- It's amazing being here today.
It's amazing being anywhere. I can't believe they let us
out of the water tower. - (imitating Yakko)
Well, hello nurse! Can I say that in this day and age? I'm all excited.
It's a pleasure to be here. - (FBE) Who did you do
the voice on for Animaniacs? - Oh, my gosh. Well, that was a long time ago. Man, let me see. For Animaniacs, (as Wakko)
I know I was Wakko. Also I was the voice of Walter Wolf,
which was Slappy Squirrel's villain. It was her nemesis. And I did all kinds
of incidental voices. Basically, there
was five of us on that show and if there were 50 characters
in a given episode, we divvied them up between us. - I've been known to give Yakko
a crack every now and then (imitating Pinky)
and I was also Pinky! Narf! ♪ (playful intro) ♪ - 25th anniversary.
Oh, my gosh. - (Dominick singing along)
♪ Animaniacs ♪ - Hey, good for him. - (Dominick) I remember this. - Yeah, he's only 10 and he
doesn't even remember that much. - (Sydney singing along)
♪ Animaniacs ♪ - Sydney, rock it, baby.
She's got a good voice. - (Jacob) I used to watch this show.
- I used to watch it too. I used to be on it, dude! - (Lucas) Is this a new TV show? - Yes, it is. It's new and old.
It's both. - (singing along) ♪ But we break loose
and then vamoose ♪ ♪ And now you know the plot ♪ - (Dominick) They were the second
fourth wall breaking cartoon. - Fourth wall breaking cartoon? He went to film school
and he's only six! - (singing along) ♪ Animaniacs ♪ ♪ Those are the facts, Jack ♪ - (Sydney) It breaks
the fourth wall, like, 50 times. Like, oh, yeah, contracts!
- How do these kids get so precocious? - (Sydney) ...50 times.
- How do they know about the fourth wall? - (FBE) Before we tell you
a little bit more about the show, we have some scenes to show you.
- Oh, okay. - Okay, now this song
that Robby's doing, he actually did it in one take. - Oh, that's me. ♪ United States,
Canada, Mexico, Panama ♪ ♪ Haiti, Jamaica, Peru ♪ ♪ Republic Dominican, Cuba, Caribbean,
Greenland, El Salvador too ♪ ♪ Puerto Rico, Columbia,
Venezuela, Honduras ♪ ♪ Bah-bum bah-bum ♪ - What's amazing about this is
it's so well-written by this guy Randy Rogel,
who composed all these songs that you could
probably sing it yourself because it's just laid out so well. - ♪ Norway and Sweden
and Iceland and Finland ♪ ♪ And Germany now in one piece ♪ ♪ Switzerland, Austria-- ♪
Sing it, Dominick! ♪ Italy, Turkey, and Greece ♪
Come on! - (Dominick) It's surprising
how many places rhyme. - That's the genius. - (Sydney) The voice actor
for that dude has to be, like, know the countries.
- He does know the countries. - (Sydney) Whoever's
the voice actor for that dude has to be, like, know the countries.
- Thank you. Thank you very much, sweetie. That was the first song
we recorded for Animaniacs. We recorded it in one take
and it's a testament to Randy's skill because he wrote
a ton of songs for Animaniacs. Randy has come to my rescue
and has written the following because there are countries
that have sprung up since that song was written
and it goes like this. (clears throat) ♪ Montenegro and Bosnia,
Hertzogovinia ♪ ♪ The Soviet Union is gone ♪ ♪ South Africa, Georgia,
Moldova, Latvia ♪ ♪ Belarus, Azerbaijan ♪ ♪ Uzbekistan, hey, Kazakhstan, hey,
then there's Tahjikistan too, hey ♪ ♪ Turkmenistan, hey, Kurdistan,
Armenia, Tonga, Palu ♪ ♪ Lithuania, Serbia, Kosovo,
U.S. Samoa, The Balkans, Brunei ♪ ♪ Macau and Crimea, then Eritrea,
Ukraine and Estonia ♪ ♪ Here's Macedonia, New Caledonia,
Eastern Slovenia ♪ ♪ Ivory Coast and Cape Verde
and all of the Solomon Islands, Dubai ♪ How about that? - Oh! - Ah. - (Alabama) They really like her.
- (laughing) - (Wakko and Yakko) Hellooo, nurse!
