#it’s an animaniacs artist unfortunately

[stupidhany]

Doodle dumppppzzz

[freakartack]

I want to preface any and all of this by first saying I love your art style so much. I think it's really quite ballsy and unique of you to take a game franchise so ingrained in Japanese humor and sensibilities as WarioWare and draw it with such a wacky western animation vibe. So I guess that brings me to my question!!! What are your biggest artistic influences? There's gotta be some cartoons in there man, I know there is. This is really weird to say but the way you draw Mona almost reminds me of Robot Jones? There's a character in it named Shannon who I think (coincidentally or not) has a lot of overlap with your Mona. Have you seen the show before? lol Love what you do, keep doing it, you're great, etc. etc.

LOL thank you!! I never really thought about the irony of that juxtaposition, but you're right; consider it a love letter from a Yank like myself. That being said, as quintessentially Japanese as Warioware's humor is, it's also not so different from the grossout humor of the cartoons airing across the pond at the time. While Warioware is more fixated on poop than Ren and Stimpy's boils and pus, we can all agree on one thing: MUCUS🇯🇵🤝🇺🇸

Which brings me, predictably, to my artistic inspirations. What's funny about being so public with my art is that not only do people armchair diagnose my influences a lot, but they're also right almost all of the time. (What can I say; I'm a one-trick pony.) Here are some of my favorite and most accurate diagnoses:

Looney Tunes (a big one; drawing like Chuck Jones was like my version of an anime phase as a kid)

Don Bluth (sadly, a big one; I hate that motherfucker but he sure did imprint on my art style in a way that I will never be able to reverse)

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (this one is obvious when you look at how I draw dr. crygor, but generally speaking Milton Knight is one of my biggest artistic inspirations. AOSTH was kind of rough around the edges due to the limiting circumstances, but IMO his magnum opus as far as kid's cartoons was the Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat, which has all the gorgeous derangement of the sonic cartoon with none of the shortcuts)

Cow and Chicken: This comparison is dear to me because I never would have listed David Feiss as one of my primary inspirations but he literally is. In fact out of everything on this list he's probably the closest DNA match to my cartoons, right down to my fixation on drawing giant teeth. I can't run away from my demons

Dr. Seuss: This one i thought was weird because he is actually one of my biggest artistic inspirations but I didn't think it was obvious. But the funny part is that whenever I try to draw architecture he immediately takes over my brain

90s cartoons in general: predictable, but i'll list off some that people have identified in my brain/are extremely prominent in there. CatDog, Johnny Bravo, Ren and Stimpy (obligatory "go to hell John K"), and unfortunately Animaniacs, but I like to pretend that's not the case. I bristle when people act like the 90s is the golden age of cartoons because I want to come to the defense of the other generations but they're also kind of right. Never again will we enjoy the beautiful grotesquery of Klasky-Csupo

Not something people have noticed unprompted, but a special shoutout to my actual biggest artistic inspiration and the one that should be first on this list: Jim Henson, and all of his crew. Not only are their puppets and designs ingenious and electrifying visually, but the sincerity and humor that shines through in all his creations elevates them above all else on this list. Due in no small part to the many other geniuses working alongside him; Henson was notoriously gracious to his colleagues, and the creative freedom and equal collaboration on his shows is what makes them so unique and so genuine. I've often said that my enjoyment of a piece of media directly correlates with how much fun the people making it are having, and that couldn't be truer here. I can only dream of creating something as big-hearted and grandiose as the Muppets and their ilk.

Finally, HOLY FUCKING BALLS. Robot jones was huge on my brain growing up as a strange individual, but I somehow never made the connection with her and Shannon. But you're right, from the first time i drew her, she kind of slowly animorphed even more into that shape. You could honestly go even further and say that my characterization of Orbulon and Mona's friendship is like if Jones and Shannon were normal about each other. Wow! What a world!

[reggiejworkshop]

Dawn of The Warners with Autograph by Tom Ruegger"

Most of you who've watched me long enough probably recognize this old fanart piece.

The only thing new about it now is the signature of a special someone I met at MomoCon!

I had a fantastic time at MomoCon earlier this past weekend! It was the first time I had gone to a convention on this large of a scale! I got a chance to see and do a lot of great things. I ran into some artists I recognized online and bought some neat stuff such as fandom based tea and a manga book of Lupin the Third. In fact, I even decided to cosplay for the very first time by dressing up as Lupin in his Part 1/ Castle of Cagliostro get up.

But my personal favorite moment was I had the great opportunity to meet the producer of Animaniacs and many other cartoons; Tom Rugger! Paul Rugg was supposed to be there as well for a drawing duel, but unfortunately, he canceled and wasn't able to make it. Instead, another lady there had taken his place

Rugeer was stationed at the Walk of Fame section where he, along with many others, could do meet and greets. His line was surprisingly short compared to some of the others there, such as Steve Blum (Cowboy Bebop), Richard Horvitz (Invader Zim).

I will admit, I felt a little nervous as it's not often I get to meet famous and talented people. I was also a bit concerned about what to say as I didn't want to come as too typical or generic. When I showed my artwork, he thought it was amazing and asked me if it was the original. I reassured him that it was a copy and that he could sign anywhere he wanted to.

Not only did I get my piece signed, but I also got a print of one of his new artworks; The Warners, as various DC heroes with Batman!

It was a great honor to meet the person who created one of my favorite cartoons of all time!

P.S. I just realized that in all the years I have been on Tumblr, I've never done an official face reveal, aside from a self-portrait.

So here you go!

[kaylasriot]

hello, im kaylasriot or kayla! 🌱

please keep this blog as positive as possible. unfortunately, i do not do comms but hopefully i find some rad artists. i post my own art and fan art

I DO NOT SUPPORT AI ART

artist on tumblr

she/her

minor

viet and cambodian

infj

virgo

aroace spectrum

dark academia, 2010s alt, vintage/retro, earthy aesthetics

horror

hufflepuff

anklebiter (paramore)💚

multifandom

PROSHIPPERS DNI 👋➡️🚪

Some fandoms or faves

doctor who

criminal minds

ramshackle

teenage mutant ninja turtles

tangled the series

ever after high

monster high

animaniacs

ouran host club

dreamworks

pixar

spiderverse

indie games/shows

and more!

i will be posting on my own time so please be patient 🍵

[akumaverse]

YAKKO, WAKKO AND DOT WARNER

First Appearance: Shot Out of Canon: Signing Up for Survivor Fan Characters #4

Dimension: Scratch Space

Allegiance: Civilian

Dateline: Hollywood, 1930, the Warner Bros. Studio, home to the biggest stars in Tinsel Town. Here at the studio's new animation department, the artists toil endlessly to come up with cartoon stars, ultimately creating three new characters -- the Warner Brothers and their sister Dot. Unfortunately, the Warner kids were totally out of control, and sent the animators running to the hills. The trio ran amok throughout the studio, creating utter chaos. Finally, they were captured.

