Rollers, a cheesy Beatles impersonator of the mid-70's who wore kilts. (EOC) - "Don't call us again until we can have our own network," Need I say more? (RW) - I thought "Back In Style" was a riot, myself -- but then I remember all of those Saturday Morning Fiascoes -- and I wonder if the "months off-model" scene, where they were deliberately *not* drawn in the "original" Akom model, was a commentary on the quality of overseas- production values. (MC) - The commentary would be by TM, who wrote the thing early last year (this episode was fully animated last year). I can tell ya that TM generally isn't terribly pleased by Akom, and was a little disappointed that it was the studio which got to do this one. No work for Animaniacs was farmed out to Akom this year. I think they'd started to do a pretty good job, but of course I don't know how many retakes are needed before they get that way... Meanwhile, Wang has improved also, so there you go. (RO) "Bones in the Body" --- - Good to see you again, Runt! (EOC) + The notorious bean-eating sequence from Blazing Saddles is being referred to in "Bones" (EOC) + The Rachmanninoff Piano Concerto Number Two in C# Minor, Movement One, is a notoriously difficult piece of music to play. The recent movie, Shine", told of how it drove a very talented pianist insane. (RM, EOC) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #92*** "It" --- + A ref to Stephen King's "It". - During the bit, did anyone else think Wakko was being chased by a clown? (GS) + "It" was in ref to 'Pennywise' the clown; a frightful apparition played with sinister aplomb by Tim Curry in the miniseries of the same name some years back. 'Pennywise' was the clown embodiment of an ancient evil that'd plagued the town for a period of time each generation, who specialized in luring kids to a gory fate and taunting the victim's friends and siblings. In the miniseries, a group of kids band together to hunt 'It' down and kill it, but only succeed in postponing a truly fatal encounter until some 20 years down the road when they all have to band together once more as adults, and return to the scene of their childhood nightmares to finish the job. The miniseries was quite haunting (all the more so for yours truly after seeing that every location shot from the thing was blocks away from home), but I felt the ending was anti-climactic when it's finally revealed that the corporeal form of "It" is actually this intergalactic spider kinda-deal that looks vaguely similar to the ones made out of pipe-cleaners for that ancient Alan Hale Jr. flick, "Kingdom of the Spiders". (chance) - See also "Clown and Out", show #34, in the CRGA. "Dot-The Macadamia Nut" --- + A parody of Macarena Bayside Mix. 'Nuff said. ? Is that Rob doing that background vocal part? Y'know, the "Oooohhaaaah..." background singing like the Macarena has as well. Just listen carefully. :) (SS) - The lyric translations: .lyric: "Donde que vas a Nintendo - Macadamia" .trans: Where did you go to, Nintendo? - Macadamia ? Possibly asking what ever happened to Nintendo? They now have N64, but ya never hear anything about the good old 8 bit Nintendo Entertainment System, which people plainly called, "Nintendo". (WS, SS) .lyric: "Hola, que pasa, you grande sack o' grain-ia" .trans: Hi, what's up, you big sacks of grain? ? One of the basic principles of animation (as far as maintaining consistent size and volume, IIRC) is to envision your character as a half-full sack of flour. Since this line accompanies the Hip Hippos onscreen, they would indeed be "grande" sacks of flour - or "grain", since "flour-ia" wouldn't rhyme with "Macadamia". (solarfox) .lyric: "Qui a coupe le fromage, we abstrain-ia" .trans: Who cut the cheese? We abstrain. + This is actually French, and if you remember, this was Freakazoid's lesson on French. (Jade) .lyric: "Lava tus manos, por favor - Macadamia" .trans: Wash your hands, please. - Macadamia (Jade) .lyric: "Otra vez on y vas the repetitive refrain-ia" .trans: One more time ans you go the repetitive refrain. (Jade) Nit The part where they are laughing and Slappy says "I don't get it, what's the joke?" You can clearly hear Wakko laughing, but he's the only one laughing who's not drawn in the scene... hmmmm... I wonder if he was meant to be? (SS) "Bully for Slappy" --- + They featured a character named 'Reef Blunt' who was supposed to be a congressional tv censor. I have heard that many theories on #watertower... First thing was "Oh my god! People at WBA are smoking pot!" but then Varro told me than a former director of the FCC was named 'Reed Hundt' (Liz) - The law, in case you didn't notice, forces all networks to broadcast at least three hours of educational programming a week. Thus the existence of Captain Planet and Channel Umptee-3 and the cancellation of Road Rovers and Freakazoid. (JK) + Slappy refers to Mike Ovitz, the ex-head of the Creative Artists Agency and the ex-No. 2 at The Walt Disney Company. (EOC) + Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a Mel Brooks flop that spoofs the legend of Robin Hood. Actually, it's good IMO. (JK) + Skippy, after returning from round one with the Bully, Slappy refers at to heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield. (EOC) + The 1944 film clip is interesting. On the one hand, it seems to be a disguised Road Rovers reference, in that the German dog (note the pickelhaube helmet and the pseduo-swastika) is very like the character of Blitz, including his preference for biting locations. It has been long rumoured in RoRo fandom that there was going to be a RoRo spoof on A! Perhaps this was it. (EOC, JK) + Skippy does a decent Clinton, reciting chubbyboy's line about the bridge to the 21st century from last year's election campaign. (EOC) - Of course, there are other quotes, like "Yo, Adrienne!", "Let's get ready to rumble!", and "I have not yet begun to fight." Hmmm...a fighting theme? Boxing, wrestling, and the president... hmmm... (Jade) As well as the famous John Paul Jones line. Slappy shows her experience by reciting the well-known Popeye line, used just before he downs the spinach. (EOC) + "It's two, two, two mints in one." -- The catchphrase for Certs mints. (JK, Jade) + "Yo, Adrian" is from the Rocky films. (many) + "If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face." --the Carl's Jr. Slogan