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This is my page entirely dedicated to my favorite Warner: Wakko, of course! He's the master of the mallet, his favorite tool of choice. His wakky sak can produce just about anything he needs -- as long as he remembers to bring it! He makes quite a craft of sight gags of all sorts and enjoys manipulating words in order to make them rhyme with the lyrics of the Warner's crazy songs. He can and will eat just about anything (which never seems to hurt him), sometimes for shock value, but often, because it just might taste good! And his idol is Don Knotts!! |
Although he has been talking a lot more than he used to, Wakko still doesn't say as much as his older brother, Yakko and his younger sister, Dot. He doesn't have to. Wakko usually acts on what he's thinking but when he does something particularly curious he draws you in as you wonder just what exactly must go through that little guy's head sometimes. Wakko tries to imitate his older brother in many things (example: "Hellooo, NURSE!!"), but he always seems to do these things with more innocence and naiveness than Yakko.
Don't get me wrong. Wakko's no angel, I know. He is after all "The Great Wakkorotti", and king of many disgusting (but humorous) bodily noises, but what little boy isn't in some way? So why do I love him so much? I think Jessica Rabbit said it best when asked what she saw in her husband, Roger Rabbit: "He makes me laugh."
If Wakko had to fill out a form about himself, what are some of the things he would say? The following has a few known facts mixed in with a few (maybe) fabrications...
Name: Wakko Warner
Address: (I dare ya to mail something)
The Warner Brothers Studio Lot Watertower
Burbank, CA 91522
Hair: black
Eyes: black
Race: Toon
Species: Warner
Height: 3'
Weight: depends on what was eaten most recently!
Age:
(in Warner years) 7
(in People years) 70
Birth date:
September 13, 1993 - well... the Animaniacs series original pilot airdate
February 30, 1930? 1929? - according to Lon Borax... I have reasons to doubt this one :)
November 4, 1930? 1929? - Wakk's b-day in "Clown and Out", originally aired 11/4/93
Interests/Hobbies/Fascinations: Don Knotts, bats, and FOOD (he'll eat anything!)...
Pet Peeves/Dislikes/Phobias: CLOWNS (he's terrified of them), wearing pants, mayonnaise, and men's rooms which are out of order...
Poor Wakko. Physically, he surpasses his sibs but up against Yakko and Dot, vocally, he can't compare. In the following episodes he stars (for the most part) without his siblings. Little Wakko Warner can then work at his own pace and really shine.
1. "Wakko's America" (ep. #21) - Wakko sings all fifty states and their capitals.
2. "Potty Emergency" (ep. #26) - Wakko spends the entire episode, trying to find the perfect place to potty (one of my personal faves).
3. "Clown and Out" (ep. #34) - It's Wakko's birthday and Mr. Plotz has hired a clown to entertain him... not realizing that Wakko is terrified of clowns.
4. "Ups and Downs" (ep. #52) - Wakko and Dr. Scratchansniff get stuck in an elevator for 10 hours.
5. "Wakko's Gizmo" (ep. #57) -What't that gizmo Wakko's got? What does it do? The goal of Wakko's gizmo in this 3 minute long commercial is to flatten a whoopie cushion which Wakko finds hilarious. What can I say? Small minds...
6. "Wakko's New Gookie" (ep. #70)
7. "Bingo" (ep. #71) - When Dr. Scratchansniff holds a bingo game, only Wakko shows up... Bad puns ensue.
8. "Go Fish" (ep. #77) - Wakko plays a delightful game of "go fish" with himself. But he takes it too far when he accuses himself of cheating.
9. "Hello Nurse" (ep. #82) - Wakko sings about his love for the studio nurse, with a little help from Yakko.
10. "Mighty Wakko at the Bat" (ep. #85) - A fun parody of the classic poem, "Mighty Casey at the Bat". But with a happier ending.
11. "Soda Jerk" (ep. #86) - Wakko gets a nearly incurable case of the hiccups and drives his sibs nearly insane trying to cure him.
12. "10 Short Films About Wakko Warner" (ep. #89) - We get an inside look into the life of "Hollywood Legend", Wakko Warner.
1. "The Master and his Music" (ep. #16) - The first and funniest of TGW bits. Maybe because it's original. After that, the rehashing of the animation starts getting old.