The Warners' films (which made absolutely no sense) were locked away in the studio vault, never to be released. As for the Warners themselves (who made even less sense) they were locked away in the studio water-tower, also never to be released. Publicly, the studio has disavowed any knowledge of the Warners' existence to this very day -- when the Warners escaped!

To some, they are the Warner Brothers and the Warner Sister. To others, they are the Animaniacs. And they’re zany to the max. And just for fun, they run around the Warner Movie Lot. They get locked back into the tower whenever they get caught. But that doesn’t last for long as they break loose and then vamoose and the cycle repeats. Each one brings their own skills into the trio. Dot is cute, Yakko yaks and Wakko packs away the snacks. And for five Seasons and a movie, they were showing their brand of loonacy to the 90s.

But one day, they vanished. Nobody knows where they went to but people swear they made appearances here and there. That ended over 20 years later when they returned. While different than they first appeared, they were still the Warners people loved. And while their rebooted series has ended, their antics continues in Scratch Space where they get to interact with a whole bunch of characters they couldn’t before.

Sprite Credit

First Version was ripped from Animaniacs for the SNES.

Current Version is by AkumaTh

Fun Facts:

I made the Warners sprites as a tribute for the Reboot. 

Slappy Squirrel is my favorite of the series and I am glad to see she did return at least once in the Reboot.

[just-denimjacket-responses]

hey guys.

i made a post on my main account yesterday, but forgot to make one here.

i’m gonna take a short break from tumblr.

so basically, what happened was:

someone said something about a character getting married. the character in question is aroace. so i said, “hey, this character is aroace, so they may not want to get married to anyone.” no anger on my part, nothing.

doesn’t seem so bad, right?

but the response i got back was FULL of rude, hateful, aphobic comments about how horrible i am for saying this character isn’t a lesbian?? and that this was why they hate “people like me”??

because i was trying to stop someone invalidating aroace peoples’ identity? that shit’s harmful!

people already grow up thinking they’re broken for not experiencing attraction; and people like this, that tear down every single hint of positive rep we get, and say we’re the problem for calling them out on their BS, are only adding even more dirt to the pile.

like, why would you wanna take away what little CRUMB of representation we get, and then yell at me like it’s MY fault?

i’m not going to use their username. i’ve had around 12-ish hours to calm down, and i’m gonna give them the benefit of the doubt; maybe they’re a kid who’s been told that aroace folk are not good people, or something. i honestly don’t know. i shouldn’t be trying to justify their actions, but if they did it for the sole sake of being an asshole, it’s gonna tear me apart from the inside.

i also can’t use their username because they have a fairly large fanbase, and i might end up getting doxxed or worse.

all i’m saying is, don’t invalidate peoples’ sexual or romantic orientation like that. your words are reaching real people, and you need to think before saying shit like that.

and at the end of my break, i want y’all to know that you can always reach out to me if something similar happens to you. if someone says that your sexuality makes you a bad person (which it doesn’t), then come to me. i’ll talk it out with you.

you guys are valid, and i love you. i’ll see you soon.

💙💜

-Denim

[nostalgink]

Heya guys! I’m Jack! I’m 18, a digital artist and all around lover of 80s and 90s toons! I mostly enjoy trying to make works that look like they were pulled right out of a scene from my favorite shows, like Animaniacs, Who Framed Roger rabbit, or Darkwing Duck!

When I’m not doing that though, I also like to animate! I’m just beginning to really get into it, but maybe one day I can do what I already do with my art as I do with animation!

@hellosonganimated

[tcm]

Something New Has Been Added: Inside Tex Avery’s Madcap Animated Universe By  Donald Liebenson

“The secret in animating is first to have an everlasting sense of humor, next to be able to see the commonplace in a funny way and most important of all, to be able to sketch your idea so that the other person will think it's funny."—Tex Avery, The Dallas Morning News, 1933

At the start of Fred “Tex” Avery’s RED HOT RIDING HOOD (‘43), the Wolf, Red Riding Hood and even Grandma rebel against a traditional rendering of the classic fairy tale and threaten to quit the cartoon right then and there. “Every cartoon studio in Hollywood has done it this way,” Red complains. “I’m pretty sick of it myself,” Grandma chimes in. And just like that, something new had been added, with a cat-calling, zoot-suit-bedecked Wolf cruising Hollywood Blvd.; Red Hot Riding Hood (aka that Sweetheart of Swing) knockin’ ‘em dead at a Hollywood night club; and a slang-slinging Grandma (“Hiya cousin, what’s buzzin?’”) waiting for a wolf of her own in her penthouse digs.

RED HOT RIDING HOOD kicks off TCM’s early morning tribute to Tex Avery, which will easily be the funniest thing you see all day. The cartoons will be preceded by John Needham’s British documentary TEX AVERY: KING OF CARTOONS (‘88). It is an ideal primer into the Avery-verse that charts his legendary career from high school cartoonist through his tenures with Walter Lantz Productions, Warner Bros. and MGM. Along with a generous sampling of clips from his Warner Bros. and MGM cartoons, there are priceless interviews with equally legendary colleagues such as Chuck Jones, Heck Allen and Mike Lah, along with June Foray, the Queen of Cartoons and Joe Adamson, who wrote the essential book, also titled Tex Avery: King of Cartoons. (Coincidence, isn’t it?)

Needham told TCM he was encouraged to make the documentary by Chuck Jones, whom Needham had profiled for the BBC arts series, Omnibus. “He simply said, ‘We should make a film about Tex,” he said. As an Avery fan himself, Needham was all in. “I think it’s his ability to take a gag to the extremes and then take it further and then take it even further,” he said. “Chuck said that he could never copy Tex because he didn’t have a clue what Tex was doing, he just knew that he was a genius. I’m sure I don’t know either, but what he did was incredibly funny.”

