Animaniacs Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Animaniacs Wiki

The theme song of Animaniacs is, as its title suggests, the song that begins every episode of Animaniacs and its reboot (with the exception of episodes 65 and 83 of the original series). The song describes the set-up of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot's zany adventures and also introduces several of the other major characters on the show (or, in the case of the reboot, poke fun of the modern-day world).

The theme was composed by Richard Stone and the lyrics by creator Tom Ruegger. The original main title was directed by Rich Arons and animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha (with additional scenes in seasons 3-5 by Wang); while the reboot's main title was animated by Snipple Animation Studios (with additional scenes being done in-house at Warner Bros. Animation).

The theme has been translated in 21 languages including French (and partially in Freakazoid in Norwegian.)

Intro Setup[]

Animaniacs (Original Series)[]

The intro begins with a shot of the Warner Bros.' water tower. The camera zooms in to the shield of tower, of which the Warners open while singing and jump out. The scene then cuts to Dr. Scratchansniff sitting in while watching a television; the Warners (wearing lab coats) appear and tickle his feet, sending him into hysterical laughter and Yakko sends Scratchansniff crashing into the floor with the lever of the examination chair and the show's title appears with them singing, Yakko and Wakko walk in a silly way along the Warner Bros.' studio lot while Dot hops in, but mirrored in the VHS version.

The siblings do a double take and run with Ralph chasing them with a net. Ralph locks the Warners in the water tower, but they appear on his head under his hat and run away outside the lot. They are hit by the show's title with them singing again. Dot appears posing on a stage, Yakko talks to an annoyed yak, who splashes his face into the soup and Wakko eats food from a truck loading it into his mouth. Bill Clinton is playing a saxophone before the Warners pop out of it. This is replaced with reused animation from "Taming of the Screwy" in Season 2 and later new footage of the Warners paying income tax in Season 3. Yakko plays a bunch of characters from the show (mainly their 'special friends') like a xylophone.

Pinky and the Brain are introduced; they are standing on top of the Earth. The Brain turns on a huge magnet with an awestruck Pinky gazing at the power beam, before Saturn crashes into the two. This is replaced with reused animation of Ralph T. Guard, Dr. Scratchansniff, and Hello Nurse from "Piano Rag", "Ups and Downs", and "De-Zanitized", respectively after Pinky & the Brain recieved their own spin-off. The Goodfeathers are standing on top of a power line; Squit hugs Bobby and Pesto before they are hit by Slappy's purse. Buttons chases Mindy across a steel beam, while Rita sings and Runt smiles while the Warners singing.

Two writers in their office go crazy, Yakko and Dot throw away a script, of which Wakko eats. The cast are then seen walking, and show their contracts. In a lavender background, the Warners appear singing. Backed up by the cast (colored in blue), Dot puts slices of bologna in Yakko's slacks, of which Wakko is pulling. Zooms out with the cast singing in a dark-colored background, a solo happens sung by one of the Warners (sometimes all three of them). The show's logo appears one last time with the Warners singing the show's title (zooming letters), proclaiming "Those are the facts.", and the song ends.

Extended Version[]

Between the scene where Yakko plays various characters like an xylophone and the scene where operate the magnet, the extended intro adds clips such as the Warners riding invisible bikes from Of Course You Know This Means Warners, a referee blowing a whistle from Kung Boo, Pinky and the Brain from the TMS intro, Skippy opening his tongue from Smell Ya Later, the Warners rowing an invisible boat from Of Course, You Know This Means Warners, Mindy using a whistle from Whistle Stop Mindy, the Warners skiing a mountain of popcorn from Garage Sale of the Century/West Side Pigeon, Ralph waving from Fair Game/The Slapper/Puppet Rulers, the Warners flying a plane, Runt going into the mud from the Rita and Runt intro, the Warners taking their seats from Piano Rag, the Warners playing an xylophone from King Yakko, the Warners running into a door from Hello Nice Warners, the Warners riding a condor from Ragamuffins/Woodstock Slappy, Wakko drumming on the floor and walls from Of Course, You Know This Means Warners, the clip of Pinky kicking Brain from Pavlov's Mice, the clip of Chicken Boo pecking from The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special, the clip of Chicken Boo getting kicked out of from The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special, the clip of Colin getting hit by a yoyo from Scare Happy Slappy/Witch One/MacBeth, the mime getting hit by a tree from The Monkey Song, the clip of Aunt Bertha sitting on Mr. Skullhead from Playing Horsey, Buttons getting flattend from Cat On A Hot Steel Beam, the clip of the Warners crashing into some toys from Toy Shop Terror, the Warners escaping on a hot air balloon from Hooked on a Ceiling/Goodfeathers: The Beginning, the Warners escaping Ralph from The Monkey Song, and Wakko running on the people's heads from Of Course, You Know This Means Warners.

