Previously on The Warners That Time Forgot…

Most of the cast have been assembled, with only Buttons & Mindy, Skippy & Slappy and of course the Warners left.

But what about the minor characters? Well, don't worry about that, they're covered this chapter in…

The Warners That Time Forgot

Episode 8: Tales from the Tower

Part 1: The Randy Berman Kid

We're back at the teenager's home in Australia, but then we pan to the neighbour's house, where a small child wearing a blue hat, a red and white striped shirt and blue pants with red hair, totters out of the house quite strangely and starts to talk to us.

"OK, see one time, see, Randy Berman's friend popped by a few months ago and asked me to be in his TV show about some crazy cartoon characters, an old squirrel, two lab mice who want to take over the world, a dog rescuing a small child, three gangster pigeons and a dog & cat." He pauses, "Sounds weird doesn't it? It will never get off the ground." He pauses again, "K, bye" he then totters back to the house, but stops halfway through. "Oh you know the even crazier thing? I said yes." He then continues back to his house and shuts the door.

Part 2: Summer Vacation

New York Airport, and the teenager's quest have meant that it's time to go jet setting. Destination: London. While at the airport, but unaware to the teenager, Buttons and Mindy board a different plane, one that is heading to Paris. As usual, Mindy escapes from her harness and it's up to Buttons to chase Mindy through the perils of the baggage handling bay. Hopefully they get on that plane.

So what Animaniacs character would go to London, a city full of pomp and ceremony, where the residents eagerly await a royal baby? Well, on the outskirts of London, where manor houses rule the horizon, is Flavio and Morita's vacation house (you know, the Hip Hippos)

Morita, like she always does, pleads to Flavio, "Flavio, I'm bored, there's nothing left to do." Flavio is surprised at this, "But my precious flower, we've only been here 2 days.

"But Flavio, nothing excites me. It's all boring! Boring, boring, boring!"

Flavio, ever being the one to serenade responds, "Well my delectable, what is it you would like to do? We are, as they say in America, rolling in money." While he says this Morita falls into Flavio's hands, catching her almost on cue. How romantic.

Morita says, "I want to be a TV star again. I want my name up in lights, my name on the Walk of Fame."

Flavio, in his sweet accent, "Well, I'm sure there are many shows that you can work on."

Suddenly the doorbell rings. Flavio opens the door and it's the teenager.

"Hello?" Flavio asks.

"Hi. Is this the house where Flavio and Morita live?"

"Yes it is. How may I help you?"

"I'm getting the cast back from Animaniacs for a reunion and possibly a revival. What do you say?"

Moritia shouts out to Flavio from another room, "Who is it Flavio?"

Flavio walks to Morita, "The answer to your acting prospects my sweet."

The teenager still at the door says, "What were you expecting, a deep story? There're the Hip Hippos, the stories were quite bland."

Part 3: It's Mime Time

(On special location in Paris)

A mime walks into the screen and rests on an invisible wall.

Today on Mime Time: Fishing in an imaginary pool

The mime nods his head and starts to throw out an imaginary fishing line. Suddenly, from the sky, a giant shark with his mouth open lands on the mime eating him while still standing up. The shark doesn't close his mouth, so all you can see is the mime's feet.

But this isn't the end. Suddenly, the teenager walks past and recognises that it's the unfortunate mime.

"Hey, I'm havin' an Animaniacs reunion. You in?" The mime, somehow, raises one of his arms and gives thumbs up.

Meanwhile, in the background, in what was almost a carbon copy of their last Parisian trip, Mindy is tottering towards the Eifel Tower, attracted by a rainbow jersey worn by a cyclist. As they approach the busy road, the cyclist crosses it with ease, Mindy miraculously dodges the traffic, and about 5 cars hit poor Buttons. Thankfully this is a cartoon, so he survives with just a few bruises.

Part 4: Mighty Power Woodchuck and Bird Friend

The Land of the Rising Sun: Tokyo, Japan. It seems odd that the teenager's quest would lead him to the powerhouse of electronics and appliances. But, his ACME Character Tracker didn't lie. So, the teenager ended up in a ritzy part of town, at a swish Tokyo karaoke bar, where, in the back were two completely different looking figures in black sunglasses and big black leather jackets. They were surrounded by hundreds of people looking to get their autographs

The teenager tries to fish out someone who could speak English. On about the fifth attempt he finds one.

