A/N Update: 7/27/18 I just recently discovered Grammarly. If you want your stories to look better, I highly recommend it. Decided to use it to revise the whole story now that it's done.
This chapter along with next following chapters have gone under some extra revisions. This was done to get rid of a lot of distracting grammar errors, spelling errors, typos, and some really awkward sentence wording. I really need to improve at finding these early on. Hopefully, this makes the story a bit more polished and easier to understand. The new changes will be published today and tomorrow.
Hello again everyone! Hope you all had a great holiday break and are currently enjoying the Spring. This story will be a little bit different compared to the others. Without giving too much away, it probably won't be what you expect it to be. This is a much larger project I have been working on since the late summer of last year. I normally don't write drama so feel free to post your reviews and or constructive criticism near the end. It's always appreciated. Once again I do not own Animaniacs, they belong to Warner Bros./ Steven Spielberg.
Chapter: Prologue
April 1st
Please don't start with the jokes, please don't
Dr. Otto Scratchensniff anxiously fretted as he sat down in his seat. In front of him, the Warners confidently stood at the podium, awaiting the next round of questions. Today was a very important day for them. The psychiatrist hoped that all his preparation work for today's press conference wouldn't be for naught. Flashbacks of him trying to teach them manners in the episode "Taming of the Screwy" came flooding back to his mind. The interview was held inside one the studio buildings in the Warner Bros movie lot. Seated behind him, several reporters and cameramen were actively awaiting answers from the special guests before them.
"You there!" Yakko pointed at a red-headed female reporter.
"Yakko, would you mind giving us details about your upcoming shooting session?" she asked.
"Would you mind giving me your number?" This was followed by a brief pause from the reporter and few chuckles from the audience. Scratchy shook his head in frustration.
No! No! No!
"Just kidding, but we'll start shooting in a few days after we land in Orlando…"
However much to Scratchensniff's relief, aside from that one comment, they haven't done anything out of line for the rest of the interview. He was impressed that the Warner's were actually being professional for once. Well...almost professional. They answered all their questions politely and fluently. They retained good posture and behavior as they listened to others. They actually showed signs of maturity and responsibility, two vital things he long thought the Warners would never have.
"So Yakko, do you three still have any plans as far renewing your hit TV show Animaniacs?" another reporter asked.
Scratchy had heard this question before, and their response several times during practice sessions, but it still shocked him none of the less.
"No" they replied in unison. A few stunned reporters gasped at their response.
"Look, as much as we loved working on the show. Uh… we really want to move on to new things now." Yakko answered.
"Besides, it was starting to get exhausting to work on the show any longer. We're almost glad the show ended when it did." Dot came forward. When she finished, Wakko spoke up.
"That's why we wonder how the Simpsons and SpongeBob are able to keep going after 10 plus years..."
Scratchensniff gazed at the trio as they stood behind the podium. They didn't look much different compared to their appearances on the show unless you ignored the fact that they had all grown at least half a foot. Yakko now wore a brown vest to match his pants. Wakko's signature red cap now had his initials sewn on in bold letters. Dot donned a pink shirt to match her skirt. Their personalities weren't that much different either; Yakko was still the talkative wise-cracker, Dot was still just as vain about her cuteness if not more than ever, and Wakko's creativity and appetite showed no signs of slowing down.
As the interview continued for the next several minutes, Scratchensniff's mind drifted to how much had happened since the first day he met them all those years ago. Since that day, it has always been his job to control their zany attitudes. And considering how much he failed at doing so, it was a miracle he still had a job.
But his methods seemed to have impacted them somewhat. Now that they were older, they had started to become less irritating and chaotic. They were much more open to talk about things. They weren't as persistent in their never-ending mission to turn his life upside down. He no longer took the full brunt of their "special friend" antics. It was a very small change, but still noticeable nonetheless. Scratchensniff wasn't sure if it was that they finally started to mellow out, or if he was actually starting to go crazy.
There would be days where he would invite them in his office and they would just talk. He would sit down and listen to them. And listen, and listen, and listen. He managed to understand more about them by letting them speak their minds, rather than prodding them with a myriad of questions. Sometimes it was about any recent misadventures that happened on or off the lot, other times they would jokingly talk about what things they liked, or what they did in their spare time after the show ended. This was when he found out about their new interest in movies.
He remembered how the Warners were so excited about the direct to video feature film "Wakko's Wish". After so many years of doing movie parodies, they would finally be in a movie of their own. It was going to be the breakthrough chance they were looking for. The movie turned out to be a moderate hit when it was released. While he and the other Animaniacs cast enjoyed working on the movie, much to everyone's surprise, the only people out of the entire cast who were most critical of it, were the Warners themselves. Their criticism even surpassed Slappy who mainly hated working on it because it called for her to sing and dance. Yakko didn't like because he felt it came off as a discount Disney film, Wakko felt there was a lot of great stuff that was edited out in the final cut, Dot simply hated it because it called for her "the cute one" to die. All three of them were disappointed in the fact that even though it supposed to be their movie, they hardly had any say in how it would be done. They decided to turn their dream into a reality by making shorts for themselves.
