You Risk Your Life/I Got Yer Can/Jockey for Position is the 27th episode of the original Animaniacs. It originally aired on October 25, 1993.
Dot's Poetry Corner
Animation by Freelance Animators, Ltd.
Plot
Dot recites her interpretation of "There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe", called "The Shoe."
Theme Song
Last line
Yakko: Miss Cellany...
You Risk Your Life
Animation by Akom Film Production
Plot
Yakko hosts and Dr. Scratchansniff announces for a parody of the classic Groucho Marx game/talk show "You Bet Your Life" in front of stock footage of a live-action audience. The contestants are Mrs. Myra Puntridge and Aristotle. The secret word is "Yes", and if you say it, Wakko smashes you on the head with a mallet.
Crew
- Written by Paul Rugg
- Directed by Alfred Gimeno
Trivia
- Mrs. Myra Puntridge is actually Emily Duff from the Elmyra Duff Family episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures.
- Modern Major General from The Pirates of Penzance is heard often times.
I Got Yer Can
Animation by Akom
Plot
A discarded soda can sparks an escalating, one-sided battle of wits between Slappy and her neighbor, Candie Chipmunk.
Crew
- Written by Sherri Stoner
- Directed by Alfred Gimeno
Trivia
- This cartoon is based on a true story. When Sherri Stoner moved to a new neighborhood, she threw away her Diet Coke can into another neighbor's bin, but her neighbor asked Sherri to use her own bin.
- The Dance of the Reed Flutes is recurring BGM in this cartoon.
- The game show that Candie appears on is a parody of Let's Make a Deal. The Warners make a cameo and do their "Hello, Nurse!" routine.
- At one point, Candie types endlessly on a typewriter "All work and no cans make Candie a dull chipmunk," a parody of the "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" scene from the film The Shining.
- Skippy says his catchphrase, "Spew!" for the first time.
- Some dubs (such as the 2003 Russian dub) use the TMS version of the Slappy intro.
- An airing of the episode on 9G! in Australia used the TMS version of the intro.
- When she first meets Candie, Slappy says, "Allen Funt is a dead man!" In other words, she briefly believes that she is on Candid Camera, the prank show hosted by Funt.
- The game show is hosted by Blink Winkleman, a semi-recurring character from Tiny Toon Adventures and it is also a parody of the game show Let's Make a Deal.
- Each time Candie gets the can back, a five-note melody entitled "You're a Horse's Ass" can be heard. This melody is best remembered as the opening music for the Private Snafu shorts during WWII.
Quotes
- Slappy: [about Candie] She reminds me of a very young Wilma Flintstone.
Jockey for Position
Animation by Wang Film Production
Plot
Pinky and the Brain race in the Kentucky Derby to win money for their next plan to take over the world.
Crew
- Written by Peter Hastings
- Directed by Lenord Robinson and Dave Marshall
Trivia
- This cartoon marks the first appearance of Phar Fignewton.
- This cartoon also marks the first time Brain competes in a sport. The Pinky and The Brain spin-off features a number of episodes in which Brain, and sometimes Pinky, would play in a professional sport as part of their plan for world domination.
- When Pinky is knocked off a horse, he dizzily says, "There's baloney in our slacks..." one of the lines of the theme song.
- The shot of Pinky running on the globe would later be used in the title sequence for the Pinky and the Brain spin-off.
- When luring the jockey for Daddy's Little Angel away, Brain poses as Ed McMahon for "Publishers Smearing House." The real McMahon would later guest-star as himself in the Pinky and the Brain cartoon "The Pinky and the Brain Reunion Special."
- While most regions use the Wang version of the intro in this episode, the 2003 Russian dub has the TMS lyrics dubbed over the Wang version.
- An airing of the episode on 9GO! in Australia used the TMS version of the intro.
- The blueprints for Brain's plan would later be used as the background picture for the spin-off's credits sequence, as well as a printed detail on the 2017 Pinky and the Brain Q-Fig.
- The names of the horses are Flamiel (a nod to Mrs. Flamiel and one of Mr. Director's catchphrases), Leggo-my-Egoiste (another dual reference, this time to the slogan to Eggo Waffles and the Egoiste calogne), and Isle of Yap (a callback to one of the Gyp-Parody questions from Win Big.)
- This is also the first episode where Pinky correctly guesses what he and Brain are going to do tomorrow night.
- The episode was adapted in an issue of the Animaniacs comic, where Phar Fignewton's mane was incorrectly painted red.
Quotes
- The Brain: Tomorrow is the running of the Kentucky Derby. Do you know what that is?
- Pinky: Um, a very large hat?
- The Brian: Promise me something, Pinky, never breed.
- Pinky: I'll try.
- Pinky: Can't we just ride the pretty one?
- [Referring to Phar Fignewton]
- The Brain: Good heavens, they're multiplying!
- The Brain: Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
- Pinky: I think so, Brain, but, uh, isn't Regis Philbin already married?
Gallery
Dot's Poetry Corner
Animation by Freelance
Plot
Dot recites her interpretation of
"Fuzzy Wuzzy".
Production Notes
- When this episode was on Netflix, "You Risk Your Life" and the theme song were missing. The episode began with the normal WB logo opening and jumped right to Slappy's intro.
Soundtrack
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, 1st Movement (Morning) by Edvard Grieg
- Jingle Bells by James Pierpont
- Deck the Halls
- Frühlingslied (Spring Song) by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
- Rock-a-Bye Baby by Effie I. Canning
- Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- Light Cavalry Overture by Franz von Suppé
- The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money) by Harry Warren
- Camptown Races by Stephen Foster
- Danny Boy by Frederick Edward Weatherly
Cast
| Voice Actors: | Character(s): |
| Rob Paulsen | Yakko Warner, Pinky, Dr. Scratchansniff, Blink Winkleman, Phar Fignewton, Louie, Louie's Boss |
| Jess Harnell | Wakko Warner, Santa Claus |
| Tress MacNeille | Dot Warner, Mrs. Myra Puntridge |
| Sherri Stoner | Slappy Squirrel |
| Nathan Ruegger | Skippy Squirrel |
| Gail Matthius | Candie Chipmunk |
| Maurice LaMarche | The Brain, Aristotle, Jockey |
| Neil Ross | Announcer |
Transcript
Sources