The Animaniacs Movie

The Animaniacs Movie is a 2016 American animated action-adventure musical slapstick comedy film, written and directed by Tom Ruegger and executively produced by Sam Register and Steven Spielberg. Based on the 1993 animated series of the same name, it is the first theatrically released Animaniacs film and the second film overall, the first one being Wakko's Wish. The film follows three cartoon characters from 1930 travelling around the world to find more information about the evil mastermind's plan, while they also discover more about their missing parents. The film is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. This makes it the first and only theatrical Animaniacs film to hit the big screen. In theaters, a Freakazoid! short entitled Walk The Foamy was shown prior to the film.

The film stars Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, Tress MacNeille, Frank Welker, and most of the original voice cast from the television series, with guest stars Steve Carell and Hugh Jackman. The film is set to release theatrically in movie theaters for the United States and Canada on July 8, 2016 and it takes place after the show's series finale.

The film received positive reviews from critics and was a box-office success, grossing over $143 million worldwide against a $25 million budget, making it the second Warner Bros. animated film to gross over $100 million in the United States, and also beating out The Rugrats Movie 's record for highest-grossing hand-drawn animated film of all time and the highest-ever grossing film based on an animated television series.

Synopsis
Warner Bros. Studios goes with financial problems and to avoid its bankruptcy and closure, the company is sold to a Russian investor. Thaddeus Plotz thinks he made a good deal, but the Warners think something is suspect and that could be a plan of an evil mastermind. As a result, the three siblings travel around the world to find more informations about it, while they also discover more about their missing parents.

Voice Cast

 * Rob Paulsen as Yakko Warner, Dr. Otto Scratchansniff and Pinky
 * Jess Harnell as Wakko Warner and Walter Wolf
 * Tress MacNeille as Dot Warner, Hello Nurse, Marita Hippo and Mindy's mother
 * Steve Carell as Russell P. Zackchovikch, the film's main antagonist who bought Warner Bros. Studios as part of his world domination plan.
 * Hugh Jackman as the Tooninator, a person hired by Zackchovikch to destroy the Warners.
 * Liam Neeson as Wayne Warner, the Warners' long-lost father.
 * Erin Torpey as Willow Warner, the Warners' long-lost mother.
 * Frank Welker as Thaddeus J. Plotz, Ralph the Guard, Runt the Dog, Buttons the Dog, Flavio Hippo and Chicken Boo
 * Maurice LaMarche as the Brain, Snowball and Squit
 * Sherri Stoner as Slappy Squirrel
 * Tara Strong as Skippy Squirrel and Colin (the Randy Beaman Kid)
 * Jeff Bennett as Bobby and Baloney the Dinosaur
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Pesto and Zackchovikch's henchman, the film's secondary antagonist.
 * Bernadette Peters as Rita the Cat
 * Julie Brown as Minerva Mink
 * Nancy Cartwright as Mindy
 * Grey Griffin as Katie Ka-Boom
 * Paul Rugg as Mr. Director
 * Ben Stein as Francis "Pip" Pumphandle


 * In addition, Jeff Bergman voices Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in a cameo, while Steven Spielberg makes a cameo as himself.

Additional voices

 * April Winchell
 * Bill Fagerbakke
 * Bill Farmer
 * Billy West
 * Carlos Alazraqui
 * Cathy Cavadini
 * Colleen Villard
 * Corey Burton
 * Daran Norris
 * E.G. Daily
 * Eric Bauza
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Kath Soucie
 * Kevin Michael Richardson
 * Lara Jill Miller
 * Laura Bailey
 * Michelle Ruff
 * Quinton Flynn
 * Roger Craig Smith
 * Russi Taylor
 * Tom Kane
 * Tom Kenny
 * Travis Willingham

Development
Production started in 2003, it was originally gonna release on December 14, 2005, and gonna be the series finale. But on August 7, 2004, it was moved to October 10, 2007. But on January 8, 2007, it was moved to September 21, 2008 and on May 4, 2009, it was moved to November 19, 2011. But, that was moved to June 7, 2013, and that was moved to July 8, 2016 as the film's official release for Summer 2016.