Scratchensniff was willing to support them all the way. Anything that produced more than just wild insanity was a great idea in his eyes. So he went out and got presents for each of them on their birthdays; a book on filmmaking for Yakko, a video camera for Wakko, and director's outfit complete a beret and megaphone for Dot. The daily talk sessions would become small film festivals in which the trio would eagerly show the new short films they made. A lot of them were actually pretty good. Scratchy initially figured that this would just be a hobby, so it was no surprise he did a double take when they told him that they wanted to make their own feature film for Warner Bros.
He remembered how apprehensive Plotz was against the whole idea at first. Dealing with them on a five year TV show was bad enough, now he had to worry about them jeopardizing his studio's fortune by funding their movies? He had given them a chance to direct a short for the studio all those years ago and regretted at what a disaster that turned out.
The Warners, however, wouldn't be easily discouraged. They did tons of research on independent films and received support from show's cast members along with donations from fans. Scratchensniff even chipped in as well, not without a bout of begging from the Warners of course. The Warners managed to complete their first independent film "Home Again" a musical dramedy starring Rita and Runt. It turned out to be a moderate hit after premiering in the Los Angeles Film Festival. Within a few months, it had already raked in over a million dollars at the box office and made the nomination for Best Picture.
Needless to say, Plotz was very surprised when he found out how well the movie had done. When the Warners had announced they were going to make another one, he offered to let himself and the studio take over the financial backing. The Warners at first were unwilling to do it. It took several days of negotiating and bribery to finally get them to reconsider, but they did. While the film would technically be considered a Warner Brothers production, all directing was done by the Warners themselves.
After that was said and done, what followed was a string of 5 films that eventually became box office hits. Two of them actually won Academy Awards as well. The ratings at Warner Bros studios were higher than ever before. The Warners had successfully managed to reinvent themselves and regain their popularity. Now with a new film on the way, it was destined to be their most important one yet.
"A Gang of Four" the movie was called, was expected to be completed by the end of the year. While the movie had been in production for over five years, it had been hyped up that this would be their masterpiece. Despite the long production time, it was kept a complete secret for the most part. No one could figure out anything about the movie. Scratchensniff even tried to use his daily sessions to try and wring it out of them, but he had no such luck. He wasn't able to find out why they were even going to Orlando, to begin with. In an uncanny coincidence, his attention returned to the interview when a reporter asked Yakko a question.
"Last question, if you're not gonna tell us what the movie is about? Could you give us a hint?"
"Let's just say this is a 'special project" Yakko responded formally.
"Like special friend special?" he asked. A small grin appeared on the Warner's face, a hint of mischief in his eyes.
"Uh... something like that. But that's all the hints your gonna get from me so..." he blew a kiss to the audience." Goodnight everybody!" The crowd exploded into a cacophony of last minute questions and comments as the trio came down from the podium and disappeared behind the curtains. Scratchensniff waited a few minutes for them to come out after the crowd had dispersed. When they didn't come back out, he got out of his seat to see if anything was wrong.
"So… how'd we do?" the eldest Warner sudden response made him jump. Scratchy spun around to see the Warners sitting in the same spot he was just in.
"Excellent, But it vould have been a bit better without the jokes ja." he responded in his thick German accent.
"What can I say? Good habits die hard" Yakko shrugged. Dot stood up and hastily tugged at his white sweater.
"Did I look okay Scratchy? I wasn't able to put on as much facial before this interview".
"You looked fine Dot, you looked just like your brothers" She took one glance at her siblings with a sick face. Yakko was scratching his hair while Wakko let his tongue hang out.
"That's not very encouraging Scratchensniff." She turned back to him. He paused for a moment.
"Um, You looked like a cute vonderful woman" Dot beamed in response.
"Good, cause if I went up there looking like a hag, it would have been on your head! Literally!" Scratchensniff chuckled nervously, knowing she would follow up on that promise if need be.
"So, Scratchy you planning on coming to the party later on this evening?" Wakko spoke up.
"Vhat party?"
"Our wrap party, duh. The one we're throwing right before we leave! We got the B-52's again!"
Again?! That's the 15th time they invited them!
"There nothing like a good ol heap of campy new wave tunes from the 80's to start off our trip!" Yakko commented. After every filming project they completed, the Warners always celebrated by having a huge wrap party inside their water tower.
"I still need to give the lead singer my gift," Dot said before she took out a small yellow box from her skirt. An enormous gray lobster protruded from the bag. Scratchy jumped back as one of its rock hard claws nearly snapped his head off. He was all too familiar with Dot's "special" pets, they were harmless, but that still didn't mean they made him shudder.