The seven cartoons included in the TCM tribute meet the “incredibly funny” standard. They were produced for MGM. These are not as well known or as widely seen as his cartoons for Warner Bros., where, most notably, Avery directed A WILD HARE (’40), the cartoon that established Bugs Bunny’s brash personality. Avery was an outlier at the tony studio that boasted “more stars than there are in the heavens.” MGM did make sparkling and sophisticated romantic comedies directed by the likes of George Cukor and Ernst Lubitsch, but MGM was where clowns went to die.

Buster Keaton wrote in his memoir that signing with MGM was “the worst mistake” of his career. THE CAMERMAN (’28) was an auspicious beginning, but gradually, Keaton lost the lion’s share of his creative control, suffered studio interference and was partnered with Jimmy Durante. The Marx Brothers’ association with the studio likewise began promisingly with A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (‘35), but soon the iconoclastic highs of the brothers’ Paramount films were but a dim memory and the brothers were relegated to playing second fiddle to insipid romantic leads like Kenny Baker and Florence Rice in AT THE CIRCUS (‘39).

But MGM could not tame Tex Avery. Or perhaps studio execs didn’t think animation was worth the time and trouble to meddle with, allowing him to work unimpeded. The best of the cartoons he made for the studio between 1942-55 put the “mad” in madcap, if that’s your idea of a good time. In his book, Adamson observes: “No artist, in any century, on any continent, in any medium, has ever succeeded in creating his own universe as thoroughly and overwhelmingly as Tex Avery.”

You might say that a Tex Avery cartoon is like that proverbial box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get. “Say, what kind of a cartoon is this gonna be, anyway?” asks the title character in SCREWBALL SQUIRREL (‘44), another of the Avery 7 to be featured in TCM’s mini-Avery-palooza. Well, it’s NOT going to be a charming Disney-esque romp with adorable forest creatures. Screwball Squirrel sees to that when he takes one of them behind a tree and violently disposes of him, assuring the audience, “The funny stuff will start as soon as the phone rings.”

BAD LUCK BLACKIE and KING-SIZE CANARY, two masterpieces that are highlights of TCM’s Avery cartoon block, break all rules of the physical world and nature. In the former, a black cat brings instant bad karma each time he crosses the path of a bullying bulldog. At one point, the unfortunate pooch must dodge a succession of falling objects that escalate from a sink to a battleship. In the latter, a chase between a cat, mouse and dog escalates to gigantic proportions thanks to a bottle of Jumbo Gro.

What critic James Agee wrote about the Marx Brothers also applies to Avery in that even lesser Tex is better worth seeing than most other things I can think of. SYMPHONY IN SLANG (’51) is a succession of silly sight gags inspired by a hipster’s arrival at the Pearly Gates. He tells his life story to a befuddled Noah Webster, who pictures literal translations to such phrases as, “I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth,” “It was raining cats and dogs” and “I died laughing.”

SCREWBALL SQUIRREL features some great self-referential gags, such as the title character peeking ahead to the next scene to figure out what to do next. But the character was so obnoxious that he was actually killed off at the end of his fifth, and final, cartoon.

Avery’s influence is vast. When in THE LITTLE MERMAID (‘89), Sebastian’s jaw drops like an anvil when he spies Ariel nursing an injured Prince Eric, that’s a classic Tex Avery take. THE MASK (‘94) pays direct homage to RED HOT RIDING HOOD when Jim Carrey’s Mask man is undone by nightclub chanteuse Cameron Diaz. And the Tex Avery force is strong in Animaniacs’ helter-skelter pacing and fourth-wall breaking.

But there is nothing like the real thing. No one made cartoons that were loonier. The secret? As Avery told Joe Adamson, he didn’t think in terms of the age of his audience: “I tried to do something I thought I would laugh at if I were to see it on the screen.”

[commandedance]

Rules/things about me 🌝

11+ DONT be creepy/immature

DNI if you do/your a: P*do, homophobe/transphobe, fatshame/skinnyshame, racist, transmed/transcum, ddlg, says the r slur but not disabled, just anything problematic and Creepy.

Also dni if you are my ex and make fun of my interests

Things about me 🥺👉👈

✨Fandoms✨

Danganronpa

Turning red

Lego batman movie

Dc superhero girls

Telltale batman

The owl house

Amphiba

The ghost and molly mcgee

Gravity falls

Star vs the forces of evil

Encanto

Bendy an the ink machine

Baldi’s basics

Five nights at freddys

Doki doki literature club

My hero academia

The promised neverland

Demon slayer

Toilet bound hanako kun

Hunter x hunter

Ok ko let’s be heroes

Craig of the creek

Steven universe

Adventure time

Creepy pastas

She ra

Hazbin hotel

Helluva boss

Cookie run

Friday night funkin

Vocaloid

Wonder over yonder

Trolls

My little pony

Animaniacs

Unikitty

Full/fuller house

What I like

Lavender (color)

Joker and Batman (they are my hubbys 🥺🥺/hj)

Drawing

Anything dc

Clothes that are to big for me but feel nice

Mitski’s music

Coffee and donuts

Decorate my sketchbook cover

FOXESSSSSSSSSS (specifically fennec foxes)

I LOVE playing hilarious game ripoffs

Milfs and dilfs 🤤/hj

I LOVE CHILI FRIES AND TACO BELL

I like scary things

Things I hate 😡😡😡

These ugly things on my chest 😡😡😡😡😡🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

2021 (suicide squad) joker😡😡😡

Ppl who hate lego joker/hj 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Politics

Me When I was nine/ten (unfortunately I had access to the internet 🌝)

People who think trans men can’t be feminine/trans women can’t be masculine (I’m Trans male and I like skirts so fawk off 🤬🤬🤬🤬)

People who ship real people

I HATE PUBLIC BATHROOMS🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Specific things about me 💅✨

Omnisexual

Trans male

Questioning if I’m polyamorous

He/they

Hot 🥵/j

Artist 👨‍🎨

American 😿

Crossed dominance (my mom told I had it idk if it’s true)