Warner Bros. Animation had already begun the process of starting development of movies with budgets of around $100 million. The intellectual property for these films was meant to be supplied by Warner Bros. Animation, Hanna-Barbera (Warner Bros. Animation's in-name only division), Cartoon Network and Turner Entertainment (also both Time-Warner divisions) among others and included The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Samurai Jack, Adventure Time, Cow and Chicken, and more, of course, Codename: Kids Next Door. Cartoon Network had been approaching the original crew from the television series to make a high-profile, animated theatrical feature-length film adaptation and had long wanted to partner with Warner Bros. Pictures to release an Animaniacs film given the network's extraordinary legacy in the world of animation, including some of the most enduring characters on cable television history.

Creator Tom Ruegger agreed to make a feature film version of the show with the promise it would be the first of a planned trilogy. During development stages of the film, he and his writers Randy Rogel, Peter Hastings and Paul Rugg intended to revisit some of the greatest films of the time, with Scarface and The Dark Knight having the core inspirations for the film.

Animation
The feature animation was handled by Wang Film Productions in Xindian, Taipei and Los Angeles, California. The crew used the same processes from the original television series in the making of the film, most notably the 'skroutlines', which was a seamless blend of a more traditional screenplay with a more simple outline which resembled strong short stories and gave the storyboard artists such as Joey Banaszkiewicz, Barry Caldwell, and Liz Holzman all the creative and aesthetic freedom neccessary. Ruegger and Spielberg themselves provided the film's animatics.

Fellow storyboard artists Audu Paden, Charles Visser and John Over, and animation veterans Maurice Fontenot, Eric Goldberg and Joyce Alexander also provided the film's storyboards. Michel Gagné helped on the character designs and special effects work on the film. Another animation veteran Scott Anderson also worked with Tom Ruegger on the character designs of the film.

The bulk of the animation work was done on Wacom Cintiq tablets, which allowed drawings to be done directly on screen to facilitate production using programs Toonz, DigiCel FlipBook and Toon Boom Studio. Pencilled key animation sequences would be digitally inked-and-painted, enhanced and composited into backgrounds using Toon Boom Harmony. Additional pre-production work was done at Warner Bros. Animation in Burbank, California where the series' pilot episode was produced. Animation was done at Wang Film's facilities on both Xindian and Los Angeles, with clean-up work done at the main Xindian studio. The final animation was also provided by Akom Production Company in Seoul, South Korea, Far Eastern Animation in Taiwan, Koko Enterprises in Seoul, Philippine Animation Studio in the Philippines, TMS Entertainment in Tokyo, Japan and Varga Studio in Hungary. Computer animation was done at Munich Animation Film in Munich, Germany, with digital ink and paint services provided by Mercury Filmworks in Ottawa, Canada.

Sound and music
Richard Stone composed the soundtrack for the film with Albert Lloyd Olson and Bruce Broughton serving as the soundtrack producers. In addition to using the original series' music work on the film, he also composed themes for each of the Animaniacs characters and some new characters. The Warner Siblings' adventure score was the major focus and he also composed themes for Russell P. Zackchovikch, the Tooninator, Wayne Warner, Willow Warner, Thaddeus J. Plotz and the Brain, and Pinky. The music score was recorded and mixed at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City and Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood. The score is orchestrated and conducted by Bill Liston.

The sound design work was done at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California and Warner Bros. Animation in Burbank, California.

Rating
The Animaniacs Movie is Rated PG for Parental Guidance.

Theatrical release
The film was released in theaters in the United States on July 8, 2016, by Warner Bros. This is the second Warner Bros. Animation film to have a theatrical release, after Tiny Toon Adventures: The Motion Picture. The film was presented in a 1.85:1 format, rather than Warner Animation Group's standard 2.39:1 format on its upcoming titles. The film's theatrical release was preceded by Walk The Foamy, a short film based on the 1995 animated television series Freakazoid!.

