Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish

Just saw this on HBO, did anyone catch the not-so-hidden reference to the Time-Warner merger of 1996? In the opening sequence, the town of "Warnerstock" (not-so-subtle) was all happy and prosperous until the king passed away and the evil king of "Ticktocia" (tic-toc...Time maybe?) took control through a hostile takeover. the people of Warnerstock were forced to turn a profit...and so-on and so-on. The show was always full of obscure and adult references cleverly and tastefully hidden and mixed with the kiddie humor. Maybe an expression of some internal riff with the whole merger, 'cleverly' displayed in Animaniac fashion.

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 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.

I can't call this a bad movie, because I'm a sucker for anything with "Animaniacs" in the title. Somehow, the novelty of just seeing all the characters in one place is enjoyable enough for me. Unfortunately, the charm wears off really fast.

The plot holes are gigantic! I know it's Animaniacs, and I shouldn't be asking for logic, but usually things make just a little bit of sense. This movie tries to be a Disney flick, and it's just not working for it. I compaire this story to fanfiction. The characters are out of character, even for them, and for a movie called "Wakko's Wish", Wakko dosn't get a whole lot of screen time. That really makes me mad, because that's my favorite character!

I can't say the movie is terrible; it's decent Animation, the voice acting is pretty good, and even the plot, as cliché'd as it is, is very entertaining. I just fall in love with it every time I see it. It's so bad that it's good. As an Animaniacs fan, I love to pick apart everything that's wrong with it. For an non-Animanics watcher, I'd skip this movie. If you don't know the characters, it won't make much sense, and you'll turn it off before it reaches the ten minute mark.

For little kids, they'll love it. I know I used to. (I bought five copies of the original VHS version when it first came out. One was eaten by the VCR, I lost one, I have two in my video collection, and one is still unopened.) It's a very nice movie for kids, and it keeps them quiet for an hour. Then again, I guess kids love anything animated, so that's not much of an accomplishment.

'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.