WARnerGAMES/Bedtime/WARnerGAMES 2/Crumbly's Moment is the 34th episode of the Animaniacs reboot and the eighth episode of its third season.
Synopsis
The Warners find themselves inside a video game. Cindy and Starbox have to get ready for bed.[1]
Theme Song
Variable Verse
Yakko: Mispronouncing Brisbane-y!
WARnerGAMES
Animation by Saerom Animation (2D Sequence)
Flystudio (3D Sequence)
Plot
While sitting down in their living room, Wakko is patiently awaiting for a match to start in his game, Brawl 'n' Bash Siblings. While Yakko and Dot aren't convinced about video games, Wakko invites them to play the game and are instantly caught on the game's addictiveness, and play the game for over half a year. While Wakko joins the next game, Yakko fights with Wakko for Player 1, accidentally discovering a cheat code that sucks the Warners into the game and gives them fighting abilities.
They are confronted by the Brawl 'n' Bash Siblings roster who become furious at them for playing the game for half a year straight, but are then confronted by the game's sock selector, which is revealed to be controlled by Ralph, who has little idea of what he's doing but is tasked by Nora to get the Warners out of the TV for abandoning them for several months. The Warners are selected by Ralph to fight the slime character, but are defeated due to Ralph's poor understanding of the game. Ralph is hooked on the game and repeatedly plays as the Warners, losing every game in the process, leaving the trio exhausted. Ralph then takes a bathroom break in Dot's bathroom, leaving them stuck in the game.
Crew
- Written by Timothy Nash & Lucas Crandles
- Directed by Katie Rice
Trivia
- This segment, along with the second part features extensive use of CGI and depicts Yakko, Wakko and Dot with 3D animation.
- This is the only segment (along with its second part) to feature animation produced by Flystudio.
- This cartoon is a parody of the 1983 sci-fi techno-thriller film WARGAMES, which centered on hacker David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) discovering a back door into a military central computer in which reality is confused with game-playing. The title of the segment is also a pun on the film's title.
- The episode's storyline was very similar to Disney's 1982 sci-fi adventure film Tron, as well as the Disney media franchise of the same name.
- The sound effects team had attempted to get as close to the original music and sound effects the segment references as legally as possible.[2]
- Squit, Bobby, Pesto, Slappy Squirrel and Chicken Boo make cameo appearances during a scene lampooning "Easter eggs."
- Additionally, this is Pesto's first appearance since the passing of his original voice actor, Chick Vennera.
- Yakko compares the game experience to the exhausting nature of the Terminator franchise's infamous sequels several times.
- Dot refers to Yakko as "Ted Lasso" during a "wholesome" moment with Wakko, a nod to the Apple TV+ original series of the same name that is known for its "wholesome" content.
Gaming References
- Brawl 'n' Bash Siblings is a parody of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series of fighting games (particularly 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate). The game replicates the series' menu aesthetics, KO animations, attack stylings, and Ultimate's box art. Additionally, the game features characters that are parodies of characters featured in famous video games (several of whom appear in Smash Bros.).
- Maria and Luisa are parodies of Mario and Luigi from the Mario franchise, and wear the colors of Wario and Waluigi. Maria and Luisa's jumping sounds are very similar to that of the jumping sound effects from Super Mario Bros. 3.
- The twins' names also double as a nod to the two former human characters from Sesame Street, Maria (Sonia Manzano) and Luis (Emilio Delgado).
- Jackass Monkey is a parody of Donkey Kong from the Mario and Donkey Kong franchises.
- Beastwipe is a parody of Blanka from Capcom's Street Fighter series, and The Incredible Hulk (with his "Beastwipe Slam" move parodying "Hulk Smash!").
- The green blob is a parody of Kirby from the Kirby franchise.
- The tiny fire creature is a parody of Pikachu from the Pokémon franchise.
- Wakko's special spinning attack references the Crash Bandicoot series. The sound effect Wakko makes also sounds very similar to that of Crash's own spin attack.
- Wakko also quotes how he sounds like the "orange marsupial guy", referencing how Wakko and Crash are both voiced by Jess Harnell.
- The sacred foot is a parody of the Master Hand and character select hand from the Super Smash Bros. series.
- Throughout both parts of this cartoon, there are allusions to Brawl 'n' Bash Siblings being a knock-off of Smash Bros.
- The Brawl 'n' Bash Siblings theme song is a parody of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate theme song, "Lifelight."
- The song that plays during the montage of Ralph failing at the game resembles "Gourmet Race" from Kirby Super Star, referencing its use in the first Super Smash Bros. game.
- Maria and Luisa are parodies of Mario and Luigi from the Mario franchise, and wear the colors of Wario and Waluigi. Maria and Luisa's jumping sounds are very similar to that of the jumping sound effects from Super Mario Bros. 3.
- Gabe Swarr has stated that he was a dedicated Super Smash Bros. player and wanted to do as much justice as possible to the segment.[3]
- Coincidentally, Flystudio has also previously provided work for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Additionally, Rob Paulsen has starred in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Ultimate as his Metal Gear character Gray Fox. Abby Trott, who sung "Lifelight" - the main theme of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - previously voiced Dr. Sattler in the "Jurassic Lark" cold opening.
