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(More customer reviews)Through the application of liberal amounts of cash and anability to place last-second bids on eBay, I've managed to lay handson an advance copy of Wakko's Wish. I'm glad I did. It's a worthyfinale to the Animaniacs franchise.
I won't get into the plot. Daniel Gallo did so on Usenet a few months ago, and did a thorough job of it. Suffice it to say that the plot is a good framework to build the movie on. For those who were wondering if Animaniacs could support 80 minutes worth of story, this will answer the question with a loud YES!. The different characters have different places in the story, but they're woven together smoothly and well; there's no sense of jumping back and forth between storylines. The ending is logical and fits well.
Wakko's Wish spends a lot of time paying homage to the series itself. I believe that most of the CRGA entry for the movie will be references to Animaniacs episodes, rather than the rest of the world. There's a fair amount of that as well, though. Those who appreciate potshots at real- world happenings won't be disappointed. You'll find plenty of humor here, whether you're 10 or 40. I suspect that, had this gotten theatrical release, it would have been a case of kids dragging their parents to see it, with the parents coming out afterwards laughing more than the kids.
There's plenty of original music here. At first, I thought it was all going to be musical, but right about the time the story picked up, the prevalence of songs as opposed to spoken dialogue changed. That made for a good change in feel, and worked well. The music, as well as the story, allowed Jess Harnell's singing talents to take center stage, and he shows just why he's doing well as a professional singer (though in places where he's not immediately known). Just about everyone gets a chance to show off their musical talents; those who think that Pinky can't sing get a dramatic rebuttal, and even Sherri Stoner and Ben Stein take a whack at it, with humorously bad results. I don't know if Sherri can sing, but Slappy sure can't.
TMS's animation is at the top of the heap. Their Warners are generally recognized as the standard to which everyone else aspires, and, if anything, they've raised the bar here. Not once did I catch an error in modeling or in continuity. There are several scenes with very fast action, all handled quite well, and more than a few difficult pans. There's also a fair amount of CGI, though it's so well done and so unobtrusive that you'll have a hard time picking it out. This is the first cartoon I've seen that combined cel animation and CGI in a manner that wasn't jarringly dissonant.
About the only negative I can bring up is the final bit. The writers resisted the tendency to over-senitimentalize right until the very end, but there they succumb to temptation and deliver a message with a heavy hand. Animaniacs can and does do better than that. Even so, it's not objectionable enough to make you want to throw the tape in the trash after seeing it; the rest of the movie is way too good for that.
The credits had a pleasant surprise; every major and nearly all minor speaking roles are credited to the voice actors who performed them, and the rule the TV series follows about only crediting a voice actor once even if they play multiple characters is not followed here. The viewer is shown exactly who voiced everyone. There's also a disappointment: no gag credit. I don't know why not, but I expected to see one and didn't.
Overall, Wakko's Wish is a winner. It's well worth ordering and waiting with bated breath for it to hit your doorstep on December 21. Animaniacs fans, and anyone who enjoys a good comedy, will love it. Tom Ruegger and his team have done a great job.
Thanks, guys. If it had to end, this is the best way I can think of doing it.
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Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish (Clam) [VHS] (1999)Rob Paulsen (Actor), Jess Harnell (Actor), Liz Holzman (Director), Rusty Mills
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