for the Big Star (Jade) + "It's strong enough for a man, but made for a woman." -- from the Secret deodorant bar. (Jade) - You noticed how "Bully For Skippy" was the closest they've come to a 1st season Slappy cartoon since the 1st season. Either a) There really *is* something to the animation (Startoons does the best Slappy [despite her eyebrows]) or b) the writers are making a concerted effort. (JW) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #93*** "Cute First (Ask Questions Later)" --- - Does anybody get the feeling that the influence of "Freakazoid" has seeped into Animaniacs as if by osmosis? This short was very disjointed and nonsensical in the F! style. (JJW) Nit The Robin Leech-like announcers got too annoying later into the short. + The queen falling over the cliff is a direct shot at what happened in the Disney 1937 version. (EOC) ? Did the two dwarves sound a lot like Benjamin and Jerome from "Jokahontas"? (EOC) + Dot manages to work her cute weirdness on Dennis Hopper yet again (as she did in "Hearts of Twilight"). (EOC, BC) - I found this weird in itself. Normally I'd shrug it off as a mere case of the show repeating itself, but since they used the same guy, the same voice, and the same dialogue--in other words, they went OUT OF THEIR WAY to repeat themselves-- I have to assume that they were trying for an effect that didn't quite come off. Continuity, perhaps? Or an attempt at a running gag? I dunno. (JJW) ? What was that, anyway? Is it an "Apocalypse Now" joke? A Dennis Hopper joke? Or just a PPPGALF joke? (Speaking of PPPGALF, didja notice that the dialogue wasn't *quite* the same?) (plato) - Did I hear a splash, followed by a clearly audible when Snow White went to her reward? (EOC) The chomp actually surprised me that they would do that on a KID'S show! None the less, it was funny! (Liz) Still, at least she was swallowed whole (presumably). Better than being wishboned between two crocs. (JW) That was a surprisingly morbid fate for a (modern) cartoon character, even if it was off-screen ... but otherwise the Prince wouldn't have been able to marry Dot. (plato) + Yet another Olsen twin ref. (EOC) DYN Aside from the immortal CHOMP near the end, did anyone notice the mass graveyard and the "over one million served" sign? (JJW) "Acquaintances" --- + The long-awaited spoof of sister WB-produced show "Friends." (EOC) I thought that sister-WB-produced show was the one with the twins??? (plato) - Butchering Eastern European names was a very common feature of US immigration. The (real) Warner clan had a far different name when they came over from Poland. (It might have been either Varna or Varnereski, according to Jack Warner Jr. in his book "Hollywood Be Thy Name.") (EOC) - Ellis Island was particularly adept at that, but didn't confine the 'simplifications' to those of Eastern European origin. I think we also have multiple spellings of 'traditional' Irish and Italian names thanks to the dubious penmanship of these same overwhelmed C&I officials. (chance) - When Dot had to give her name, why wasn't it "Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Bescalorisketchivanovapivonudlerdelamareovitch?" (plato) 0 Carmen Sandiego's cameo is probably a bashing of the fact "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego", like "Rugrats", beat A! for the Best Animated Program Daytime Emmy. (JK) + The monkey jumping on the man is the germ protection suit refers to the film, "Outbreak", where a similar monkey carries a disease that could wipe out the world's population. (JK) + MwaHaHaHa! I'm ahead of you on that one! It was the same monkey! (Monkey-actor shall I say?) (Liz) - Even without getting all of the individual gags, it was still a highly enjoyable episode (like the laugh track gag). (EOC) DYN The monkey picked nits (and ate one) off that guy in red. Cute little bit, I thought. (JW) + The last little dig at fellow NBC must-see TV New York show, "Seinfeld" was the last little bit that pushed this story over the top for me. (EOC) - I'm getting fed up with YW&D cartoons that are parodies and reference-filled. I like original shorts, where we go into the Warners' personalities a bit. That's what makes them loveable... "Here Comes Attila" --- + The tune used was the American folk song "Old Dan Tucker." (Barbara) - Did nobody kinda like this one? Sure, it was pointless, but maybe that was, um, the point. Anyway, despite the title card, it was so short (barely over a minute) that it almost had the effect of a hit-and-run filler segment. Very much like "Lake Titicaca". Anyway, I thought the lyrics were neat. (JJW) 0 That emperor looked like the typical caricature of Julius Caesar, who neither wore a cocktail dress nor was alive in the year 441. (plato) - In 441 (the year mentioned in the Attila song) the Unds smashed an Army of the Eastern Roman Empire. He would beat them again in 447. In 451, Attila invaded France, but was defeated at the battle of Chalons. This is how the death of Attila is described in "Power Brokers: Kingmakers and Usurpers Throughout History" by Rupert Mathews: "In 453 Attila married a beautiful young German girl named Ildico. The wedding was a grand affair with thousands of warriors drinking themselves insensible and indulging in barbaric sports. Attila retired to bed with his young bride, but during the night died by choking on blood from a nosebleed. The following morning the unfortunate girl had to explain to the hundreds of bloodthirsty warriors that their beloved leader was dead. One cannot help having sympathy for the poor bride." (EOC) ? What is there none of allowed on the "Empire Limits" sign? (plato) + A dig at Hanna-Barbera star Magilla Gorilla is meant in the closing line of the song. (EOC) Note his trousers, hat, and the "for sale" sign. (plato) "Boo Wonder" --- + Great Boo short. Very attractively designed and directed, too. Commissioner Gordon is drawn to resemble Neil Hamilton, who played the role on the Adam West "Batman." (JJW) + Chicken Boo plays opposite an obvious Adam West parody in a spoof of the 1960s version of Batman. (EOC) Behind the Adam West parody is the original voice of the 1960s version of Batman, if my ears (Oh, yeah and if the end credits) don't deceive me. Getting him to play Spruce/Batman added the perfect touch. (plato) DYN The nest in the poles leading to the Guano (read Bat) cave. (EOC) + Dot's coming out the window, is remarkably similarly to a famous crossover scene in the original Batman series, where The Green Hornet comes out of the window. Both series were produced by Fox. (BC) People used to come out of windows all the time, and make some silly quip. ("Hey, Gladys! There's a couple of guys in tights climbing up our apartment building!") Except on the TV show, the actors were just walking across the floor with the camera on its side, so the folks sticking their heads out of the "windows" were always at a funny angle. (plato) + Punchline was a play on the Riddler... although the name is certainly a takeoff on the Joker. (HG, Liz, EOC, plato) + Punchline sounding like Jim Carrey's Riddler is maybe why they chose Rob Paulsen. Paulsen does do a good job of impersonating Carrey, and in fact does The Mask's voice on the animated series of "The Mask." (NDM) + "She's the Sheriff" was a Suzanne Somers comedy of some years ago, syndicated, which was set in Nevada. (EOC) Nit Isn't Robin the one who says, "Holy _______, Batman!"? Boo can't talk, couldn't they have just skipped that part altogether instead of making it inaccurate? (How anal was THAT rant?) (Liz) - I noticed the same thing. But I think that was the whole point, to radically dichotomize the sudden conflict between the two once- partners, symbolizing the shattered trust vs. the betrayal, juxtapositioned against the just-resolved parallel confrontation between the forces of good and evil, effecting a motionless shift in perspective from the audience's point of view in order to mirror the shifting confusion we are expected to empathize with in the tortured mind of Spruce Wayne... Either that, or Adam West just always wanted to say that line. (plato) Nit Is it my imagination, or did the color of the Commissioner's shirt flicker? (EOC) Nit What about the fact that Boo was Brown? (Liz) + A capon (seen in one of the comic balloons) is essentially a castrated rooster. (EOC) So wouldn't it have made more sense for that punch to be one laid against Boo? (plato) + The anchorwoman for WHIZ similar to the one for the PatB ep. that starred Brain as "The Cranial Crusader" in another Batman spoof. (EOC) ...and any other time an anchorwoman is needed. (plato) + The moon shot is another parody of a well-known shot from Batman. (EOC) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #94*** "Magic Time" --- - At the time of its original airing, this Warner short had experienced some production delays and "Hercule Yakko" along with Punchline (see #98 for more details) occupied its spot in 094a. (JJW, SS) "The Brain's Apprentice" --- + A parody of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". + The door bit spoofs the scene in Fantasia where Mickey Mouse tries to hold the brooms in one room, yet they burst out. (JK) 0 The president is a spoof of Michael Douglas, star of "The American President". (JK) 0 When PatB are watching the TV near the end, you can see the shadow of the President shaking hands with a member of the press, and it looks very similar to the scene in Disney's "Fantasia" where Mickey Mouse shakes with the conductor. (CM) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Shows #95 & #96*** "Hooray For North Hollywood" --- - The title refers to the old song, owned by WB, and used a lot by Carl Stalling. I'm surprised it wasn't used more openly here. (EOC) - I don't think Warners owns the rights to it anymore, though come to think of it, they sang it on TTA once or twice. Since Richard Stone uses stock Stalling themes whenever possible (ex: "We're In the Money"), I assume he'd use "Hooray For Hollywood" if he could. (JJW) - While the story seems to be a condensed version of the planned theatrical feature we first heard about back in '95, it was obviously rewritten and updated rather than merely being cut down for length. (RM) Which, BTW, is the explanation of why "Variety Speak" was semi-recycled for this ep; the song was originally written for the never-produced feature. (JJW) - North Hollywood is indeed rundown these days, but they're trying to fix it. (EOC) - The music for the introductory verse of "We're Our Way..." ("We wrote a script, at last we did it" and so forth) is, stylistically, pure Sondheim, the most Sondheim-esque music I've heard on A! since "What Are We?" (JJW) - The Warners refer to their script being a bit long at 800 pages. A bit long, indeed! Drama is usually written at 1 page = 1 minute; comedy is generally somewhat faster-paced, at 45 seconds per page. This means that 800 pages of script would be in the 10-13 hour range. (By comparison, according to TTA's "Toons Take Over," a six-minute cartoon script is supposed to be 10 pages.) (RM) DYN When Dot sings "On THE SIMPSONS you suggested that they call the kid Bart," a familiar pointy yellow head can be seen walking by--but ONLY the top of the head. Copyright, y'know. (JJW) - Trying to identify all the writers waiting to pitch ideas to Plotz. I noticed two of the writers from "Brain Drained", who I *think* are Wendell Morris and Tom Sheppard, though I can't be sure. (JJW) ? The rhythm to the verses in "Do the Schmooze" sounds a bit like Ursela, the Sea Witch's song, 'Poor Unfortunate Souls', in the Disney movie, "The Little Mermaid". (SS) - Yakko's comment about Plotz' lasagna stain "that diet's working" is a ref to baseball Dodger's manager Tommy Lasorda and his Weight Watcher's commercial. (KL) Nit The "Only One Of You" song really looked like is was thrown in there as padding. But I really didn't care -- it was still *great!