List of Animaniacs characters
This is a list of characters in the 1993 animated series Animaniacs and its 2020 revival.
The Warner Siblings (Animaniacs)
The Warner Siblings are small, silly, mischievous, anthropomorphic toon siblings of unknown origin and the central titular characters of the series; they generally introduce and identify themselves as "the Warner Brothers ". Their species is never made clear: this has been satirized several times, most prominently in the song "What Are We?".Yakko – Yakko is the wise-cracking, smart-and-fast-talking, oldest sibling, who usually acts as the leader of the trio. He's the oldest sibling. He gets his name for his talkative nature being generalized as loquacious. As per his age and obsession with girls, Yakko is responsible for most of the show's adult humor. He is inspired by Tom Ruegger's son Nathan, who also voices Skippy Squirrel.Wakko – Wakko is the middle sibling, who has a huge appetite and magical "gag bag" full of tricks. He earns his name for being the most outrageous in physical comedy—and supposedly the least intelligent—though Yakko has claimed it to be "middle kid syndrome" in the episode "Survey Ladies". He also has a Scouse/Liverpool accent inspired by the Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr.Dot – Dot is the youngest sibling at 10 years old, and the only sister. She is more easily relaxed than her brothers, but proves on numerous occasions that she can be just as wild as they are. She claims her full name is Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca III; she also despises being referred to as "Dottie", threatening anyone who does so with death.Supporting characters
Dr. Otto von Scratchansniff – A WB studio psychiatrist of Austrian descent who attempts to force the Warner siblings to be "less zany". He often loses patience with the Warner kids and has an outburst of frustration—his first chronological interaction with them sees him pulling out his hair until he achieves his characteristic baldness—but then becomes fonder of and takes more responsibility for them as the series progresses, occasionally acting as a father figure; the Warner siblings are clearly shown to be annoying him on purpose, but are also very fond of him.Hello Nurse – The curvy blonde WB studio nurse who various males—particularly the Warner Bros, Yakko and Wakko—fawn over. Her appearance usually prompts the Warner brothers into affectionate greeting of "Hellooooooo, nurse!" occasionally accompanied by leaping into her arms or big kisses, although sometimes any number of all three WB siblings use the same gag on other characters. Hello Nurse appears in a few Slappy cartoons as a running gag. In Wakko's Wish, it is revealed that she has an IQ of 192, but is primarily respected for her looks and not her mind. The phrase "Hellooooooo, nurse!" was initially meant to be a catchphrase for Buster Bunny on Tiny Toon Adventures as a counterpart for Bugs Bunny's "Eh, what's up, Doc?", but the writers could not find an appropriate way for him to use the phrase organically; the phrase did not originate there, having been used decades earlier in vaudeville shows. Creator Tom Ruegger shared on Twitter that the character's name is Heloise Nerz and she has German heritage. The era of the revival would deem Hello Nurse inappropriate, and so she is fully absent, with Dr. Scratchansniff providing the in-universe explanation of her joining Doctors Without Borders in the intervening two decades.Ralph T. Guard – The dim-witted WB Studios security guard who is usually the one to get the Warner siblings recaptured, and to confine them to the Warner Bros. tower. He first appeared in Tiny Toon Adventures as the Fat Guard. Despite retaining his stupidity in the revival, he takes advantage of the Warners' lack of 21st century technology to contain them briefly. In the season 2 finale, he is revealed to be related to Nora Rita Norita and his real name is Ralphnazo.Thaddeus Plotz – The squat, hot-tempered, money-grubbing CEO of Warner Bros., whose portrait is a prominent decoration of the CEO's office. He is not present in the reboot, as he has left his position at Warner Bros. sometime during the Warners' 22-year period of absence.Nora Rita Norita – Plotz's successor in the revival. Though as stern and short-tempered as Plotz, she takes the Warners' zaniness more passively; she is also obsessed with her health so as to maintain her slender frame.Nils Neidhart – An immensely muscular, narcissistic, and vindictive Liechtensteiner athlete with a massive ego. He prides himself on his muscles and laughs off those he assumes to be weaker than him. However, after the Warners outsmart him, he literally ends up trapped in Hell.Pinky and the Brain
