Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish

"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.

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.

I wrote a much longer review on amazon.com and Usenet's alt.tv.animaniacs group. Since then, I've watched the movie several more times, and all I can say is that my original impressions have been reinforced: The folks who made Animaniacs have produced a fitting last hurrah for the series. There's enough adult-level humor to keep everyone laughing, especially if you pay attention to the throwaway lines. A superficial glance might lead you to believe this is another formulaic Disneyoid animated kidflick, but that's wide of the mark: they skewer the formula, not follow it. Give it a chance and you'll be sold.

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.

I have loved the show Animaniacs for like forever, it is so cute, fun, witty and just something I really loved watching. Wakko's Wish is inferior to the show, but it is definitely not bad. In fact, it is decent, it is just lacking in that extra something that made the show so good. It is very cute and charming, with a touching ending and some off-the-wall humour to satisfy kids. Plus it is vibrantly animated, with some beautiful colours and above average character designs. The voice cast also do really well, Maurice LaMarche, Rob Paulson, Jess Harnell and Tress MacNeille all do great jobs as does everybody else. And the characters are at least likable, Pinky is still his funny, stupid and adorable self and Dot is cute here. King Salazar is pretty entertaining if rather unexceptional as a villain. The writing is mostly good, some parts are clichéd but there are some entertaining and heartwarming parts, that I really appreciated and the film moves along quickly. However, Wakko's Wish isn't without problems. While the plot has its moments there are other parts where it is disjointed, and although Wakko is supposed to be the main character according to the title Wakko doesn't get that much screen time disappointingly. While the incidental music was brilliant, I cannot say the same for the songs, they are forgettable at best and one or two of them don't seem to move the story forward. This is a shame because the music was one of the many components that made the show so entertaining. Overall, decent if not great swansong to Animaniacs. 7/10 Bethany Cox