The cartoons Warner Bros. Animation made for TV in the 1990s, after Steven Spielberg's Tiny Toon Adventures revived the studio's TV output: Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid! and Histeria! from the same team of writers, and the DC series Superman: The Animated Series. They share a fast, joke-dense style aimed at adults as much as children, and for many viewers they are the nostalgic core of Fox Kids and Kids' WB. The collection ends with the 2020 Animaniacs revival on Hulu, which ran until 2023.
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No. 01 · 1990 · Series
Tiny Toon Adventures recap
A new generation of cartoon characters attends Acme Looniversity, a school in Acme Acres where the classic Looney Tunes stars teach them how to be funny. The students are not relatives of the originals but are modelled on them: Buster and Babs Bunny ("no relation"), who share Bugs's wit; Plucky Duck, a scheming glory hound in Daffy's mould; Hamton J. Pig, a neat, nervous pig like Porky; and Montana Max, a spoiled rich kid, and Elmyra Duff, a girl who loves animals to death, as their main antagonists. Others include Dizzy Devil, Furrball, Fifi La Fume, Shirley the Loon, Calamity Coyote, Little Beeper and Gogo Dodo, who lives in Wackyland. Episodes mix chases, parodies of films and TV, music videos and jokes aimed at adults. Steven Spielberg produced it through Amblin with Warner Bros. Animation, and Tom Ruegger created it. The show premiered in 1990, ran mainly in syndication for two seasons, moved to Fox Kids for a third in 1992, and won several Daytime Emmy Awards over its 98 episodes.
How Tiny Toon Adventures ends
The last regular episode, "It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special" (December 1992), parodies It's a Wonderful Life: Buster, pushed out as the star of the show by Montana Max, is shown by an angel what it would be like without him, and decides to come back. Two Fox specials followed, Tiny Toons Spring Break (1994) and Tiny Toons' Night Ghoulery (1995). Its team went on to make Animaniacs, and a reboot, Tiny Toons Looniversity, arrived in 2023.
No. 02 · 1992 · Film
Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation recap
School ends at Acme Looniversity, and the film follows several of the students through their summer break. Buster and Babs Bunny's water pistol fight escalates until it floods Acme Acres, and the two float down a river into the American South with Byron Basset, a sleepy dog, dodging hungry locals and ending up as the main course at a dinner theatre on a showboat. Plucky Duck gets a lift with Hamton J. Pig's family on a long road trip to the theme park HappyWorldLand, and suffers through their habits and a hitchhiker the Pigs fail to recognise as an escaped convict. Elmyra visits a wildlife park and terrifies the animals with her affection. Fifi La Fume chases the teen movie star skunk Johnny Pew, and Shirley the Loon and Fowlmouth go to the cinema. It was released direct to video in 1992, one of the first feature-length animated films made for that market in the US.
How Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation ends
Buster and Babs escape the showboat and, when the escaped convict catches up with them, flee in a mine cart while he falls off a cliff. They then drop through a "plot hole" into Wackyland and come out back home in Acme Acres. Plucky finally reaches HappyWorldLand, but the Pigs take one monorail ride and decide to go home, to his despair. Fox later aired the film as four episodes of the series.
No. 03 · 1993 · Series
Animaniacs recap
Yakko, Wakko and Dot, the Warner siblings, are cartoon characters from the 1930s who were locked in the Warner Bros. water tower for being too zany. Now loose, they run around the studio lot, tormenting the studio psychiatrist Dr. Scratchansniff and the guard Ralph, and singing songs about the countries of the world, the presidents and the US states. The show is a variety series made up of short segments. Besides the Warners, there is Pinky and the Brain, two lab mice trying to take over the world; Slappy Squirrel, a retired cartoon star with a nephew, Skippy; the Goodfeathers, pigeons spoofing gangster films; Rita and Runt, a cat and a dog; Buttons and Mindy, a dog and a toddler who wanders into danger; and the Hip Hippos. The humour mixes slapstick with parodies of films and celebrities and jokes aimed at adults. Produced by Steven Spielberg with Tom Ruegger as showrunner, it aired on Fox Kids from 1993 to 1995 and then on Kids' WB until 1998, with 99 episodes, and won several Emmy Awards.
How Animaniacs ends
The original Animaniacs has no story finale. Its last episode aired on November 14, 1998, a clip show set to music called "The Animaniacs Suite", and the Warners stayed in their water tower. A direct-to-video film, Wakko's Wish, followed in 1999. Pinky and the Brain had already spun off into their own show, and Hulu revived Animaniacs in 2020 with the original voice cast for three seasons.
