Well, it's my first ever Fanfiction on this site, based on one of my all-time favorite cartoon shows. Please read, review, and tell me what you think - all contributions, be they praise or constructive criticism, are thankfully received. Oh, and don't worry about our stars, Pinky and the Brain - they show up in Chapter 2. I just thought I'd introduce the secondary characters first and get them out of the way. I hope you enjoy.
Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and copyrighted by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. I own nothing, this is purely for my own enjoyment.
Chapter 1: It's time for Animaniacs
The sun was rising over the Warner movie lot. As the sun streamed in through the water tower's windows, Yakko Warner's eyes blinked open. Giving his trademark grin, he leapt out of bed and skidded across the room, sending his pillow crashing to the floor, along with most of Dot's perfume bottles and Wakko's comic books. The noise woke the owners of these items. Up on the top bunk, Dot was the first to make a move. Yawning and too tired to yell at Yakko for spilling her cologne from Chanel across the floor, she began to climb down the ladder, passing Wakko on the way, who was in the process of consuming his duvet.
"Morning, sister sibling" Yakko said brightly as Dot reached the ground. She let out an indistinct mutter. "What was that, Dot? Couldn't hear you. Who are you, the Godpigeon?"
Dot shot him an icy look at that, and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. Yakko turned his attention to Wakko who, having eaten his bedcovers, was now starting to work on the bedpost, which was already starting to show signs of breaking. He grinned apologetically.
"Sorry." He chuckled. "It's just that I couldn't sleep in the night, I was so hungry!"
"When are you not hungry?" said Yakko."Easy there, Wak" he added, as Wakko began to devour his pillow, "or you really won't be able to sleep!" Wakko sighed and returned his half-chewed pillow somewhat lopsidedly to its original spot. Instead of taking the ladder from his bunk, he just jumped down, landing next to Yakko. "Seriously, I don't know why we ever spent money on that thing" said Yakko, looking at the ladder. "The only person who ever uses it is Dot, and even then only when she's tired. Maybe we should scrap it..."
"I'll take care of that..." grinned Wakko, pulling out a salt-shaker.
"Ehhhhhhh..." began Yakko, "...you see, Wakko, people invented this wondrous thing called "breakfast" so they wouldn't have to go around eating ladders for food. Let's go."
Wakko nodded and tossed the salt-shaker onto the mushy pile of comic book and perfume as he and Yakko joined Dot in the kitchen.
It had been three years since Animaniacs had drawn to a close for the studio. The Warners were still their zany selves, though noticeably less so. Sure, Yakko and Wakko still catcalled "Hello, Nurse!" when they saw an attractive woman. Dot still went on about how cute she was. They were still on the run from Ralph the Guard, and they still went for daily sessions with Dr. Scratchansniff (under protest) but there was definitely something missing. Yakko just didn't seem to be as quick-witted as he once was. Wakko's appetite, while still the size of Greenland, wasn't quite as huge as it was during the show's run, and Dot seemed to prefer to spend her time out of the water tower, away from her brothers.
The cancellation of Animaniacs had hit hard with all three of the Warner siblings, and this wasn't helped in any way by their movie, Wakko's Wish, going straight to video. The three just didn't seem to have the bounce that they had when performing on the show.
In the east side of Burbank, an acorn tree with a blue door sat in a green patch of grass. Slappy Squirrel's home was starting to show signs of decay. The branches no longer bore acorns, the wood was starting to rot in places, and the door was looking like it needed more than just a lick of paint. Slappy was already awake by the time her nephew Skippy joined her at the breakfast table.
"Morning, Aunt Slappy!" said Skippy cheerfully. He had somehow managed to retain his cheery nature, even after the show's cancellation.
"Mornin', kiddo" mumbled Slappy, taking another bite of her cereal.
"What are you eating?" Skippy wrinkled his nose when he caught a whiff of the contents of Slappy's bowl.
"Branimaniacs, what else?"
"Spew!"
"Hey, cheap-shot, I'm old, very old! What do you want from me?"
Skippy just shrugged and poured himself a bowl of Sugar Coated ACME Snax.
"Ehh, no wonder the younger generation's so cheerful all the time" grumbled Slappy. "They're perpetually hyped up on sugar."
"Look who's talking!" chuckled Skippy as he began to eat. "Branimaniacs, if I remember right, has actual sugar cubes in it. Sugar cubes! I mean, who eats that for breakfast?"
"I do." said Slappy simply. Nothing more was said between the two of them until breakfast was over.
Slappy was one of the few people who had been glad to hear of Animaniacs' cancellation. She had felt that she was getting too old to be throwing TNT around, and, since the show's ending, she'd gone into retirement in her acorn tree, where, as she put it: "people would leave her alone, and if they didn't, they'd get dynamite down their pants".
Skippy, on the other hand, had been heartbroken. He lived for the show, quite literally, as he now had no way of paying his tuition fees, now that he was old enough to start going to college. And, despite what Slappy said, a little something had been lost between the two of them when the news of the show's cancellation came about.
The rest of the Animaniacs cast had barely managed to cope with being out of a job. Rita and Runt eventually found a home with Dr. Scratchansniff, who was still managing to make ends meet with his job as the studio psychiatrist. Mindy had now matured considerably and now had the sense to not go wandering into construction sites by herself, leaving her dog Buttons with little to do but sit in his kennel all day and listen to Mindy's mother go on about how disobedient he was.
The Goodfeathers, however, were undoubtedly hit the hardest by Animaniacs ending – being pigeons, it was practically impossible to find any work elsewhere, and they were stuck on the streets – for real, this time, not just as part of a script. Their personality, however, largely remained the same; Squit still had a grin locked into his face permanently, Pesto would still fly into an uncontrollable rage at the slightest provocation, and Bobby would still point and laugh when he did. They had lost the Girlfeathers a year ago in a migration accident which they refused to talk about, but this still left a sort of dark cloud hanging over them as they pilfered from trashcans.
Flavio and Marita, the Hip Hippos, in a fit of upset, had returned to the jungle. No-one had heard from them since, though the zoologist seemed pretty happy about it. Minerva Mink had all but given up her search for that "special someone", and Chicken Boo barely flew the coop anymore, and when he did, there was no false moustache to be seen. Overall, the cancellation of Animaniacs had a pretty big impact on all the members of the cast – except two. Just two.
And they were already preparing for tomorrow night.