Saturday, March 16, 2013

Yakko, Wakko and Dot: The Family Portrait


20 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Brian (eday_2010@hotmail.com)March 31, 2013 at 10:13 PM

    With Warner Bros. Bringing the Looney Tunes back in a sitcom format cartoon on Cartoon Network, has their been any talk about reviving Animaniacs for Cartoon Network? It would certainly have a following with those who used to watch it and their kids. And you could probably keep doing the innuendo humor that was prevalent in the original (you basically need it for the show to be Animaniacs). There do not seem to be variety-show style cartoons anymore, and the format of the show kept it interesting because you never knew what short bumper cartoons would show up - the Randy Beaman kid, Good Idea Bad Idea, Mime Time, or a commercial parody.

    The show could certainly pick up where it left off, and enough time has passed that new ideas would/could be plentiful. Seems like a good idea for their 20th anniversary.

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  3. Brian -- I agree with you. But one of the reason that this sort of show is not made any more is because the broadcast landscape has changed radically since the early 90s. We made our show for a general audience. Today, cartoons for TV are being made for a specific age group niche.

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    1. Brian (eday_2010@hotmail.com)April 1, 2013 at 3:44 PM

      Well, I think that the audience that is watching The Looney Tunes Show is the same audience that would watch a new Animaniacs show. Some of those characters are far too rich and entertaining to not be used today. For me, the difference is that Daffy pretty much makes The Looney Tunes Show. With Animaniacs, there was a whole slew of characters that made the show for me.

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  4. Tom, I just recently found your blog, and I wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed and still enjoy Animaniacs. I feel it is one of the cleverest, funniest, and best produced animated series ever, and while I understand what you posted about how the broadcast landscape is very different today, I think it’s a shame that shows like Animaniacs aren’t being done today. In my opinion it’s the cartoons that appeal to multiple age groups that become the classics. The Warners are my favorite characters from the show, and I’ve always been curious about one aspect of their design. I always found it interesting that the Warners have red noses when their backstory is they were drawn in the early 1930s. Even in the cartoon shorts from the series that were supposed to be “black and white” they still had red noses. I was wondering if there was a behind-the-scenes story about who came up with this design idea, why their noses are always red, etc. Thank you and everyone who worked on Animaniacs for a wonderful series!

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    1. Hello. Maybe the fact of the red noses even in the black and white cartoons is related to Steven Spielberg's The Schindler's List?

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    2. Along with all of my talented colleagues, I created and produced "Animaniacs" before Steven made "Schindler's List."

      The girl in the red outfit in "Schindler's List," who stands out so vividly in that black & white film, may have been influenced by our red-nosed stars, Yakko, Wakko and Dot.

      "Babblin' Bijou," which premiered on "Animaniacs" on October 21, 1993, was the first of the Yakko, Wakko and Dot cartoons ostensibly in black & white, with the only color coming from the trio's red noses. The cartoon was in the works from late 1992, and was completed months before its first airdate.

      We sent rough cuts of all of our "Animaniacs" cartoons, including "Babblin' Bijou," to Steven in Poland where he was shooting "Schindler's List." So Steven saw the distinct look of the red noses against the black & white footage.

      Of course, at the same time, as you might assume, Steven was NOT sending us rough footage from "Schindler's List," since we were not involved in that production.

      "Schindler's List" premiered in Washington D.C., on Nov. 30, 1993 and went into general release around the U.S on December 15, 1993.

      "Schindler's List" is, in my opinion, Steven's most powerful film. If the red noses of our characters had any influence on his decision to include the girl in the red dress, great.

      Whatever his reason, it was an excellent choice, as it helped to show the death of a single innocent individual in a tragedy that took the lives of over 11 million innocent individuals by the hands of the Nazi regime. At least 6 million of those who died in the Holocaust were Jews. Just the thought of this atrocity should make everyone on earth weep and vow to never let anything like it ever happen again.

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  5. Mr. Ruegger, do you ever sell sketches of characters? If so, I'd love to buy one.

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  6. Josh -- I am open to selling original artwork.

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  7. Aren't you gonna post a tribute to one of your heroes Jonathan Winters?

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  8. When I have the time to do him justice.

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  9. Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Yakko, Wakko and Dot: The Family Portrait":

    Still pretty tripping and uber glad i found your blog!
    it was good times, those times in front of the tv watching the 'visually presented gags'

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  10. Hey, Tom Ruegger! Someone by the name of Sarah R. (who also has a deviantART page) used the name of your blog for her Tumblr without your permission.

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  11. Man, I love the writing of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. So smart and nice mixture of high and low brow, historical and pop-culture references galore. I've gotta say thanks too. Animaniacs has inspired the writing of a farcical musical theatre, currently in production. Hope you have some cool projects in the works :)

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  12. I love this cartoon, the animaniacs.

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  13. I can't believe I only just found this blog. Tom, what chances would you say there are of someone bringing shows like Animaniacs and Tiny Toon back on air? I know above you said that shows are targeted at age groups now, but couldn't someone (Maybe yourself? :P) go against the general norm?

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  14. Tom I have a question about Katie ka boom from animaniacs, ¿was there some kind of controversy about that segment in animaniacs?, today around the world there is a serious phenomena similar to that not only on teenage res, but in schoolar aged children, which is called " the emperor's syndrome", and it's much worse than simple tandrums!

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  15. Do you still sell original artwork? If so I'd be very very interested in looking at some of your original artwork and discussing a price.
    Hope to hear from you soon. My email is ctorres@smithtec.org shoot me an email if possible! Thanks again I love me some animaniacs

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  16. Hello,
    I'm interested in purchasing some original animaniacs artwork if possible!
    So if your still down to sell some let me know you can email me at ctorres@smithtec.org
    I love the show and a really amazing teacher I have is a big fan and I'd love to suprise him with an original drawing as a thank you/ graduation gift! My name is Christian Paul hope to hear from you soon!

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