ANIMANIACS: "TWAS THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS"

Here's the entire Animaniacs cartoon, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," adapted into a comic book published by DC Comics back in 1994.  The original cartoon was written by Randy Rogel and me and directed by Rusty Mills.  The comic book has great pencil work by Neal Sternecky.  (Neal  boarded and directed on the series as well.)   I've mixed in images from the original cartoon with the comic adaptation.   

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today: The Premier of "Pinky & the Brain"

That's "Pinky & the Brain" the primetime series, which premiered at 7pm on Sunday night, September 10, 1995 on The WB.  After their success on "Animaniacs," the two lab mice broke into primetime with their own show.  The title of the first episode:  "Das Mouse," written by Peter Hastings, directed by Liz Holzman and Al Zegler, produced by Peter, Rusty Mills, me and Mr. Spielberg, and starring the vocal performances of Rob Paulsen as Pinky and Maurice LaMarche as the Brain.  

And, now it's 20 years later, and since the world is not yet in the Brain's control, we must assume that Pinky & the Brain have spent the last 7305 nights attempting to take over the world -- without success.  

But there's always tomorrow night.

"Why, what are we going to do tomorrow night, Brain?"

"The same thing we do every night, Pinky -- try to take over the world." 

"They're dinky, they're Pinky & the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain." 

"Narf" forever!    

Rusty Mills -- Animation Director

Liz Holzman, Tom, Rusty Mills, Nelson Recinos, Jon McClenanhan, on their way to the Emmy Awards, mid-1990s

Rusty Mills, the Emmy-winning director and producer of many of the very best episodes of Animaniacs and Pinky & the Brain, passed away on Dec 7, 2012, at the age of 49.     Rusty leaves behind his beloved wife Andrea, his son Evan, his family, friends and colleagues who loved and admired him, and cartoons fans around the world who will be entertained by his great work for years to come.    

Please contribute generously to The Rusty Mills Cancer Fund at --

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/Rusty-Mills-Cancer-Fund/35172

Tiny Toon Adventures on DVD: How I Spent My Vacation

Coming August 14, 2012, on DVD:  Tiny Toon Adventures' How I Spent My Vacation. 

Above:  On the left, the new artwork for the 2012 DVD cover.  To the right, the artwork on the VHS cover, when "How I Spent My Vacation" was first released in 1992 as the first direct-to-video original animated feature.  

Back then, the folks at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment were dedicated to the notion that short movie titles were the only way to go, so they insisted that we change our original title, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation," to the insignificantly shorter title that omitted the word "summer."   

These are the same marketing geniuses who demanded that we change the title of the Animaniacs direct-to-video feature from "It's a Wakko Wakko Wakko Wakko Wish" to "Wakko's  Wish."  

I much prefer our original titles on both.  

As for the cover art, new and old, above  --  what can I say?   It's like the current regime at Warner Bros. isn't even trying.    

Steven Spielberg At Warner Bros. Animation

Here's a photo from one of Steven's visits to Warner Bros. Animation at our Sherman Oaks headquarters in the mid-90's.  This appearance took place following one of Animaniacs' Emmy victories.  Here, Steven picks up his Emmy trophy and addresses the crew.   In the background, standing next to me, left to right, are Lenord Robinson, Rich Arons, Rusty Mills and Ed Haney.  

'Twas the Night Before Christmas and All Through the House...

...Some creatures were stirring, including a mouse...

                                "Tonight, my dear Pinky, our plan is unfurled

                                We'll steal Santa's sleigh and take over the world!"

                                                                      From Animaniacs:  "'Twas the Day Before Christmas."

"A Pinky and the Brain Christmas" -- Pinky's Letter to Santa

Happy Holidays!

Here's a cell set-up from "A Pinky and the Brain Christmas."  This special won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in the 1995-96 television season.  This is the one and only Primetime Emmy Award won by a WB program in the entire history of the WB network (1995-2006).  Ever!

                                           A Pinky and the Brain Christmas (1995)
                                                                  directed by Rusty Mills

The Last "Pinky and the Brain" Script: "Star Warners"

Here's the cover page from the last "Pinky and the Brain" script:  "Star Warners."  You can see that it was quite the group effort.  At the recording session, I asked the cast and crew members on hand to sign my script...for posterity.