- Kevin Michael Richardson, Cree Summer, John DiMaggio, Phil LaMarr, Carlos Alazraqui and Eric Bauza have each had roles in the 2023 film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, an animated film adaptation of the Mario series.
Bedtime
Animation by Titmouse, Inc.
Plot
On a stormy night, Cindy prepares to go to bed with Starbox. Cindy is scared by the lightning strikes of the night and holds Starbox tight and tells a story about monsters and how she's more scarier than them. Though initially trying to escape Cindy's strong grip to reach the remote, he becomes frightened when he sees Scout escaping Cindy's hamster cage. Scout breaks Cindy's nightlights, which frightens her until she hides under her blanket sheet after making the room dark. With Cindy out of the way, Scout grabs the signal remote, but Starbox rams into him. Scout stops at the edge of her lamp cabinet, and drags Starbox down with him inside a toy box when he falls. Cindy sings a scary tune to make her scarier than the monsters.
Starbox wakes up in the toy box to finding many creepy toys. He is then surprise attacked by Scout, who captures him in a sock puppet, blinding his sight from Scout's punches. Scout grabs a wooden splinter to stab Starbox, but just barely dodges it and turns on a light plush. The light stuns Scout, prompting Starbox to turn on more of Cindy's light toys, but Scout pulls out a time bomb and corners Starbox with it. A helpless Starbox is eventually saved by Cindy; whom grabs Starbox and closes the toy box, leaving Scout in the toy box with the activated bomb. The bomb then explodes, destroying Scout. Cindy goes back to bed with Starbox, and tells him a story about how monsters have tails. While initially annoyed by it, Cindy then starts talking about how scary and cool nighttime is, because of how pretty the stars are around how dark it is. Starbox is touched by Cindy's story, and decides to stop going after the remote and sleeps peacefully with her.
In space, the leader of Grimlox finds out that Scout has been eliminated. The leader opens a door in his spaceship revealing a lab full of many Scout clones. One of the Scout clones awaken, stepping out of the shadows and laughing menacingly as the recurring segment ends on a cliffhanger.
Crew
- Written by Jess Lacher
- Directed by Katie Rice
Songs
Trivia
- This is the final Starbox and Cindy cartoon.
- As such, the recurring segment ends on a cliffhanger.
- The characters would appear once more in "The Stickening", 2 episodes later.
- The toy monkey in Cindy's toy box bears a striking resemblance to the cymbal-banging monkey.
- One of the light toys in Cindy's toy box has the same shape as the logo for Silver Pictures.
WARnerGAMES 2
Animation by Saerom Animation (2D sequence)
Flystudio (3D Sequence)
Plot
Still trapped in the Brawl 'n' Bash Siblings video game, Maria, Luisa, Jackass Monkey and Beastwipe confront the Warners again. Begging Maria and Luisa to help them find a way to escape the game, Jackass Monkey tells them that golden clones of themselves were created by the AI when they were imported into the game and must defeat the golden clones of themselves in order to obtain their magic keys, which will teleport them back into the real world.
The Warners head to The Gold Dome to challenge the gold clones. Yakko is selected as the first contestant to fight their gold clone. Yakko charges up an attack, but backfires because of Gold Yakko's resistibility to Yakko's projectiles. The explosion knocks out Yakko and eliminates him, making Gold Yakko victorious. Dot is the next fighter selected to fight their gold clone, who then notices during her fight (attempting to become victorious using her cute attacks) that the gold clones are copying their movements. Dot emits a heart projectile, only for Gold Dot's own heart to transform into a tornado, which repeatedly damages Dot and knocks her off the stage. Wakko is selected as the next fighter, who rushes to fight his gold clone. Wakko stops and hits his stomach with his mallet, KOing his stomach. Gold Wakko mirrors the move and KOs himself, releasing a magic key which frees Wakko from the game. Yakko and Dot rematch their gold clones, but become frozen in place when they become manually controlled by Player 1. Off the TV screen, Wakko and Ralph are fighting for the controller, accidentally discovering another easter egg that activates a "free for all mode", summoning Maria, Luisa, Jackass Monkey and Beastwipe to the Gold Dome. Yakko and Dot plead for the roster to help them fight the clones, in exchange to never make them bash again. The Brawl 'n' Bash gang KO Gold Yakko and Gold Dot, releasing their magic keys and teleporting them back into the real world.
Back in the real world, the trio are once again seen playing Brawl 'n' Bash Siblings, not being able to resist playing more matches. In the game, Ralph has been trapped, being bashed by Maria, Luisa and Jackass Monkey in Dot's revenge for using her soaps.
Crew
- Written by Timothy Nash & Lucas Crandles
- Directed by Katie Rice
Trivia
- When Dot notices Gold Dot copying her moves, Yakko quotes them copying the Marx Brothers; referencing how the Warners and their original series co-stars were created in their influence.
Gaming References
- The sound effects that Wakko makes with his fingers when seducing Beastwipe originate from Mario's walking sounds from the arcade version of Donkey Kong.