"So who is everyone so eager to see?"

"You come here and ask who they are? Are you mad?"

"Um, well, I am from the West."

"Uhh, the West, that's alright, no one from there knows who these are."

"So, who are they then?"

"The biggest TV stars in Tokyo, Mighty Power Woodchuck and Bird Friend"

"Mighty Power Woodchuck and Bird Friend?"

The teenager then starts to think and delve into his minor character list. "Charlton Woodchuck and that little blue bird who thought that a fighter jet was it's Mum?"

The teenager then moved to the long 'meet & greet' line that started to form. Unfortunately, when the teenager got there, he had to wait an hour before he could see them for 5 minutes. The attendant at the door said "¥2300" "¥2300! That's a bit steep!" The attendant then sighed, "25 American dollar." "Oh," the teenager realised, that seems fairly reasonable.

"Charlton and the little blue bird," the teenager started as he went to sit down to them, "What on earth are doing here?"

Charlton raised his sunglasses and squinted at the teenager, "Do I know you?" he said. "You actually don't, I'm here to ask you about an Animaniacs reunion," the teenager explained to Charlton.

"With those pesky Warners?" Charlton asked, "No thanks, I've living it up here in Japan. You know here, they actually embrace animal actors, not like Warner Bros. where they treat you like a piece of…"

"Woah, Charlton," the blue bird said, "Remember last time you got worked up about that?"

Charlton started to take a few deep breaths. The blue bird continued, "Sorry, but we like to stay here Mister. We like Tokyo, and we are one of the most popular TV stars in Japan, we get to fight ninjas and samurais and the triads. Those are the best!"

"Guess there's nothing I can do is there?" the teenager asked disappointingly.

Charlton still slightly annoyed says, "No. Now your 5 minutes are up and it's time for you to leave." Charlton then snaps his fingers

"Time's up." The attendant said, and the teenager had to leave without question.

Walking out of the karaoke bar, the teenager had a brainwave, "Actually, there is something I can do to make them come with me."

Later at night, we're watching Tokyo TV, the network where Charlton and the bird's show is on. A voiceover starts shouting at the TV in Japanese as a voiceover.

"This is Tokyo TV. Coming up at 8pm: 6 master chefs compete in the ultimate obstacle course cook-off, where the only ingredients they can use are calamari, carrots and whipped cream! That's tonight on Takeshi's Ultimate Iron Chef Castle. But now, live from Tokyo TV Studios, it time for Mighty Power Woodchuck and Bird Friend!"

The show fades in with the pre-title sequence cliff-hanger, which involved Mighty Power Woodchuck lamenting over a cup of spilled ramen noodles, which then sparks a flame in his eyes, vowing to get revenge on the lowlifes who made him drop his noodles.

The title sequence starts to play, with some generic J-Pop divas singing in the background:

Silhouettes appear.

"#When all hope is lost, and there's nothing left, there's only one to call…"

Suddenly the silhouettes brighten and they reveal to be the two protagonists.

"#Mighty Power Woodchuck and Bird Friend! The saviour of Japan! #"

The woodchuck then leaps in the air and flies through the air with a jump kick. In the background is dramatic Japanese anime fire.

But then… "CUT!" the director stops the show. The background turns off and Charlton falls to the ground, unaided by the special effects that kept him in the air for so long.

"Hey! What's the big idea?"

The director replies, "Sorry, Woodchuck-san and Bird-san, but this show has been cancelled.

"WHAT!" Charlton's understandably angry. "Who can cancel our show when we're such a hit?"

"I can." Suddenly, from the back of the studio the teenager enters the set. "Do you know how cheap it is to buy things in Japan? That and a spare $5 million I had lying around when I received a reward for catching The Circle back in Episode 4.

He then walks to the main camera and talks into it, addressing the TV audience, "My apologies viewers, but here's a show I'm sure will be the big hit of the season," he bows respectfully in front of the cameras. "Watch! As over in studio 23, we have 10 contestants ready to shape their bodies into weird objects for big cash prizes in the hilarious Hole In The Wall. Here's your host Kamui Okushima!"

