Episode 81: Soccer Coach Slappy/Belly Button Blues/Our Final Space Cartoon, We Promise/Valuable Lesson

Episode 81: Soccer Coach Slappy/Belly Button Blues/Our Final Space Cartoon, We Promise/Valuable Lesson is the 81st episode of the original Animaniacs. It originally aired on February 3, 1996. (see below) Every segment in this episode was animated by Wang Film Production.

2001 Parody 1

Plot

The Warners parody scenes from the first act of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Theme Song

Last line

Yakko, Wakko and Dot: Bowling laney...

Soccer Coach Slappy

Plot

Slappy acts as the coach for Skippy's soccer team. However, Skippy keeps getting hit in the face with the ball.

Crew

• Written by Nick DuBois
• Directed by Jon McCLenahan and Rusty Mills

Trivia

• Skippy quotes "Of Fox and Hounds," a 1940 Tex Avery cartoon, after being hit in the face with the ball.
  • These lines were added because Nate Reugger believed it was too pathetic for Skippy to cry so many times after getting hit.
• This is the first Slappy segment since season 1 to use the original intro.
• Legendary boxer-turned-inventor George Foreman is referenced twice in this episide. On the second reference, Skippy calls Slappy by Foreman's name.
• Some of Skippy's crying sounds are reused from "Bumbie's Mom."
• This is the final cartoon to use the StarToons version of her theme song. Her last four Animaniacs cartoons (expect for "Bully for Skippy" and "The Christmas Tree") would use the Wang-animated Slappy and Skippy intro.

2001 Parody 2

Plot

The Warners do another 2001 parody as a transition. Wakko spacewalks in the iconic spacesuits after Yakko and Dot pilot the round shuttle.

Belly Button Blues

Plot

In Katie Ka-Boom's long-awaited grand return, her mother doesn’t approve of her shirt because her belly button is fully visible.

Crew

• Written by Nicholas Hollander
• Directed by Liz Holzman

Trivia

• Unlike other Katie Ka-Boom cartoons, we see a full-body shadow silhouette of Katie in the title instead of an explosion background.
• Unfortunately, viewers haven't seen the last of Katie. She returns for an encore two seasons later.

Our Final Space Cartoon, We Promise

Plot

In the third 2001 parody of the episode, the Warners attempt to shut down a HAL 9000-like robot on their spaceship.

Crew

• Written by Gordon Bressack and Charles M. Howell IV
• Directed by Charles Visser

Trivia

• The AL-5000 is actually Al Gore, Bill Clinton's Vice President.
• At the end of the cartoon, Yakko does a "That's all, folks" sign-off similar to that of Porky Pig.

Valuable Lesson

Plot

The censors of the Warner Bros network pay the Warners a visit. It turns out the execs disapprove the amount of violence in Animaniacs. Meanwhile, Attila the Hun, whom the Warners were tormenting before they were interrupted, goes after them.

Crew

• Written by Paul Rugg
• Directed by Charle Visser

Songs

• "The Snugglers Theme"
• "The Angry Song"

Trivia

• The Warners are shown footage of a show called The Snugglers, a parody of The Smurfs.
• The security guard in the network building's lobby is a caricature of Don Knotts.
• The censors are caricatures of actors Jane Fonda and Wallace Shawn, respectively.

Production Notes

• All of the cartoons in this episode originally aired on February 3, 1996 under episode "H2" of the show's hour long blocks, and was combined with episode 80 and "The Tiger Prince." The standard half-hour format would begin running later in 1996.

Cast