Animaniacs Season 1, Episode 3 recap: Gold Meddlers

Thanks to Hulu, the Animaniacs — Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner (Paulsen, Jess Harnell, and Tress MacNeille, respectively) — are back, and with sufficient baloney in their slacks. This time, they breach an Olympic-style tournament in a quest to get chocolate for s’mores.

Their main competitor, Nils Niedhart (Fred Tatasciore), might have the muscle, and even the training, but there’s really no way of winning when you’re up against the Warners. In fact, when they riff on Nils Neidhart’s name by calling him “grilled cheese art” (among other things), you know they’re ready to fight dirty.

At the same time, do we really feel that bad for Nils? This is a character who is in love with himself, and the average viewer might agree that someone should take him down a peg. In the process, The Animaniacs episode send-up the Greek games themselves, by doing things like calling the high dive “organized falling” (reminiscent of South Park mocking Nascar by referring to it as “steering left”). Cartoon physics comes into play big-time, too, when Yakko breaks the sound barrier with his dive, causing Nils to be a loser. Let’s break down why this is a fun part of the episode!

Animaniacs: Cartoon physics vs. “serious” competition

In the ensuing horse race, Dot’s relatively unimpressive pony morphs into a pegasus, all but absolutely assuring victory against Nils the show-off. As they demonstrate their unholy powers, other magical things happen, such as the competition’s judges being transformed into animals. By that point, one might think Nils would simply give up, but he sticks around to see Wakko Warner eat ping-pong balls and spit them out during that sport’s portion of the contest.

Also, after a brief volleyball segment, Wakko retrieves a thrown discus like a regular dog. As one might expect, Nils can’t outpower them in the high jump portion, either. Interestingly, though, the Warners end up being disappointed that the gold coins lack chocolate inside.

Interestingly, this segment of the episode also features a character purported to be Billy Nye (like anyone, the real Bye Nye would certainly be in awe if he could be transported into the Animaniacs’ world and see all the cartoon physics taking place).

Pinko and the Brain

What would an Animaniacs episode be without Pinky (Paulsen) and the Brain (Maurice LaMarche)? This time, Brain wants to get involved in the slimy, upside-down world of politics, and the jokes unfold at about a mile-a-minute.

There is some hinted-at social commentary scattered throughout, such as politicians being affiliated with “Shlockhead Marvin” (an obvious play on the Lockheed Martin military contractor). Their path into government: Brain, the “genetically enhanced mouse,” and Pinky, the cosmetics lab rat, are initially a special gift from lobbyists.

Planning to launch a grift from being a gift, Brain takes on the identity of Senator Garp (LaMarche), using a clunky robotic man disguise that people assume is Garp (and why not?). Some valuable lessons are quickly learned, such as how “lies are just facts that haven’t been repeated enough yet.” Brain’s dirty tricks take off like wildfire, as he blackmails other politicians using things like photographs of one character picking his nose. However, a worker in Washington D.C. named Brie (Grey Griffin) complicates Brain’s scheme(s).

In addition to a quaint steam-powered giraffe joke from Pinky, other highlights include Brain accusing other Senators of being “card-carrying mice.” It’s a nice little jab at the psychological (and often political) phenomenon of projection, where someone who’s guilty of something (or being a certain way) will project their perceived flaws outward onto others.

In this case, it becomes more elaborate because the character Brie is from Wisconsin, which is a “cheese state,” so Brain attempts to prove she must be a mouse. Ultimately, Pinky outs himself and Brain as being the real mice, which essentially thwarts Brain’s plan by exposing themselves as hypocrites (though one wonders if this could even work nowadays).

Final thoughts

This episode ends with a short called “Math-terpiece Theater,” which offers dramatic flair to a math problem. For most people, though, the best element of this Animaniacs episode might be “Pinko and the Brain.” While the Warners certainly have some delightful hijinks, they’re not quite as memorable as the allegory found in the other sketch. Hopefully, both kids and adults can appreciate what goes on in that story, and maybe even draw some vital lessons from it. Narf!

What are your thoughts on Animaniacs? Let us know in the comments!