Yakko, Wakko, and Dot

Template:Short description Template:Missing information Template:Main other Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, usually referred to as the Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) or just the Warners, are the fictional protagonists of the American animated series Animaniacs. Created by Tom Ruegger, the Warners are zany cartoon characters of an unnamed anthropomorphized species, constantly escaping the Warner Brothers water tower and causing chaos wherever they go. Particular targets of their humour are Ralph T. Guard; the Warner studio's security guard, and Otto Scratchansniff, the lot's psychiatrist.

The Warners are siblings, with Yakko (voiced by Rob Paulsen) as the oldest of the three. He is gregarious, charismatic, and generally seen as the leader of the group. Wakko (voiced by Jess Harnell) is the middle child, with a Scouse accent modelled on Ringo Starr. He can eat nearly anything in large quantities, whether food or not, and often carries a "Gag Bag" from which he can produce a wide range of objects. Dot (full name Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca III; voiced by Tress MacNeille) is the youngest and only female of the three. Dot is cute, bubbly and generally friendly, though can also be vain, rude and bossy.

Role within the series

The Warners were created by the animation department of the Warner Brothers studio in 1930. However, their antics caused chaos all over the lot and the films in which they starred proved to be completely nonsensical. The films were put into the studio vault and never released, while the Warners themselves were locked in the studio water tower. Warner Brothers disavowed any knowledge of the trio's existence until the series' present time, when they escape and resume their old mischievous habits.

Concept and creation

Series creator Tom Ruegger initially modeled the Warners' personalities heavily on those of his three sons. The species of the Warners has been made deliberately unclear within the series. Officially, within the series, the Warners are claimed to be Cartoonus characterus, a fake Latin phrase. The characters were also originally intended to be ducks. The Warners' parents are not known, but in the movie Wakko's Wish, it is revealed that they were the king and queen of Warnerstock.

The image of the Warner Siblings is an homage and an tribute to cartoon characters from the "rubber hose animation" styles of the late 1920s and mid 1930s. Characters consisting of simple black drawings with white faces were very common in cartoons of the 1920s and 1930s, including Bosko and Honey, Felix the Cat, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Bimbo, Flip the Frog, Foxy, Pooch the Pup, and the early version of Mickey Mouse, Pete, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Horace Horsecollar, and Clarabelle Cow.

To promote Animaniacs before the show's premiere, a giant balloon in the shape of Yakko was placed on top of the water tower on the Warner Bros. lot. Unfortunately, no one told Bob Daley, who ran the studio. When he pulled into work that morning, he thought someone had put a bad Mickey Mouse balloon on the tower and ordered it removed. The inflatable Yakko was in place for less than 12 hours, and then popped shortly after he came down. Writer Paul Rugg was able to snap a photo to prove it happened.

After the balloon incident, Daley worked to ensure no one else would mistake the Warners for Mickey. Daley decided that Yakko and Wakko were too smooth and rounded. So while he watched, he had Ruegger add side whiskers to the drawings, which he felt would prevent confusion - and potential legal action. Ruegger and Warner Bros. Animation president had to rush back to the classic animation studio with the changes, because the cartoon was already being drawn, with some segments in the can.

Appearances

Besides making cameos in other segments of Animaniacs (usually as a running gag), The Warners have made appearances elsewhere than Animaniacs. The only appearance on Tiny Toon Adventures, was on "Tiny Toons Spring Break Special", being chased by Ralph. That was quite ironic since many Tiny Toons characters (mainly Buster and Babs Bunny, and Plucky Duck) made many cameos on Animaniacs. During the opening credits of the Halloween special Fifi La Fume is dressed up as Dot for her Halloween costume.

The Warners were seen twice on Freakazoid!. First in a parody of the Animaniacs opening sequence, in which they introduce a fake spin-off of Freakazoid called, "Freakazoid and Friends", and Wakko later appeared in the episode, "The Freakazoid" by being referenced, by a neighbor saying to Freakazoid, "What are you, wacko?"' then Wakko appearing and saying "No, I'm Wakko!", then singing the first few lines of "Wakko's America". They then later start arguing (along with The Brain from Pinky and the Brain) about whose show is Steven Spielberg's favorite show. They then ask him themselves, to which he answers, "Who are you people?".

In Pinky and the Brain (a spin-off of Animaniacs) The Warners were often mentioned but made a few cameos. They first appeared in one episode in which Pinky pilots and crashes into Mt. Rushmore. When the smoke clears replacing the president's heads, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot's heads can be seen instead. Also in another episode Brain comments (from a great height), that human beings are nothing more than little dots, to which Pinky replies, "Poit! One of those dots is waving at us." Dot is then seen on the ground waving at them. Dot is also seen admiring Pinky's artwork in a scene from "Pinkasso".

External links

• Don Markstein's Toonpedia
• Article that covers the trio's evolution during the show's preproduction