Animaniacs is back with a thrilling third season of its revived Hulu version. Warner favorites Yakko, Wakko, and Dot return with an all-new season of laughs, songs, and pop culture parodies, while Pinky and Brain’s never-ending plans to take over the world journey them to the ends of new lands, deserts, and even the space-time continuum. And while new friends, Starbox and Cindy continue their play date, the Warner siblings must battle their way out of a video game, learn the secrets of being a teen influencer, and escape a mad scientist’s island all while finding time to teach us about the threat of global warming.
Steven Spielberg returns as executive producer of this highly anticipated third season, which premieres February 17. We recently caught up with the voice cast including Rob Paulsen (Yakko Warner and Pinky), Maurice LaMarche (The Brain), Tress MacNeille (Dot Warner), and Jess Harnell (Wakko Warner).
Pinky and the Brain Voice Actors on Returning to the Roles
MW: What’s it like returning to the characters this time around for the Hulu revival?
Maurice LaMarche: Our knees are in worse shape. But other than that, it’s like stepping into a pair of comfortable slippers. And you know, we’ve gotten to play these characters. We did it for six years, seven years, the original series. And you know, we’ve certainly done our fair share of riffing and improvising for the fans at Comic-Cons and that type of thing. So to get to officially play these characters, as we got to the very beginning, it was a joyful experience. It has been all through these three seasons, and we’re thrilled that you guys are getting to enjoy our last 10 [episodes]. And there’s a little bittersweetness that we’re done for now. But on the other hand, we’re so grateful that we got to do it at all… I’m on my fourth reboot of Futurama, which is coming to Hulu in the summer. With enough fan interest, maybe there’ll be another way of bringing these characters back… But for now, gratitude. And [we’re] thrilled with this final season. The writing is so, so good.
Rob Paulsen: There are so many things coming up that the folks are just gonna love. And you know, one of the double-edged swords of creating two-fold on a reboot, especially when you’re rebooting something that became so beloved and arguably iconic. The first question is, “Oh man, I don’t know, are you guys gonna be able to cut the mustard?” And I think it’s pretty clear that it worked. And now, every time you try to get another season, people say, “OK, that’s it… The bar is really high again. Now how do we follow it up?” And man, these kids are sharp. And Mr. [Steven] Spielberg got his hands in everything, and nothing goes by without him.
LaMarche: Yes, there’s an actual stamp of approval that goes on every episode, “Spielberg approved.”
MW: What’s your favorite Animaniacs character to voice?
LaMarche: Well, the Brain is my fave, no question. I mean, he’s my child, you know? Gosh, In the original series, I did enjoy playing Michelangelo. I love playing anything that uses Kirk Douglas’ voice… Hank Azaria said it right, in the movie I Know That Voice, produced by our friend John DiMaggio: “A bad impression is your best friend in the world of voice-over.”
MW: What was your favorite episode, or even a favorite scene, that you guys voiced this season?
Paulsen: I really dig the Mad Max tribute. That one kills me.
LaMarche: For me, it’s the Groundhog Day two-parter that I thought was brilliant.
Paulsen: Not unlike Futurama, The Simpsons, Family Guy, you read them, and they’re funny, and it makes it so easy and rich… You see all these things that you can play with, and it’s wonderful.
Dot and Wakko Warner Actors on Pop Culture Riffs
MW: What’s it like returning to your iconic Warner characters?
Tress MacNeille: Well, you know, it just makes our lives really pleasant because we love what we do. And we love the people that we work with, and we love the show. And so, it’s a beautiful job… We’re quite happy, I would say, in the way things have turned out for us career-wise, and in the material that we do, in the cartoons that we do. Animaniacs is quality, top-notch stuff.
Jess Harnell: Indeed, man… If you ever dig in through a bag in a storage locker and you find the outfit that you wore, like, 20 years ago, that was your favorite outfit, and you put it back on, and it fits you even better now than it did then — it was like that, but with your best friends at the same time.
MW: What kinds of things can we can expect to see this season?
Harnell: The nice thing about Animaniacs is it’s a musical-animated-variety show, but it’s also a satire of stuff that’s going on, contemporarily. So we parody everything… There’s a Lord of the Rings thing that we did. That’s really, really funny. And we did a Christmas thing with one of the best songs I think we’ve ever had on the show, it’s a song about Santa Claus. That, I can’t wait for people to see.
Tress MacNeille: It’s all this like, wonderful mish-mosh of themes and adventures and music, you know?
Harnell: Indeed, man. It’s like we’ve been covered with a pop culture quilt, and we can’t remember what’s on it… They like to give us way too many words to fit into way too small of a space and say, “Go, guys!”
Animaniacs comes to us from Hulu.
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