Yakko Amakko/The Longest Word/Happy Narfday/Magna Cartoon[1] is the 20th episode in the Animaniacs reboot and the 7th episode in its 2nd Season.
Synopsis[]
Yakko goes head-to-head with an animator. The Warners fight over who knows the longest word. Brain is forced to celebrate Pinky’s birthday. The Warners sing a song about the Magna Carta.[2]
Theme Song[]
Variable Verse[]
Dot: "Are you not entertain-ey-ed?"
Trivia[]
- This is the second time Dot has referenced the "Are you not entertained?" quote from is a Gladiator. The first time occurred in the season 2 premiere during "Rome Sweet Rome."
Yakko Amakko[]
Animation by Digital eMation
Plot[]
Yakko walks in holding an ice-cream cone with countless scoops of ice cream, but before he can eat it, an offscreen animator draws a hole in the ground, causing Yakko to fall into it and drop his ice cream everywhere. This causes him to get angry, demanding the animator to give him back his ice cream. Instead the animator draws in Looney Tunes character Pepé le Pew, whom Yakko licks and begins spitting furiously. After the skunk is erased, Yakko demands "extra scoops for the trouble", but the animator draws so much ice cream that it collapses all over him. Yakko accuses the animator of ripping off the classic Looney Tunes short "Duck Amuck".
The animator opens a new canvas and draws Yakko onto it, who begins complaining about the hole-in-the-sky gag before the animator erases his entire body apart from his mouth. Yakko demands her to "give me a body before you get us sued", and she redraws him in his design from the original show, causing him to freak out.
The animator draws Yakko once more in the reboot style, but his head is apart from his body. After he reattaches his head, he attempts to win her over by singing a jazzy version of his famous song "Yakko's World". But after a few seconds she changes his voice to Ralphs, then Dot's then Wakko's. When Yakko has Wakko's voice, he attempts an imitation of Ringo Starr from the Beatles. The animator changes Yakko's voice back to normal, but then changes the background to an abstract, Vincent Van Gogh-esque background, and then to one with melting clocks.
When the animator changes the background back to normal, Yakko tries to walk away, telling himself to "be the bigger man", but the animator proceeds to make him tiny. He demands her to give him his height back, then his width, then his depth. Yakko tells her that she chose the wrong character to torment, and that he is "one of a kind". But then she uses the stamp tool to create multiple versions of him, causing him to break down.
Yakko begs the animator not to draw him a bunch of extra arms, but successfully tricks her into doing so. He pulls her into the screen and she admits that tormenting her cartoons is one of the only outlets she has and that he's her favorite Warner. Yakko agrees to forgive her under one condition: she helps him torment Scratchansniff by making multiple copies of him, Nils by making him super tiny and causing his weight to crush down on him, and Nora by changing her voice into Daffy Duck's. The segment ends with Yakko and the animator sharing an ice cream.
Crew[]
- Written by Lucas Crandles and Timothy Nash
- Directed by Brett Varon
Songs[]
- "Yakko's World" (brief jazz rendition)
Trivia[]
- This cartoon is a take on the 1950s Looney Tunes cartoons "Duck Amuck" and "Rabbit Rampage", where both Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny dealt with an antagonistic animator.
- The former cartoon is mentioned by Yakko at the beginning of the segment.
- The idea of updating the "Duck Amuck" and "Rabbit Rampage" concept using digital tools is not new. It was first implemented in the New Looney Tunes episode "One Carroter in Search of an Artist", in which the redesigned Bugs Bunny was picked on by the unseen screwball Daffy, and later in the 2018 Woody Woodpecker web series episode "The Pen Is Flightier Than the Sword" where Woody Woodpecker was picked on by Buzz Buzzard (after Woody laughted at Buzz's question about letting him win in one single cartoon), only to both of them to get picked by Chilly Willy at the end.
- In a scene where Yakko is erased and redrawn, Yakko briefly appears in his original series design, specifically as he was animated by eMation's fellow Korean studios Akom Film Production and Varga Studio, Ltd.. He also imitates a stock art pose from the series (Varga was especially known for following the model sheets very literally).