"And we're clear!" the Might Power Woodchuck director said

"So, to Burbank?" he asked both of them

"OK." The bird then whispered, "He's really bossy, but if it were me, I would have gone with you straight away."

"Charlton?"

"Yeah, I suppose, but you're going to have to pay me a large salary, we're talking the amount you used to buy this station!"

"No problem, the advertisement money should pay for that."

Then an engineer approached the teenager. "We are having some slight signal problems affecting our station."

"How could that be?"

Suddenly on top of the TV tower, a small toy robot is crawling up the large aerial outside the TV station, followed by Mindy, and a frightened Buttons. At the top of the aerial, Mindy grabs onto the robot, which jumps off the tower and activates a parachute, leaving poor Buttons on top of the tower by himself. Suddenly a bolt of lightning hits the tower, electrocuting Buttons and making him fall to the ground. Once again, Buttons is hurt, but not seriously.

Part 5: Formula Boo

A British commentator named David Croft: "Welcome to São Paulo, Brazil. We're here at the Circuit de Interlargos for the final round of the Formula One World Championship and it is all to play for here. 2-time defending world champion Sebastian Bootle racing for Red Fowl Racing is only 4 points behind Lewis Hamilton from Britain in the Mercedes-Benz. If Hamilton finishes ahead of Bootle, he wins the championship. If Bootle wins the race, he is guaranteed to win the championship."

"So, Martin Brundle, much has been said about this new young prodigy. Some say he's the next Michael Schumacher. Others say he only wins because of his car. What do you think?"

"I think he's giant chicken myself"

"What do you mean Martin? He's a coward on the track?"

"No, I actually think he's a giant chicken bird."

David Croft stares at Martin weirdly. "OK, well anyway, let's go down to the track and get our final pit report with Ted Kravitz."

We stop watching the broadcast and we are now in the stands. It turns out the teenager is here as well, located on the start/finish straight. "Wow, who knew my quest would lead me to a Formula 1 race?" The teenager was an avid Formula 1 supporter since he was a child and has always wanted to go to a race. Now was his chance. "I suppose the search could wait a bit while the race is on."

The cars form on the grid. Bootle starts from 5th place while Hamilton has the pole position (1st place). 5 red lights appear one-by-one, then they all disappear and the race is underway. By the end of the first lap Hamilton falls to 3rd while Bootle makes a blistering start and moves up into 2nd place, behind Spaniard Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari.

After a battle of speed and strategy, the race was 20 laps out from the finish. We hear the commentators from before: "So, down the straight into turn 4, and Hamilton is in the DRS zone* ready to make a pass on Bootle, is he going to do it?"

Hamilton activates the DRS and moves along side Bootle. "Hamilton is beside Bootle, and they're wheel to wheel coming into the corner!"

Suddenly… "And, OH! Hamilton's had a brake failure I think and, OH! SLAMS into Alonso and both their races are over and if Bootle wins, so is Hamilton's championship chances!"

That incident put Bootle in 1st and he remained there for the rest of the race. "And Bootle wins the Brazilian Grand Prix, and his 3rd straight title. I tell you Martin Brundle, this is going to be historic what this man could achieve."

"Yes, well done to Bootle, though I tell you Crofty, he's a chicken I tell you, a giant chicken!"

The podium celebrations were jubilant, as Red Fowl had also won the teams championship, thanks in part to the stellar performance of Bootle.

After the national anthems, came the podium interviews, conducted this race by Formula 1 boss Ernie Pebblestone (which, for those who know is a parody name, unlike the rest of the names here).

"So, how was you're race and how were your emotions during the race?" Pebblestone asks Bootle.

Bootle clucks like a chicken a few times. Everybody laughs except for the teenager, who, like Martin Brundle, suspects something.

Halfway through the interview of the 2nd place getter, Lewis Hamilton has somehow stormed up into podium. "Mr Pebblestone, look what I found in my brakes. Chicken feathers. The only possible way that could end up in my brakes in the middle of a Brazilian racetrack is that this driver is a giant chicken!"

"Now, now Hamilton, don't be a sore loser." Ernie Pebblestone said.

