Animaniacs is one of the groundbreaking animated series that aired in the '90s produced by Steven Spielberg. While it settled on the reliable Looney Tunes humor, it went off to bring meta elements, ground-breaking themes and adult humor that would slip off the radar for young viewers.
Just like the Looney Tunes, Animaniacs gave an eclectic group of memorable characters that brighten up every segment. They range from their maximum zaniness to their clever shenanigans. For that, here are the top 10 characters from Animaniacs, ranked by their memorability. Now, come join the Warner brothers and their Warner sister Dot.
Rita
The other half of Runt the stray dog, Rita is a musical cat with a lot of heart and joy, even in the most melancholic moments of her segments. Voiced by Broadway legend Bernadette Peters, this lovable cat is not only limited by her harmonious tunes. She is compassionate, smart and sympathetic, even if Runt got the best of her.
As a motif for her segments, even though she expressed her disdain for humans, she longed for compassion. Her best moment had to be the Les Misérables spoof “Les Miseranimals”.
Hello Nurse
As the object of the affections of Yakko and Wakko Warner, Hello Nurse is a buxom studio nurse. Whenever she appears on each segment, the Warner brothers would fall to their knees and greet her in a swooning fashion, “Hellooooooo, Nurse!”
More than just a female for the boys to fawn over, Hello Nurse is actually intelligent, having possessed an IQ of 192. She even dedicated a song about it and voiced her lament of the notice of her looks, rather than her intelligence. Regardless, she is a welcome presence.
The Goodfeathers
For better or worse, Animaniacs would incorporate adult jokes and pop cultures that would slip under the radar for kids not to understand. One of this are the Goodfeathers, a parody of the Goodfellas. Squit, Bobby and Pesto are exactly hilarious takes of the characters played by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci, respectively, even down to their voices and their lines.
Squit and Pesto would usually argue. They even have a boss in the form of The Godpigeon, a parody of Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather.
Slappy Squirrel
Slappy Squirrel is a unique character, being a cartoon veteran from her golden days, with her own Antonin Dvorak theme song. An aunt to the chipper Skippy Squirrel, Slappy is a sardonic presence who usually tells her former days of stardom to her nephew and her rivalry Walter Wolf.
But she is pretty much self-aware of pop culture tropes that she usually points out fourth-wall-breaking fashion. She also has her share of catchphrases like “Now that’s comedy!”, “Put a sock in it” and “Ehh enough with the singing already!”
Dr. Otto Scratchansniff
Considered by the Warners as their “dadoo”, Dr. Otto Scratchansniff was considered as one of Hollywood’s greatest psychiatrists. That is until the Warners burst out of the water tower and nearly drive him insane that he lost his hair. Though he lost his patience towards the siblings, Scratchansniff softened towards them and became their father figure. Equally, the Warners warmed up to the Austrian psychiatrist.
A fact about Dr. Scratchansniff is that his past patients include Peter Lorre, Michael Keaton, and Jack Nicholson. And he uses a puppet for his therapies.
Pinky
The other half to the Brain, Pinky is the intellectual opposite of the smarter mouse. He is the textbook definition of the half-witted sidekick. He is silly, odd, crazy, naïve and clumsy, yet is trustworthy, tolerant, calm, pleasant and jubilant.
While he is painted as an unintelligent sidekick and being seen as the source of trouble for the Brain, Pinky exhibited some levels of competence, such as his knowledge on cheeses and comic books, his persuasion for leaders to surrender their nations, and his immovable loyalty towards his “helpful” pal.
Yakko Warner
Yakko is the eldest of the Warner siblings, and the most fast-talking, making him the leader of the trio. He often used this trait to advance their situations or to lure people into his schemes or annoyances. Despite his and his siblings’ zaniness, he would set limits to himself and to his siblings.
Like his younger brother Wakko, he has an obsession with girls, most in particular with Hello Nurse, and would catcall them with cheesy lines. Because of that, he would incorporate subliminal innuendos to his lines. Goodnight everybody!
The Brain
Thanks to a lab experiment at ACME Labs, a white mouse adapted to the treatment he had with scientific experiments, progressed his intelligence to mad scientist IQ and grew him the desire for world domination. That becomes The Brain. Unlike his partner-in-crime Pinky, he is devious, insolent, prickly, short-tempered and sardonic.
Yet secretly, he has a soft spot, particularly with his bond with Pinky. Even with his evil schemes and lofty ambitions, the Brain revealed that he cares for his sidekick. Yet, his goals for world domination were sometimes fulfilled.
Wakko Warner
Wakko is the middle child of the Warner siblings, who is usually depicted as the “least intelligent one”, down to sticking his tongue from his mouth. Well, it is in his namesake. He also has a huge fondness for food and bonking people with either his mallet or an anvil. Like his brother, he has an obsession with girls.
Either way, he is still a lovable character. This is proven in his headlined direct-to-video movie, where he searched around the world for a wishing star to wish his sister well.
Dot Warner
Yet, Dot is arguably the best character of Animaniacs. The youngest and the “cute one” of the Warner trio, the Warner sister Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca III is the most competent of the Warners. Displaying a balance of finesse and ingenuity, Dot can also be annoyed when she is pestered for her cuteness and called as “Dottie”.
And despite her annoyance of her brothers showing off their affection to other girls, Dot shows her own affection to other boys, with their usual catchphrase “Hello nurse!”