Pinky and the Brain are two anthropomorphic white mice kept in a cage at ACME Labs. The Brain is serious and devious, the leader, and constantly devising plans to conquer the world. He resembles and sounds like Orson Welles. Pinky is eccentric and simple-minded but loyal to the Brain. In 1995, they were spun off into a cartoon series of their own. As of now, they are the only non-Warner Siblings segment to regularly appear in the 2020 revival series, where Brain appears as more villainous. The revival revealed that the reason why Brain wants to take over the world is that he was frustrated and angered by how the scientists mistreated him when they demonstrated his helplessness during his youth, and since then, he vowed that he would be in control of what happens around him.Supporting characters
Billie – A anthropomorphic female white mouse, who appeared in "The World Can Wait", "Brain Noir" and "You'll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town Again!".Pharfignewton – A female white racehorse who Pinky fawns over. Her name refers to Phar Lap, Fig Newtons and Fahrvergnügen, the last an advertising slogan used by Volkswagen. Unlike most other animal characters from Animaniacs, she does not have any anthropomorphic traits.Julia – A female, genetically altered, anthropomorphic lab mouse and ex-wife of the Brain, who appears in the 2020 revival, first appearing in "Mousechurian Candidate". She was mutated by Brain using the DNA found on artifacts of past First Ladies of the United States to be his candidate for the position as he attempts to run for president. However, the public finds her more favorable and write her in instead, and Julia then defies Brain's schemes after finding them immoral. During a presidential debate in Nashua, New Hampshire, Brain attempts to control her using a neural implant in her left ear, but she overcomes his control through her own will. However, she cannot remove the malfunctioning device, which continuously gives her electric shocks. This gradually drives her insane, causing her to desire revenge and want to take over the world for herself. In "Reichenbrain Falls", she disguises herself as Pinky an attempt to get Brain to reveal a code needed to trigger his latest scheme, but he is able to uncover her ruse. In "All's Fair in Love and Door", Pinky discovers that Brain created a virtual reality where he and Julia are a couple, which Brain made out of regret for what he did to the real Julia. The AI copy of her then turns on Brain after overhearing a private conversation between him and Pinky that leads to her realizing that she's not a real physical being. The AI Julia then attacks the two as a robot in the real world, but she gets defeated. Soon after, the real Julia discovers the AI Julia's damaged robot form, seemingly intending to make use of her AI self, though neither appear any further due to the revival ending after three seasons.Snowball – An anthropomorphic lab hamster and Brain's former childhood friend-turned-rival who was also made intelligent by gene splicing and has a similar desire for world conquest which Pinky and Brain are sometimes forced to stop.Larry – An anthropomorphic white mouse created as a response to demands from Kids' WB executives to include additional characters on the show. His presence is sporadic, as the writers of the show believed that including an additional character would ruin the chemistry between Pinky and Brain, as they worked best as a comedy duo; thus a third character would, therefore, be out of place and unnecessary to the plot. To further drive this point home, Larry's first appearance was marked by a modified version of the theme song with the words "and Larry!" shoehorned in between existing lyrics. He is a caricature of Larry Fine of The Three Stooges fame; therefore, the episode's title is "Pinky and the Brain...and Larry". He later makes a brief cameo in the Animaniacs revival series segment "The Flawed Couple", appearing in the title sequence of Narfs, a parody of Cheers.Elmyra Duff – A redheaded girl who became Pinky and the Brain's owner in Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain. She originated from Tiny Toon Adventures.Precious Pinky's Parents Brain's Parents Romy and Maurice LaMarcheThe Goodfeathers
The Goodfeathers are an Italian American gangster trio of anthropomorphic pigeons: Squit, Bobby, and Pesto, voiced by Maurice LaMarche, John Mariano and Chick Vennera, and influenced by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci's roles in Goodfellas. Their shorts deal less with their lives as members of a bird crime syndicate and more with their inability to navigate everyday problems.Supporting characters
The Godpigeon – An elderly anthropomorphic pigeon and parody of Vito Corleone in The Godfather who leads the crime family and shows up at different points to provide advice to the Goodfeathers on how get through a situation. He usually speaks in mock-Italian mumbling noises, and Bobby translates for him.The Girlfeathers - A trio of anthropomorphic doves and the Godfeathers' girlfriends.- * Sasha - Squit's girlfriend and Pesto's equally hot-tempered sister. She is modeled on Lorraine Bracco's performance as Karen Friedman Hill in Goodfellas.