Hamilton is not happy with this response. "It's because I'm black isn't it? I never get the same respect from you guys. Never!"

Everyone starts laughing as Hamilton is escorted of the podium. But Bootle laughs the hardest. So much that the cap he has to wear for sponsorship reasons falls off his head, which makes his head look a lot more like a chicken.

The crowd gasps. "I knew it!" the teenager says to himself. He then stands up and yells, "He's a giant chicken!" The rest of the crowd then start to boo, not in cheering Bootle's name, but in disgrace.

Pebblestone, isn't as shocked as everyone else. "Wait, stop people! Don't you see a scandal like this will boost interest in the sport? We can finally break the United States market!"

But the drivers on the podium look at Pebblestone as once again, he tries to come up with his crackpot ideas, which almost never make it past the FIA's** committees.

Bootle, or Chicken Boo as he is now known as, is promptly kicked out of the circuit, onto the streets of São Paulo. Suddenly a song starts as he walks off.

"#You wear a disguise to look like human guys, but you're not a man you're a Chicken Boo#"

As Chicken Boo walks the streets, the teenager finds him and approaches him. "Look, do you want a happy ending to the story?"

Chicken Boo stares at the teenager and clucks at him.

"Why don't you come with me and you can be an animal actor again in my Animaniacs reunion?"

Chicken Boo is delighted by the idea, claps his feathers together and clucks in agreement.

"Haven't you always wanted Chicken Boo to have a happy ending for once?" the teenager said to the audience.

*The DRS zone is a designated area where drivers can activate the DRS (where the rear wing opens slightly to go faster) to help overtake an opponent.

** The FIA are the world governing body for motorsport

Part 6: Good Idea, Or Bad Idea?

And so the teenager returns to America, having rounded up most of the characters. The character tracker has lead him to a Motel 6 in Burbank. Under a light, which looks like it hasn't been turned off in years, was hotel room 93. The teenager knocked on the door, and to his surprise, the person at the door wasn't an Animaniacs character as such, but the person who voiced the Good Idea, Bad Idea segments, Tom Bodett.

"Hello."

"Umm, hi," and then realises who he is talking to, "I recognise those baritones anywhere. You're the guy who voiced those Good Idea, Bad Idea segments."

"Well, yes, I have been known for doing that."

"Maybe you could help me. See my ACME Character tracker has picked up that there's an Animaniacs character in your hotel room."

"Oh, you mean Skullhead? I'll take you to him." Tom then walks the teenager inside the hotel room, where he opens up a closet. Inside are bones. "Call it my skeleton in the closet." Then we cut to an old clip of Wakko performing a ba-doom-dish on his drum set.

He then starts to put him together. "It's like building Lego," Tom remarks.

Once Skullhead is built, the teenager says to both of them, "Listen, will be willing to be a part of a secret Animaniacs reunion I'm organising?"

"Sure," Tom says. Mr Skullhead nods his head. "He doesn't talk much," Tom says as Skullhead shakes his head in agreement.

"That was easy," the teenager points out to the audience.

Part 7: Katie Ka-Boom: The Social Dilemma

In a typical house, in typical middle America, in the most middle of middle America, the middle of Ohio; the most middle state in America. And in this middle class society is a generic house, with a generic family, with a typically generic teenage girl, Katie, but everyone calls her by the nickname of 'Katie Ka-Boom'

Inside this normal American dwelling, Katie is in her room, on her phone, chatting to friends on Facebook. They're discussing, well, trivial teenage matters. We see the messages appearing on her phone.

Robyn: 'OMG, did you see me and Tristan together! We are such a lovely couple together. 3'

Katie typing, but saying out loud as well, 'Not as cute as me and Ryan. Who needs those One Direction boys! They're showoffs! ^_^ 3'

Kirsty: 'idk Katie, I saw Ryan flirting with another girl :/'

Katie yells at her phone, " :o What!"

Kirsty: "Hey! I'm telling you what I saw with my eyes. Ryan was hanging out with someone else down at the ice cream bar.

Katie: 'How could this be! (Her voice starts to change into a monster voice) We were meant to be together forever!"

Meanwhile, inside the kitchen, an alarm sounds. Katie's mum and dad look at each other and say "Oh dear, here we go again" Dad yells, "Battlestations! Man the alerts! Call the National Guard!" while Mum grabs Katie's brother, Tinker.

