Slappy Squirrel Animation Smear -- "Bumbie's Mom"

Here's a beautiful animation smear of Slappy Squirrel from Jon McClenahan, Barry Caldwell and the Startoons crew in Chicago.  

The series:  Animaniacs.  The episode:  "Bumbie's Mom."  

At the local multiplex, Slappy's nephew Skippy is enjoying the movie -- "Bumbie" -- until there's an onscreen gunshot and it appears that Bumbie's mom has been killed by a hunter.  Skippy burst into tears, waking Slappy from a sound sleep and resulting in the one frame Slappy smear featured below.  

Spoiler Alert:  The episode has a happy ending.  

Startoons's brilliant creative team animated and produced many of the very best Slappy and Skippy Squirrel cartoons during the entire Animaniacs run (1993-1998).   The Startoons Slappy cartoons include:  "Slappy Goes Walnuts," "Guardin' the Garden," "Critical Condition," "...And Justice For Slappy," "Scare Happy Slappy," "Soccer Coach Slappy" and "Bully for Skippy," among others.   All feature the brilliant voice performances of Sherri Stoner as Slappy and Nathan Ruegger as Skippy Squirrel.  And many of the Slappy cartoons are written by Sherri, as well as John P. McCann, Earl Kress, Nick Hollander, Nick Dubois and me...   

Animation Smears, Wild Takes and Strong Poses from "Woodstock Slappy"

Animation Lesson:

 

1.  Here are some in-between smears that intensify the acting and animation in "Woodstock Slappy."

Slappy leans in on Skippy with a smear face stretch.    

 

Slappy makes a fast, single-frame gestures toward the stage... 

 

Slappy uses her arms to beseech Skippy to answer the question that's driving her crazy:   "Who's on stage?"

Skippy stretches up then goes down into a squash and freaks out as Slappy sings along with her accordion.

  

2.  Some wild takes from "Woodstock Slappy." 

Slappy wakes up to the song stylings of a screaming Janis Joplin... 
 

 

 

3.  And here are some excellent strong poses and acting from director Audu Paden and his brilliant crew of artists, story-boarders and animators on "Woodstock Slappy,"  helped by some great vocal performances by Sherri Stoner, Nate Ruegger and the rest of the cast.

 

  

"WOODSTOCK SLAPPY" PAN -- 5OTH ANNIVERSARY OF WOODSTOCK

IN CELEBRATION OF THE 5OTH ANNIVERSARY OF WOODSTOCK...

Here's a pan of the Woodstock crowd as Slappy Squirrel tries to shoo them away form her summer treehouse in "Woodstock Slappy" from "Animaniacs" (1994).  

And here's Slappy grabbing Jimi Hendrix guitar in an attempt to bring the concert to a close.  

 










 

"Animaniacs" 20th Anniversary: Sept. 13, 1993 -- Sept 13, 2013

Happy 20th Anniversary to Animaniacs, to all its fans, and to all who made it possible!

 

  

 

 

 

 

ANIMANIACS: The Voice of God

God is not dead.  But the voice of God in two Animaniacs segments has passed away.  

Stage and television actor Malachi Throne, who provided the rich and resonant voice of God in both the Slappy Squirrel cartoon "Guardin' the Garden" and the Hip Hippo segment "Noah's Lark," passed away on March 13 at the age of 84.  

 

Mr. Throne's acting career spanned 60 years and he appeared in over 100 TV series, including the original "Batman," "Star Trek," "The Outer Limits"...


 

The Hip Hippos attempt to board "Noah's Lark." 

..."Hogan's Heroes," "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,"  "I Spy," "The Wild Wild West,"  "Mannix," "Mission: Impossible," "Hawaii Five-O"...

 



..."The Rockford Files," and "Law and Order," to name just a few, and he had recurring roles on "Ben Casey" and "To Catch A Thief."  





                                               God bless you, Mr. Throne.

"Animaniacs" Returns To TV on Christmas Eve: 12/24/12

A six hour Christmas-themed marathon of Animaniacs episodes airs today/tonight on THE HUB.  The marathon starts at 4 PM Eastern, 1 PM Pacific, with a partial repeat later in the evening.  Faboo!

Happy Holidays!

Animaniacs Marathon on Christmas Eve -- on the Hub

Daily broadcasts of Animaniacs return to your TV starting in late December 2012/early January 2013 on The Hub.    Gooooooooo, the Hub!

As a sneak peak, the Hub is running a four-hour Christmas Eve Animaniacs marathon of holiday themed episodes.  Here's the press release:


As the perfect Christmas gift, Animaniacs will join The Hub on Monday, December 24 with a marathon from 4-8 p.m. (ET).