- Jackass Monkey's description of the golden copies being "faster, stronger, and more powerful" appears to echo the "bigger, faster, and stronger too!" lyric of the "DK Rap" from the 1999 game Donkey Kong 64.
- The sound effects that play when the Warners step on Jackass Monkey and enter the portal to the gold dome are parodies of the stomping and Warp Pipe sound effects from the Mario franchise.
- This portion of the segment parodies the Super Smash Bros. series, and references various elements from the games:
- The Golden Copies mirror Metal Mario and the general "Metal" forms which players can take-on in certain Mario and Smash Bros. games.
- The "Challenger Approaching" shot directly references the Challenger Approaching shots for incoming unlockable characters in the Super Smash Bros. games.
- The Warners and their gold copies are brought into the arena through floating platforms, referncing the floating platforms that appear whenever a player respawns in the Smash Bros. games.
- The capitalized screen text is stylized similar to the screen text featured in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
- The colorful electricity blast that emits from player knockouts directly references the effect's appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- The losing players clap for the winners like the Super Smash Bros. games.
- Wakko landing a hard blow on his stomach causes the screen to zoom in on him, directly referencing the "Finish Zoom" in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- In the temporary audio tracks used for the pre-visualized 3D render of the segment, many songs and sounds from the Super Smash Bros. games are used, including[4]:
- The Battlefield theme from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- The Challenger Approaching siren from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- The Finish Zoom sound effect from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- The Home-Run Bat hitting from the original Super Smash Bros.
- The All-Star Smash theme from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- The art style within the Brawl 'n' Bash Siblings instruction book resembles the style used for 2D Mario art by Yōichi Kotabe and Shigehisa Nakaue.
- Dot's spinning kissing attack directly references her kissing projectile move previously seen in the Sega Genesis/Game Boy Animaniacs video game.
- This is the first instance of any Animaniacs-related media referencing its own video games. The Konami-developed game would later be referenced again through episode 36's variable verse.
Crumbly's Moment
Animation by Birdo
Plot
At a football game, a group of cheerleaders are seen cheering for a team, when a mascot cheerleader named Crumbly comes in and is ridiculed by the audience. The audience throws trash at Crumbly and shoots him out of a cannon.
At his home, Crumbly, who takes off his costume (except for his head), tries to relax after a rough day, and sees a group of girls dancing. Crumbly practices dancing and greatly enjoys dancing. Crumbly hears a knock on his door, and is invited by the head of the dance club to dance with them. Crumbly emotionally accepts her invitation and practices dancing with the other girls happily.
Crew
- Story by Katie Rice
- Teleplay by James Butler
- Directed by Katie Rice
- In Memory Of Paul Coker Jr.: 1929-2022
Trivia
- This cartoon is dedicated to illustrator Paul Coker Jr., who passed away in 2022.
- This is a dialogue-free cartoon.
- Crumbly appears to be a parody of the Phillie Phanatic.
- This is the final segment to be animated by Birdo.
International Releases
- Australia: February 18, 2023 (Stan)
- Canada: May 26, 2023 (Cartoon Network)
- Latin America: June 30, 2023 (HBO Max)
Production Notes
- Early copyright listings on the Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR) indicate that "WARnerGAMES" was originally titled "Ready Warner One;" a reference to the 2011 science-fiction novel Ready Player One, whose 2018 film adaptation was directed by Steven Spielberg.[5]
- This episode marks the second time the Warners have been depicted in 3D outside of video games, the first instance occurred in the 2021 film Space Jam: A New Legacy.
- Footage of the CGI animation from WARnerGAMES and WARnerGAMES 2 were held back from promotional material to surprise viewers.[6] Despite this, a frame from WARnerGAMES would end up as the thumbnail for the episode on Hulu prior to its premiere.
- On June 2, 2022, character designer Bryan Arnett posted three different posts on his Instagram account depicting character designs from a scrapped cartoon that would've been featured in this episode. Details about this cartoon are currently scarce.
Cast
| Voice Actors: | Character(s): |
|---|---|
| Rob Paulsen | Yakko Warner |
| Jess Harnell | Wakko Warner |
| Tress MacNeille | Dot Warner |
| Carlos Alazraqui | Alien Leader |
| Maria Bamford | Scout |
| Stephanie Escajeda | Nora Rita Norita |
| Melissa Fumero | Luisa, Maria |
| Danny Jacobs | Starbox |
| Eleanor Johnson | Cindy |
| Fred Tatasciore | Announcer, Beastwipe |
| Frank Welker | Ralph T. Guard, Jackass Monkey |
References
- ↑ Hulu Press- Animaniacs (2020)
- ↑ https://twitter.com/gabe_swarr/status/1630453926184235008
- ↑ https://twitter.com/gabe_swarr/status/1630391941144924160
- ↑ https://twitter.com/gabe_swarr/status/1742229599713411423
- ↑ Ready Warner One: Part One/Starbox & Cindy: Bedtime/Ready Warner One: Part Two. - EIDR
- ↑ https://twitter.com/gabe_swarr/status/1630298311180824576