* (JW) DYN The headline about ET and the Zapruder film (i.e. the amateur film of the JFK assassination) going into the National Registry? (EOC) + For this Republican, good Clinton jokes on Whitewater (the real estate gag) and the campaign finance scandals (the bedroom). Of course, a liberal like fatboy would hang around Hollywood. (EOC) - Carl Sagan was the host of "Cosmos" and wrote often on space-related matters, hence Pesto's rant against Squit. (EOC) - Yes, Titanic did cost $200+ million. But it's doing well. (EOC) + The sheer number of caricatures beggars listing. Just a few to note: Joe Esterhas (sp?) has written some terrible scripts that nevertheless keep getting made into films ("Sliver" "An Alan Smithee Film" and "Showgirls".) The winning producer is a combination of Mike Eisner of Disney and his former #2 Jeff Katzenberg, now Spielberg's partner at Dreamworks. Seen on the walls outside Plotz's office are famous WB stars: Bogart, Robinson, Cagney, Bugs. Whoppi Goldberg, a number of Clint Eastwood (looking very wrinkled) shots, Sharon Stone, George Lucas, Tom Cruise, and a cast of millions. The $93 million for Mike Ovitz refers to his severance pay when he left Disney recently. Good shot at Tarantino, who's been accused of using the same concepts over and over. Good use of Jackie Mason as the newsstand operator. Schulmaker, the director of the recent "Batman" flicks, gets a well-deserved shot here. Jim Carrey and Art Carney in the LADOT sequence, too. Madonna, Cher, et alia. The guy who says "I cried till I laughed" is a caricature of Russell Calabrese, who has also appeared as Fabrizio Ditzio in "Calvin Brain" and the milkman in "Brain Drained". The two people dining with Joel Schulmacher at the charity benefit are Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, and what is probably Ah-nahld as Dr. Freeze. (EOC, JJW) - Listen to the background music for the scene with Joel Schumacher: it's "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy." Stone also used it for Fabrizio Ditzio in "Calvin Brain," and in general it seems to be his "Yep, they're gay" theme. Schumacher is fairly widely believed to be gay, though it's not "official," and his Batman movies have accordingly pumped up the homoerotic subtext in the Batman-Robin relationship. Hence the line about putting Batman in a dress. Those mean WBA people, so un-PC...remember the animal psychologist in F!'s "The Chip?" [Insert Seinfeld-esque "Not that there's anything wrong with that" here.] (JJW) + Cameos by Minerva Mink, the Hip Hippos, Slappy (looking oddly foolish), Skippy, SnS (seen briefly). Good bit with Boo, who seems to have moved from being an agent to counsel. Good use of Colin in the Sling Blade spoof. Hampton Pig photo in Hoffemeyer's office. A picture of Freakazoid can be seen just under the "Now Serving" sign in the anteroom to Plotz's office, a picture of Buster Bunny can be seen in one shot. One of the writers in Plotz's office is the guy from "PPPGALF" (who was only stopped by a visit from Baloney), Mr. Death turns up in Plotz's office; at the party, Mr. Director and Pip Pumphandle are in attendance. OK, how does Pip keep getting invited to these big Hollywood parties? Is he a plastic surgeon? What do we really know about him? Do we want to know it? (EOC, JJW) - The plot sort of borrows from reality. Warner Bros. originally had "Home Alone," but put it in turnaround. It was picked up by 20th Century Fox (the Murdoch studio) and became the highest grossing comedy of all time. However, Messrs, Semel, and Daly kept their jobs. (EOC) + "Jamalot"= Pungent barb at the upcoming "Quest for Camelot" that takes a hard swipe at Space Jam, with basketball players and a cast of cartoon characters. (EOC) - This is only remotely related, but anyone notice how ever since Lola Bunny's debut in Space Jam, she now seems to be considered a classic Looney Tunes character? Kinda makes you wonder what staring on the big screen with Bugs Bunny could possibly do for the Warners, had they ever the chance. (SS) - It's interesting that the clips from the Warners' movie were shown not only letterboxed, but in full widescreen CinemaScope; previous letterboxed Animaniacs segments were in the standard non-wide 1.85:1 ratio. It looked good, anyway, and I suspect that the ulterior motive behind it is to try and get kids used to letterboxing so they'll insist on it when they rent the latest Spielberg pic. (JJW) + The Uma/Oprah Letterman gag refers to a gag at the Oscars last year during Billy Crystal's opening montage, which in turn referred to Letterman's critical disaster in hosting the Oscars a few years before. See also show #83. (EOC) Nit Something majorly wrong in LA DOT. The skies over Burbank and North Hollywood (well, the entire SF Valley) are NOT that clear! (See "The Sound of Warners" for the more proper tone.) (KL) Nit LA Dot ... first off, it's NOT Metro! It's City of LA. And most have their own bus stop signs. Next off, wrong type of bus; that looked more like an MCI, but what they use here are Neoplan's. Part of it is the right idea, though ... they do use really naf commuter-type buses. And no way do the windows open all the way ... unless it was like the 431 last time in which the front right one was cracked. Also the part when Dot was driving ... they aren't manual transmissions (note the stick shift) but automatic instead. There is one line that runs by the Burbank lot, but I forgot which one. And the only place where all that many would be running around at the same time would be downtown LA; they all branch out from there. (KL) Nit Plotzie switches from evening dress, to his business suit, and back, in one shot during the New Year's Eve sequence. (EOC) DYN Towards the end of "It's New Year's Eve", Yakko and Dot are dancing together. One part of the lyrics says "we'll hug and kiss", and you can see Yakko kiss Dot on the cheek if you look close. (LC) - No one has mentioned is that the 7Up they were toasting with was cola-colored. (MJN Wikki) The 7Up should have been gold, in honor of the short-lived 7Up Gold, a ginger-flavored soda which had caffeine and came in both regular and diet versions. I enjoyed it and was sorry to see it go off the market, but then again I loved Diet Crystal Pepsi, too... (VPaterno) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #97*** "The Carpool" --- + Ed was voiced by the same guy who voiced Earl Sinclair on Dinosaurs. (MRusso) "Sunshine Squirrels" --- + A spoof of the Neil Simon play, the Sunshine Boys. (JK) - Skippy's voice is getting higher these days. (JK) + What's My Life-What's My Line, an old game show where a celebrity panel tried to guess the occupation of the contestant. (JK) - Daly is Robert Daly, co-head of the WB Studio... (EOC) + The Postman is the 1997 Warner Brothers bomb starring Kevin Costner. In it, he attempts to deliver mail in a post-apocolyptic world. (JK, EOC) + "Show me the money" is lifted from Jerry MacGuire. (JK) + The USO (United Service Organization) puts on shows for military personnel, first and most famously during World War II (e.g. Bob Hope, Jack