Failing school ☹️☹️☹️☹️

Minor

My friends 💪💪

HordaksGf on tiktok 🥺💜😊🤗

My other social media

mushroomfoxy on TIkTok

Mushroom720 Wattpad

mushroomfoxy#7581 discord

My kins 🤪🌸

Hunter ( the owl house)

Lego robin ( the lego batman movie)

Lego batman ( they lego batman movie)

Raine ( the owl house)

Marceline ( adventure time)

Junko enoshima ( danganronpa)

Marco ( Star vs the forces of evil)

Gregory ( five nights at Freddy’s: Security breach)

Frosta ( she ra)

Mirabel ( encanto)

Killua ( hunter x hunter)

Lego joker ( the lego Batman movie)

Harleen quinzel ( dc superhero girls)

Barbra Gordon ( dc superhero girls)

Entrapta (she ra)

Willow ( the owl house)

Kelsey ( Craig of the creek)

Connie before sword fighting ( Steven universe)

Omar/ green poncho ( craig of the creek)

Janna ( Star vs the forces of evil)

Minamoto Kou (toilet bound hanako kun)

Mitsuba sousuke ( toilet bound hanako kun)

Charlie morningstar ( hazbin hotel)

I’ll edit this post sometimes

[homestuckinthebutt]

Greetings traveller! Youve just stumbled into my gremlins cave! So glad you could make it!

Anyway, I am an artist who loves cartoons and animation, Legos, old toys and tv shows!!

⭐

I post really whatever i feel like here but expect to mostly see memes, animals, art, cute things, fandoms, etc

If you like my content, you should alsofollow my boyfriend's account @dannyboy1334

Yes, my url does sound dirty but my content is not. IF anything on this account is NSFW, it is purely only artistic nudity or just a goofy meme, and besides i will always tag it in case that's something my audience still doesnt want to see.

Here's some media that I enjoy:

Ninjago,Homestuck, Hiveswap, Undertale, Deltarune, Svtfoe, Tangled the series, She ra, Over the Garden Wall, Camp Camp, Steven Universe, The Dragon Prince, Adventure Time, The Umbrella Academy, Night in the Woods, Stranger things, Beastars, Series of Unfortunate Events, Bojack Horseman, Tales of Arcadia (Trollhunters, 3below, Wizards), Gravity falls. Animaniacs, Good Omens, The Owl House, Spongebob, Final Space, Infinity Train, Clone high, Helluva boss, Hazbin hotel, Carebears, Bob's Burgers, Phineas and Ferb, Monster high, Tuca & Birdie, Kid Cosmic, Astro Boy, The Addams family, Castlevania, AtLA, Critical Role, Metal Family, Maya and the Three, Centaurworld, Amphibia, Breaking Bad, Dead End: Paranormal Park, Vox Machina, Welcome Home, The Amazing Digital Circus, Trolls, Unicorn warriors eternal aaand whatever else i can't think of rn >m<

Other content i like but i haven't finished yet (not worried about spoilers) include: the ghost of Molly McGee, DuckTales

Other interests include:

Sky: CotL, Minecraft, Animal crossing, FNaF, musicals, YouTubers, and widely various music genres and artists

So if any of that sounds cool, consider following me! I'm very nice i promise

Here's some art of mine also! I work with all kinds of mediums :) (the art tag is # sheepbundraws

https://sheepbunny.carrd.co/

(here is a caard that links to my other social media! Take care!

[ceasarslegion]

SO I took my sister to Space Jam 2 today, and while I could jump on the bandwagon and talk about how much of a drugless acid trip it is, I actually wanted to point out how it unintentionally highlights the limitations of 3D animation.

I consider animation an incredible cinematic art form that is unfortunately watered down in its potential because most folks associate it with children and childish media. I could go off about how I think children in general should be taken more seriously as a viewing audience and deserve better than the slop they tend to get, but that’s a different post. I think what Space Jam 2 really showcased was how 3D animation can often be a step down from 2D if it’s used for the wrong media.

I was practically raise on Warner Bros. animation. I watched Looney Tunes every morning before school and Animaniacs on the weekends growing up; they’re a fundamental part of what made me love animation in the first place. Because those cartoons are fantastic examples of what 2D animation can be used for: frame-perfect comedic timing, bouncy physical humor, fun visuals, like... it’s not supposed to be realistic! The whole point of animation as a medium is to create something you could never recreate in the real world!

And characters like the Looney Tunes rely on squash-and-stretch rules to fully convey who they are to the viewer, which is relatively easy to do in 2D and feels natural when you watch it. I know we’re all memeing on Wile E. Coyote in Mad Max and Yosemite Sam in Casablanca right now, but artistically speaking, I actually preferred the getting-the-team-together montage to the basketball game. At least Wile E. Coyote felt like himself when he was committing ritual spray paint suicide in a last-ditch effort to catch that goddamn bird.

And 2D animation doesn’t age as badly as 3D does, because 2D has a lot more years and development behind it, and doesn’t hinge itself on being as close to reality as possible. The old Animaniacs cartoons still hold up because it’s all one uniform style that you don’t expect to look realistic in the first place, and if you look at the 2020 episodes for a second:

Sure, their designs and colours and what have you have been cleaned up and polished quite a bit since the 90s, but you can still see in the animation style how fluidly they move and bounce around when they walk. Warner Bros-style animation relies as much on the movements and visual style as it does on the characters themselves. And to be honest, the 3D Tune Squad felt incredibly stilted.

They looked undeniably like themselves, but there was no spring in their step or impossible physical comedy because of how 3D animation functions so fundamentally differently from 2D. It’s not better just because it’s newer, sometimes the old traditional methods are that way for a reason.

Plus like, the phasing out of 2D animation I feel would be an incredible loss for cinematic art that we should resist as much as possible. 3D shouldn’t replace it, it should be developed alongside 2D.

I think the Jim Henson rule of puppets applies to it: the latest CGI will look dated in 10 years, but good drawings will always look good

[fandomlurker]

A Ponderous Rewatch: Jockey For Position

Now that we’re done with that long cameo, it’s time for our feature presentation for tonight, and it’s a doozy!:

We open with Pinky frantically running on a spinning globe while Brain stands above him on the…globe holder? I don’t know if that part has a name or not.

“[winded gasps] Can I stop now, Brain?”

“Not until I finish my demonstration.”

