Animaniacs Interview: Jess Harnell, Tress MacNeille, and Gabe Swarr

So I'm wondering, why do you guys think the show has endured as long as it has

Boy, that's a very simple and excellent way to start, man. I think that the reason it was is because, it has, is because as Fritz Freeling once said to me when I met him a long, long time ago

Why do you think the old Looney Tunes stand up, man? Why do you think they're still funny 45 years later

And he said, because A, they're funny, and B, we didn't write them for kids

Because what I think he meant by that was that the slapstick stuff and the bright, colorful stuff and characters flying around and burping, in my own case, are always going to be funny for kids

But when you combine all that stuff to get the kids engaged with a humor that the adults can appreciate and laugh at that are going to go right over the little ones' heads, I think you've got a winning combination

And in this case, the show, both old and new, is still doing that and doing it well

Yeah, and we don't make people sad. We don't make kids sad with the Animaniacs

You know, it's not messagey, like a lot of cartoons are today

It's just, it walks a really nice line, I think, of being fun and upbeat and interesting and educational at times, whether you want to learn anything or not

And, you know, fun music is just, you know, you can't feel bad

It's a good time, Mike. It's a good time. What's great about it, what we love about it so much, man, is that the people who grew up with it back in the 90s can watch it with their kids now, and they can both laugh at it

And that's pretty awesome, you know? Or laugh at their kids. Or laugh at their kids, or vice versa

Piggybacking what Jess was saying, how much does everybody delight in the off-color humor that will sail right over the younger viewers' heads

Fingerprints? Yes, of course. Well, you know what? Probably my favorite joke of the original show

I'll tell you again. Mike, I had no idea what I was saying

Well, you know what? I'm the one who... Well, anyway. She knew

I know what it is, but that was a joke that I had made about a line that was said

I mean, they didn't write that line, but they kept it in

And we were just goofing afterwards, you know, at Fingerprints, and it was just like, no thanks

You know, but anyway. We didn't intend for that to be dirty

And Jess refuses to work blue. He's just... He's so clean cut in spite of his look

I very much am. Michael, I'll tell you something. What's great, there is a new thing in the new season two of Animaniacs coming out

There's a show about the Emperor Nero. Where I'll tell you, we still hear about that

The grab them by the... Yeah, okay. Yeah, dude, that to me, it's like we have set the new bar

Nobody's seen it yet, but I can't wait till they do. Because that one's going to stick with us for a long time

Yeah, that's pretty good stuff. Did you see the screeners, Michael? Yeah, the five episodes

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you've seen as much of the show as I have, as Jess and I have

Yeah, indeed. I've seen it all a million times. Yes, I know. Yeah

Do you think the show has changed at all from the original, from now that it's on Hulu

Do you get away with more, do you think? Is there something... I think in general, like kids' cartoons, you can get away with less

But we're basically doing what they were doing in the 90s now

Like, I think it's the same amount of stuff, but compared to everything else, I think it's more

So it feels like it's more, you know? Well, it's also done more cleverly

I mean, Tress and I work on a lot of stuff, and Animaniacs, then and now, does stuff at the highest level of creativity and being clever and subversive

but cleverly so, and not rubbing your face and stuff. I just love that they do that

And we're basically doing the same stuff that we did then in terms of attacking, you know, golden idols

We're just doing it with more topical stuff pertaining to today. You know

Same formula, but different objects. Yeah. I've noticed both in the first season of the Hulu and in this season

Dot and Wacko tease Yakko a little bit about the Nations of the World song

And I'm wondering, does that parallel any behind-the-scenes, like inside jokes? Of course it does

Of course it does. Rob won't shut up. I mean, Yakko yaks

No, we adore him, of course. Of course. We've heard that song a few times

Yeah, we've heard that song a couple times. And he's awesome. And I think that's probably one of the reasons that we rib him about it

because it is so awesome. I can't do it. I can't. I don't even try, because I don't know how he remembers it

but he remembers it flawlessly each time. Because he's sang it like a million times

Whenever you don't want him to, he'll sing it. I know. I know

It's like Jess and Unchained Melody. Yeah, I remember that one, but there's not as many words in that one, Tress, in all fairness

No, no. But I love that song now because of that one time that you sang that song

to rescue us from some bad entertainment. I remember that too. Yeah, that's another story

But no, I remember one time in particular, Rob did that song, like it was beautiful, at a Comic-Con

and there must have been 5,000 people in this panel room. And he stood up there, and I was sitting behind him

and they put a soul spotlight on him, and he was jumping up and down singing Yakko's America

and I'm thinking, this is a rock concert. My buddy's doing a rock concert. Yeah, thanks so much for talking with me