Benny" See the Bette Midler flick "For the Boys.". (EOC) - Loved the crack about the WB network (ha-ha). Also the network exec gag, concerned about nothing funny. (EOC) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #98*** DYN The gag credit for this episode: "You better not cry, You better not pout, I'm telling you why, Wakko put a little surprise in the eggnog." Hmmmm, g'night everybody!" (F2E, SS) "The Christmas Tree" --- (No noteworthy comments so far) "Punchline" --- - Punchline was first seen in 094a as filler before "Magic Time" was completed. Seems like #98 was where this bit was actually intended to be. (LC, SS) - Runt's back! Now if only Rita can return. "Katie KaBoom: Prom Night" --- - Informed source sez: This cartoon was actually made three years ago and not used, and it was wedged into this episode because...well, because they had three minutes to fill. (JJW) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Show #99*** "Star Warners" --- "The Animaniacs Suite" --- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Wakko's Wish*** - Ralph T. Guard: "T" for "Theodore", as seen in "Ralph's Wedding". (Plato) DYN Hello Nurse is wearing her usual nurse's cap in the intro snowflake, even though we never see her regular uniform in the movie. Ralph's snowflake also shows him with his normal hat. (Plato) + Rosebud: aw, you know. The scene mirrors the end of the film where the sled gets burned in the furnace. (Plato) - The opening bit may be significant as the first time Moe LaMarche actually voiced Orson Welles in Animaniacs (correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he was voiced by Jim Cummings in all previous appearances; true, this wasn't technically an appearance, but it was supposed to be him...) (CM) Moe also did Orson "Whales" in TTA, and a Yes-Always-ite giant in Taz-mania. (Plato) + The map of Europe is fairly accurate in showing national boundaries, except of course for Warnerstock and Tictockia, which are placed right about where Luxembourg would be. (Too add insult to injury, either of those countries as drawn is larger than the real Luxembourg.) (Plato) + Tictockia buys Warner [Bros.] stock --> Time-Warner (tee-hee) (Plato) DYN The intro to "Never Ever Give Up Hope" in the beginning sounds strangely similar to the intro to the song Pinky sings in the P&tB ep "Brainy Jack" (and the lyrics here obviously don't quite fit). (CM) - A note on the "nuts" gag: definitely among the top 10 shocking jokes A! has gotten away with over the years... (CM) - Rhyming "spinach" with "finished" is clever -- but we've all heard it before (Plato) as in the "Popeye" theme. "I'm strong to the finish / 'Cause I eats me spinach..." (CM) DYN Animaniacs' 'core' characters, i.e. those who appear in the A! theme, are all featured through the film. Here's who else is in the film: .Fermin Flaxseed ("The Big Candy Store") .Toymaker ("Toy Shop Terror") .Weed Memlo (65th Anniversary Special) .Scratchansniff's date, Frau Hausenpepper, butcher ("Drive In-sane") .Otto Von Schnitzelpusskrankengescheitmeyer, baker ("Schnitzelbank") .Prunella Flundergust, candlestick maker ("The Sound of Warners") .Gertie Bilchmoitner, grocer ("La La Law") .Umlatt, Dictator of Dunlikus ("King Yakko") .M. Tristesse ("Les Miseranimals") .The Dover Boys ("Frontier Slappy") .Little Blue Bird ("Wild Blue Yonder") .Wild-bearded pioneer ("Davey Omelette") .Randy Beaman's friend .Mr. & Mrs. Kaboom, Katie .Newt .Plus some miscellaneous extras. (Plato) - There are nine other characters who show up through the film; I don't recognize any of them, but I'm guessing they're staff caricatures? (Plato) DYN Shops in the village: TOYS, CANDY, INN, BUTCHER, BAKERY, Candle shop (unsigned), grocery (unsigned), NUTS. Also a cafe and tailor. (Plato) DYN The inn has a crown on its sign, reminding me of Best Western, a chain of motels for which Tom Bodett does not do the ads. (Plato) DYN Rita and Runt don't get a special wardrobe for the movie; everyone else does, though. (Mostly in the form of scarves) (Plato) - Do Rita and Runt EVER get a special wardrobe? They're just about the only sort of regular looking creatures on the show; Boo with those really cyute oversized eyes and Pinky and the Brain with...differences, i.e.: Brain's head, Pinky's teeth, etc. (ZW) - @@@@@h -- just how did Yakko wear out the middle finger of his glove?!? (Plato) DYN where Pinky and Brain are hiding out? (They're churchmice!) (Plato) Nit "Wherefore" dost not mean "where"!!!!!!! (Plato) - "I didn't know you could talk": why shouldn't Pharfignewton talk? Is she mute? ("She's mute, yes it's true!/She really can't help it, but what can you do/If she's mute, you can't tell/'Cause she can't make a sound and she surely can't yell!...") (Plato) + That "Train Bringing Wakko" song reminded me more than a little of "The Wells Fargo Wagon" from 'The Music Man.' (CM) + Note that the station that A! cast is standing at is exactly the building that the two opening girls were playing at in Music man. The music, the lyrics, the vehicle bringing something yearned for, Rob's brilliant reproduction of the style Well's Fargo Wagon was sung in--it's a parody, by me. (ZW) - Wakko's ha'penny reads..."HA'PENNY (1/2)" (Plato, JM) + Jack Nicholson at the Lakers game. (Plato) ? As the scene disolves to the Warners in their "watertower shanty" the first tune that Wakko plays on the mattress spring board sounds almost exactly like the opening to the song from a 1995 cartoon called "The Forgotten Toys: The Night After Christmas". The story is about a doll and a teddy bear who search for a new home after finding themselves neglected in the light of their former families new Christmas toys. The doll sings this really sweet song which starts out just like the tune Wakko was playing. I don't believe this was intentional, but the similarities are so striking that it bared mentioning. (SS) DYN Also, there's a bit of a tune played throughout the movie that is not in any of the actual songs, sort of a recurring theme (for example, it comes up when Mindy's mother gets all excited because Mindy calls her "Mom"). It sounds a bit like the song "Reflections" song from Disney's Mulan. Still, probably not a ref and it's not as good as the "Forgotten Toys" one (in that it's similar by only about 8 - 10 notes) but still notable. (SS) + "Turn in to