- (laughing) This is so funny. - It is! Thanks, man. That's why they're bringing it back. - (Wakko) ♪ She's
manna sent from Heaven ♪ - (singing along)
♪ Too bad I'm only seven ♪ - This was in a different time,
when nobody thought it was weird for a seven-year-old
to be obsessed with a 30-year-old. - (Wakko) ♪ ...take care of me ♪
- (Tida laughing) That was funny. Before I watched Looney Tunes,
I would watch this. - See? That's the idea! - (Royel) No cartoons
now can beat anything like this. - (laughing) Thanks, dude.
Listen to that kid! - Well, you're on my team, pal. I like the cut of your jib. - (knight) No can do, pretty missy.
- He's doing Dennis Hopper. "No can do, pretty missy!"
That's Dennis Hopper. - (Dot) Pretty please with
whipped cream and a cherry on top? - Oh, wow. That's Tress MacNeille. I've known Tress since
she was a cocktail waitress and she is now the pre-eminent
voice actress ever in the history of Hollywood. - (Lucas) I liked it.
It was fun. I would actually watch this
on the weekends. - Oh, the weekends, because
his weeks are really busy. - (Melanie) If I was younger,
I'd find that a lot, a lot more funnier. It's a little bit--
- (snorting) "If I was younger,
I'd find it a lot funnier." Oh, okay. Well, thank you, honey. - (Melanie) It's a little bit
too far fetched. - Yes, cartoons
should not be far fetched. - (FBE) ...called "Animaniacs,"
do you think that this is a show that came out recently
or does it look like an older show? - (Lucas) I would say
this came out in 2009. - I like how specific he is. - (Sophie) Definitely older. I'm not saying that
the animation's horrible, but it's not that much detail.
- Well, she's right. Things have changed. These kids, the bar
they have now is astonishing. - (Melanie) They're singing. They don't really sing along
in shows anymore. - No, they don't because
they can't afford to. See, singing costs extra
and these days, shows have little tiny budgets. Back then, they had a lot of money,
so they paid us the same, which is good because
(whispering) we needed the money. - (Dominick) If
I've never seen it before, it would seem like
it was a newer show because it's really funny.
- Thanks, man. - (Tida) It looks
like an older show to me because it's more fuzzy and stuff.
- Mm-hmm, like me. I'm a little fuzzy and stuff. - (Tida) If people still watch
Looney Tunes, they'll watch this. - See, this again--
that was the pitch. Basically, to bring it back,
we brought her into the room at Hulu and she went
if people still watch Looney Tunes, they'll watch this! - (FBE) So Animaniacs
was actually released all the way back in 1993.
- (Lucas) Oh, okay, so I was way off. - (Tida) Oh, my god!
That's so old! - I know! - (FBE) Does Animaniacs
look like a show that you and your friends
would watch today if it was on? - (Jacob) I don't know
about my friends, but I think that I would.
- What's wrong with your friends? Talk to your friends! Why would you watch it
and not your friends? Make a phone call. - (Sydney) Just because it's older
doesn't mean it's outdated. - Where do you find
these genius children?! - (Royel) The whippersnappers today,
they just don't understand that any cartoons that come out now
will never match up to the old ones. - Well, I'll tell you what.
I want that kid to be my agent. - (FBE) So some of the characters
in Animaniacs even got their own spin-off shows
that you may have seen. - They did, which
meant more residuals, which meant more mortgage payments. - (Brain) Pinky, I need you.
- (Sydney) I knew it! Pinky and the Brain.
I saw them in the intro. - So a lot of people
don't know, again, we were talking about how we all
covered a lot of ground and did a ton of voices on this thing. Rob, who was the voice of Yakko,
was also the voice of Pinky. - (Pinky) Brain, we were
just talking about you. - (imitating) "We were
just talking about you." How about that? These people really like
Pinky and the Brain as well! I knew I liked them! Narf! - In this Slappy Squirrel,
you don't see it, but I was Walter Wolf,
who was Slappy's enemy and was always out to destroy her
because every cartoon needs an enemy for some reason. - (Slappy) ♪ Let's try for two ♪ - That's Bernadette Peters. Right now, the kids would go, "Who?" - Bernadette Peters was Rita
and the dog was Frank Welker, who has been the voice
of Freddy on Scooby Doo since 1969. - (reporter) ...rumor has it
you defected from your country to join the NYC Ballet.
Is it true? - (reporter) Rumor also
has it you're a giant chicken. - Oh, that's me. That's me doing
the little reporter there, doing my Tony Curtis impression. - He's unimpressed. He sees giant chickens a lot. - (pigeons speaking foreign language) - (Royel) Is that the mafia?