Robyn: 'Tough luck Katie. I'm sure there's someone out there who will stay true to you."

Katie, now fully in a monster transformation, "How could he dump me? How could he dump ME!?"

Katie's Mum, hearing the commotion, "Now Katie, try to relax, your life isn't in ruins. Please don't over-react again."

Katie yells, "I'm NOT overreacting. I'M A TEENAGER!" Suddenly, fire engulfs Katie, burning everything in the room. This causes Katie's Mum to flee in terror to where Tinker and Dad were in the bunker.

Meanwhile, Buttons has chased Mindy (who is now following a butterfly) into a back window of the house. The butterfly flies into Katie's room, followed by Mindy and Buttons. The butterfly flies out the bedroom window, but before Mindy can chase it, Buttons runs to her and shields her. "Buttons!" Mindy shouts.

Katie, in her temper tantrum notices nothing of this. "MY LIFE IS IN RUINS!" And with that she, and everything around the house, blows up, leaving everything, except the front door. Buttons survives with just black marks on his fur, as Mindy walks on and Buttons falls to the floor.

Suddenly, on cue, the teenager walks up to the house and naively knocks on the door, "As if I didn't know who lives in this house?" he says to the audience. "I'll get it!" Katie yells, now looking and acting like a normal teenager again. She opens the door and goes, "Hello?" But then she stops, examines the teenager and then yells, "HELLO NURSE!"

"Oh no, I know that look…" the teenager starts but then Katie stops him and says, "Don't say another word, just tell me whatever it is you want."

The teenager pulls a grimaced look on his face to the audience. "Actually, I want to ask you to come back for an Animaniacs reunion."

"Anything you want loverboy!" Katie giggles with glee, which sends the teenager running. Katie runs after him. "Come back dreamboat, I've already written a list of things to do on out first date!"

Katie's mum, dad and brother, stare at each other.

"She'll get over this stage one day won't she?" her mum said

"Yeah, when we win the lottery" her dad replied

"#Her family knows that any time soon. Their little lady Katie goes ka-boom! #"

Part 8: Meet Minerva… 20 years later.

In a forest somewhere in America, live animals that are rare, and sought after by hunters. Once of these animals is the mink, for years hunted for their luxurious fur. Now, thanks to conservation awareness, these minks are now left alone. Which brings us to the teenager, hopping out of a taxi, to the national park where one particular mink lives: Minerva Mink.

But what the teenager will find will be to everyone's surprise. The teenager opened the door to Minerva's house after knocking intensely to no answer. Inside was Minerva, who seemed to have gained 50 pounds; clambering over a box of Krispy Kreme donuts, sobbing.

"Holy hell! STOP!" the teenager yelled. Suddenly the scene changes from the inside of Minerva's house, to a convention centre stage, with the teenager at the podium leading the conference.

"So, it seems Minerva is ruined. All those in favour of kicking her out of the revival raise your red boards."

Nobody does except the teenager (he never really liked Minerva).

"Well, there goes my plan," the teenager says to himself. Then he proposes a plan to the audience, "OK, how about we give Minerva an extreme makeover? I can get The Brain to whip up a suit that allows Minerva to look and act exactly like she did 20 years ago. ('Amazing what you can do in cartoons' he says to us) What do you say? All in favour raise your green boards"

Everyone, including the teenager raises the green boards.

"Then it's settled, I'll ask Brain to whip it up straight away and Minerva will join us quicker then you can say 'Hello Nurse!'

Part 9: Epilogue

Travelling in the middle of the Mohave Desert is a typical red SUV, with a typical family in it, including Buttons and Mindy in the back seat. Mindy is restrained in a booster seat. Mindy's family have been travelling all around the world, and this was the final leg of their vacation.

Now, in the middle of nowhere you would think nothing could distract Mindy, but you're wrong.

The family stopped at a gas station and they left Mindy and Buttons in the car.

"Now Mindy, you be a good little girl and I might just have a treat for you," Mindy's mum said in a cute voice

"OK Lady."

She sighs, "Don't call me Lady, call me Mum, Mommy, just not Lady."