2. "The Summer Concert" (ep. #31)
3. "The Holiday Concert" (ep. #50) - Wakko belches "Jingle Bells".
4. "Return of TGW" (ep. #82) - A slight variation on the belch theme. Wakko has laryngitis, so instead, uses his hands
One of Wakko's quirky little mannerisms is that he has been found to yank on his ears from time to time. It is usually done to express pain or fear... but sometimes he just plain does it for the heck of it! Here are a few occasions...
The Odd Lyrics Wakko Provides For the Warners Songs
1. "Everyone's our friend," rhymes with Wakko's, "And shake you by the hend."
2. "We can't help it if we like to play," rhymes with Wakko's, "What do you do with eggs at a buffet?"
3. "While she may have been forward," rhymes with Wakko's, "Acting out of her gour-ard."
4. "Doin' what it oughta," rhymes with Wakko's, "Cuba's in the watah."
Why does Wakko love Don Knotts so much? Maybe because Knotts was once a toon himself in the Warner Bros. (get it?) movie, "The Incredible Mr. Limpet"? Actually, I'd say Wakko's favorite Don Knotts character would have to be Deputy Barney Fife from "The Andy Griffith Show". Check this out:
Nope, I can't imagine what on earth Wakko Warner has in common with Barney Fife. :)
Wakko has probably idolized Don Knotts for most of his life as he's only a few years younger than his hero (if you agree that the Warners were created in 1930). Wakko must have looked up to Don Knotts for over 40 years now. A pretty impressive dedication on Wakko's part. His admiration has lasted far longer than Yakko or Dot's favorites (Dot's obsessed with Mel Gibson while Yakko, on the other hand, will chase anything female). Yakko and Dot have both seen and met their favorite stars on numerous occasions on Animaniacs but Wakko has not once met his lifelong hero. Kinda sad, huh? The following are all the episodes that I know of which mention Wakko's fascination with Don Knotts:
1. "Taming of the Screwy" (ep. #5) - The Warners imagine the big stars they will meet at the party... "Michelle Pfeiffer!" says Yakko, Dot cries, "Mel Gibson!" "Don Knotts!" Wakko beams. Later, when the Warners get kicked out of the party Wakko moans, "No chit-chat with Don Knotts!" Give a listen to part 1! (71K) Give a listen to part 2! (90K)
2. "Garage Sale of the Century" (ep. #12) - The price of the garage is getting too expensive! Yakko says to his sib, "You'll have to sell your Don Knotts videos," and Wakko begins to whimper. Give a listen! (82K)
3. "Plane Pals" (ep. #22) - Yakko, Wakko, and Dot make a new "special friend" in this episode. In the end, the Warners give chase as Wakko attempts to convince him to stay by announcing, "We're gonna make Sloppy Joes and rent Don Knotts videos!" Give a listen! (58K)
4. "Chairman of the Bored" (ep. #32) - After Pip finally ends his terribly long and boring story about how he met Bob Barker, he leaves and the Warners begin to miss him. They run after Pip begging to him to tell them another story. Wakko calls out, "Didja ever meet Don Knotts?!" Give a listen! (120K)
5. "Fair Game" (ep. #40) - The Warners become contestants on a television game show. The question is, "Who first identified the law of gravity?" The Warners have no clue. Wakko mumbles to himself, "Was it Don Knotts?" Give a listen! (56K)
6. "Animaniacs (video game)" (for Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, and Gameboy) - Though not truly faithful to the show, the Warner's first video game even gets into the act referring to Wakko's idol as "John Snotts"... Dot says, "I want to meet some glamorous celebrities," to which she adds, "or perhaps John Snotts." Wakko chimes in with "Yeah, me too. Maybe he'd do that thing with his eyes for us."
