Animaniacs: El Deseo de Wakko

"Animaniacs" was a cartoon that always struck me as good but highly inconsistent. At any given time there were at least two dozen characters on the show. Each of them starred in their own segments. Some of them worked, some of them didn't. And some of them fell flat.

This problem is finally eliminated in "Wakko's Wish". All of the characters, good (the Warners, Pinky and the Brain), bad (the Goodfeathers, the Hip Hippos), and pointless (Chicken Boo) are involved in this one major story. The story is a tad sentimental for an "Animaniacs" movie but they have a lot of fun parodying the expected cliches as they go along. Check it out, it's a lot of fun. And it's got "Tiny Toons: Summer Vacation" beat by miles.

This was a great movie from a great cartoon series. The animation was top notch. This movie had the same quality of humor as the series. The premise was pretty good and fitting for the characters. All the characters from the show are used in some form and are just as hilarious as they are in the show. Thumbs up on this one.

'Animaniacs' has always been one of my favorite cartoons. It is truly amazing with its brilliant writing, endless hilarity, fantastic animation, memorable characters and music, and the pure amount of joy it brings me. People of all ages will enjoy the show's intelligence and wit, but adult viewers in particular will understand the clever references to films and celebrities. The cartoon excelled in humor and is a perfect example of why I love cartoons in the first place.

'Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish' is cute and pleasant, but does not come close to the greatness of the original series. As a film targeted more toward younger audiences, it lacks the wacky humor that was very often present in 'Animaniacs' and the characters are less zany.

It was not a complete disappointment, however. The animation is very smooth and clean and the colors are vibrant and lovely. There are also some scenes I found touching, notably the ones where Yakko displays gentleness and brotherly love toward his sister Dot. Pinky and the Brain are very enjoyable in the film and their antics provided me with many laughs. All of the voice acting is fantastic as well.

Despite these positive aspects, the film is let down by rather unexceptional writing, and the large amount of songs sung are forgettable at best. To me, the film just does not feel like it is related to anything 'Animaniacs.' It lacks the strong and clever writing and sharp, comical moments that are so often associated with 'Animaniacs' on the whole. Certain parts did make me laugh, but I did not laugh nearly as much as I do when watching the original classic series.

'Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish' is a likable and fun film and has lots of good aspects, but it is not nearly as good as the series.

Wakko's Wish does what Animaniacs fans have come to expect, and in fact demand. The story is entertaining at multiple levels, from the purely visual, to the slapstick, to clever wordplay, to subtle cultural references that surface on watching for the second or third time.

It may look like it is a Disney-esque thing. If you expect that, you may be uneasy when Wakko's Wish gives it what-for and does what Warner Bros. cartoons have always done: had fun with things and not let anyone or anything off the hook.

Wakko's wish is a very worthy finale to the series. While some have complained that it isn't like the show at all, I don't really think it is meant to be. Nor should it. Does anyone really want to see 90 minutes of out and out zanyness? Instead, we get a rather touching story that gives all the characters and emotional weight they never really had before. And of course, we still get the zanyness, it's just placed within a larger framework.

Personally, I would love to see more Animaniacs stories done in this exact style (hope hope hope!).

With Wakko's Wish, Animaniacs ends it's run with a solid piece of work, very unlike the show in many ways, and for that I am glad. Nothing could have been worse for it to finish with something that was basically just another episode.