The 30 best cartoons even adults can enjoy
By Shawn Lealos
8. Animaniacs
In 1993, Steven Spielberg helped bring one of the most risque and hilarious cartoons to television with the Animaniacs. Much like how Beavis and Butt-Head aired on MTV, yet skewered the music industry, Animaniacs was a Warner Bros. cartoon that skewered every other Warner Bros. cartoon in existence.
This adult cartoon was broken up into smaller sketches, almost like an animated variety show. The three main characters are Yacko, Wacko and Dot Warner, three siblings locked away in the Warner Bros. towers that often escape and cause lots of problems. Other than those characters, there is a mishmash of supporting cast members that have their own sketches. The most popular is obviously Pinky and the Brain, who ended up as the breakout characters from the series.
Other hit characters included Slappy Squirrel and her nephew Skippy Squirrel, the oft-in trouble Mindy and her dog Buttons who always has to save her life, the Goodfeathers pigeons, and more. The comedy was very much over the heads of many kids but was a goldmine for the parents and older siblings who grew up with the cartoons referenced here. The humor was also often off-kilter and absurd.
Animaniacs lasted for five seasons and 99 episodes and spun-off a Pinky and the Brain series. The best news for fans is that Animaniacs is coming back in 2020 on Hulu.