Brain, that’s just… Well I was about to say it was mean, but given that Pinky understands the details of his plans better when Brain demonstrates it or draws elaborate diagrams, maybe it’s for the best? I doubt Brain could make that large globe spin just by using his hands, and Pinky’s been seen a lot of times running on the mouse wheel in their cage so he’s gotta be pretty in shape. Still, it feels like Pinky’s been running for a lot longer than he needed to…

You know what? I change my mind. It is a bit mean, Brain.

“When I build my reverse geotropic arrestor, Pinky, and throw it from the North Pole like this…”

The word “geotropic” doesn’t quite sound right. I wonder…

…Okay, yeah, Brain’s getting worse at naming things.

“…In a matter of seconds the cable will become taut, gravity will cease, and everyone will fly off the face of the Earth!”

Oh my GOD, Brain. This has got to be the stupidest plan you have come up with yet! Nothing about this will work.

Well, there goes poor Pinky.

“Leaving us alone to assume control.”

It’s still “us”, huh? Noted.

Long Pinky.

“Egad, Brain, brilliant! Haha hehe heh—!”

Pinky, sweetheart, I know praising Brain is kind of your thing but this is one time I’m going to have to call you out on your bias because this is super not brilliant and I’m actually a little worried for Brain’s mental state.

“—Oh wait, no, no. What’s going to keep us from flying off the Earth?”

That’s one flaw of many, Pinky, but I guess it’s as good a start as any.

“We will duct tape ourselves to a tree.”

Because the tree will totally stay in the ground when the Earth abruptly stops spinning. Not that it will stop spinning, because none of this makes any sense.

Brain, did this idea come from, like, a dream you had or something? Is that why the plan is working on dream logic?

I know this is a comedy cartoon and this is all a joke but sometimes Brain’s plans are so fucking out-there I just have to roast him for it.

“Unfortunately we still need to raise money to buy a one billion ton magnet. But I have a solution!”

Oh boy, can’t wait to hear the solution to this one. It’s gonna be stellar if the whole plan today is anything to go by.

Oh nice, Brain’s the one sewing for a change! Usually this is Pinky’s area of expertise, but it’s always nice to see that Brain can do some classically domestic things too.

“Tomorrow is the running of the Kentucky Derby. Do you know what that is?”

Most of my knowledge on it comes from “My Brother, My Brother, and Me” goofs, so my mind keeps autocorrecting it to “Kenfucky Derby”, but go on.

“Umm… Oh! A very large hat?”

“Promise me something, Pinky. Never breed.”

“I’ll try.”

Well, that’s going to come back to haunt them.

“The Kentucky Derby is the biggest horse race of the year. There’s a one million dollar purse going to the jockey riding the winning horse.”

“And I am going to win that purse!”

Okay, first off: Pinky, are you just going to stand there and stare at Brain as he gets changed? Like, I understand they’re naked normally and this is the exact opposite of stripping but umm…

Secondly: Brain, did you really have to get that up close to tell Pinky this? You two are making this too easy for me.

“Zort, Brain! A million dollar purse?!? Ooooh!~ You’re going to need matching pumps and earrings for that!”

Pinky’s got his priorities in order.

“Focus, Pinky, focus!”

“Now watch.”

And now Brain’s ordering Pinky to watch him dress and I just…I have no words. This is all so suspect. Why do you two even need a dressing screen if you’re usually naked anyway? And it shouldn’t matter if anyone sees you get dressed unless this is some weird reverse nudity taboo you two have developed and if that’s the case, why are you allowing Pinky to watch? And if it’s for a dramatic reveal WHY ARE YOU ORDERING HIM TO WATCH YOU CHANGE???

This episode is already so goddamn wild.

I am really not sure how I feel about that pan-up of Brain when he’s thrust his pelvis forward. At least the outfit is cute, though.

“Narf! Oh, Brain, I get it! You’re a beautiful lawn ornament!”

“Beautiful”, huh? Also noted.

“Look at me, narf, I’m a pink flamingo! Ahahaheh!”

Oh LORD, Pinky, how are you—?!?

“I’m a cement deer! Ah hah!”

PINKY, STOP, YOU’RE SCARING ME! D:

“Oh, I’m one of the seven dwarves, Brain!”

That’s more acceptable but Pinky, sweetie, warn me if you’re going to nightmarishly shapeshift again, okay?!

I guess we can add that to the list of random abilities Pinky has.

“Stop it, Pinky, or I shall have to hurt you.”

You are much calmer about this than I would be if this happened in front of me, Brain.

“Oh. Right-o, Brain. Narf.”

“Now let us make haste, for we have much to do before the race begins.”

“Poit.”

So then we cut to Churchill Downs, and I can only assume another roadtrip adventure was had off-screen.

“First, Pinky, we must visit the stables.”

“Inside, we will find the winning horse.”

“Err… How are we gonna do that, Brain?”

“The racing form, Pinky.”

My bet’s on... [squints] hLUUNO the horse.

“By analysing the velocity-based pace line, mile turf win and bayer speed figures, we’ll find a grade one stakes claimer who’ll give us a key horse situation.”

“Key Horse Situation” would be a great band name. Also, whoops, little bit of an error on the name plaques, background artists.

What do your mouse eyes see, Pinky?

“Err, can’t we just ride the pretty one?”

SHE!

So here she is, one of the few characters debuting in the Animaniacs run that will matter to PatB lore going forward aside from our main duo.

A fun fact for you all: Phar Fignewton’s name is a triple reference joke. “Phar Lap” was a champion thoroughbred race horse in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Fig Newtons are small pastries filled with fig paste. Lastly, “Fahrvergnügen” was a slogan for Volkswagon starting in 1990. Translated, it means “driving enjoyment”.

Phar Fignewton makes a whinnying noise and ends it off with a goofy laugh.

Brain is not impressed.

“Heavens, they’re multiplying…”

Pinky is instantly smitten with her.

BONK!

“This is a business trip, Pinky!”

“Oh. Right. Sorry, Brain.”

“Here is our horse.”

“’Daddy’s Little Angel’…”

I guess it’s an ironic nickname.

“Pinky… Are you pondering what I’m pondering?”

“Whu… I think so, Brain, isn’t Regis Philbin already married?”

…

Now I’m wondering if Pinky is suggesting that one of them marry Regis or if he’s suggesting that Regis marries the horse. Either way, what the fuck?

