The cartoons of the ’90s were strange, but few were as purposely bizarre as Animaniacs. And none were as smart or outright hilarious. A modern send-up of the golden age of animation that also managed to educate kids and lampoon pop culture all while effortlessly blending impossibly clever jokes with good old lowbrow humor. Animaniacs ran from 1993-1998, airing 99 episodes along with a straight-to-video movie. The show was a hit with critics, winning back-to-back Emmys for Outstanding Children’s Animated Program in 1996-97. It also spawned such spin-off hits as Pinky & The Brain and paved the way for the Spielberg-produced Freakazoid. Animaniacs may have been gone for the 2000s, but they were never forgotten. The show became a cult favorite, before regaining an audience when it debuted on Netflix last year. In these times when undying nostalgia fuels countless unnecessary reboots, an updated Animaniacs, with Spielberg at the helm no less, is one project that doesn’t sound totally insane-y at all.