"We were even going to throw in food to feed it too!" said Wakko as he took off his red cap; it was filled with brown pebbles. He playfully tossed a pebble inside the lobster's mouth before it zipped back inside Dot's box.
"But you kids haven't even started filming!" Scratchensniff answered.
"Details, details…" Yakko dismissively yawned. " The movie's almost done in our eyes, so are you coming?" Scractehnsniff cringed as he didn't answer. He'd been dreading having to tell them the news all morning. The disappearing smiles on their faces confirmed they knew something was wrong. Hesitantly, he gulped and told them.
"Oh no, See... I vont be able to come".
"But, but why? Don't you want to come?" Wakko came forward.
"Oh of course I do, Its just..."
"It's the lead singer's voice, isn't it? Well, he does sound like Yakko on a sugar high..." Dot jumped in front of him before he could explain.
"Sister sis, I have no idea what your talking about" Yakko scoffed, crossing his arms.
"No really, I have no problem with his voice, it's just…I'm very busy today. I was only able to get off vork for your interview..." Scratchy continued to explain. He still had a long list of patients to attend to that would eat up his time until the late evening. He was actually lucky enough to get permission from Plotz to even attend the conference at all. The CEO demanded that he return to work not a second later after it was over. It was either do your job or face the wrath of Plotz. Besides, he never really considered himself to be party person anyway.
"But we're leaving with Pinky and Brain right afterward" Wakko interrupted with a slightly disappointed look on his face. Scratchy knew the mice were going to be providing transportation for them during their trip. They would be flying out of Burbank in a private plane Brain designed himself. He knew Brain all too well; despite his small stature, he was an accomplished inventor in his own right. He was also very anal of leaving on time, there would be little to no time for last-minute goodbyes. Scratchensniff was almost about to reconsider when Yakko cut in, a content smile on his face.
"Lay off Wakko, if he can't make it, then that's no problem for us." He responded in Scratchy's defense. That was the odd thing about Yakko nowadays; sometimes he would prod and manipulate him into precarious situations, other times he would actually let him be. " We're just glad you came at all today".
"I'm sorry, I hope you three understand" the younger siblings still didn't seem completely satisfied with their brother's answer. He hated having to disappoint the trio.
"Well okay, do ya think Ralph will miss us?" Wakko asked. Scratchensnifff didn't know what to say, he hadn't thought about him in a moment.
"Uh… maybe, he might miss the temporary 50% discount at Dunkin Donuts before he misses us!" Yakko cut in. " But I sure know who will miss us..."
"Hello Nurse!" both Warner brothers shouted before they howled like wolves.
"Boys, it's tough being the mature one in this family" Dot grumbled. Scratchensniff sighed in agreement, it didn't look like the boys' fondness for his personal assistant would stop anytime soon.
"You think Mr. Plotz will miss us?" Wakko asked.
"Oh yes! I'm sure he'll be very upset to see you all go," he answered, trying his best to sound optimistic. The Warners looked at him totally unconvinced. They knew Plotz was probably whooping it up in his office right now, knowing the trio would be out of what was left of his hair for a quarter of a year.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye..." Scratchensniff was unprepared for the trio's spontaneous group hug. "Don't vorry, I will… miss you… too!" he squeaked. Their tight grips were starting to cut off his circulation. He was really going to miss them for the next few months. They let go and plopped back on the ground.
"We'll call you as soon as we get in!" Dot squealed.
"So get ready for a long phone bill!" Yakko added. The psychiatrist grimaced at the thought.
"Good, now go. Brain is probably waiting for you outside" The Warners did not budge.
"You sure? we don't mind stalling"
"Yakko, please go!"Scratchensniff groaned in agitation. There was the wisecracker he'd grown to love.
"You know there are other ways to say you want me to stay..."
"Go!"
"You sure that's not that's how to say no in German?"
"No! That's nein!" Wakko took out a purple nine from his hat.
"No, this is." he cut in. Completely ticked off, Scratchy pointed to the double doors behind him.
"Go, Go! Get out Here!"
The trio giggled uncontrollably and sped towards the studio's double doors.
"Were just yanking with ya, see you in three months Scratchy!" Yakko called out. Scratchensniff sighed in relief, knowing they would have gone even further in the fast. Like he said to himself, they had a small behavior change, a very small change.
Scratchensniff stood alone as the doors flapped open and closed. All of the reporters had long since cleared out by now. He smiled as he slowly trudged out of the studio. He was so proud of them. This would have been the longest the Warners had ever spent outside the studio. In their eyes, it was always home. A home without any parents to look after them, a home where he decided to look after them…
He let the thought hang as he glanced at his watch.
1:15?! Oh no! No!
He was late for his appointment with Christopher Walken. Scratchensniff sped out of the studio and off to his office. He made a mental note to come straight home after work, and prepare himself for the expensive long distance call he would have to make early in the morning.