Here are some of the episodes airing:

• “Twas the Day Before Christmas; Jingle Boo; The Holiday Concert”  – Slappy Squirrel reads a classic Christmas poem to nephew Skippy in “Twas the Day Before Christmas.” Chicken Boo dresses up as Santa Claus in “Jingle Boo.” Wakko performs “The Great Wakkorotti: The Holiday Concert,” and the Warners make mischief in “Toy Shop Terror."”
•  “A Christmas Plotz; Little Drummer Warners”  – On Christmas Eve, the Warner siblings subject Warner Bros. chief, Thaddeus Plotz, to a Dickensian nightmare in “A Christmas Plotz.” Later, the three Warners star in “Little Drummer Warners,” a musical version of the nativity.
• “My Mother the Squirrel; Oh Say Can You See; 12 Days of Christmas”  – In “My Mother the Squirrel,” the Bluebird thinks Slappy is his mother. The Flame helps Francis Scott Key write our nation’s anthem in “Oh! Say Can You See,” and the Bluebird returns to sing his version of a holiday song in “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
• “Cutie and the Beast; Boo Happens; Noel”  – The Tazmanian Devil plays the Beast and Dot is Cutie in “Cutie and the Beast.” In “Boo Happens,” Chicken Boo relives the life of “Forrest Gump.” Then, the Warners have fun with puns in a Randy Rogel musical number sung to the tune of classic Christmas carol, “Noel.”
• “The Christmas Tree; Chicken Part 1; Prom Night; Chicken Part 2”  – Slappy Squirrel awakens to find her house is now “The Christmas Tree” at “Rockyfellow” Center, Katie Ka-Boom tries to negotiate a mutually acceptable curfew for “Prom Night” with her dad, and the entire cast appears on the TV news program “Punchline.”

ANIMANIACS: "Smell Ya Later" with Jonathan Winters

Here's one of my favorite Slappy Squirrel cartoons, directed by Rich Arons and Lenord Robinson, written by Earl Kress and yours truly, and starring Sherri Stoner as Slappy, Nate Ruegger as Skippy, and guest starring Luke Ruegger as Bumpo Basset and the one-and-only comedy genius Jonathan Winters as Stinkbomb D. Basset.  

Bumpo and Stinkbomb D. Basset planning an attack on Slappy and Skippy Squirrel in "Smell Ya Later" from Animaniacs

 Watch "Smell Ya Later" here.

A major highlight of my career in cartoons was getting to work with Jonathan Winters -- and one of the highlights of being a dad was being able to introduce my sons to one of the greatest comedians of all time.   I am still thrilled that they had the chance to work alongside Sherri Stoner and Jonathan Winters in the same cartoon.  "Smell Ya Later" is one of my all-time favorite segments from Animaniacs. 

Happy 4th of July from Skippy and Slappy Squirrel

"In the land of the free, now that's com-e-dy!"

Cel set-up from the final scene of the Animaniacs episode entitled "Woodstock Slappy," directed by Audu Paden, written by John P. McCann and me, and featuring the "Who's on Stage?" sketch performed by Slappy (Sherri Stoner) and Skippy (Nathan Ruegger).  

Animaniacs Probed by "Mental Floss!"

Check out this nifty Animaniacs article at Mental Floss written by Rob Lammle. 

The People Who Made "Tiny Toons" and "Animaniacs" -- Part Three

Earl Kress

Earl Kress and his wife Denise

Earl Kress was a major contributor to the writing of both Animaniacs and Pinky & the Brain.   Earl wrote or co-wrote many episodes which have become fan-favorites of the Animaniacs series, including the Slappy cartoon “Smell Ya Later” (co-starring Sherri Stoner and Jonathan Winters) and that Christmas gem "Little Drummer Warners" (directed by Lenord Robinson).  Earl was also part of the team that wrote the DVD animated feature “Wakko’s Wish.”

During the 90’s at Warner Bros, Earl also scripted some great segments for Tiny Toon Adventures (“Turtle Hurdle,” “Class Cut-up,” “Day for Knight”) and a handful of Road Rovers episodes.   Earl took home Emmy Awards for his writing on both Pinky and the Brain and  Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain.”  

I’ve known Earl since the early 80’s and have had the pleasure of working with him on a bunch of different animated series over the years, including Pound Puppies and Yogi’s Treasure Hunt during our time together at Hanna-Barbera.

Of course, Earl has worked on many cartoons outside of the Warner Bros./Hanna-Barbera spheres.  At Disney, for instance, he co-wrote the animated feature film “The Fox and the Hound.”

Earl and I grew up during the same era, and we were both big fans of the early Hanna-Barbara series starring Huck and Yogi and Quick Draw.  Earl is one of the world’s leading experts on Hanna-Barbara history and lore, and also studied voice-over acting with the legendary voice of Yogi, Huck and Quick Draw, Daws Butler.  Beyond these studies, Earl and Daws became good friends.    

You can hear some of Earl’s voice work on “Hanna-Barbera’s Pic-A-Nic Basket,” the definitive 3-CD collection of music and sfx from Hanna-Barbera shows of the late 50’s to the 70’s.  Earl not only performs on the album, he also hunted down and preserved many of the rare tracks, and produced the album as well.   

I’ve known Earl for 31 years and I’m proud to call him one of my best friends in this world of cartoons.