+ Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt were known for their Broadway work in the 1910's through the 1950's. They were also married. (WBB)

Seen in episode(s): 25 31 39 44 48

Rita and Runt are on board a freight train going to Monterey. They jump off, but take a wrong turn and go to Happy Bob's Bunny Ranch. Happy Bob gets Runt to watch over his bunnies, and he puts Rita in the barn to chase the rats. The next day, Bob takes all of the bunnies into a building to skin them for their fur to sell to Pacific Coast Furriers, but Runt jumps Bob and sets the bunnies free. Rita and Runt get on another train and bring the bunnies along with them.

+ "Solvang" is a city in California known for its Scandinavian origin and decorum. (MF)

+ Most of the opening lines (except Brain's) are straight from OMaM, and not just from those old LT/MMs. (RWA)

- The sudden transition shot after Brain asks "AYPWIP?" led toonatics to believe that the cartoon had been edited, and that the first run had shown Brain smacking the tree. But checking the archives confirmed that such a shot never existed. (WBB)

+ George and Lenny were from the book that the cartoon takes its title from. Also, the fact that G & L were seen near a rabbit ranch is a reference to how in the book Of Mice and Men the great goal of the pair is to own a rabbit ranch. Lenny's always asking, "Will I get to tend the rabbits, George? Can I tend the rabbits? Can I? Can I?" etc. They attempted to have Runt say this, I noticed, but it came out "Can I *take care of* the rabbits, Rita?" (DAG)

+ The rat Rita met in the barn was stolen *directly* from the rat in the Disney film "Lady and the Tramp". (DAG)

+ In case by some miracle no one caught it, I'll mention that John Steinbeck, who wrote "Of Mice and Men", placed many of his stories in and around Monterey. (DD, MF)

- As Rita sings about a cypress tree in her first song, we get a shot of such a tree. That tree is sort of one of the symbols of the Monterey Bay area. (RO)

+ "Happy Bob" appeared in TTA as "Bicycle Bob". He's also appeared in the Beanstalk short (see The Warners and the Beanstalk). (Treesong)

+ Referring to Rita's comment about Sondheim: many of the Animaniacs tunes bear a more than passing resemblence to Sondheim songs, especially the ones Rita sings. Listen to "What Are We?" again - pure Sondheim, nobody else does phrasing like that - "Maybe we are dogs, cute little dogs with ears" could have come directly from Into The Woods, as could Rita's various "Mama" songs. (MF)

Directed by Michael Gerard

Animation studio: Freelance

Seen in episode(s): 43

Runt Valrunt escapes from "Le Pound", imprisoned there because he stole a bone. One of the guard dogs, Camenbert vows to track Runt down. A tavern owner, Monsieur Tristesse, keeps many stray cats (les miseranimals) in a pen behind the tavern. He has run out of meat for his meaty meat pies and his customers are very unhappy. Mr. Tristesse decides to put the cats into his pies. Runt comes to rescue Rita, but can't break her out. He goes away and comes back with a dozen revolting pedigree poodles, and they dig under the wall of the pen and free the cats. Mr. Tristesse grabs Rita before she can leave. Runt bites Mr. Tristesse, and Rita and Runt escape. Runt is confronted by Camenbert (who was the one who really stole the bone) when he gets out. Mr. Tristesse breaks down the wall of the pen on top of Camenbert and himself. Runt, Rita, and the rest of the dogs and cats run off to Paris.

- I have got a long posting by John Payson comparing the tunes in this cartoon to the actual lyrics to Les Miz. Ask for the file payson.miz.

- The hotelier seems to bear a striking resemblance to Basil Fawlty. (DCR)

Directed by Gary Hartle, Rich Arons

Animation studio: TMS

Seen in episode(s): 11 H12

Rita and Runt arrive back in Salem Massicuatatatatatataes right during the witch hunt made famous by Arthur Miller's play The crucible. Witchfinder General (John Staton i think but i'm probably wrong) hunts down Rita for being a witch and is about to drown her when Runt being himself manages to save the day. (Charles Brown)

+ All the songs are ripped off from *Beauty and the Beast*: the opening number by the judge is reminiscent of "Belle"; the first tune by Rita is a ripoff of "Gaston"; the final tune is a blatant knockoff of "Beauty and the Beast". Perhaps they SHOULD worry about lawsuits! (JP, WBB)

+ Witch Hazel (from Looney Tunes) makes an appearance.

+ Horse calling Runt "Wilbur" is from the TV show "Mr. Ed". (SK)

+ The little speech before they dunked Rita was definitely influenced by a similar speech in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (the suddenly pronounced English accent, and the phrase 'scientific reasoning' make it almost impossible not to see this one) (MN)

+ Look for a sign on a barrel: "Fish Barrel - No Shooting!" (MMcA)

Written by John P. McCann

Directed by Rusty Mills

Animation studio: Akom

Seen in episode(s): 62

Researchers at the Gorilla Research Facility need to find a way to pacify Kiki, the angriest ape in the world. Rita's singing pacifies the ape, so the researchers take her from the alley and give her to Kiki. Kiki treats Rita like her baby and does violent things to her. Rita eventually escapes and Kiki breaks out and gets another cat.

+ Kiki throws a grass hut against the glass. A bushman climbs out of it (to the "Taz-mania" theme).