No. 04 · 1995 · Series
Pinky and the Brain recap
Two genetically altered lab mice live in a cage at Acme Labs. The Brain is a short-tempered genius; Pinky is cheerful, simple and full of strange sayings, like "Narf!" and "Zort!". Every night, Pinky asks what they are going to do, and the Brain answers that they are going to try to take over the world. When the Brain asks Pinky whether he is pondering what he is pondering, Pinky's answer is always absurd. Each plan, built around a disguise, a giant machine or a scheme to win public opinion, fails, often through Pinky's blunders or the Brain's overlooking something obvious. The pair began as a segment on Animaniacs and got their own show in 1995, first in prime time on The WB and then on Saturday mornings on Kids' WB. The episodes lampoon films, musicals and history, with many famous guest voices. Rob Paulsen voiced Pinky and Maurice LaMarche the Brain, and the show won a prime-time Emmy for "A Pinky and the Brain Christmas" (1995).
How Pinky and the Brain ends
Pinky and the Brain has no story finale, and the world is never conquered. The last episode of the original show, "Star Warners" (November 1998), casts the mice as parodies of the Star Wars droids. The network had already pushed for changes, and the show was retooled that year as Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain, in which the mice become pets of Elmyra Duff. They returned in 2020 as a regular segment of the Hulu Animaniacs revival.
No. 05 · 1995 · Series
Freakazoid! recap
Dexter Douglas, a nerdy teenager, is surfing the internet when his cat walks across the keyboard and sets off a hidden flaw in his computer's Pinnacle chip. Dexter is sucked into the internet and comes out with all its knowledge in his head, and whenever he says "Freak out!" he turns into Freakazoid, a blue-skinned, hyperactive superhero with super speed and strength and almost no attention span. When not in use, Freakazoid rests in the Freakazone, a part of Dexter's brain. He works with Sergeant Mike Cosgrove, a gruff police detective, and his enemies are as odd as he is: the Lobe, a criminal with a giant brain; Cave Guy; Armondo Gutierrez; Longhorn; the Cobra Queen; and Candle Jack. The show breaks the fourth wall constantly and fills each episode with short side segments such as Lord Bravery, The Huntsman, the Lawn Gnomes and Toby Danger. Bruce Timm and Paul Dini created it, Tom Ruegger developed it, Steven Spielberg executive produced it, and Paul Rugg voiced Freakazoid. It aired on Kids' WB from 1995 to 1997, for 24 episodes over two seasons.
How Freakazoid! ends
Freakazoid! ended without a story finale. Kids' WB cancelled it in early 1997 for low ratings, and the last episode, "Normadeus", aired on June 1, 1997: the Lobe kidnaps the TV carpenter Norm Abram and makes him build a giant wooden horn to destroy Freakazoid. The series closes with the whole cast singing "We'll Meet Again". It found a larger audience later in reruns on Cartoon Network.
No. 06 · 1996 · Series
Superman: The Animated Series recap
The series opens on Krypton, where the scientist Jor-El fails to convince the council that the planet is about to explode and sends his infant son to Earth. Raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, Clark Kent becomes a reporter at the Daily Planet in Metropolis alongside Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and editor Perry White, and secretly works as Superman. His main enemy is Lex Luthor, a billionaire businessman who hides his crimes behind LexCorp. The show reworks Brainiac as a Kryptonian computer intelligence that helped destroy Krypton, and makes Darkseid, the tyrant of the planet Apokolips, Superman's greatest foe. Other villains include Metallo, the Parasite, Livewire, the Toyman, Bizarro and Mr. Mxyzptlk. Supergirl arrives in season 2, and Batman teams up with Superman in the three-part "World's Finest". Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett developed it as a companion to Batman: The Animated Series, with Tim Daly as Superman, Dana Delany as Lois and Clancy Brown as Luthor. It aired on Kids' WB from 1996 to 2000, for 54 episodes.
How Superman: The Animated Series ends
The two-part finale, "Legacy" (2000), has Darkseid brainwash Superman into believing he is Darkseid's adopted son and send him to lead an invasion of Earth. Luthor stops him, and the government sentences him to death, but Lois helps him escape. Superman confronts Darkseid on Apokolips and beats him, then returns to an Earth that no longer fully trusts him. The story continued in Justice League (2001), with Superman and Batman among its founding members.
No. 07 · 1998 · Series
Histeria! recap
A sketch comedy show about world history, made to meet the US requirement for educational children's programming. A cast of regular characters plays historical figures and travels through time, under the eye of the host, Father Time, who loses patience whenever the kids get their facts wrong. The regulars include Big Fat Baby, his accident-prone sidekick; Loud Kiddington, who shouts everything; Pepper Mills, an overexcited fan who demands autographs; Froggo, who asks for parts to build inventions; Charity Bazaar, a gloomy girl who announces "I'm not happy"; the World's Oldest Woman, who claims to remember when air was invented; and Lucky Bob, who agrees with everyone. Episodes take on a period, a place or a theme through song parodies, fake commercials and slapstick in the style of Saturday Night Live. Tom Ruegger created it, and it aired on Kids' WB from 1998 to 2000, for 52 episodes.