what?": see "Space Probed". (Plato) + Wakko singing "Like finding a needle in a haystack/Eenie meenie minie Moe and Jack" is a reference to Manny, Moe, and Jack, the "mascots" of Pep Boys, a chain of auto repair stores. (SS) Nit *Another* rotating vertical pan, during Wakko's Twinkle Twinkle song, upward to the holes in the roof! AUGH! I wish TMS would learn about this one...especially since they get it right later. (JM) - Oh, er, that's simply the, um -- a bizarre warping of the spatial continuum owing to the immense gravitational field of the rapidly approaching, highly dense, wishing neutron star, yeah, that's it! (Plato) DYN What always gets me is the way Wakko's eyes blob together. That *can't* be healthy!! (Plato) + The whole handshake bit, Wakko gnawing off his arm, holding fake hand, etc.: see "Chairman of the Bored". (Plato) - Random thought: I think Pip can actually sing better than the squirrels. (CM) - "Try us, we're gullible!": COMMERCIAL TIME! (22 minutes) (Plato) + "Try us, we're gullible" is a paraphrase from "It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World," when Jonathan Winters offers to tell Phil Silvers the story about the money under "the Big W." Winters suggests that Silvers is never going to believe this tale, but when Silvers hears about the money, he smacks his lips, perks up and says: "Try me, I'm gullible." (TR) Nit Wakko says, "You'll never guess what just happened!" when he's supposed to say, "You'll never BELIEVE what just happened!" Otherwise Yakko's "Try us, we're gullible" doesn't make sense, right? (Plato) DYN The envelope with caricatures of Publishers' Clearing House Sweepstakes shills Ed McMahon and Dick Clark reads: Published Cleaning House "YOU WAKKO WARNER COULD WIN... 3 MILLION DOLLARS" Wakko Warner, ACME Labs. It looks like a dove on the stamp? (Plato) DYN Is that mime singing? Umm, just lip-synching, no doubt. (Plato) Odd how he didn't do that in the other songs--he just sort of bobbed up and down. (ZW) + The "Hungarian Rhapsody" is Franz Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2", an old favorite of the "Looney Tunes"/"Merrie Melodies" cartoons. It's also been used in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', and on A! in "Jokahontas", when the Warners sing the "Ice Cream Song" that "wasn't in the show." This may be the most extensively I've heard it used in a cartoon--the entire second movement is used here (give or take a little snippet here or there). (CM) - Well, "Rhapsody in Rivets" uses it for the whole seven minutes, but I can't recall offhand just how thoroughly. But for extension of Liszsspht's Cartoonian Rhapsody, TTA's "C Sharp or B Flat" has got 'em all beat. (Plato) Nit In the middle of the Wishing Star Rhapsody, everyone who was out in the snow in their jammies (and bare feet, ooh!) is suddenly dressed. (Plato) - AYPEWIP: "I think so, Brain, but just how will we get the weasel to hold still?" + "All the king's horses and all the king's men": see Humpty Dumpty. (Okkay, okkay, just trying to be thorough!) (Plato) + Da Vinci did indeed design an air screw much like the one shown here, somewhere around 1490. His model, however, wouldn't quite have worked -- Brain's brilliant modification was to add the pedals to drive the screw. (Plato) DYN They take pains to have the screw rotating in the proper direction. (JM) Nit Pinky protests, "Oh, no, no, wait--", instead of "Oh, wait, no--" (Plato) + The pie for Mindy's grandmother was a Marrion Berry (Marrion Barry, mayor of Washington DC noted for involvement with cocaine) pie. Also it seems grandma acts strangely if she doesn't get her 'fix'. And yes, there are Marrion Berries. (PN) - Marrion (sp?) Berry pies actually are sold at some bakery chain or other in L.A. I couldn't get a straight answer as to whether it was aimed at the politico or not. (JWK) - What's with Scooby Buttons?? (When he says, "Rhank rrou") (Plato) + The jungle drums mimic the "George of the Jungle" theme. (Carol Burnett did a better Tarzan yell) (Plato) + The squirrels parody "the Bonny Bonny Shores of Loch Lomond" + "Puppies can't climb trees!": see "Smell You Later" (Plato) DYN King Saladbar sure has a lot of fingers... (Plato) The first thing I noticed about him. I've never seen another hand like that on A! Perhaps it's because of the real Salazar? (ZW) ? The bit where Salazar talks to Plotz about "a star brighter than his very countenance" (in English, his face) was reminiscent of a scene in 'Jesus of Nazareth'. (CM, Gypsy Jr) + Andy Williamses, popular crooner of such songs as "Moon River", does indeed have a theatre in Branson, Missouri. (Plato) + "Cheese it, the boss": I've never heard anyone say 'cheese it' outside of cartoons. I think one was actually not a WB cartoon (but the writers probably just got it from watching old Merrie Melodies) (Plato) DYN Dot is reading "RAG" magazine in the sleigh. (Plato) DYN The opening to "If I Could Have My Wish Then I'd Be Happy" is reminicent of the "Yakko Sings About Time" song. Randy Rogel wrote them both. (SS) - "I've got a mean IQ of 192": ah, the old question of just how smart Hello Nurse really is (or isn't). (All that stuff in the "Hello Nurse" song is exaggerated, though.) (Plato) - "What I really wish to do is direct": does that really need explaining? (Plato) - "And when I get my wish, they'll all be gone": end of part 2! (when they break it into four episodes for TV) (Plato) Nit The bridge is magically repaired after the Warners cross. (Plato) Nit Upon twigging to the explosive attributes of SNS's elixir, Buttons and Rita exchange crafty looks, but Runt shouldn't catch on that fast. (Plato) DYN The shots of P&tB falling don't seem consistent, but it's probably just the angle. If you look at the given angles relating to their position and to the sides of the cliff and of the spot where they would have landed you can see that it's one of those inverse optical illusion things...like the cube that's either pointing out towards you or pointing away from you. (ZW) + Pharfignewton saves Pinky: see "Jockey for Position". (Plato) DYN The look Buttons gives Rita when Runt calls her a good doggie. And Slappy detaching Mindy from her hug and giving her to Buttons. (Plato) DYN After the crash, Hello Nurse is doing her nails. And in the prison camp. (Slappy, meanwhile, is flossing.) (Plato) - The first