- Kiki looks a bit like the female gorilla in the Bugs Bunny cartoon Gorilla My Dreams. And behaves a *lot* like the male one... (BW)

- Koko is/was a female Gorilla. There was a psychiatrist that was teaching her sign language. The Gorilla got quite proficient at it. One day, the P-sychiatrist asked her what she wanted for Christmas. The Gorilla responded that she wanted a kitten. She got one and was happy. The kitten lived with the researcher at night and hung out with Koko in the day. (SThomp)

- That's pretty much the story, though Koko eventually got a second kitty to replace the first. KOKO'S KITTEN, by Dr. Francine Patterson, is available via Scholastic Books (0-590-33812-9). (DT)

- Before we see Kiki's pen we see two others. One is Dian Fossey's Gorillas in the Mist (famous researcher, see also the Sigourney Weaver movie), and the other is Bob Fosse's Puttin' on the Ritz. Bob Fosse was multi-talented but known for his work in broadway musicals and occasional films. (JS)

Written by Deanna Oliver

Directed by Gary Hartle, Audu Paden

Animation studio: Akom

Seen in episode(s): 44

Rita and Runt are being fed under the table by a kind old woman in La Poot's restaurant. They get kicked out when Runt plays chew-tug with a table cloth. They find three hungry abandoned kittens in an alley who want Rita to be their mother. But Rita doesn't want the obligations of being a mother. The old woman from the restaurant comes by and takes the kittens home.

+ The old lady in "Smitten With Kittens" was a *perfect* Ruth Gordon tribute. If she weren't dead, I'd have sworn it *was* her. Go see her in "Any Which Way But Loose" or "Any Which Way You Can", where she plays Clint Eastwood's mother -- I think you'll see more than a slight resemblance. (DD)

- Better yet, see "Harold and Maude". One of the all time great movies. (MB)

Written by Deanna Oliver

Directed by Alfred Gimeno, Dave Marshall

Animation studio: Akom

Seen in episode(s): 39 H13

Rita's former owner takes Rita to the city pound because Rita was too independant and not very good company. Then Runt's former owner takes him to the pound because he would keep wetting on the carpet. Rita and Runt talk and get aquainted. Rita sings about how she would like an owner to feed her and comfort her, but she will not love them in return. She leans against the bars in the wall, and discovers that they are loose. Then she picks the lock on Runt's cage. Rita is surprised to discover that Runt is a dog, while Runt thinks that Rita is a dog too. The pound worker discovers that they are free, then Runt and Rita break loose. Rita decides that they should pal around together until they each find a home, but after that they should part.

- The title is probably a reference to the movie "When Harry Met Sally", which starred Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan (who bear no resemblence to Rita and Runt). (MB)

Directed by Michael Gerard

Animation studio: Freelance

Seen in episode(s): 07

+ "We're not worthy" is stolen from *Wayne's World*. (WBB)

+ Furrball (from TTA) is a rejected candidate for sacrifice. (WBB)

+ Cleopatra and Marc Antony are inspired by Liz Taylor and Richard Burton (who played them in the flop 1963 film). Cleo's violet eyes are the giveaway. (CA, ML, MF)

- The "Who's Afraid of Cleopatra" song is a nod to "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", also starring Burton and Taylor. (CA)

Written by Stephen Hibbert

Directed by Rusty Mills

Animation studio: TMS

Seen in episode(s): 25 H07

Rita and Runt think they are in Burbank, but find themselves in Warsaw, Poland, in 1939. The leader of the Polish underground and his daughter Katrina are being chased by some German soldiers. They hide in an alley. The father leaves his daughter in the alley and arranges for them to meet at the train station. Rita saves the daughter by fighting off a German sausage dog who discovers her. They go to the train station, but the train starts to leave before they discover that her father is on the train. Rita and Katrina run after the train and board it, but then Rita jumps off to save Runt from the other dog.

+ "Definitely 147 rocks" -- the first concrete reference to *Rain Man*. (WBB)

+ Nit1: The Warsaw train station, while depicted correctly, was flattened several days before Warsaw was taken. (RP)

+ Nit2: The map shown at the start omits the fact that Poland was also invaded from the east, showing captured territories as part of the USSR. (RP)

+ Anti-nit: The German troops shown were SS, which were actually used to garrison Warsaw. (Any other force would have been mauled in short order.) (RP)

Written by Nicholas Hollander

Story by Nicholas Hollander, Tom Ruegger

Directed by Michael Gerard

Animation studio: Wang

Seen in episode(s): 31

+ Geographical nits: none of the major rivers anywhere near Fairbanks has a waterfall, and secondly, in the middle of winter, everything is very well frozen and hence not navigable by boat. BTW, Fairbanks is located right in the heart of ALASKA, at least 200 miles from Canada, as estimated by looking at a map, and nowhere near any ocean. (BF)

Written by Nicholas Hollander

Directed by Lenord Robinson

Animation studio: Akom

Seen in episode(s): 48 H04

- Her Elmer Fudd accent, however, is taken from Kahn's performance as Lily von Shtup in "Blazing Saddles". (MB)

+ The joke rhyming tombstones, such as the one appearing here, are fairly common at places like Disney's Haunted Mansion. (MB)

- I still say the "walkies" bit refers to Barbara Woodhouse, the famous British dog trainer. (WBB)

- The songs, especially the bride-o-frankenstein's song, are reminiscent of songs from *The Rocky Horror Picture Show* and *Little Shop of Horrors*. (WBB, RWA)

Written by John P. McCann

Directed by Michael Gerard

Animation studio: TMS

Seen in episode(s): 29

- The birds harassing Rita in the tree are none other than the sparrows from "West Side Pigeons". (KevinP)

- The other cat's name (Maybeloota Marabella Missy McCoy) is an obvious reference to the name of one of the characters from Disney's The Aristocats, which was something like Theodore DeLacy Giuseppe Tracey Thomas O'Malley (The Alley Cat). (RossS, RO) 3

+ The fly buzzing "Help mee!" refers to the original version of *The Fly*. (many)

Written by Deanna Oliver

Directed by Greg Reyna

Animation studio: Freelance

Seen in episode(s): 57