"OK Lady. I love you buh-bye."

She then speaks to Buttons. "Now Buttons, you keep an eye on Mindy, and don't leave this car."

Buttons woofs in agreement to her demands.

But of course, like any Mindy cartoon, Mindy will be distracted by something. In this case, some tumbleweed flew by, which made her curious. "Fluffy ball!" she said. Being the smart toddler that she is, Mindy unbuckled the belts on her booster seat and set off in chase of the tumbleweed.

Buttons, slightly asleep, suddenly realises Mindy is gone! He then rushes out of the car to protect her from the dangers of the desert.

But then here comes the twist.

About 500 meters down the road was a convertible driving along the highway. It was being driven by some random who has nothing to do with the story. The passenger, did have something to do with the story, as it was the teenager himself.

He sees Mindy being pursued by Buttons and yells to the random, "Stop the car!"

The random driver slams the breaks and the teenager leaps out of the car in time to grab Mindy. Buttons looks confused, but then claps in delight.

"Where did she come from Buttons?" the teenager asks. Buttons points to the gas station down the road. "Hop in. I'll take you back to your owners," he said to Buttons and then continued talking, but to Mindy, "and I'll take you back to your mum and daddy."

"OK Mr Man," the teenager smiles at Mindy.

When they reached the gas station, the teenager went to Mindy's parents and said, "Excuse me. I think found your daughter and dog at the side of the road."

Mindy's parents gasped. "Mindy! And Buttons! I thought I told you two to stay in the car!"

"Now don't go scolding them Mindy's Mum & Dad. This happens all the time, except you never notice. Remember the time Mindy was on a construction site, and you had to go there to pick her up from the rescue workers?"

"Well. I never knew it happened that much..." Mindy's Mum said in amazement.

The teenager continued, "Sure. I have some more footage at the back of the car I could show you. In fact, most times, you scold poor Buttons here (the teenager turns to Buttons while explaining) even though he's bravely risked his life to save Mindy from harm."

The parents both look at Buttons and apologise to him. "What can we do to repay you and to make up for our poor parenting?" Mindy's Mum said, slightly sobbing.

"There is one other thing. Would you give your permission to have Mindy and Buttons return for an Animaniacs reunion?"

"Sure," Mindy's parents said. "Anything for saving our darling daughter and out brave rescue dog."

"…And justice for Buttons," the teenager says to us.

Part 10: The Cliffhanger

Well, all of the minor characters of importance have been rounded up now. So why is there another part to this already longer then usual episode? To give you something to wonder about for the next episode and looking at it, it's a doozy.

Burbank, California. A small city park, but large enough for a large tree house to be there. This is usually where Slappy Squirrel lives. The teenager knocks on the door. Nothing. He opens the door to the house… and nobody's inside.

He then looks at the Acme Tracker (which he didn't bother to look at because, like the Warners, you expect Slappy to be in her tree house in Burbank). It points him to a nearby cemetery. "The cemetery? Forest Woodlawn?" he asks himself.

He walks over to Forest Woodlawn. And his tracker leads him to a grim discovery. Where the tracker tells him Slappy is, well… buried in the ground.

The headstone reads: "Here lies Slappy. Cartoon great. Died of old age and stress from a dispute with Barbra Streisand."

The teenager's eyes suddenly open wide and he is filled with shock. "Slappy Squirrel… is dead? This can't happen. Cartoons don't die, especially of old age. Cartoons characters don't age! How could this happen? This is breaking all the rules of cartoons, let alone Animaniacs!"

He then turns around, only to find someone there. He leaps in shock, as he sees Skippy, but he's taller and older. "S-S-Skippy! You must be, like, 30!"

"Could you leave me alone? We're trying to do something here"

The teenager then stammers. "S-Sure. I'm sorry for your loss. G-Goodbye" The teenager then comically runs away with a trail of smoke behind him, screaming in terror.

Is Slappy really dead?

Is Skippy really 30?

What in the blue blazes is going on?

And why am I asking these questions that suggest things are not all as they seem?

Order will hopefully be restored on the next episode of The Warners That Time Forgot!

*The next chapter might take longer then usual to upload, I'm becoming very busy at the moment which will mean that I have less time to write up the story.