time I saw this I was puzzled at how she flossed the outside part of her teeth, not between, where the food would get caught. How much flossing can creamed spinach and frozen nuts require, anyway? (ZW) Nit The numbers on those dice are so right, it's hardly enjoyable. (The numbers on opposite sides of a die add up to seven, and the dice as drawn don't have any impossible combinations showing. What are we supposed to pick on if they start getting the details right?!?) P.S. the Warners have rolled a 1 and two 3's. (Plato) - "I told you to get rid of those little monsters": see "What are We?" ("I'm as normal as the next kid!") (Plato) - What's with the Ice Palace? Hmm, I guess the Salad bar would spoil if they didn't keep it on ice. (Iceberg lettuce???) What happens to that place in the summer?? (Plato) ? Note on Saladbar's palace: Maybe it's a parody shot of another Disney film? The only thing I can think of at the moment is the Little Mermaid. The mermaid castle had similar spike things on the top and a similar dome-like structure. (ZW) DYN Wakko is sitting on some books to boost him up. (Plato) + "We're in charge!": see "The Three Muska-Warners". (Plato) + The "will you be our daddy?" bit was first pulled on Death in "Meatballs or Consequences" and was later used in "Mobster Mash". (CM, SS) + "Good answer, good answer," while from our cartoon "Fair Game," is a reference to "Family Feud." But you knew that. (TR) + "When will this insanity stop?": see "Temporary Insanity". (Plato) + Cave of Your Worst Nightmares: see "Hello, Nice Warners", "Potty Emergency", and "Baloney and Kids". (Plato) + The room Mr. Director is the same one from "Hello Nice Warners," but the song he sings is from "Macbeth". (CM) - King Saladbar's list (transcribed by Plato): .THE WORLD .FAME .FORTUNE .MIDAS TOUCH .YOUTH .BEAUTY + Another, rather similar gag involving 'Fame' was done in "A Hard Day's Warners." (CM) + The horse is, of course, Black Beauty. (*He's* a horse, and *he* can talk!) (Plato) DYN Captain of the Guard: see "Hearts of Twilight", "Cute First". Here, instead of a camera lens, he's wearing what is presumably a pocket watch. His dialogue with Dot is quite a bit different from his previous appearances. (Plato) DYN All the Ticktockian officials (Plotz, Ralph, GFs, Salazar, and CotG) all are wearing some emblem that represents a time measurement device. (clock..."Tick Tock", get it? :-) (MN) - Ah -- so those are hourglasses on Plotz and Ralph's hats! I missed that. I suppose the flag on Salamander's castle is a clock of some sort, but I can't make it out clearly. (Plato) - How hot is that star anyway? I mean, it must be hot as seen when Wakko's running towards it. But the snow around it isn't melted. And Wakko isn't burning when he's wishing or when he lands on it. (ZW) DYN Interesting how Wakko wasn't absorbed like the cannonball. Maybe because he's the one who picked it? You never really know if the star would let anyone else touch it, because no one ever does. (ZW) + The whole film is an obvious parody of the Disney formula. The bit where Dot "dies" in a way-overdone scene, only to be fine moments later, is reminiscent of 'The Jungle Book,' as well as various other Disney films. (CM) + "Those acting lessons paid off after all": see "Cookies for Einstein". (Plato) - "Mr. Spielberg loves this shot". Probably just another tribute/suck-up to Mister Kate Capshaw, and his fondness for big ol' overdone shots of big, shiny, awe-inspiring objects (space ships, etc.). (CM) See also "Meatballs or Consequences". That had one or two nice little mentions of Steven's cinematic style. "How Spielbergian!" and "Spielberg eats this stuff up." (Plato, SPOOON, SS) - Cindy Crawford: famous model with a famous beauty mark. (Plato) DYN Slappy gets gloves. Yellow gloves. (Shrug) (Plato) 0 The scene where Skippy meets the "squirrel chick" seems to be a tribute to the similar scene in 'Bambi.' (CM) 0 It also reminded me of the scene in "the Sword and the Stone" where Merlin and Wart are turned into squirrels. (Gypsy Jr) DYN Mindy calls her mother "mom" for no apparent reason -- and then we almost see her face, but Mindy's body hides it. (Plato, JM) - The little that we do see of Mindy's mother's face is shocking enough, considering that, apart from those daring shots in "Buttons in Ows", we've never seen above her neck. I figure it was done deliberately, part of the closure thing -- Mindy finally calls her 'Mom', we finally get to see her face...except they couldn't quite bring themselves to show her full face. (Which is a good thing.) (Plato) Nit Why is Mindy's mom so thrilled to see her home safe? As far as she knows all Mindy did was go deliver a pie... (Gypsy Jr) DYN Wonder what happened to Grandma, anyway... (Gypsy Jr) - That is one thing left hanging... hrmm.. you know that means: 1. Sequel fodder! and two 2. Fanfic fodder! and three 3. Rampant wild speculation on a.t.a. (PN) + Burgermeister King: a take-off on Burger King. (A burgermeister is the town magistrate.) - Signs (transcribed by Plato): ."Home of the Big Plotz" - McDonald's Big Mac. Note the double arches on the windows. ."Schadenfreude meal .35" - McDonald's Happy Meals. 'schadenfreude' means joy at the misfortunes of another (see "Broadway Malady") ."Your vay you can haff!" - parodies Burger King slogan "Have it your way" .BURGERS: Mit der pickle .11 Mit der lettuce .12 Mit der cheese .15 Mit nuttink .10 .FRIES: Regular .10 Large .15 Too much mit der fries already .25 ."Hot apple strudel" DYN The Warners' birth certificates have WB shields (go fig) (Plato) DYN Dot's scepter has a flower on it. (Plato) - What kind of a name for a Warner is "William"?!?!? Yeesh, no wonder we never saw him before. ["And now, William Warner in 'Where There's a Will, there's a Wait'." Scene: William sitting quietly reading a book for seven minutes. ...And iris out!!!!!] (Plato) DYN We're not specifically told what happened to their mother. (Plato) DYN The Warners' father has no gloves. But he does have eyebrows! (Plato) And a mustache!! Maybe the parents are from a Marx film? (ZW) - I noticed that the second time around when I paused the movie to stare at the cyute little Yakko in overalls. It caught my eye because during the "everybody loved King William" thing, he DID have gloves. I suppose Wakko's little gloved hand on his father's nongloved hand just wouldn' be as cyute if William was wearing gloves too. (ZW) DYN Their mother has her ears back, like Dot's. Her face is different though (or maybe her hair is pulled back too). (Plato) - AAAAAAAAUGGGGHHHH!!! Warner Babies!! ***Don't let the marketing dept. see them!!!