7. "Mostly In Toon" (sing-along video #2) - "Now let's sing of an exquisite beauty who works at the studio!" says Yakko. "Finally," remarks Dot, "a song about me." I thought he meant Don Knotts!" cries Wakko. Dot and Wakko were both wrong. The song was Hello Nurse. Give a listen! (108K)
8. "Hooray For North Hollywood" (eps. #95 & #96) - The Warners have written their first movie script. They sing a song about the studio CEO, Mr. Plotz, called On Our Way to Go See Mr. Plotz as they make their way to his office. In one verse, Wakko holds out a framed picture of Barney Fife and sings, "He even made money on a movie with Don Knotts - My hero!" He then hugs the picture. Give a listen! (45K)
Did you ever notice how much Wakko's voice has changed over the years? Jess Harnell has always done the middle sib's voice, but the sound coming out of the little Warner's mouth has come a long way from what it was in early episodes of Animaniacs. Sure, many of the characters voices have evolved throughout the course of the show, but none seems to have changed so many times as Wakko's voice has. I have actually split up these different voices of Wakko Warner into 4 distinct categories. The first three are probably variations of the same voice, only sped up, to sound younger. (Just as in the voice of Skippy, who they had to constantly speed up as Nathan Ruegger grew up.) You can tell that the first three of Wakko's voices are virtually the same because any of them slowed down or sped up can be made to sound like each other. However, the fourth voice is completely different from the previous ones. I'm not sure why in the end, Jess switched to this voice. It is the least "ringo-esque" of them all.
Voice #1 - a deep, dopey, very Ringo-like voice.
examples of voice #1: "The Big Candy Store", "Meatballs or Consequences".
listen to voice #1. (35K)
Voice #2 - similar to voice #1, but a bit higher pitched. What could best be described as the familar "Wakko Whine" began with this voice (as in "I never get ta get it" in Temporary Insanity). Wakko's whine is something you don't hear very much in his current voice.
examples of voice #2: "Wakko's America" "Temporary Insanity".
listen to voice #2. (68K)
Voice #3 - (my personal favorite) probably the most expressive of all of Wakko's voices. It had the characteristic of being a little whiney and raspy on certain words for emphasis.
examples of voice #3: "Potty Emergency", "Ups and Downs".
listen to voice #3. (68K)
Voice #4 - (the current one) the highest-pitched to date and raspy almost all the time. Just about any episode that orginally aired on the WB Network used this voice.
examples of voice #4: "Go Fish", "Soda Jerk".
listen to voice #4. (73K)
Did I say any of Wakko's first three voices can be made to sound like the other? I have proof! I took "Wakko's America" -- a #2 voice -- and sped it up to a #3 voice! To give you an idea of how little I actually had to speed it up, the original song is 1:49 and this sped up version is 1:39! Listen to the excerpt! Forget what the original version sounded like? Listen to it now!
An interesting sidenote: Wakko's giggle has always remained the same.
Jess Harnell likes to tell the story about the kid he ran into at Disney World that wasn't impressed with Jess's Wakko voice, "You don't even sound like him..." After exploring the many voices of Wakko here, is it any wonder why the kid would have said such a thing to our beloved Wakko voice artist?
C'mon, you remember! It's Variety Speak for "Wakko's Pictures"! I decided that this page was taking too long to load with all those pictures so I moved my favorite Wakko pics that I have found or created, here...
wakabstract.jpg - Is Wakko creating a new art craze, or is he just an incredibly bad artist?
spacewako.jpg - Here's a pic of Wakko from "Spaced Probed".
wakhat.gif - A nice portrait of Wakko.
macwak.gif - Here's a pic of Wakko that I made from a "Macadamia Nut" screen grab.
wakbow.gif - I made this a transparent gif from another "Wheel of Morality" screen grab.
wakfall.gif - I made this pic from the one with the sibs falling from the sky.
wakgrab.gif - A cute pic of Wakko that I made from an Animaniacs model sheet.
Here is a list of external links that deal with Wakko's interests in some way. In other words, if Wakko were surfing the internet, what kinds of pages would he come across?
DON KNOTTS VIDEOS!! - One of Wakko's favorite places to browse
The Many Faces of Barney Fife - You'd almost think this page belonged to Wakko himself!
Wakko Warner's Don Knotts Page - Now this is Wakko's Don Knotts page!
BarneyFife.com - Yup, there's actually a website named after Barney.
Anti-Clown Sites - Wakko is most likely an avid vistor to many of these sites. If only they didn't have so many scary pictures!
The Anti Clown Page - Wakko's most intriged by this page. It even mentions him!
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Get Back, Wakko, Get Back!
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