Yeah, same.

“The race, Pinky. By combining the statistics and my low body weight, this horse cannot lose! The prize money will be ours!”

GAH! Brain, I’ve had enough minor heart attacks from this episode because of Pinky’s eldritch morphing ability, I don’t need another one of your bizarre close-ups to do the same!

“Now I must take the place of the real jockey.”

“Hello?”

“Is this the Jockey who’s going to ride ‘Daddy’s Little Angel’?”

“Yeah.”

“This is Ed Mcmahon from Publisher’s Smearing House. You’ve just won ten million dollars.”

Pinky delightedly and silently listening in and chuckling in the back is precious.

And honestly, Brain, I don’t know why you’re crouching here, but it’s also cute.

“I won ten million dollars… I WON TEN MILLION DOLLARS! I am outta here! Later!”

The mice are lucky that he’s so excited about winning all that money that he forgets to do basic things like ask when and how he’ll get the money.

“Louie! Louie!”

“Later!”

“Who’s gonna ride my horse? I mean, Louie is the smallest, lightest jockey in the entire world!”

Did you know that there’s a weight requirement for jockeys, but no height requirement?

“Not anymore!”

“[GASP]”

Whoops, I just noticed another error, though it’s minor: Brain’s jockey outfit throughout this scene is light tan and purple instead of the pea green and purple that it’s supposed to be.

“You’re a jockey?!”

“Actually, I am a mouse in the early stages of an elaborate scheme to take over the world.”

The more this happens, the more I’m starting to think that Brain does this shtick on purpose to emotionally and mentally disarm people who would otherwise suspect that he’s not human. The fact that it works shows you just how idiotic the human beings of this world are.

“Well, fine, we all need a hobby but…will you ride my horse?”

Oh, sir, I think it’s much more than a hobby at this point. If only you knew…

“I shall ride! And win!”

His design is a little odd here, but it’s still a good pose.

So Brain next has to be weighed to make sure he meets the requirements.

“Saddle: Seven pounds. Saddle and rider: Seven pounds 3 ounces.”

So if you can recall from the previous rewatch post, a house mouse on average weighs 19g, and a common wood mouse weighs 23g (it can be up for debate which type of mouse Brain is).  Converting Brain’s 3 ounces of weight to grams would result in him weighing 85.0486g.

Brain does have a bit of a cute little potbelly thing going on, but he’s also consistently much smaller in height and width than the average adult mouse in the series. I think the incredible difference in weight is mostly coming from the heft of Brain’s, well, brain and skull…and the muscle mass packed into that tiny body to help keep him upright.

“A genetically perfect jockey! This is fantastic!”

Please don’t phrase it like that.

“…Let’s look into early retirement.”

That jockey on the left is going through some shit, man. He looks like how I feel after working an eight hour shift on the holidays.

And so we skip to the beginning of the race!

That poor, poor jockey…who changed colour schemes for some reason.

There’s Phar Fignewton with a jockey who honestly looks like he’s high.

And here’s our little mousey fella, who has somehow managed to make this aggressive horse obedient.

“Camptown race is five miles long, do-dah, do-dah.~”

He’s so happy he’s singing to himself! This is honestly so precious that I completely forgive him for not getting the lyrics correct.

Coincidentally, Daddy’s Little Angel is positioned next to Phar Fignewton.

“Ooh, isn’t this exciting, Brain?”

Uh oh.

“Pinky, what are you doing here? Your weight will disrupt my winning calculations!”

I don’t know if it’d be that off, Brain. The combined weight of two mice is still much less than that of a human jockey.

“But Brain, it’s too exciting! I—“

[TARGET LOCKED]

“Oooh! Heh. Hello.~”

I think I’m going to save my thoughts on this whole…thing until the end. Right now I will say, however, that I wasn’t quite expecting the tongue-hanging-out-of-gaping-mouth lovestruck/horny??? reaction.

“Pinky, the race is starting!”

Too late, Brain.

And we’re off!

Bye, Pinky.

“There’s baloney in our slacks…~”

Pfft.

So as the race goes on, we get to know a few more of the horses’ names: Isle of Yap (a nice callback to the first PatB short), Flamiel (which is apparently the WB writers’ favourite word?), and Leggo-my-Egoiste (a double reference to an old Eggo slogan and the name of a cologne).

The other jockeys are more than a little surprised by Brain and his steed taking the lead early in the race.

Phar Fignewton is trailing way behind.

Meanwhile, Pinky’s woken up from fainting, seeing the oncoming horses—

--and promptly freaks out and stumbles back down again.

“Victory, she waits for me! Oh, the do-dah-day!”

You really have to stop tempting fate like this, Brain.

Phar Fignewton’s very tired, but what’s this?

Is that…Pinky in harm’s way?

ThePowerOfLove.mp3

Determined and fueled by her inexplicable crush, Phar Fignewton starts gaining ground on the other horses.

Brain didn’t calculate for this!

…Oh! Hi, Warners! Looks like they’re cheering Phar on.

“Oh no! Yah! Yah! Yah!”

I didn’t think whips were allowed in races like the Kentucky Derby, but apparently they are. Their use was only restricted—not banned—in the summer of 2020, which is alarming to say the least.

On a different note, I know some of you folks are now jotting down the fact that Brain knows how to use a whip. I see you.

She makes the save!

And she also wins the race! Way to go, Phar Fignewton!

“In the words of the great Willie Shoemaker: ‘Nuts!’”

It was a good try, Brain, but honestly I’m glad you failed this time if only so that you wouldn’t embarrass yourself with your actual world domination plan’s failure later. Maybe take a couple nights off to rest up a bit and formulate plans that aren’t totally bonkers, hmm?

I might as well go ahead and talk about this now. I…am conflicted on this whole Phar Fignewton thing. It makes for a very strange one-off joke about Pinky instantly falling in love with a distaff counterpart of his that’s a horse for whatever reason…but the fact that she’s not a one-off character is baffling in and of itself. Like I’ve said before, she’s mentioned a couple of times going forward as being Pinky’s girlfriend, or as a bizarre joke at Pinky’s expense about him being in/having been in a relationship with a horse. There’s even a small running gag about Pinky’s reaction to people’s disgust about it: “People can be so intolerant!”. I don’t know if the joke is supposed to be one about racial segregation or a wink and nod to queer folks in the only way that the writers could get away with in a cartoon at the time (in a “see, Pinky’s down for a relationship with anyone, even outside of his species!” type of way).

