| Animaniacs Episode 5 | |
| Air date: | September 17, 1993 |
| Season: | 1
|
| Variable verse: | Dot: The rain in Spainy...
|
| Gag credit(s): | Tight Rope Walker-Kathryn Page
|
| Closing tag: | Yakko, Wakko & Dot: Goodbye, nurse!
|
| Prev: | Episode 4 |
| Next: | Episode 6 |
| List of Animaniacs Episodes | |
Contents
Theme Song
Last line
Dot: The rain in Spainy...
Taming of the Screwy (406-614)
Story by Peter Hastings, Earl Kress and Tom Ruegger
Written by Peter Hastings
Directed by Alfred Gimeno
Animation by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, Ltd.
Summary
Dr. Scratchansniff has to teach the Warners good manners for a party. However, this is a task easier said than done. When the Warners do learn good manners, they are kicked out of the party by Mr. Plotz, who wants to impress two Japanese producers. In the end, it is the Warners who host the great party.
Characters
Yakko Warner, Wakko Warner, Dot Warner, Dr. Scratchansniff, Thaddeus Plotz, Ralph the Guard, Hello Nurse, Chicken Boo (mentioned), Bugs Bunny (picture), Daffy Duck (picture), Dot's Pet, Mary Hartless, Mr. Kato, Miss Tanaka, Mr. Director, Slappy Squirrel, Rita (non-speaking cameo), Runt (non-speaking cameo)
Trivia
- This was the first episode of Animaniacs to feature a full half-hour story.
- While the episode's title references the William Shakespeare play The Taming of the Shrew, the plot has far more in common with George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion and Lerner & Lowe's Broadway musical adaptation, My Fair Lady (which is also referenced in this episode's variable verse). The play involves a narcissistic professor of language taking a young Cockney flower girl off the street and teaching her to speak in an upper-crust English dialect in order to pass her off as a noblewoman at a ball (to win a bet).
- It is shown that Yakko speaks perfect Japanese. When translated into English, the conversation he has with Mr. Kato is:
Yakko: "Tokyo is an extremely interesting place, isn't it?"
Mr. Kato: "Please go there."
Yakko: "If there's still a place to go, eh?"
- The Warners' favorite movie stars are Michelle Pfeiffer (Yakko), Mel Gibson (Dot) and Don Knotts (Wakko).
- Slappy Squirrel, Rita and Runt make cameos at the party. At the beginning of the cartoon, Chicken Boo is first mentioned when someone says, "It was a chicken, I tell ya! A giant chicken!"
- This is the first aired appearance of Mr. Director. The short "Episode_13:_Hello_Nice_Warners/La_Behemoth/Little_Old_Slappy_from_Pasadena#Hello_Nice_Warners_.28406-801.29 Hello Nice Warners" was produced before "Taming of the Screwy" but aired afterward, making Mr. Director's appearance here truly zany.
- Thaddeus Plotz's full name still has not been revealed at this point. He is referred to only as "T.P." (likely a pun on the shorthand term for toilet paper) and he is credited as "C.E.O."
- Celebrity guests at the studio party (in order of appearance):
- Robert Patrick (as the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
- Geena Davis & Susan Sarandon (as Thelma & Louise)
- Spike Lee
- Annette Bening
- Warren Beatty
- Bea Arthur
- Danny Devito (as the Penguin from Batman Returns)
- Mel Gibson
- Danny Glover
- Joe Pesci
- Sigourney Weaver (as Ellen Ripley from Alien3)
- Michael Keaton (as Batman)
- Jack Palance
- Luke Perry?
- Michelle Pfeiffer (as Catwoman from Batman Returns)
- Mike Myers & Dana Carvey (as Wayne Campbell & Garth Algar)
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Billy Crystal (as Mitch Robbins from City Slickers)
- Jaleel White (as Steve Urkel from Family Matters)
- Gallagher
- Madonna
- The noncelebrity characters in this episode are Thing from The Addams Family and Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
- Geena Davis sounds exactly like Slappy. Joe Pesci sounds exactly like Pesto (which makes sense, since Pesto is a caricature of Pesci).
- Jack Palance doing a one-arm push-up is a reference to when he did it while accepting his Oscar for his role in City Slickers.
- Due to a resemblance, some viewers mistaken Billy Crystal for Ted Danson when seated with Whoopi Goldberg. This was due to the fact that 1993, when the episode was produced, was the same year Goldberg briefly dated Danson due to the two of them meeting on the set of Made in America. Billy Crystal wearing the cowboy outfit was supposed to reference his role in City Slickers, however Ted Danson wore a similar outfit in Made in America, playing a sleazy car salesman who wore blue jeans and a ten-gallon hat as part of his gag.
Quotes
- Wakko: (playing with a head statue of Dr. Scratchansniff) Ooh, a giant Pez dispenser! Want some?
- Dr. Scratchansniff: Stop playing with my bust!
- Yakko: (pause) Mwah, goodnight, everybody!
- Dr. Scratchansniff: (demonstrating polite etiquette with Hello Nurse) How do you do? Now, Yakko, you try.
- Yakko: How do you do...that thing with your mouth?
- Jack Palance: Hey, Slappy, did you ever see this? (does a one-armed pushup like he did at the Oscars)
- Slappy: Save it for the Jack LaLanne story, bubele! (to Luke Perry) Y'know, you remind me of a very mature Jonny Quest.
- Tanaka: Mr. Kato would like to know who is responsible for this.
- Plotz: It was them! It was them! I had nothing to do with it! Don't look at me!
- Mr. Kato: Great party!
- Other Japanese investor: Great party!
- (both men laugh, then stop when Plotz begins to laughs)
- Plotz: Great party? Hehehe, yes, uh, great party... ehehehe.
- Madonna: Come on, you guys! We're gonna play truth or dare.
Music by
Songs
Cast
| Voice Actors: | Character(s): |
| Rob Paulsen | Yakko Warner, Dr. Scratchansniff, Steve Urkel, Dana Carvey |
| Jess Harnell | Wakko Warner, Mike Myers |
| Tress MacNeille | Dot Warner, Hello Nurse, Bea Arthur, Michelle Pfeiffer, Whoopi Goldberg, Madonna |
| Frank Welker | Thaddeus Plotz, Ralph T. Guard, Dot's Pet |
| Sherri Stoner | Slappy Squirrel, Geena Davis |
| Chick Vennera | Joe Pesci |
| John Mariano | Danny DeVito |
| Maurice LaMarche | Jack Palance, Billy Crystal |
| Bob Ito | Mr. Kato |
| Julia Kato | Miss Tanaka |
| Valri Bromfield | Mary Hartless |
| Dorian Harewood | Spike Lee, Danny Glover |
| Paul Rugg | Mr. Director |
Kathryn Page's Credit
Tight Rope Walker
Stinger
Yakko, Wakko & Dot: Goodbye, nurse!
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| Episode 4 | Episode 6 |
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