Animaniacs (Reboot)[]

The intro is very much the same as the original series. However, due to the time-skip and the lack of characters, there are a lot of changes in the setup. Instead of tickling Dr. Scratchansniff, the Warners tickle a napping Ralph, with Yakko pulling the chair away to send him crashing into the floor (though Scratchansniff still appears in the xylophone line). Also, instead of posing, Dot is seen entertaining the audience with stand-up comedy. After Wakko eats food from the truck, the Warners are seen emerging from their graves (with their year of death being 1998, the year the original series ended), where they are interviewed by a bunch of reporters with microphones, taking photos with devices. The xylophone line has different characters, though Ralph and Dr. Scratchansniff stay.

Pinky gazes at the magnet instead of the beam shooting from it. A boy (resembling Colin) is being tested by a group of executives and Nora Rita Norita while watching television, which falls on top of him. The Warners are sitting scales with Yakko and Wakko outweighing Dot, describing 'gender balance', pictures of the Warners are seen on restroom doors, with half of Yakko and Dot stuck together on one sign, and half of Wakko and Dot stuck together on the other, referencing 'pronoun neutrality', and a shot of the Earth is seen with several 'ethnically diverse' copies of the Warners wearing multicultural attire standing on it with flags above them.

The screen zooms out to reveal it being a video on the computer of someone named the "Graphic Novel Guy". The Warners appear behind him and lift his shirt, revealing an Animaniacs shirt with the siblings' original designs and reading "Est. 1993", referencing the year the original Animaniacs premiered. The Warners are seen walking across a stage. They are then seen signing a contract for 'two new seasons' by Death, (2 10/13 seasons in the 3rd season) who makes the contract disappear afterwards. Instead of usually throwing slices of bologna into Yakko's slacks, Dot is seen slicing a loaf of bologna to produce slices, which fall into the slacks.

Also, the screen zooms out (like the original), with the Warners singing with many other neon lights and signs of the siblings and verses they just sang. Like the original, the variable verse occurs and the song ends with the show's logo and the Warners singing the show's title, proclaiming "Those are the facts."

Lyrics[]

Open1
The Warners:
It's time for Animaniacs
And we're zany to the max
So just sit back and relax.
You'll laugh till you collapse.
We're Animaniacs
Yakko and Wakko:
Come join the Warner Brothers
Dot:
And the Warner Sister Dot
The Warners:
Just for fun, we run around the Warner movie lot.
They lock us in the tower, whenever we get caught.
But we break loose, and then vamoose, and now you know the plot!
We're Animaniacs
Dot is cute and Yakko yaks.
Wakko packs away the snacks
While Bill Clinton plays the sax (Seasons 1, Episode 99)
We've got wisecracks by the stacks. (Season 2)
We pay tons of income tax. (Seasons 3-5)
We're Animaniacs
Meet Pinky and the Brain who want to rule the universe. (Seasons 1-2, Episode 75, 82, 84, 94, and 99)
Meet Ralph and Dr. Scratchansniff, say hi to Hello Nurse. (Seasons 3-5)
Goodfeathers flock together, Slappy whacks them with her purse.
Buttons chases Mindy, while Rita sings a verse.
The writers flipped, We have no script, Why bother to rehearse?
All:
We're Animaniacs
We have pay-or-play contracts
We're zany to the max There's baloney in our slacks!
We're Animanie
Totally insane-y
[variable verse; see the following section (example: Here's the show's name-y)]
The Warners:
Animaniacs! Those are the facts!

OpenShot2020
The Warners:
It's time for Animaniacs
And we're zany to the max
So just sit back and relax.
You'll laugh till you collapse.
We're Animaniacs
Yakko and Wakko:
Come join the Warner Brothers
Dot:
And the Warner Sister Dot
The Warners:
Just for fun, we run around the Warner movie lot.
They lock us in the tower, whenever we get caught.
But we break loose, and then vamoose, and now you know the plot!
We're Animaniacs
Dot has wit, and Yakko yaks.
Wakko packs away the snacks. Our careers have made comebacks
We're Animaniacs
Meet Pinky and the Brain who want to rule the universe.
A brand new cast who tested well in focus group research.
Gender-balanced, pronoun-neutral, and ethnically diverse
The trolls will say we're so passé, but we did meta first
We're Animaniacs
You should see our new contracts
We're zany to the max, There's baloney in our slacks
We're Animanie
Totally insane-y
[variable verse; see the following section (example: Have no shame-y)]
The Warners:
Animaniacs! Those are the facts!