Marketing
The teaser trailer was released on February 17, 2016, posted on the Warner Bros. Pictures YouTube channels. A second teaser trailer was released on May 3, 2016. McDonalds released Happy Meal toys to promote the film. On June 6, 2016, promotional tie-ins on every channel consist of bumpers with Yakko Warner, Wakko Warner and Dot Warner in a movie theater announcing the film. In addition, they host the entire line-up, in intermissions between commercial break.

Home media
The film was released on Digital on September 27 and Blu-Ray and DVD on October 18, 2016. It contains the deleted scenes, a Freakazoid! short film Walk The Foamy, the 18-minute featurette, the behind-the-scenes look at The Animaniacs Movie, featuring interviews with most of the principal cast and crew, animatics, the pilot episode, the audio commentaries and the sneak peek of The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture.

Box office
The Animaniacs Movie has grossed $59 million in the United States and Canada, and $84 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $143 million, against a production budget of $25 million.

In the United States and Canada, The Animaniacs Movie was released alongside The Secret Life of Pets, and was initially projected to gross around $137 million from 4,218 theaters in its opening weekend, with a chance to gross over $100 million. Therefore, The Animaniacs Movie was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $143 million worldwide, making it the second Warner Bros. animated film to gross over $100 million in the United States, and also beating out The Rugrats Movie 's record for highest-grossing hand-drawn animated film of all time and the highest-ever grossing film based on an animated television series.

Critical response
Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 95% approval rating based on the 119 reviews and its average rating is 8.16/10 on IMDb. The critical consensus reads, "When the Warner siblings travel around the world, the result is Looney Tunes-style fun. The plot is effectively character-driven, and features catchy songs and great celebrity voice-acting." Metacritic, assigns the film a score of 80 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore gives the film a "A" on its A+ to F scale.

Trivia

 * The film marks the second time a theatrical Warner Bros. Animation film isn't produced by Warner Animation Group since the group's formation in 2013.
 * The movie will be Rated PG for Parental Guidance.
 * This is the first ever feature film of the series.
 * This is the first animated Animaniacs movie to hit theaters.
 * This is also the first ever Animaniacs movie in general to hit theaters. The previous Animaniacs film (Wakko's Wish) was just a direct-to-video release.
 * This is the third theatrical movie based on a Cartoon Network show. The others being "The Powerpuff Girls Movie" released 14 years prior and   Camp Lazlo The Movie   released 8 years prior.
 * Although, Animaniacs is only aired by both Kids' WB and Cartoon Network, and it's made by Warner Bros.


 * The film uses a combination of hand-drawn animation and CGI, much like fellow Warner Bros. Animation films The Iron Giant and Tiny Toon Adventures: The Motion Picture.
 * This is the next theatrical 2D animated movie in 18 years after Quest for Camelot (1998) and 17 years after The Iron Giant (1999).
 * This marks as Warner Bros.' next 2D animated theatrical film. Warner Bros. had its original feature animation division, which produced 2D animated films.
 * Before the movie, a short film called "Walk The Foamy" based on the 1995 animated television series Freakazoid! was played.
 * This is Warner Bros.' fourth traditionally animated film to be released theatrically, after  Clifford's Really Big Movie  released 12 years prior.
 * This is the fourth theatrical Warner Bros. film to rely solely on hand-drawn animation mixed with CGI animation instead of Flash animation.
 * The is the fourth theatrical Looney Tunes film, after "Space Jam" released 20 years prior and   Looney Tunes: Back in Action   released 13 years prior, and so far the second film to be a fully 2D animated film, after "Tiny Toon Adventures: The Motion Picture" released this year, but will be done in hand-drawn animation mixed with CGI animation.
 * The movie marks the 30th anniversary of Animaniacs.
 * With a few exceptions, the majority of the series' voice cast reprise their roles in the film.

Main Transcript

 * Main article: The Animaniacs Movie/Transcript

Trailer Transcripts

 * Main article: The Animaniacs Movie/Trailer transcripts

Credits

 * Main article: The Animaniacs Movie/Credits