- This is the first Warners segment in the reboot series to not feature Wakko and Dot, although the animator briefly gives Yakko their voices.
- While using Wakko's voice, Yakko does his imitation of Ringo Starr, a reference to the original inspiration for the Wakko voice from 1993-1994.
- This marks the first official appearance of Pepé Le Pew in any Warner Bros. media after a controversy in March of 2021, which followed news of his removal from Space Jam: A New Legacy and other future projects.
- Nancy Cartwright returns to Animaniacs as the voice of the animator. In the original Animaniacs, she provided the voice of Mindy.
- This is the second time Nils Niedhart appears where he isn't sent to Hell.
- In the scene where Yakko turns into the art style of Vincent Van Gogh, he wants the animator to cut her ear off, which is a reference to the fact Vincent Van Gogh cut his own ear off.
- This fact was also mentioned in "The Warners Are Present."
- The "ironic" 90s T-shirt that the animator is wearing is based on the famous "Three Wolf Moon" T-Shirt.
- Yakko references the Portal games, Sliders, and Time Bandits.
Goofs[]
- Yakko misidentifies the original Duck Amuck cartoons as a Looney Tunes short, but it was first released under the Merrie Melodies series. Although, after both series went to color and television, the titles were used interchangeably. Nowadays, the short is mostly re-released and rerun under the Looney Tunes branding (while maintaining the original Merrie Melodies title card in most editions).
Quotes[]
- Yakko:
- "Listen, you lazy hack, Looney Tunes very famously did this 'animator gets screwy with lovable protagonist' routine…" (pulls down the "Duck Amuck" title card) "…like a hundred years ago?"
The Longest Word[]
Animation by Saerom Animation
Plot[]
The Warners bicker over who knows the longest word in the English language.
Crew[]
- Written by Kathleen Chen and Brian Polk
- Directed by Katie Rice
Trivia[]
- The actual longest word in the English language is still being disputed. See here for more information.
- The title card appears to take inspiration from Looney Tunes logos.
- When Dot starts up her video to show Yakko and Wakko during class, she described it as "a show where four nerds discuss the big bang theory." This is a reference to the 2007 sitcom The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon Cooper's "bazinga" catchphrase from the series is spoofed here with a Spanish version - "Barringa!" When watching the Spanish clip, Wakko wonders if the comedy is lost-in-translation. Yakko gleefully replies "Nope!" Dot then refers to the show as a "lowbrow hack sitcom creation that further bleeds dry the already endangered American imagination." (Ouch)
- Several The Big Bang Theory stars have appeared in different Animaniacs productions including Melissa Rauch, Lauren Lapkus (both of whom appeared in the Animaniacs reboot), Brian George (who appeared in the original Animaniacs series and Pinky and the Brain), and Adam West (who appeared in the original Animaniacs).
- Nils Neidhart can be seen on the cover of Dot's romance novel.
Other Title Cards[]
Happy Narfday[]
Animation by Tiger Animation
Plot[]
The Brain is forced to celebrate Pinky's birthday and has to avoid any activities related to world domination. Brain struggles to keep control during the day (although he tried to do that by imagining himself causing havoc around every place he and Pinky visit); especially after finding a gem containing an isotope he needs for a formula in one of his plans. After a long day, Brain attempts to take the gem for his device, but quarrels with Pinky. In the ensuing chaos, the gem is lost. Brain briefly snaps at Pinky, but quickly begins to regret how he has approached the day so negatively. It turns out Pinky's birthday had already passed a month ago, but Pinky didn't want to disrupt Brain in his planning. Brain then apologizes and Pinky forgives him. Pinky then reveals the last item on his birthday list- "take over the world!" which pleases Brain. Once more, the two begin preparing for the following evening...
Crew[]
- Written by James Butler
- Directed by Katie Rice
Songs[]
Trivia[]
- The name is a pun on "Happy Birthday."
- Most episode listings on cable guides and digital outlets show this cartoon's title with an exclamation point, despite the title card lacking one.
- The Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister!) make a quick cameo on the ferris wheel.
- In the aquarium scene, one of the fish swimming in the tank is Mr. Limpet from the Don Knott film The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964).