Phar Fignewton herself is a sweetie but besides that she has no personality to speak of and we’re just meant to assume based on physical appearance that she is equivalent to Pinky. And like, she hasn’t been uplifted to human levels of intelligence and sapience like Pinky has because of Acme Labs, but she seems to be naturally sapient for some unknown reason and just simply unable to speak English.

On top of all this, the relationship is very shallow and the only reason we’re given as to why Pinky likes her is because he finds her pretty. It’s perfectly in character for Pinky to easily fall in love, as he does so with other animals a couple more times in the spin-offs, but it just feels weird that this is the one that sticks around purely to become a running gag that gets mentions that are sometimes literal years apart from one another.

And listen, I know the writers most likely made this a thing just because they thought it was a funny joke and a few of them managed to remember about Phar and would use Pinky dating her as a gag. I know this. But it doesn’t make it any less confusing and weird. I remember the jokes about Pinky and horses from way back when I first watched Animaniacs and the PatB spin-off when I was a kid and I never had any context for it because I don’t think I ever saw this specific episode. Coming back as an adult and seeing all these episodes in order and watching this one in particular and finding out the context is “Pinky thinks a horse is pretty and the horse and him are in love and long-distance dating now” is both underwhelming and leaves me with more questions than answers.

…Also, if my earlier theories on why the writers made this joke are correct, does this mean Phar Fignewton is metatextually a beard for Pinky?

I just don’t know, folks. You’re welcome to leave your thoughts on this in comments.

Let’s wrap this up.

So as we can see, Brain is, as usual, back to work on another plan that involves—

—a goddamn cannon, holy shit! What is he using the glue for? That’s a little ominous, given what’s been involved in this episode.

There’s a hammering noise in the background and we see Pinky putting up a photo of Phar Fignewton.

“Pinky, will you please stop that? I’m trying to concentrate on tomorrow night!”

Wow, you’re more irritable than usual, Brain. I didn’t think some delicate hammering would annoy you that much.

“Mwah!~”

…Despite my ramblings earlier, that’s very cute of you, Pinky. I’m sure you could’ve gotten a better photo, though.

“Why, Brain, what’re we gonna do tomorrow night?”

Try to take over the world, of course! Right, Brain?

“Guess.”

…

Umm, wow. That’s a first. You look like you’re absolutely enraged, Brain. All this over some hammering sounds?

This had me taken aback a bit when I watched it the first time, not gonna lie. We’ve seen Brain after a plan’s failure plenty of times before. He’s been frustrated, sure. Humiliated at times, or maybe he just sighs in resignation and walks off into the sunset. It always ends with him simply using these feelings to fuel the fire in him to do better tomorrow night.

This is the very first time we’ve seen him jumpy and irritated at the most minor of things and so angry that he literally refuses to participate normally in his and Pinky’s shared catchphrase. And this was for a plan that was just to fund the real plan! So why is this time any different?

Oh.

OH.

Okay, that’s… That makes a lot of sense, actually. Damn.

Hey, fanfic writers? Ya’ll ever use this as the very first time Brain experiences romantic jealousy? Let me know.

“Oh yeah, try to take over the world. Right.”

I think even Pinky’s put off by this development, if his hesitant and quiet finishing of the saying is anything to go by.

And that’s what we end off with.

All in all, this episode is a wild ride of strangeness in small moments and bizarre additions to lore and ends on the first subversion of the long-running closing gag of the series. It’s not exactly a great episode, but that ending is intriguing enough for one of the main purposes of this rewatch. In short, I’m just baffled.

Luckily the next episode is much better. Next time, the mice head on down to Tennessee to seek world domination via country music.

See you then!

[reggiejworkshop]

"The Warners Big Catch"

Ralph's daily duty on the Warner Bros movie lot is catching those zany Warners. Unfortunately for him, the Warners always find a way to reverse the situation onto him.

This is another reccent fanart piece I did on my Twitch stream last week. In a way, it's a sequel to the piece I did back in 2016 "Animaniacs: Ralph's Big Catch" the very first piece I did that blew up on Deviantart.

I'll be honest, I was debating on whether or not I should post this one. In fact I was real close to not doing it. Mainly because I don't think its my best Animaniacs group piece. Maybe it's me being too critical, but all the characters here look a bit off to me, espeically Ralph.

I didn't do too much pre planning for this one as I probably should have aside from a brief thumbnail sketch. Probably doesn't help I did this whole piece in an an hour and a half in what was supposed to be a two hour twitch stream (which is already a good hour or two less than what I would normally spend on a group piece like this). And quite a couple of those minutes were me figuring out some audio and streaming problems that popped up that I had to figure out.

But I decided to go ahead and post this to show that as an artist, when your constantly growing and learning new things, not every piece you make is going to turn out as well as you expected.

Be aware of the mistakes you made and do your best to learn from them.

Besides I might redraw this again one day for a different stream!

[inapat14]

Tex Avery, the Warner Bros. And –  Looney Tunes

From the  early days of the 20th century to its prolific forms today, Animation has always been a wonderful creative genre, pushing aside both –  technical and –  creative boundaries. But when we think about animation and cartoons from our childhood, we will often first mention Disney:  the stories, drawings and perfectly identified characters.

When it came to other names, we know them all, but often not as well. The graphics, -  credits, -  expressions and the characters rocked part of our childhood but it is often difficult to know where, when or how exactly.  Less well ranked, they nevertheless deserve to be mentioned with respect, like their creators, true artists of the genre who have succeeded in giving life to their imaginary world.

For this first article and to put things in order, let’s talk about –  Looney Tunes and their not-so-famous flagship creator, Tex Avery. And let’s begin by a little bit of background :

In 1923, the Disney studios were created. But at the same time they are not the only ones. All the big majors embarked on the adventure and quickly established a partnership or an animation department in order to broadcast their creations to the cinema alongside newsreels. 

