I was watching "Slappy Goes Walnuts" (no, macadamias are nuts, Slappy is
senile!) and noticing how nicely they did the pseudo-Merrie-Melodie --
the tip-toeing Walter, the matchstick-burn, the triplet crybabies -- and
in particular, I noticed the "dahhhh-dah!" sound effect when we see the
close-up of Slappy's RED HOT RIVETS. It's an actual sound effect used
many times in the old cartoons, but what really struck me is that it
*isn't* used elsewhere in Animaniacs. The new shows are very much in
the spirit of the old shorts, but they aren't just copies.
I also noticed that Skippy (how young he sounded!), though clearly a
visitor in "Walnuts", had perhaps moved in permanently as soon as
"Bumbie's Mom", since Slappy worries about having to pay his therapy
bills when he's 19. Or maybe that was only 'cause she figured she'd be
held responsible as she was the one who took him to the movie. I had
always thought the shift of Skippy from occasional visitor to orphan
happened more gradually -- of course, the order in which the shorts were
first aired is not the order in which they were written. Further
detective work awaits...
I also also noticed that in "HMS Yakko", the Warners refer to the Evil
Pirate Captain Mel as their "best friend". And then to Wally Llama as
their "new friend". So it seems the whole "special friend" thing took a
while to evolve as well. Which, um, is kinda obvious when you think
about it, I guess. But hey, all the obscure CRGA entries are already
taken.
- David "this has been another... Useless Post" Green
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