- Caricatures of Maduro, Kim and Putin appear for the third time in this season, now as imaginary victims in one of Brain's daydreams.
- The bucket on the beach that appears at the start of Brain's rendition of "Narf Day" has a similar emblem to the ones found on bumpers and springs in the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
- In deleted storyboards by Lisa Vandenberg; Brain was going to kiss Pinky near the end of the cartoon. In a now deleted post from Lisa's Tumblr blog "Geezerflakes"; it is stated that the scene had to be removed from the finished episode as the mandates dictated that "Brain wouldn't outright give Pinky affection at this point in the show" unless he thought Pinky wouldn’t notice.[3]
- The pigeon from "The Cutening" returns in a cameo on the ACME Labs windowsill.
- This episode confirms Pinky's birthday as March 11, which is the same day as his voice actor, Rob Paulsen's.
Gallery[]
Deleted Storyboards By Lisa Vandenberg[]
Other Storyboards[]
Magna Cartoon[]
Animation by Titmouse, Inc.
Plot[]
The segment begins with a Game of Thrones-esque title crawl explaining about the tyrannical King John of England. However, after a few seconds, Yakko scrunches it up and demands the segment continue. As Wakko and Dot jump into the screen, King John asks what is the meaning of this nonsense, and Yakko tells him that "we're jesters, we jest". Dot says she's always had a thing for bad boys and attempts to kiss him, but she is so grossed-out by him that she throws up. She exasperatedly asks him whether showers have been invented yet, to which he answers no. The Warners then give him an intense bath, which angers him so he demands his guards to take them to the dicing chambers. Yakko claims King John can't do that just because they made an anachronism, but the king mishears that as "anarchy" and goes on a ramble about how great he thinks it is.
The Warners present the tyrannical king with the Magna Carta (which apparently they wrote) and request him to sign it. King John asks him what it is about, so the Warners sing a song to him about it. After the song, King John says he will do anything to prevent another song and grudgingly signs the Magna Carta. The Warners question what to do next, as they still have a bit of time in the segment. Yakko offers to sing another song about the Battle of Hastings, causing the king to abdicate the throne.
Crew[]
- Written by Lucas Crandles and Timothy Nash
- Directed by Katie Rice
Songs[]
Trivia[]
- The world Magna Carta means "Great Charter" in Latin.
- The beginning title crawl is a parody of the Game of Thrones title crawl.
- Yakko calls for George Lucas to speed-up the cartoon's title crawls. George Lucas of course, created Star Wars, a series known for lengthy title crawls.
- After the song ends, Yakko is getting ready to sing a song about the Battle of Hastings. This is a callback to the song sang in "Rug of War", "William the Conqueror."
- "Yakko's World" is referenced once again when Yakko sings "Every corner of the Earth!" as he dances in his jester outfit over a period appropriate world map near the end of the song.
- This cartoon makes light of how eleventh-century figures such as King John struggle to understand the Warners' futuristic culture and media references such as the United Nations.
- The "Sign here" gag echoes a similar one from "Temporary Insanity."
- This segment sees the return of the "Director Yakko" gag that made several appearances in the original series.
- The production crew weren't allowed to show the actual Magna Carta in the episode, so they had to make it up.[4]
Character Animation By Erika Carvalho[]
International Releases[]
- Australia: November 6, 2021 (Stan)
- Canada: November 13, 2021 (Teletoon)
- Latin America: March 31, 2022 (HBO Max)
Cast[]
| Voice Actors: | Character(s): |
|---|---|
| Rob Paulsen | Yakko Warner, Pinky, Dr. Scratchansniff |
| Jess Harnell | Wakko Warner |
| Tress MacNeille | Dot Warner |
| Maurice LaMarche | The Brain |
| Frank Welker | Ralph T. Guard |
| Stephanie Escajeda | Nora Rita Norita |
| Fred Tatasciore | Nils Niedhart |
| Eric Bauza | Pepe Le Pew, Nora Rita Norita (Daffy Duck voice) |
| Nancy Cartwright | The Animator |
| Chris Geere | King John |
| Jake Green | Dorko and Dweebo |
References[]