Variable Verse[]

This verse is the third to last line in the theme song. It is always a different one depending on the show's episode, with another sibling singing it. In some episodes, it's all three of them. They are in the order that they first appeared on the show. In Season 2 of the original series, the variable verse in all the episodes was "here's the show's name-y". So far, Dot has had the most variable lines.

Animaniacs (Original Series)[]

Animaniacs (Reboot)[]

Games And Albums[]

Freakazoid![]

  • Warners: It's totally freaky (Freakazoid and Friends)
  • Warners: Dexter's geeky (Freakazoid and Friends)
  • Warners: The plots are weak-y (Freakazoid and Friends)
  • Warners: We're up a creek-y (Freakazoid and Friends)
  • Warners: We've sprung a leak-y (Freakazoid and Friends)
  • Dot:: Here's the show's name-y (Reuse of Animaniacs opening sequence in Next Time, Phone Ahead!)

Animaniacs Issue #53[]

In the story "The Contest", Yakko and Dot sing the last part of theme song. The Variable Verses are:

  • Yakko: Mustard stain-y
  • Dot: Amber waves of grain-y
  • Unknown: Varicose vein-y
  • Unknown: A zit on your hein-ey
  • Yakko: Clog in the drain-y
  • Dot: Those are a pain-y
  • Yakko: Just use your brain-y
  • Dot: I miss Dean Cain-y
  • Yakko: Digs Lois Lane-y
  • Dot: Sure beats Lon Chaney
  • Dot: Gerald Moran-ey
  • Yakko: Delta's one foxy lady
  • Yakko: Like Seinfeld's Elaine-y
  • Dot: They're gone, what a shame-y

Characters[]

The following characters appear in the intro: Yakko Warner, Wakko Warner, Dot Warner, Dr. Scratchansniff, Ralph T. Guard, Bill Clinton, Albert Einstein, Thaddeus Plotz, Dracula, Ludwig von Beethoven, Pinky, the Brain, Bobby, Squit, Pesto, Slappy Squirrel, Mindy, Buttons, Runt, Rita, Skippy Squirrel, Chicken Boo, Hello Nurse, Newt, Minerva Mink, Marita, Flavio, and The Mime.

One of the writers that "flipped" looks like William Shakespeare.

In the 2020 theme, for obvious reasons, the other characters were removed from the intro, leaving only the Warners, Pinky and the Brain, Ralph, and Dr. Scratchansniff. This time, the intro is completely focused on and sung by the Warners, with Pinky and the Brain only appearing in what is left of the roll call lyrics, Ralph only appearing in the first part and some variable lines, and Scratchansniff only appearing in his place in the xylophone line, with Ralph taking his place in the beginning. The members of the head xylophone include the Conductor from "Here Comes Treble," Dr. Walter Grubb, Serge Sokolov, Nils Niedhart, Dr. Scratchansniff, Nora Rita Norita, and Ralph. Additional unnamed characters also appear in the line-up. Most of these characters take the places of older original series antagonists.

Death from "Meatballs or Consequences" appears holding a contract for 'two new seasons', of which the Warners sign. In season 3, this is changed to "2¹0⁄13 New Seasons" due to the ordering of a shorter third season.[1]

A character named "Graphic Novel Guy" is shown in the "we did meta first" line, with Mr. Skullhead appearing in a comment on an online message board under the name "Mr. Lul Head" on his computer.

Additionally, a Colin lookalike is used as a test subject for the series' new cast where he is seen connected to wires and watching a television in a test room, which tips over and crushes him.

Variations[]

International Versions[]

Other Versions[]

