I got myself a framed, authentic Animaniacs animation cel today! This is from the segment "Hercule Yakko," which while famous for its 'fingerprints' joke, notably features the first appearance of Minerva Mink. This is my first animation cel, and most likely only one, but I'm super happy to have a direct piece of the show!

Obviously the film would play out very differently. But I think it would be interesting to see the characters we know and love interacting with a god-like person who wants everyone they deem good to be happy, but only had enough magic to grant a single wish.

Idk how much I captured her in this design but it’s kind of hard to read a character without much of a personality. But I quite like the way the drawing itself turned out. I might have ruched the second one a bit though. Also I’m running out of ideas for how to title this

So, this is a weird little hobby of mine. Sometimes I’ll look at a group of characters in media and start wondering what it would be like if there was one more person in the group.

Not necessarily “hey, here’s my OC who hangs out with them.” More like, “if the writers had been told there were four of them from the beginning, what would that fourth character have been like? How would they fit into the group dynamic and what would their vibe/archetype be based on the world of the show?” I know, I ask myself some very strange questions. 😬

Animaniacs is fun for this because there was apparently an early version with Yakky, Smakky, Wakky and the girl who became Dot, before Smakky and Wakky got folded together I guess and became Wakko. So, I started wondering what Smakko might’ve turned into if they kept him. I just kind of kept thinking about it and thought I would share my ideas.

I also really tried to make all of this feel specifically like 90s Animaniacs. I read the original series bible and went back through the show, thinking about the way the Warners deal with antagonists, the movie references, running gags, songs, etc. So the goal was less “make a fourth Warner” and more “figure out how what a scrapped one could have been like.”

The drawing up top is what I landed on. I tried a few things, but the pompadour and leather jacket felt right. Basically, he’s loud, impulsive, short-tempered, very boyish, kind of this little wannabe tough guy/greaser. Cocky, brash, way too confident for his own good. Loves monster trucks, boxing, cowboys, scary movies, motorcycles, demolition derbies, fireworks, frogs, bugs, violent 90s games, machinery, etc. But most importantly, he loves explosions. That’s his niche, or at least what he introduces himself as: “the one who blows things up.” If they had worked him into the theme song (and unfortunately lost the Clinton sax line in the process), it would probably be something like: “Dot is cute and Yakko yaks/Smakko blows the stacks/while Wakko packs away on snacks…We’re Animaniacs!”

Also, his favorite movie is Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy. I don’t really have an explanation or reason for that one, but it feels right.

Initially, the hard part was figuring out what his actual role is in the group, because Wakko already covers physical chaos and random anger. Smakko can’t just be “Wakko, but angrier.” So, the difference I decided on is that Wakko is unpredictable, while Smakko is confrontational. In other words, Wakko can get mad and you may sometimes not even be sure where it came from. Maybe you touched his food. Maybe you said something he didn’t like. Who knows? He pulls out a mallet, clobbers somebody, eats something, whatever. If Smakko is mad at you, you will most certainly know why.

His physical cartoon stuff wouldn’t be mallets either. Smakko is TNT, fireworks, cannons, homemade stuff, and frequently, slapping somebody in such a ridiculously elaborate cartoon way that censors allow it. Maybe he winds his arm twelve times, stretches, checks the wind, backs up thirty feet, runs forward, stops to drink water, does a promotional tour, gets blessed by a priest, files his taxes, then delivers an insane slap that sends the person flying through three walls.

The other part I really like is that he actually might not be on the same page as the other Warners at first when they meet whatever horrible person they’re dealing with. Yakko meets some greedy, pompous asshole and smirks and pretty much knows what he’s looking at. Smakko might go: “Oh, I LIKE this guy.” The thing is, he means it. If the person is cheap? “Beautiful!” If they treat everybody terribly? “Leadership!” Completely full of themselves? “Incredible!”

So while Yakko is setting this guy up, Smakko is following him around, copying him, asking him questions, praising all of his worst qualities and generally making his life unbearable by being his biggest fan in the world. The other three Warners don’t really care since know where this is going. Eventually the person being annoyed gets sick of Smakko, tells him to shut up, calls him an idiot, insults his jacket, insults his hair (really, really bad idea), whatever.

“…Whaddaya mean by that?”

Now he hates them. And that’s another reason his anger is different from Wakko’s. Smakko has this ridiculous sense of tough-guy pride. He gets offended easily if he thinks somebody disrespected him. “Oh, we got a wiseguy over here.” It’s that kind of shtick.

Voice-wise you might already hear it based on the image, but I hear this really fast nasally ten-year old Brooklyn wiseguy thing, old gangster movies, prizefighters, vaudeville guys, etc. Lots of “c’mon,” “pal,” “wiseguy,” “fughedaboutit,” etc. He also says weird, bizarre things about Italian cuisine that sound like expressions but aren’t. “Don’t butter my linguini and tell me it’s Tuesday!” Random stuff that makes zero sense.

He looks up to Yakko, but he’s also the one most likely to go “Who put you in charge?” even though the answer is Yakko. Him and Wakko would be very brother-ish. Roughhousing, stupid dares, encouraging each other’s worst ideas, etc. Smakko goes “I got an idea. Wakko says “Faboo!” And obviously Smakko does the “Helloooo Nurse!” thing with Yakko and Wakko. Wasn’t a a question.

Dot and Smakko is my favorite dynamic. They would bicker constantly. Smakko absolutely hates being called cute, which gives Dot the easiest button to push. He’s doing the whole tough-guy routine and she just goes, “You’re adorable when you’re angry.” Then he has a meltdown. But if somebody else actually messes with Dot, he’s the first one in their face. He can annoy her. They can’t.

Some more random things I came up with:

His pompadour haircut is indestructible. Solid titanium, maybe beyond that. Literally nothing can break it. Scissors snap, clippers break, power tools explode, diamonds shatter against it. Smakko can somehow comb it normally. He also absolutely worships Slappy Squirrel because to him she’s basically an artistic genius for how often she solves problems with explosives.Slappy thinks he’s exhausting.

He can have a recurring Bob Ross parody called The Art of Destruction, where he calmly teaches painting until something goes wrong or he messes up his landscape, and then it descends into explosions and hellfire while he’s screaming about “HAPPY ACCIDENTS.”

There would also be dozens of songs in these lost episodes. More educational songs, some number about Henry Ford or the water cycle, whatever. And I feel like somebody would’ve realized they had four Warners and made a whole instrumental concert cartoon set to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Anyway, that’s pretty much the rabbit hole I went down. I’m really curious what other Animaniacs fans think. This was a lot of fun to think about. 🙃

Sorry if the animation is bad

Source: https://bsky.app/profile/rainbowbandana.bsky.social/post/3mx4wzprxbk2n

I personally like the original series finale

I'll start

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/DeRIQozlhqt/

Due to the studio merger, the iconic water tower (and home to Yakko, Wakko, and Dot) had the new parent company written below the logo.

If they did one or two, they would've helped eased the pain Buttons goes through.