*** (Plato) DYN Pinky is using a mousey-sized horse brush to brush Phar's teeth. (Plato) DYN The water, er, turret is a nice touch -- the fact that it has "legs" look a bit funny. (And a ladder. And hinges on the shield part, no doubt.) (Plato) DYN The Wheel of Morality got fixed!!! Or maybe it's just not broken yet, as this is the old days. Hmm, also, it's bluer here, instead of purpley -- the colour must've faded over time, too. Otherwise, it's exactly the same as always. (Plato) DYN The characters in the final overhead shots are positioned exactly as they appear in the A! theme! Those core characters who appear in the theme, of course. (Plato) Nit Well, not *quite* exactly: here we've got D,W,Y instead of the (more obvious) Y,W,D of the opening; and Boo is missing from these shots, although he's in the theme song. (Plato) ? In the end credits, snippets of music from "The Animaniacs Suite" seem to be interspersed with the new composition. (CM) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***CREDITS*** I'd like to thank, first and foremost, pioneering Will Bell, for leading the way with the Animaniacs' CRG, and keeping it up for as long as he did. Without him, these cultural references documents may never have existed. I'd also like to thank Sean Carolan (Hubcity) for allowing me to use his valuable season #3 Animaniacs references he'd collected in the WARNER. Will, Sean, you both are truly groovy-faboo! ***OTHER CREDITS*** (AH) Arthur Hu: artherhu@coho.halcyon.com (AM) Andrew Mutchler: kturtle@intergate.com (ASL) Alison S. Leininger: aleining@ezinfo.ucs.indiana.edu (AV) Aaron Varhola: avarhola@ix.netcom.com (BB) Buster Bunny: buster@magi.com (BD) Brendan Dunn: bdunn@cco.caltech.edu (BJ) Brandon Johnson: brandonj@is.state.sd.us (BEC) Brian Eirik Coe: bcoe@trumpet.aix.calpoly.edu (Berna): bgs1@columbia.edu (BH) Brian Harvey: bh@anarres.cs.berkeley.edu (BigGoobie): biggoobie@aol.com (BL) Bryan Lambert: bryan.lambert@co.hennepin.mn.us (BC) Bryan Chaney: wbwolf@u.washington.edu (BM) Brett Middleton: brettm@uga.cc.uga.edu (BN) Bill Nottingham: bill@662772.student.cwru.edu (BNorm): bnorman861@aol.com (BT) The Blue Tigress: sapphire@uclink.berkeley.edu (Barbara) Barbara Thomas: thomas3@airmail.net (CB) Charles Brown: runt@ooh.dircon.co.uk (chance): timberwolf@lynx.bc.ca (CL) Chris Lambert: wlambert@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (CLM) Christina L. Melville: tinalynn@ix.netcom.com (CM) Craig Marinaro: marinaro@gateway.net (CS) Chris Saia: csaia@yakko.wtower.com (D&D) Dave & Deanna: davendeanna@earthlink.net (DG) Daniel Gallo: daniel@biosys.net (DL) Dairenn Lombard: piero@hondo.cyberverse.com (DS) Derek Schin: schindf96%cs39@cadetmail.usafa.af.mil (DY) Dr. Yakko: dryakko@aol.com (ED) Elizabeth Davis, edavis@su.edu (EG) Eric Gjovaag: tiktok@eskimo.com (EGG): eggie19@idt.net (EOC) EO Costello: eocostello@aol.com (ES) Erik Sojka: st91e8e2@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu (F2E) Film2Edit: film2edit@aol.com (Femajoe) Femajoe: femajoe@aol.com (furry) furry@ids2 (GHOST DANCE): petersod@river.it.gvsu.edu (GL) GLaugh: laughlan@gates.rchland.ibm.com (GS) Gabe Su: okkay@u.washington.edu (Gypsy Jr) Becky Mroczkowski: gypsyjr512@aol.com (HB) Heather Bennett: hbennet@ccat.sas.upenn.edu (HG) Hank Gillette: Hank_Gillette@smtp.svl.trw.com (J!) Jeremy Kempisty: Snuk@mail.rit.edu (Jade) AllJade: alljade@aol.com (JEO) Jennette E. Owen: bm998@yfn.ysu.edu (JJW) Jaime J. Weinman: weinmans@netcom.ca (JK) Joe Klemm: psklemm@csc.umd.edu (jkennedy): jkennedy@himail.hcc.com (JWK) John W. Kennedy: jwkenned@bellatlantic.net (JL) J. Lee: jfl666@u.washington.edu (JM) Jay Maynard: jmaynard@admin5.hsc.uth.tmc.edu (Jon) Jonathan Woodward: woodward@io.com (JS) Jenn Scott: abrams53@spotvb.potsdam.edu (Justin) Justin Mansfield: jmansfield@macalstr.edu (JW) Jessica Wolfman: loupgarou@webtv.net (KL) Kane Leung: ap057@lafn.org (KJT Dot) KJT Dot: kjtdot@aol.com (KM) Kenneth McAlinden: kmcalind@elvis.umd.umich.edu (Lari): lari35960@aol.com (LC) Lee Cremeans: lcremean@tidalwave.net (Liz): Liz@kbp.com (Maverick): maverick@wwa.com (MMA) Marsh Michael Alan: m-marsh@coewl.cen.uius.edu (MB) Mark Bernstein: markb@erim.org (MrC) Mister Challeron: challeron@rauland.com (Mat) Matthew Miller: rmiller@infinet.com (MD) Michael Dare: (ME) Mark Elbrecht: melbrecht@ibm.net (MHI) Matías Hernández: mhernand@ucu.edu.uy (Michelle): michlim@rgs.edu.sg (Mike) Michael Blakeley: mblakele@best.com (MJN Wikki): wikki_warner@juno.com (MK) Matthew Kurth: mkurth@wwa.com (MM) Michael McAvoy: mcavoy@u.washington.edu (MN) Michael Neylon: mneylon@neylonpc.engin.umich.edu (MRusso): mrusso1949@aol.com (ND) Natalia Dunaeff: npd1@cec.wustl.edu (NDM) Nicola "Ditzi" Makela: ditzi_warner@hotmail.com (Nnicole): nnicole@aol.com (NV) NV Raptor: nvraptor@aol.com (PC) Peter Cat: petercat@servtech.com (Plato): plato@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca (PN) Paul Neubauer: vakko@frontiernet.net (Q-Girl): jas659@nwu.edu (raven): theraven@imap2.asu.edu (RD) Robert Dahlen: robdahl@crl.com (RF) Rich Firestone: reechie@leba.net (RH) Rylan Hilman: rhilman@oasis.quay.com (Rizz): therizz@aol.com (RJR) Robert J. Repas, Jr: aa2043#freenet.lorain.oberlin.edu (RM) Richard Manning: dafox@yakko.wtower.com (RyM) Ryan Mead: mobo@webtv.net (RN) Richard Nathan: sswss18a@prodigy.com (Russ) Russ Newhouse: newhour@aa.wl.com (RO) Ron "Keeper" O'Dell: keeper@cruzio.com (RW) Rex Wheeler: rexw@udp.com (SB) Scott Bernier (SC) Sean Carolan: hubcity@exit109.com (SF) Sylvester Fox: (SK) Steve Kramer: skramer@nyx10.cs.du.edu (SM) Sir Mercator: zfsj47c@prodigy.com (SMC) Stewart M. Clamen: clamen@cs.cmu.edu (solarfox): solarfox@eden.com (SPOOON) SPOOON!!: spooon@home.com (spurdy): spurdy@pomona.edu (TADXN): tadxn@aol.com (TB) Tom Bromley: ap465@yfn.ysu.edu (TR) Tom Ruegger: trtoonswba@aol.com (VPaterno): vpaterno@aol.com (WBB) Will Bell: wbb@netcom.com (WENDOID): wendoid@aol.com (WS) William Smiley: yakko82@hotmail.com (WY) Wayne Yuen: jorus@rahul.net (YJW) Yakko J. Warner: yakko@wtower.com (ZW) Zang Watson: telkera@aol.com