Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Steven Springblush?

In honour of the previously-hyped-on-this-blog, upcoming Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain DVDs, some more Youtube'd clips:

One of the most popular Animaniacs "filler" segments, "Good Idea/Bad Idea," narrated by Tom Bodett and starring a character who originated on "Tiny Toons," Mr. Skullhead:



This one won't turn up on DVD until Animaniacs vol. 3, but it's something of a minor classic: the Pinky and the Brain cartoon "Yes, Always," where Brain acts out the infamous Orson Welles outtake tape that voice actor Maurice LaMarche loved to quote from. It may be the most obscure, elaborate in-joke cartoon ever to turn up on "kids" TV.



The "revised" opening title from the episode "Pinky and the Brain and Larry," an episode produced to mock the WB network's suggestion that a third character should be added to the show (the network eventually got the last laugh when they forced the addition of the "Tiny Toons" character Elmyra to the show):



And from a Spielberg/Warner cartoon that isn't scheduled for DVD yet, "Freakazoid!", a clip featuring characters from Freakazoid, Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain:

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My gosh, that's some funny stuff. I'd never heard about that Orson Welles tape, so I listened to it, which makes the Brain segment even funnier. And the "& Larry" intro had me in stitches. I remember when Animaniacs first came on, I found it hit and miss, but clearly the good parts were quite good.

Jenny Lerew said...

Yes, that was certainly a watershed for the people involved--the ultimate in-joke. But it irritated me, as I not only loved that particular Orson outtake, but completely sympathized with him; the attitude of the other guys seemed to be much more long the lines of laughing at Welles as a ludicrous pain in the ass. Not me, brother; he was right, with bells on. Plus, he himself saw the stupidity and ridiculousness of it all--he's audibly laughing himself at the pathetic guy in the booth as he says "tell me how in the world to emphasize IN before JULY and I'll go down on you". You tell him, Orson! Classic!