Mr. Director

Regular
Mr. Clown

General Information

Full Name

Mr. Director

Relationships

Thaddeus Plotz (Boss)

Appearances

TV Series

• Animaniacs (1993)
• Pinky and the Brain (1995) (1 episode)
• Animaniacs (2020) (2 episodes)

Movies

Wakko's Wish (1999)

Print

Animaniacs (DC Comic) (1995)

Segment(s)

Yakko, Wakko, and Dot

First Episode

• Animaniacs: "Taming Of The Screwy"
• Pinky and the Brain: "Where the Deer and the Mousealopes Play"
• Animaniacs (Reboot): "Targeted Ads"

Portrayals

Voice Actor(s)

Paul Rugg
Jess Harnell (Hooray for North Hollywood part two only)

Quotes

Catchphrases

"Froynlaven!"
"Flameil!"

Mr. Director is a recurring character on the Yakko, Wakko, and Dot segments of Animaniacs, voiced by Paul Rugg. He is a mad film director, and a self-proclaimed comedy "genius." In almost all of Mr. Director's appearances, he is in immense pain for much of his screen-time. He also has a clown persona, named Mr. Clown.^{[note 1]}

Mr. Director is a caricature of the late Jerry Lewis. Much like his inspiration, he tends to use faux-Yiddish nonsense words such as "Flamiel" and "Froynlaven" while speaking loudly and erratically.

Appearance

Mr. Director has black hair, and can usually be seen wearing a suit with a blue blazer and black bow-tie. Sometimes, he can be seen wearing a black blazer instead. One one occasion, he is portrayed as fat and bald wearing a black sit underneath a purple blazer.^{[note 2]} As Mr. Clown, he looks like a typical clown with make-up and has a red wig, lips, and nose. Mr. Clown is also seen wearing a pink suit with green overalls and a larger bow-tie, as well as a pair of white gloves.

Personality

Typically, Mr. Director keeps a calm and collected demeanor; however, while acting and occasionally while speaking to others, he speaks in an crazed, sometimes rude, exaggerated manner. Whenever this , Mr. Director is able to even annoy Yakko, Wakko, and Dot (whom he calls "puppy children"), a feat which few others can accomplish.

History

Past

Prior to his introduction, Mr. Director was supposedly renowned as a "comedy genius" in Hollywood. He had a long reputation of large ambitious films, seemingly admired by many for his genius.

Animaniacs (Original Series)

Mr. Director makes his debut in "Taming of the Screwy," where he is shown as one of Dot's creepy pets.

Mr. Director's first major appearance occurs in "Hello Nice Warners." He first meets the Warners after they wander into his lounge to hide from Ralph. He nonchalantly invites the Warners to his audition, and quickly turns eccentric after enjoying their audition and quips. The siblings are instantly terrified and attempt to flee, but they agree to star in his movie anyway (to avoid Ralph). Things quickly take a turn for the worst as he fights with the siblings over creative differences. The siblings then take it up-to-eleven and torment him through their comical movie scenes. This is enough to send him fleeing in terror, declaring that they should no longer work together.

Mr. Director then re-appears in "Hearts of Twilight," having gone mad and over-budget filming his masterpiece The Wretched Clown. The mad director is determined to find the perfect ending for his film, but he just can't find it. His reach has grown so powerful that accountants sent to stop him join a cult to defend and praise him and his brilliance. The Warners are sent to stop him, but are briefly caught in a trap and guarded by Mr. Crazy Person. When the Warners are freed and finally get an audience with him, he decides to hear Yakko's pitch for an ending out. His film is then wrapped-up when he shoots Yakko's ending scene at long last-- where he is crushed by a mallet (twice).

In "Clown and Out," Mr. Director takes on a job as a clown in order to pay for his bills during a period of financial difficulties.^{[note 1]} Mr. Plotz hires him to entertain Wakko for his birthday (unaware that Wakko has an irrational fear of clowns). The poor clown is tormented relentlessly by a terrified Wakko, who eventually sends him to Mars, where he finds joy in entertaining Martian children.

In "MacBeth," he is revealed as the final result of the witches' cooking. He then sings "Oh, Lady!," which frightens the cast.

In "The Warners 65th Anniversary Special," he is interviewed to talk about the Warners cartoon Flies in the Ointment. As he is talking about how "brilliant" the short was, a hand gives him a stick of dynamite, which explodes. He then painfully cuts-off his review with "Nevermind!"

Mr. Director makes cameos for the remainder of the show, such as "A Hard Day's Warners" during the "They Want to Laugh" song, and attends the party in "The Big Wrap Party Tonight."

He also makes a brief cameo in part two of Hooray for North Hollywood, where Jess Harnell filled-in for Paul Rugg to provide a laugh for him. He is hit in the face by a pie during the Warners' chase against Mr. Plotz and Ralph.

In the Animaniacs comic, one issue brought the Jerry Lewis joke further by having him running to France and being recognized as a comedy genius there.

Pinky and the Brain

First, Mr. Director is seen as "Mr. Clown" in "Where the Deer and the Mousealopes Play," where he runs over Brain with his unicycle.

Later on in the series, Mr. Director appears in "The Pinky and the Brain Reunion Special," where he is one of the people paid by the Brain to appear in a fake Pinky and the Brain reunion special in exchange for his own psychic hotline upon Brain's acquisition of the planet.

During his interview, he claims that Pinky and the Brain had "the thing" as a comic duo; much like what he himself had with Dean Martin, with further comparisons to Allen & Rossi having "the thing," James Arness starring in The Thing from Another World, and Charles Grodin having "that thing on his head."

When Brain's plan fails due to nobody watching the special (keeping them away from Brain's hypnobeam), it is unlikely that Mr. Director received his psychic hotline.

Wakko's Wish

Mr. Director appears briefly in the film, when King Salazar sends the Warners into "The Cave of Your Worst Nightmares." He reprises his "Oh, Lady!" song, and spouts some of his usual lines as the Warners ride-away in terror.

Animaniacs (Reboot)

Mr-Director-Reboot-License — Mr. Director in the reboot. His picture is sourced from old model sheet art.

Mr. Director is referenced three times in the Animaniacs reboot. First, in "Fear and Laughter in Burbank," distorted audio of him singing "Nice and Chubby Baby" as Mr. Clown is played to emphasize the "creepiness" of Nickelwise the clown. Later on in the episode "Targeted Ads," Mr. Director's picture appears on a driver's license during the DMV Fantasy Camp ad.

Mr. Director later makes his only physical and speaking appearance in "The Stickening" as Mr. Clown, where he is one of the characters sucked into Dot's tornado. He sings "Nice and Chubby Baby", which scares Wakko.