Bigots are now raging about a four-year-old reboot of Animaniacs, because of course they are
The Animaniacs are woke now, apparently (Hulu)
We’re only a few weeks into 2024, and so far bigots have decided to rage at: trans author and model Munroe Bergdorf being recognised by the UN, a Gucci campaign with loads of queer kissing, the fact the NFL are going to host a Pride event ahead of the 2024 Super Bowl, and now – the Animaniacs.
Yes, you read that right. The cartoon Warner siblings, also known as Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, have managed to spark the anger of the right-wing “everything is woke now” crowd, despite being animated cryptids from the ’90s.
In case you’re not familiar with Animaniacs, here’s a potted history. Originally conceived of in the 1990s, Animaniacs is an animated US comedy series made by Warner Bros. It stars three cartoon characters of an indeterminate species called Yakko, Wakko and Dot, who live in a water tower.
It was rebooted in 2020 and ran for another three seasons on Hulu before the Warner siblings were unceremoniously killed off in February 2023, and the resurrected series was cancelled.
However, the fact that the show is defunct hasn’t stopped far-right town crier Chaya Raichik – the individual behind the popular ‘woke-shaming’ X account Libs of Tiktok – calling out the rebooted Animaniacs intro for “indoctrinating” American children with, you guessed it, LGBTQ+ propaganda.
The cartoon’s crime? Referencing gender-neutral pronouns in the opening song, notably the section that goes:
“Meet Pinky and the Brain who want to rule the universe/ A brand new cast who tested well in focus group research / Gender balanced, pronoun neutral and ethnically diverse/ The trolls will say we’re so passé but we did meta first.”
Raichik tweeted: “They mention gender neutral pronouns and call anyone who opposes it a troll. WHY DO THEY HAVE TO INJECT THIS INTO EVERYTHING?!”
It’s worth noting that the song, on a new line, says that “trolls will say we’re so passé”, i.e. that trolls will say that Animaniacs is out of date, having first aired in 1993. The ‘troll’ comment isn’t referring to the pronouns line. But furious online pronoun police rarely let a fact get in the way of a chance to rage about inclusivity.
The facts – including the fact that the cartoon opening credits that they are so angry about are from 2020 – also didn’t get in the way of the tweet going viral. At the time of writing it has had over 3000 retweets and 733,000 views, not to mention hundreds of replies.
“Is there anything they won’t ruin,” one X user, called ‘Washington’s Ghost’, tweeted mournfully.
“The left is a parasite that latches on to any and all successful things to propagate their anti-life messaging,” said another user, called Craig: strong words for a cartoon about a defunct animated sketch comedy series starring genetically altered anthropomorphic laboratory mice.
So, what will the right-wingers decide to get angry about next? Tiny Toon Adventures? Taz-Mania? Chip n’ Dale, Rescue Rangers? We’ll just have to wait and see.