- Yes, it is. If they were pigeons. Now kids, this is from
a movie called Goodfellas, which you're far too young to see. It came out ten years
before you were born, but in about ten years from now,
you can watch it and go, "Wow, they made that a cartoon?" - (Sydney) It's such a weird idea
that it's a good idea. It's such a weird idea
that it's a good idea. - Yeah, she's right. That, again, went into the pitch. We said, look, it's such a weird idea
that it's a good idea. - (Melanie) I haven't
seen those either. I don't know anything! Jeez!
- (laughing) Trust me, kid.
It only gets worse. I know nothing. - (FBE) So it was
announced in January that there will actually be a reboot
of the series on Hulu in 2020. - How about that? - (FBE) Do you think it's a good idea
for them to make a reboot for your generation?
- (Dominick) Yes, but no. It's probably gonna end pretty fast
since the adults jokes are probably still gonna be in there.
- Well, we'll see, won't we? - (Sydney) Nowadays, there's
so much big things happening, and I really want to see
what the Animaniacs would do with their crazy ideas with that.
- Exactly. I mean, just between the President
and the Kardashians alone, we got 12 years of shows. - (Lucas) I'm gonna probably go back,
watch the old ones. - Good. Catch up.
Like homework. - (Lucas) And then in 2020,
I will watch the new one. - Aww, you heard him.
That's one subscriber. We've got at least one. Basically, now, all I want to do
is watch videos of people reacting
to things I've worked on and react to them,
so thank you very much because now this is
my whole life's mission. - You know, that's, I think,
one of the magical things about this show is that it
transcends, clearly, generations. We're talking about a show
of which a new episode has not been done in 20 plus years
and these kids are by and large really enjoying it. It just doesn't get any better
and I don't think it's a surprise that
the show's being rebooted. - (FBE) For you personally,
what did it feel like watching the kids today
enjoy this show that voiced so many years ago? - Well, you know
what's so great about that is we all have the experience
meeting people all the time who grew up with this show
and loved this show, and now with it coming back,
people are gonna get to grow up with it all over again. - The panned answer
it was quite heartwarming. The true answer
is it's quite heartwarming. The people who are our predecessors
didn't get to see this. They didn't get to see children
reacting to Rocky and Bullwinkle and Looney Tunes, but now,
as a result of the kindness of you people and others
and the internet and social media, people are putting
a face with, you know, these characters and the names
and the most wonderful aspect of what I do is I can sit
in front of those sweet kids or you or probably even some
of your parents and say, "Narf!" And you'd do that.
You'd just smile. - (FBE) Well, Animaniacs
was a huge success at the time, and for kids like me,
who were right in the demographic when it originally aired,
it introduced a totally new style of comedy that basically kid shows
hadn't really seen because it was a lot edgier
and there was a lot more adult jokes in there, right?
- Yeah, absolutely. We consciously tried to make
the show appealing to both kids and adults. - (FBE) So do you feel like
this show would still have the same affect on kids of today
that it did on kids who watched it when it first came out? - I do because I think
good entertainment is good entertainment. - I think it's gonna have
the same affect because it's gonna be irreverent and satirical
and it's gonna be a whole new take on
what's happening today because, think about it,
when the Animaniacs were around the first time, there was no internet,
there was no YouTube, there were none of these videos,
there was no Instagram and Animaniacs are gonna
attack all those things! Boom! - (FBE) And you know
when we discussed a reboot of the show with the kids, they
were very, very excited about the possibility. There is anything
you are able to tell us about the new version of the show? - The best thing I can tell you
about the new version of the show because I'm not allowed
to say too much is that by having
Steven Spielberg involved, we know it's gonna be
a very high level of quality. We know we have
a high bar to live up to and we are gonna
go to that bar and conquer it. - All I can tell you is don't bet
against Mr. Spielberg. I know for a fact that Yakko,
Wakko, and Dot will be back and so will Pinky and the Brain. Whether they will have
the original actors, who knows. I do know that Randy Rogel,
our multi-Emmy winning genius song writing pal, has already written
three or four songs for the new Animaniacs
and the show runner is now Wellesley Wild. Those folks are hand-chosen
by Mr. Spielberg and one of Mr. Spielberg's
genius qualities I submit is that he, like a lot
of other great producers, knows whom to hire
and then turn them loose. - (FBE) So, finally,
what do you think Wakko and Yakko would
want to say to the kids today? - (as Wakko) Wakko would probably want
to say thank you very much. I love you kids. You are a lot smarter
than I will ever be and I just want to add,
"Hellooo, nurse! Mwah!" - (as Yakko) Well,
you're unique and you're terrific. You're kind of real specific. ♪ There's no one else the same
as the person you became ♪ ♪ In fact, you're kind of weird ♪ ♪ But I dig you just the same ♪ ♪ Because you're
the only one of you there are ♪ ♪ (scatting) ♪ Thank you. - Hey, I just wanted to say
thanks to FBE for having me. This was a total blast. - Thank you so much, FBE,
for letting me play with you guys. - Keep your eyes out
for the new Animaniacs, coming in 2020
and if you feel like rocking out, look at my band Rock Sugar on YouTube. It'll make you laugh.