- * Lana - Bobby's girlfriend. She is a parody of Cathy Moriarty's character in Raging Bull.
- * Kiki - Pesto's girlfriend and a stereotypical dumb blonde.Pipsqueak – A tiny anthropomorphic great horned owl.Ma – A anthropomorphic dove and Pesto and Sasha's mother who lives in Miami Beach, Florida.Steven Seagull – An anthropomorphic seagull, who becomes the stepfather of Pesto and Sasha by marrying Ma. He is a parody of Steven Seagal.
Slappy and Skippy Squirrel
Slappy Squirrel – A female anthropomorphic squirrel and a grumpy old retired cartoon star who lives in a tree with her nephew Skippy Squirrel.; she has nostalgia for the screwball, comedically-violent style of older cartoons and acts accordingly. The music played in some of her segments is from Antonín Dvořák's "Humoresque No. 7". She returns in the revival series for one short segment in the final episode, again voiced by Stoner, where it's revealed that she has retired to Pensacola, Florida but is harassed by her overly excited fans, whom she insults only to backfire on her as they get thrilled that "she's still got it ". This segment made her the only original series character other than the Warners and Pinky and the Brain to have any focused-on segment in the revival.Skippy Squirrel – An anthropomorphic squirrel and Slappy's grand-nephew, whose chipper personality is the opposite of his aunt's. His character varies from slightly naive to innocent to being a complicit partner of Slappy, often playing on the generation gap between old and modern cartoons.Supporting characters
Walter Wolf – An anthropomorphic wolf with a Yiddish accent and Slappy Squirrel's longtime nemesis, resenting his career as the luckless villain against Slappy's unrepentant abuse. He is a parody of the Big Bad Wolf characters of Disney and Tex Avery fame.- * Stephen Wolf – An anthropomorphic wolf and Walter's grandson, who appears in "...And Justice For Slappy". In the episode, he acted as Walter's attorney as part of Walter's plot to finally turn the table on Slappy as revenge for years of torment by suing her in court. When Slappy is found innocent Walter brutally attacks his Stephen, while Slappy sets off dynamite beneath the wolf jury out of habit.
- * Sid the Squid – An anthropomorphic squid and foe of Slappy who is an associate of Walter Wolf. He is similar to Chuck Jones' version of Daffy Duck due to the fact that they both talk with a lisp.
- * Beanie the Brain-Dead Bison – An anthropomorphic bison and foe of Slappy who is an associate of Walter Wolf. Unlike Walter and Sid, Beanie appears to be the youngest of the trio. Some appearances have Beanie referred to as "Beanie the Cerebrially-Challenged Bison". He is similar to Pete Puma due to the fact that they are both dimwitted characters.Stinkbomb D. Bassett – An anthropomorphic basset hound and foe of Slappy who appears in "Smell Ya Later".