  • The Animaniacs Game Pack has its own version of the theme song with variable words describing the game.
  • In episode 1 of Freakazoid!, the Warners perform a Freakazoid!-themed version entitled Freakazoid and Friends.
  • There is also a song on the Yakko's World album that is the same tune titled Travelin' Animaniacs.
  • An extended version of the theme was used for episode 82 (the third season finale) with an instrumental break and montage of clips from the show. This version was reused again for episodes 84, 94, and 99 and it also was released on the Animaniacs soundtrack. The soundtrack and Episode 99 versions of the extended theme song use the line "While Bill Clinton plays the sax". The Episode 82, Episode 84, and Episode 94 versions of the extended theme song instead use the line "We pay tons of income tax".
  • Episode 98: The Christmas Tree/Punchline (Part I)/Prom Night/Punchline (Part II) featured another Christmas intro, this time, with the Kids' WB lyrics dubbed over the Season 1 Fox Kids lyrics. This is presumably due to the crew not having enough time to add the Christmas filter over the Kids' WB intro visuals.
  • When the show was aired in reruns on Paramount's Nickelodeon and its sister channel Nicktoons, the song was cut down to less than half of its original length, and the variable lines at the end were all replaced with the newly-added line "Nickelaney", which was dubbed over the previously made line "Shirley MacLaine-y, with the Nickelodeon logo being placed inside the crystal ball.
  • The episode "Cute First (Ask Questions Later)" has a version of the intro where Dot is snatched by 2 dwarves Yakko and Wakko didn't notice until the part where they tickle Dr. Scratchansniff.
  • "Animaniacs on The Hub" is produced for Hub Network (which the network acquired by the show's producer nine years later) in 2013.
  • The intro to the sing along videos has alternated lyrics.
  • "Branimaniacs" and the "Three Tenors Edition"
  • In "Anima-Nyet", the Russian bootleg of the series contains a take on the theme song; "Anima-nyet Theme Song".

Album Releases[]

Trivia[]

General[]

  • When the theme song is performed at the end of some of the Animaniacs Live! shows accompanied with an orchestra and/or Randy Rogel on the piano, the performers Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, and Tress MacNeille (the voices of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot) sing it with composers Steve and Julie Bernstein respectively (or Maurice LaMarche). Sometimes, it's just Paulsen and Rogel singing it as a duet.
  • The last few bars of the theme song (mainly the "Those are the facts!") are an alternate pitch of a jingle which is considered to be a 1990s Warner Bros. essential. It notably plays when Bugs Bunny munches on a carrot in front of the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment logo intro that was used to open several Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television Animation-produced shows from the early-1990s to mid-2000s; as well as portions of scores from other WB cartoons. These bars were a signature trademark of original Animaniacs composer Richard Stone; and are said to literally sound-out "I'm Rich-ard Stone!". The opening was discontinued in 2009, but the signature bars live on at the end of the theme song and several other songs in the 2020 reboot (and even at the end of other works such as the Looney Tunes Cartoons short "Pest Coaster").

Original Series[]

Meet Pinky and the Brain
Who want to rule the universe.
There's Skippy and there's Slappy
And say hi to Hello Nurse.
  • President Bill Clinton playing the saxophone is a reference to his saxophone performance on the 1990s late-night talk show The Arsenio Hall Show.
    • Tom Ruegger's son and the voice of Skippy, Nathan Ruegger came up with the line "While Bill Clinton plays the sax."
  • A scrapped gag from the intro by producer Rich Arons would've had Yakko and Dot stretching Wakko during the "We're zany to the max!" line.
  • Voice actor Rob Paulsen tweeted the original sheet music for the song on August 1, 2013. One of the unused lyrics that was to replace "While Bill Clinton plays the sax" was "It's a show that's made by hacks".
  • In "Jockey for Position," when Pinky is knocked off a horse, he dizzily says, "There's baloney in our slacks..."
  • In "Cute First (Ask Questions Later)," a parody of the intro happens near the beginning of the episode where Dot gets kidnapped in the middle of the intro. The director realizes Dot is gone during the line "So just sit back and relax, you'll laugh 'til you collapse".
  • In episode 32, the variable verse for the episode is "Here's the show's name-y" but the sound is replaced with "Dana Delaney!" (It can only be assumed they recorded the audio of that line, but never created the footage of Yakko raising his eyebrows until later on in the show).

Dubbing Info[]

  • In most international dubs of Season 2 of the original series, the the line "While Bill Clinton plays the sax" is dubbed over "We've got wisecracks by the stacks".
  • In the original series, the Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, 2nd Greek and 1st Russian dubs always use the same variable verse.
    • Ironically, episode 92 has the variable verse being sung instead of Yakko saying "Uhhhh...", even though it is not supposed to be like that.
    • The Polish, Brazilian Portuguese and Greek 2012 dubs has the variable verse being sung by the character(s) that appear in the scene (i.e. the 'here's the show's name-y' has Dot singing, while 'hunchback of Notre Dame-y' has Wakko singing). Russian 2003 always has the Warners singing together, and the Czech dub always has Dot singing.
    • The variable verse in each of the dubs, with the translations:
Polish Russian (2003 STS dub) Brazillian Portuguese Greek (2012 Boomerang dub) Czech
Sam zobaczysz! Чудесней всех на свете! Seus bichinhos! Και ονειροπαρμένη (Dot)

Ονειροπαρμένη (Yakko and Wakko)

Ve dne ba i v noci
You'll see yourself! The most marvelous in the world! Your pets! And dreamy (Dot)

Dreamy (Yakko and Wakko)

During the day and even at night


  • In the Arabic dub, some changes are made to the intro:
    • The scene where Yakko, Wakko, and Dot sing in the show's title of was replaced by the clip of Albert Einstein kicking the Warners out of his house
    • The clip of the Warners singing in the show's title again was replaced by a scene from Cookies for Einstein where
    • The clip where the Warners escape the water tower using a long wooden plank and a go-cart is shown between the clip where Dot poses on a stage and the clip where Yakko talks to an annoyed yak, who splashes his face into the soup.

