Animaniacs: Volume 3

June 18, 2007

Rated: NR Runtime: 750 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My first exposure to the Animaniacs was a shock to my system. Before I saw any episodes, I had heard that Stephen Spielberg had his paws in this so my expectations were pretty low. Don’t get me wrong; the man has a lot of talent…but for cartoons?

Animaniacs: Volume 3 All those reservations were blown apart after seeing the first few episodes, however. I thought that I was witnessing the second coming of Bugs Bunny! But then I saw Slappy Squirrel and knew that it was not to be.

For the uninitiated, each Animaniacs episode consisted of 2-3 segments featuring the Animaniac characters (Yakko, Wakko, and Dot) and one or two other recurring character sets (like Buttons and Mindy, the aforementioned Slappy Squirrel, and my personal faves Pinky and the Brain). Occasionally they would slip in a one-shot segment such as with the little travel trailer that was the bane of the tornados.

All in all, it’s very good stuff. As cartoons for kids, they’re just hyper enough to keep their attention and yet they also sneak in a LOT of references for adults that, thankfully, the kids just don’t get. The segments with Yakko, Wakko and Dot are usually quite good. The Pinky and the Brain segments are almost always excellent. However, most of the rest are hit and miss (at best). The Buttons and Mindy pieces are very inconsistent throughout the series and, while some have great moments, others just stink. Chicke Boo is just…well…weird. And Slappy Squirrel still sucks.

But that’s the beauty of this compilation…there are so many segments that you can happily skip forward through the ones you don’t like and still have plenty of great stuff to watch. If you have kids that need to be entertained along with yourself, then grab this DVD set as soon as you can.

Posted by Alex | Filed Under 4 Stars, Comedy, DVD, Jess Harnell, Maurice LaMarche, NR, Rob Paulsen, Tress MacNeille