How Histeria! ends
Histeria! was cut short. Production stopped in 2000 before the 65 episodes originally planned were made, reportedly because the show had gone far over budget, and the last episode, "Big Fat Baby Theatre", aired on March 31, 2000. It ends with the cast and crew singing "Auld Lang Syne" over a montage of photos of the people who made the show. Reruns continued until 2001, and there has been no revival.
No. 08 · 1998 · Series
Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain recap
A retooled version of Pinky and the Brain made at the network's insistence, which wanted a more sitcom-like show with a human lead. Acme Labs is turned into a parody of the Disney Store, and Pinky and the Brain, suddenly homeless, hide inside a turtle that is bought by Elmyra Duff, the animal-crushing girl from Tiny Toon Adventures. Now living in Elmyra's house as her pets, the mice keep trying to take over the world while dodging her smothering affection. New supporting characters fill out Elmyra's world. The producers resisted the change, and the series was poorly received by fans of the original. It aired on Kids' WB from 1998 to 1999, for 13 episodes, some of which were broken into segments on a larger Warner cartoon package show.
How Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain ends
Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain ended without a finale after one season of 13 episodes. The last episode, "The Mask of Braino" (April 1999), has the Brain become a masked crimefighter in a parody of Zorro. Elmyra did not appear with the mice again, but Pinky and the Brain returned in 2020 as a regular segment in the Hulu Animaniacs revival, back in their cage at Acme Labs and plotting world domination.
No. 09 · 1999 · Film
Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish recap
A musical feature set in Acme Falls, a village in the kingdom of Warnerstock, where the Animaniacs cast play poor villagers. When the kindly King William the Good dies, the neighbouring kingdom of Ticktockia, ruled by the greedy King Salazar, takes over and taxes everyone into poverty. The Warners are orphans, and Dot needs an operation, so Wakko goes to work in another town, only to have his wages seized by the taxman. Wakko wishes on a star and learns it is the only wishing star, which will fall to Earth and grant one wish to whoever touches it first. The whole village races for it, but Salazar gets there first, builds a fortress around it and locks everyone up. The Warners warn him that wishes have a way of going wrong, and he orders them executed. It was released direct to video in 1999.
How Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish ends
Salazar fires a cannon at the Warners, and Dot appears to be fatally wounded, but she is faking to buy time while Wakko reaches the star. He wishes for two ha'pennies: one buys him food and the other pays for Dot's operation, which turns out to be for a beauty mark. The money revives the village, and records show the Warners are heirs to King William, so they throw out Salazar and grant the villagers' wishes. They end by spinning the Wheel of Morality.
No. 10 · 2020 · Series
Animaniacs recap
A revival of Animaniacs in which Yakko, Wakko and Dot return after more than twenty years away and immediately start joking about how much has changed: the internet, streaming, reboots and politics. As before, the Warners run riot on the Warner Bros. lot and through history and pop culture, and each episode is made of short segments with songs and parodies. Pinky and the Brain return in nearly every episode, still trying to take over the world from their cage at Acme Labs. Many of the original supporting segments are left out, and new segments include Starbox and Cindy, about an alien and a little girl, and Math-terpiece Theater. Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, Tress MacNeille and Maurice LaMarche return as Yakko, Wakko, Dot and the Brain. Steven Spielberg executive produced, and Wellesley Wild ran the show. It was released on Hulu in three seasons, in 2020, 2021 and 2023, for 36 episodes.
How Animaniacs ends
The revival was announced in December 2022 as ending with its third season, released in February 2023. The last episode, "Slappy Returns", brings back Slappy Squirrel, voiced again by Sherri Stoner, but there is no closing story for the Warners, who are left in their water tower as always. Four short Pinky and the Brain cartoons made with MasterClass followed in March 2023, and no fourth season has been ordered.
Common questions
What is the Old Warner Bros. Cartoon story so far?
The cartoons Warner Bros. Animation made for TV in the 1990s, after Steven Spielberg's Tiny Toon Adventures revived the studio's TV output: Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid! and Histeria! from the same team of writers, and the DC series Superman: The Animated Series. They share a fast, joke-dense style aimed at adults as much as children, and for many viewers they are the nostalgic core of Fox Kids and Kids' WB. The collection ends with the 2020 Animaniacs revival on Hulu, which ran until 2023.
Where did Old Warner Bros. Cartoon leave off?
Animaniacs (2020) is the latest. The revival was announced in December 2022 as ending with its third season, released in February 2023. The last episode, "Slappy Returns", brings back Slappy Squirrel, voiced again by Sherri Stoner, but there is no closing story for the Warners, who are left in their water tower as always. Four short Pinky and the Brain cartoons made with MasterClass followed in March 2023, and no fourth season has been ordered.
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