Animaniacs

I finally caught up on all 13 episodes of this reboot and it's.... alright. The show starts out kind of weak but it progressively gets better. Warners and PATB are just really fun characters to watch. It can also be pretty funny at times and the songs are pretty decent. I don't mind the political stuff, I think people are just overreacting especially when the original had political jokes in it and made fun of famous figures. Animation is also really good. Overall I recommend it.

This is my third attempt at writing a review for this title, I am not so sure why IMDb rejected the previous two, but here we are with my third try at leaving a comment.

Anyway, Animaniacs was one of my favorite shows growing up and still remains a favorite of mine now as an adult. I was skeptical a revival could work because the original is too much of a product of the 1990's - back then the internet was nowhere as complex of a system as it is today, there was actually such a thing as Saturday morning cartoons, and western animation itself didn't venture out as much to appeal to strictly adult audiences as they do so now so a lot of animation writers had to work around censorship. There were no streaming services, if you wanted to watch an episode of television you had to make you were there on time when it aired, you could only tape programs instead of DVR. Cable networks such as HBO and Showtime were known mostly for showing movies and would not become known for having daring and critically acclaimed original programming. Blockbuster season at the movies generally occurred in the summer time and occasionally in the winter but not all year round as they would like to have you believe these days, either. It was a pretty different time, and other attempts at revivals of 90's favorites haven't always gone over too well. Coupled with the fact that the majority of the original writing staff of Animaniacs didn't return I had serious skepticism about this. Having seen the first season on Hulu my feelings are that it is largely a mixed bag.

On the one hand it does seem like they ae really trying to keep the spirit of the original strong despite it being the 2020's, and you have the original voice artists back which is a plus. The animation is a bit clunky in areas but not awful - it could look worse. Some of the writing is clever and funny, but on the other hand the series misses much of its original cast of characters, a lot of the satire feels overdone in parts without much to any subtlety whatsoever, and the political satire feels much too one-sided for comfort.

Could have been great, could have been worse.

The Animaniacs have returned and the Warners have come back to wreak havoc in the 2020s. How does this make me feel?

I was excited from day 1. As a loyal fan of the original, I loved the skits and satire that the original had and I'm glad it's been upgraded to poke fun at current events. I've seen 4 episodes so far and I've enjoyed every segment. The writing is still naughty as it was before, and the comedy is mostly solid. The only thing I dislike is that only the Warners and Pinky and the Brain are the only characters in it, so it does get a bit repetitive. I hope they introduce more in the future. Also, it's still funny, but not as funny as the original, but that's to be expected, since almost no reboot is as good as the original. But it's a reboot done right in my opinion, and we have too many failed ones (a.k.a. Teen Titans Go)

The animation is quite nice to watch. Episode 4 had an anime sequence that really amped and hyped fans to watch the show, and man it did not dissappoint.

With that said, I'll be giving the reboot an 8/10, or a solid B. I'll be watching the rest of the episodes and will give a proper youtube review on my channel too.

I grew with the original Animaniacs. I must've been 7 years old when it came out and I was hooked on it!

No need to mention that I was looking forward to the reboot to relive those memories.

The new series does an alright job getting the 34-year-old kid inside me back in the series, but not "great."

There are good gags, the music is amazing, the HD quality is looking slick (although needs some getting used to, especially if you've just binge-watched the original series,) the intro-song gags are fun and pretty clever but maybe too overthought (e.g. "Animany, totally-insany, don't-need-to-mansplany, Animaniacs.)

However, the animation is not as extravagant and over-the-top funny as the original. It really feels like there is a brand new (too young) team of animators that are not that familiar with the original and rushed into making the new series.

I really miss some of the old characters and recurring sketches, like Slappy and Skippy Squirrel, Mime Time, Mindy and Button, Rita and Runt, the Goodfeathers, The Wheel of Morality, etc.

At the same time, it felt to me a bit desperate in certain episodes to dive into Asian types of animation, such as Japanese anime and K-pop. Really hard to understand, even if the series is trying to recruit new audiences.

The self-mocking jokes on their reboot were pretty funny in the beginning, but as they recur more often, they start to wear off quickly.

This said, I still had plenty of laughs and chuckles throughout the season and looking forward to the second season coming out.

This series is at its best when it the irreverent, satirical, absurd comedy is getting shoved down your throat. This series is at its worst when it decides to instead shove its political opinions down your throat. I know I don't like Trump, I don't need cartoon characters telling me to not like him! It's stupid that they expect me to take a cartoon character's political opinion seriously...come on.

This show is honestly really funny though.