Reboot[]

  • The yak is sitting next to Yakko in the "Yakko yaks" line was given a redesign in the 2020 reboot, now appearing much more realistically than in the 1993 version.
  • The footage of Pinky and the Brain atop the Earth with their magnet from the reboot's version of the intro is used in the 2023 Lexus ad "2023 Invitation to Lexus Sales Event: Electric Feels."
  • The real-world flags present in "U.N. Me" appear in the "ethnically diverse" verse in the reboot's intro.
  • The reboot intro was originally going to have the angle in "We're animany, totally insane-y" be the same as it's in the original, but it was altered to the Warners being now on front of the screen. On the Twitter website, Planned scenes were for the variable lyric "Have no shame-y" should've been storyboarded include the Warners watching Hulu on the television.[2]
  • In the first two seasons of the reboot, the contract held by the Grim Reaper says "2 New Seasons". In the third and final season, the writing was changed to "2¹0⁄13 New Seasons" due to the ordering of a shorter third season.[3]
  • Unlike the Season 1-2, In the Scene During the line "You Should See Our New Contracts" in Season 3 has a different Art Style and featured a more rounded design of The Warners

Errors[]

  • In the scene on the Water Tower, the Warners are arranged from left to right: Yakko, Wakko, Dot. However, after jumping off, somehow Yakko and Wakko switched places. This was never fixed in the 2020 version.
    • This may have been kept in because it helps add to the zaniness of the sequence.
  • In the 1993 version, Yakko's tail is missing during the "There's baloney in our slacks!" ("You'll laugh till you collapse." in the Nickelodeon and Nicktoons versions) part.

Languages[]

"Animaniacs" is translated into other languages as follows:

  • Albanian (used in Albania and other countries) - Animaniakët
  • Arabic (used in countries in the Middle East) - الضاحكون (“The Laughers”)
  • Bulgarian (used in Bulgaria) - Аниманиаци (Animaniaci)
  • Catalan - Animaníaco (possibly)
  • Cantonese - 狂歡三寶
  • Chinese - 狂欢三宝
  • Croatian - Animanijaci
  • Czech - Animáci
  • Danish - De Animaniacs
  • Dutch - Animaniacs
  • English - Animaniacs
  • Estonian - Animaniakid
  • Finnish - Animaaniset
  • French - Les Animaniacs
  • Greek - Ανιμανιακς
  • German - Animaniacs
  • Hebrew - אנימניאקס
  • Hungarian - Animánia
  • Icelandic - Animaniacs
  • Italian - Animaniacs
  • Japanese - アニマニアックス (Animaniakkusu)
  • Korean - 애니매니악스
  • Norwegian - Animaniacs
  • Polish - Animaniacy
  • Portuguese (Brazil) - Animaniacs/Os Animaniacs
  • Portuguese (Portugal) - Os Animaníacos
  • Romanian - Animaniacii
  • Russian (1997) - Аниманьяки (Animan'yaki)
  • Russian (2003) - Озорные анимашки (Ozornye animashki)
  • Russian (2014) - Анимашки (Animashki)
  • Russian (2020) - Озорные анимашки
  • Spanish (Latin America) - Animania/Animaníacs
  • Spanish (Spain version) - Animaniacs
  • Swedish - Animaniacs / Anima-Dårpippi
  • Tamil - Animaniacs
  • Turkish - Animaniacs / Animanyaklar
  • Ukrainian - Мультиманія ("Multimania")

Gallery[]

References[]

Notes[]

  1. "Here's the show's name-y" is used in episode 48 in some reruns, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video releases only
  2. References the 1953 Western movie Shane. Shane, played by Alan Ladd, leaves town at the end of the film after killing several men. A young boy who has come to idolize Shane yells after him, "Come back, Shane!"
  3. References a song from the Lerner & Lowe musical My Fair Lady.
  4. "Chicken Chow Mein-y" is used in episode 48 in its original airing, iTunes, DVD, and HBO Max Latin America releases only
  5. In most copies of episode 32, the "Here's the show's name-y" visuals are used

Advertisement