That is when the Warner Bros. set up a partnership with Leon Schlesinger, founder of Leon Schlesinger Productions, a studio rich in talents and creations that have become cult. It is in these studios, at the end of the 1930s, that –  the Looney Tunes characters were created. Absurd characters, cunning, rather clever (sometimes diabolical), overflowing, unpredictable. Characters in total contrast to the sensible characters created in the previous decade like Mickey Mouse or Popeye. Tex Avery has been hired by Leon Schlesinger Studios in 1935. He led a team of ultra-talented artists: Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Bob Cannon, Virgill Ross and Sidney Sutherland. Together, they collaborated on the Looney Tunes series in black and white, then on Merrie Melodies in technicolor.Originally, Fred Avery (who will take the pseudonym Tex Avery in tribute to his home state, Texas), wanted to work for comics. He couldn't find a job there and decided (luckily for us) to fall back on animation, "time to… ». He will become the masterful innovator of midcentury cartoon humor. 

Avery will only stay 6 years with Leon Schlesinger and will even leave the studio before the total buyout by the Warners Bros which marked the beginning of the Warner Bros Cartoon. But even if Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck had already been drawn a few years before being taken back by Tex Avery, he was the one who shaped them. 

This slender gray rabbit who spends his time nibbling carrots and playing with his enemies ? Avery is the one who gives it his cult line, drawing inspiration from his own teenage expressions: "Hey, what's up, doc? ". The great specialty of Avery and its teams was to infuse characters with an irreverent personality. He developed some of the kinkiest, weirdest cartoons ever made but also modeled legendary characters. Today Bugs Bunny is an iconic figure in the Warner Bros. Animation. His popularity even led him to become a mascot for the company Warner Bros.

The Tex Avery style can be summed up in one word: wacky. Everything is crazy about his work because he sought to break the codes. He dismantled the period fairy tale animations into something funny. He tackled all of Walt's taboo subjects: sex, politics, the fourth wall ... The characters are the masters of cartoons and it is often thanks to their hateful flaws that audiences tend to love them.

Unfortunately, this freedom of tone has not always been well received, which isn't going to help Tex Avery get easy recognition. In addition, the gag-man was modest and did not set up his own studio despite his many successful creations. 

He nevertheless obtained 6 Oscar nominations between 1940 and 1956. Gradually and during the second part of the 20th century, his professional peers recognized his importance. Many films and animated series have been inspired by his work, such as The Mask or the Animaniacs.

Of course Bugs Bunny or –  Looney Tunes are not the only interesting part of Tex Avery’s work (quite the contrary, he is also the father of Droopy for example…), but it would take more than one article to talk about all his genius ! But if all of this made you want to know more about Tex Avery, I would recommend –  seeing the King Size documentary : Tex Avery and the Looney Tunes Revolution.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=III4mVWV_2I&t=647s

But Warner Bros and Looney Tunes are also back in the news today ! 

 First because of The film Space Jam: A new Legacy which should be released next July, and put some Looney Toon’s characters at the heart of the debate ! Indeed, the character of Pépé Le Pew was edited out of the sequel to the cult film bringing together the Looney Tunes and the stars of the NBA, because he was accused of perpetuating -- « rape culture ».

On the other hand and if all of this just made you want to dive back into the animations: be aware  that that the legendary crew is back! 200 new Looney Tunes shorts have been created and are currently showing in the US on the HBO Max platform. -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nalw1XRAiMI Mathilde Agaisse

[charleskenny]

How Are You Handling the Animation Overload?

More animation than you can eat? Cable and Netflix made it happen, but are audiences spoiled for choice or overwhelmed?

I’m not old (or at least, at 36, I don’t feel old) but I can remember a time when cable channels didn’t have enough content to fill an entire day. Instead, they ran on an 8-hour loop so shows broadcast in the morning were broadcast again in the evening. The reason was that libraries were only so large and channels wanted at least a bit of time between repeats. Although that didn’t stop The Simpsons from making light of the fact. Producing new content was also very expensive. Cartoon Network started by broadcasting old Hanna-Barbera shows for a reason.

Initial forays into original content yielded profits however, and soon every channel was at it. Some even generated enough library titles to broadcast a single show all day, every day. (cough Spongebob on Nickelodeon cough) Along comes Netflix, et al, combine it with rapidly falling production costs and now the door is wide open.

All of which is really good news! Besides audiences having more choice, the industry as a whole is expanding, and more and more artists find gainful employment.

Except, much like the entertainment business in general, audiences are balkanised. Monoculture no longer exists and while you may love one particular show, most of your friends likely never heard of it. Technology plays some role in this. Netflix’s suggestion algorithms show different shows to different people; crafting a truly unique viewing experience. The only thing left for them to do is go one step further and show different cuts of the same content to different people depending on their interests. But that’s a topic for another day.

I’m Overwhelmed!

The sheer abundance of choice means keeping up with everything gets difficult. Staying on top of industry news is one thing, but the films and shows themselves is a different matter. I find I simply cannot devote all the time necessary to even checking out a lot of the TV shows in particular that come out. If I do dedicate time to one series, that then means that five others don’t get even a peek. I’m sure I’m not alone in this.

Am I overwhelmed? Personally I believe so and it’s unfortunate given the rising tide that’s lifted all boats. Whereas before the best was only a handful of series’, now there are many more and the best have only gotten better. The result is that even the best of the best get stuck in the ‘to watch’ list. Half of the new Animaniacs’ first season still languishes in my queue. I still have a handful of episodes of Hands of Eizouken! to get through too; even though that series is a few years old now.

As for films, pretty much every big-budget release gets a pass. Part of the issue there is that every American film is exactly the same. So independent and foreign films are where I dedicate time these days.

All this, bear in mind, is when I find the time, and only if I have it. Life gets busy the older you get!

What is Everyone Else Doing?

I’m curious as to how other people are handling this explosion in animated content and what it may mean for the industry as a whole.

Are viewers simply relying on algorithms to suggest new things to watch? Are they slowly circulating around a particular universe or studio (think Marvel)? Or do friends and peers (physical and virtual) continue to form the backbone of recommendations?

Let me know what you think either in a comment below or via email (charles [at] animationanomaly [dot] com) and I’ll publish a follow-up!

[megalomice]

Found another storyboard I’ve never encountered before by Rhoydon Shishido. He worked for WB from 1994 to 1999 and did boards for PatB and Animaniacs.

Unfortunately, he only has one set posted on his website for a scene from “Brainy Jack.” So cool to see the variations in the way these artists do their boards tho

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