I promise you. - If you guys want to pay attention
to some more stuff from yours truly, you can follow me
on Twitter at Yakkopinky. - Goodbyeee, Nurse!
A couple of different versions, in fact, depending on which con you happen to hear it at.
One of the greatest cartoons ever.
Plus the existing nations that were left out of the original.
Fun fact, I happened to have memorized the first version. Dang nabbit, now there is another one!?!
I wrote my own version of the song in order to preserve the rhyme scheme and list all the current countries in the world (as best as I could anyway). It's not perfect (a couple of the pronunciations aren't the "correct" pronunciation although I did verify that they're "acceptable" lol. For example, St. Lucia really should be pronounced "Loo-shuh" rather than "Loo-see-uh"), and I don't like that I had to include certain phrases to keep the rhythm going (like the part about "Germany now in one piece" - that would've been more relevant when the song was written but it's been one country again for nearly 30 years now.) Regardless, I think it's pretty good and that most of the wrinkles have been ironed out. I also took care to try to include disputed territories such as Palestine and Western Sahara, as I think they deserve some recognition. I would've liked to include the Principality of Sealand because it amuses me, but I just couldn't work it in. Couldn't figure out how to fit Antarctica either, which even though it's not a country is still an important region and I feel it should be mentioned. Here's my version:
United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru;
Grenada, Dominica, then Argentina, St. Vincent, the Grenadines too;
Nicaragua, El Salvador, Venezuela, Honduras, Guyana, and still,
Guatemala, Bolivia, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil;
Costa Rica, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda;
Paraguay, Uruguay, Suriname, and French Guiana, Antigua, Barbuda.
Norway and Sweden and Iceland and Finland and Germany (now in one piece);
Switzerland, Austria, Kosovo, Serbia, Italy, Turkey, and Greece;
Poland, Romania, UK, Albania, Ireland, Azerbaijan.
Russia, Slovenia, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Turkmenistan;
Then Qatar and Estonia, plus Macedonia, Liechtenstein, also Ukraine;
The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium & Portugal, France, Greenland, Denmark, & Spain.
Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Montenegro is so pretty;
Andorra and Kazakhstan, Belarus, then San Marino and Vatican City;
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Palestine, Malta, Moldova, then Uzbekistan;
Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, Cyprus, Iraq, and Iran;
There's Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Yemen, Bahrain, and Kuwait,
Monaco, Kyrgyzstan, and there's Tajikistan, United Ar'b Emirates.
India, Pakistan, Burma, Afghanistan, Thailand, Nepal, and Bhutan;
Mongolia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Brunei, and Nauru, the Maldives, Japan;
Laos, Micronesia, Tibet, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Tuvalu;
Sri Lanka and Vietnam, the Marshall Islands, and China, then Vanuatu;
Palau and Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, plus Kiribati, Tonga, then on
to Western Samoa, then Fiji, Cambodia, Solomon Islands, Taiwan.
Cook Islands, Lesotho, and Malawi, Togo, Burundi (but Venda is gone)
Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Liberia, Egypt, Benin, and Gabon;
Mauritius, Somalia, Kenya, and Mali, South Africa, and the Seychelles;
The Congos, Namibia, Senegal, Libya, Burkina Faso as well;
Tunisia, Morocco, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Botswana;
The Central Republic of Africa, and Equatorial Guinea, and Ghana.
Swaziland, Guinea, the fate of the Western Sahara we're waiting to hear;
The Ivory Coast and the Isles Comoros and Sierra Leone are still here;
Mozambique, Zambia, also the Gambia, Cameroon, and Eritrea;
Sao Tome & Principe Islands, Cape Verde, Algeria, and Tanzania;
Ethiopia, Guinea-Bisseau, Madagascar, Rwanda, and both the Sudans;
East Timor, Mauritania, plus Lithuania,
then St. Lucia, North and South Korea,
Republic Dominican, Papua New Guinea 'n'
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Oman!
Link to it instead of a kids react?