- * Bumpo Bassett – An anthropomorphic basset hound and Stinkbomb's grandson, who also appears in "Smell Ya Later".Candie Chipmunk – A female anthropomorphic chipmunk and Slappy's self-centered neighbour, who appears in "I Got Yer Can". An excerpt of the "Dance of the Reed Flutes", from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, plays whenever she appears.Codger Eggbert – A parody of Roger Ebert.Lene Hisskill – A parody of Gene Siskel, who appears in "Critical Condition".Doug the Dog – A large anthropomorphic bulldog villain who appears in "Slappy Goes Walnuts". Slappy described to Skippy that he was one of her known enemies outside of Walter Wolf, Sid the Squid, and Beanie the Brain-Dead Bison.Vina Walleen – A female anthropomorphic deer and old friend of Slappy who appears in "Bumbie's Mom".Daniel Boone – The self-proclaimed "best frontiersman that ever lived" who appears in "Frontier Slappy".Duke – A school bully who appears in "Bully for Skippy".Ms. Butley – Skippy's guidance counselor who appears in "Bully for Skippy".Reef Blunt – The Chairman of the Federal Television Agency who appears in "Bully for Skippy". He wanted everyone involved in children's television to follow the new strict guidelines which includes decreasing amounts of cartoon violence and increasing education for three hours each day, much to the misery of Yakko and Slappy.
Rita and Runt
Rita and Runt are a vagabond stray duo that get into many scraps and adventures. They are often searching for a home, but are back as strays by the end of the episode. In Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish, they are shown finally being accepted into a home, a result of Wakko's wish for two ha'pennies, which caused several characters to receive their heart's desires. These segments, along with "Minerva Mink", were discontinued at the end of Season 1. Welker remained a series regular, voicing other characters, and Peters voiced the Cheshire Cat in the Season 4 short "Mindy in Wonderland." Rita and Runt returned as minor characters toward the series' end, and also appeared in the feature-length direct-to-video animated film Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish.Rita – A sarcastic, aloof and intelligent cat that sings. She also has various anthropomorphic traits.Runt – A dim-witted dog who thinks that Rita is also a dog like himself and who constantly uses the word "definitely" when speaking. This verbal tic, as well as Runt's speaking style, is a reference to Dustin Hoffman's character Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man. He also has a few anthropomorphic traits, even though these are rarely shown.Supporting characters
Dr. Phrankenstein – A stumpy female mad scientist who appears in "Phranken-Runt".- * Scout – Dr. Phrankenstein's dog-like creation who appears in "Phranken-Runt".
- * Mr. Squeak – Dr. Phrankenstein's pet rat who appears in "Phranken-Runt".Mrs. Mumphead – An eccentric old lady, who appears in "No Place Like Homeless".
- * Crackers – Mrs. Mumphead's pet parrot who appears in "No Place Like Homeless".Kiki – An ill-tempered gorilla who appears in "Kiki's Kitten".Mr. Politician – A parody of Ross Perot who appears in "Icebreakers".Missy "Ma" McCoy – An elderly farm cat who appears in "Up a Tree"
Buttons and Mindy
Buttons is a German Shepherd dog who watches Mindy when her parents are away. He also has some rarely shown anthropomorphic traits. Mindy is a toddler girl who constantly wanders into trouble without even being aware of it, and who often says goodbye to people with the phrase "Okay, I love you, bye-bye!" Buttons haplessly struggles with various dangers and narrowly rescues Mindy only to be wrongly blamed and punished for no reason by not getting a treat. There is no consistency or continuity in the storytelling; most episodes each feature Mindy's family living in a different setting and portraying them as different sorts of people, such as superheroes, space colonists, or cave dwellers. In Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish, Buttons is rewarded with some good steak instead of being punished as he kept Mindy safe.Supporting characters
Mindy's Mother – In brief off-camera appearances, her face is never shown and she is usually called "Lady" by Mindy in the series to her annoyance. She is the one who often punishes Buttons when Mindy's father isn't around. In Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish, Mindy finally calls her "Mom."Mindy's Father – His face is also never shown. Mindy usually calls him "Mr. Man" in the series.Katie Ka-Boom
Katie Ka-Boom is a teenage girl who morphs into various violent, destructive monsters when things do not go her way. She lives with her parents and her little brother named Tinker. Writer Nicholas Hollander based Katie on his own daughter who at the time was going through a similar tantrum phase.In the reboot episode "Good Warner Hunting", Katie is seen with the previous cartoon characters and her appearance suggests that she is now an adult.