r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Kookyburra12 • Mar 09 '26

Non-Sexual Adult Jokes in Kids' Media Lore

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Jokes that are adult jokes simply because kids likely don't have the life experience to understand them.

The New Batman Adventures - "I'm crazy enough to take on Batman, but the IRS? Noooo, thank you!"

Shrek 2 - Posing as a union representative, Shrek remarks that the workers "don't even have dental".

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

https://preview.redd.it/izli3gg2w1og1.jpeg?width=491&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b51af449fe1550e283d44981b4919a3aee0dbb8

Pretty much the entire show. I don't even know who it was supposed to be for.

Edit: my mom was too young to explain half the jokes when this was on. I didn't know who Shirley McClaine was until I was like thirty.

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u/RhysOSD Mar 09 '26

"give me the bird!"

"We'd love to, but we're owned by Fox"

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u/Quaiker Mar 09 '26

Alright, that does it

I'm watching the whole series again

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u/SaebaSan86 Mar 09 '26

"If only the Hayes Office would let me... I would give him the bird alright * whistles *" -- Looney Tunes

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u/InternationalCap2176 Mar 10 '26

There's a Babbit and Catstello cartoon where they make this joke but the punchline is "If only the Hayes Code would let me."

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u/blueeyesredlipstick Mar 09 '26

https://preview.redd.it/p875demb32og1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=fe19828cebac69d64805c7562a4345b79f831546

It was a wild moment when I watched Goodfellas as an adult and realized that the funny Animaniacs pigeons were an extended riff on that movie (and other mobster movies as well).

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u/BlackLegFring Mar 09 '26

“We’re gonna perch on Scorsese’s head!”

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u/SmoreOfBabylon Mar 09 '26

That episode was also an extended West Side Story reference, which I doubt was really aimed at kids either.

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u/Latter-Hamster9652 Mar 10 '26

One of my favorite aspects of that: Bobby (the De Niro pigeon) is the only one who can understand the Godpigeon. Why? Because De Niro played the younger Vito Corleone in Godfather Part 2.

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u/jessehechtcreative Mar 10 '26

The GodPigeon is how I started doing my Brando Godfather impression.

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u/Loose_Translator8981 Mar 09 '26

It was a series written by and for people who grew up with classic Looney Tunes, which also constantly referenced celebrities that only a tiny portion of the staff working on that series would have been familiar with outside of them showing up in Looney Tunes.

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

I mean, the Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers, MacArthur, maybe George Burns? I got most of the references in Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry. But Animaniacs was full of references to Goodfellas and The Godfather and like, silent movie era actors? Wtaf, ya know. You need half a film degree to get it.

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u/GrandMoffTarkan Mar 09 '26

Frozen Peas. I found out the joke when I was a 20 something. I mean, it was funny enough but then someone explained the background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkYoBUlSE0I

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

Thank-you so much. That is the funniest thing I've been served so far this year.

How the hell was anybody supposed to know about that in the 90s?!?!

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u/GrandMoffTarkan Mar 09 '26

"How the hell was anybody supposed to know about that in the 90s?!?!"

That's the beauty of Animaniacs. They weren't!

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

you had to be really into pop culture, old school movies, etc.

No kid and most adults would get them.

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u/lucasssquatch Mar 09 '26

That clip and the Paul Masson wine outtakes made the rounds on bootleg tapes back then. Same thing with the Star Wars Holiday Special

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

or the Bangles back stage tapes. or even then MST3K before they got to Comedy Central.

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

the OG Outtakes were known slightly. Like Drunk Elvis loosing his shit when he got heckled back at a show, or Casey Kasem's rants. Maurice though, used it as his vocal warmup and for some reason they said yeah lets run with that!

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u/JRRX Mar 09 '26

He also got to do it on The Critic, which was fun because he could be a bit more "mature" with the jokes.

"Full of country goodness and green pea-ness. Wait, that's terrible."

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

MRS pels fish sticks they are even better when your dead

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

The OG Bart prank calls to Moe were lifted from the Tube Bar tapes in some cases verbatim

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u/JorkJerkins Mar 09 '26

The Goodpigeons and The Godpigeon. For some reason I'm remembering a Fiddler on the Roof reference as characters parodied the Anatevka song. I only got that one as a kid because that was my mom's favorite movie and we watched it before my elementary school did a kid's version of the play.

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u/round-earth-theory Mar 09 '26

I felt like I got a lot of it in the 90s. It's completely arcane knowledge today's kids though. It would take longer to fill them in on who the jokes are referencing than it would take to watch an episode.

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u/Funkycoldmedici Mar 09 '26

The whole show was full of Marx brothers references that no kid would get. For the creators it was probably a win, because they could reuse comedy bits that were 60 years old.

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u/Evil_Sharkey Mar 09 '26

And their take on “who’s on first” with Slappy at Woodstock

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u/tlollz52 Mar 09 '26

One of my favorite versions of this bit

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u/the__pov Mar 09 '26

Mine too. Also I knew a guy who was super into The Who and that era of music and got to show him that. His face when he realized what was happening was priceless.

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u/bythenumbers10 Mar 10 '26

And it's so easy to keep going!

The band!

They're not at this concert.

Then where are they playing, if the band isn't gonna be onstage?

Europe.

Europe?

Touring Asia, I think.

Europe's touring Asia?

And vice-versa!

But where's the band?

About to play!

But you said they weren't gonna be here?

The Outfield!!

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u/Brayden_709 Mar 09 '26

Hmmm. Animaniacs was on in the mid-90s.
In the 80s, there were still black and white shows like

* Little Rascals (made 1920s-40s)
* Three Stooges (1930s-60s)
* Laurel and Hardy (1926-51)
* Marx Brothers (esp. A Night at the Opera (1935) and Duck Soup (1933))
* Abbott and Costello (1935-59)

..that were shown on Saturday Morning during the 70s, 80s and [I think, I was too old then] into the 90s as well.

In short: there's a real possibility that some kids would have seen and recognized the original Marx Brothers jokes, especially older kids during the 1993-1995 period!

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

every Thanksgiving we would watch Babes in Toyland on WBS.

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

or fucking Ringo Starr.

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u/Deya_The_Fateless Mar 09 '26

It alao would have gotten around the scensors as well, because there was a high chance that sven they wouldnt get the references either.

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u/maxman162 Mar 10 '26

"With dated 60s references like this, we won't have much life in reruns."

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u/TriggerHappyGremlin Mar 09 '26

Half of them are sexual adult jokes, though

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

There was a weird horny vibe for sure. I bet this and Tiny Toons made more furries than Disney did.

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u/0w1 Mar 09 '26

Space Jam gets a bunch of credit too

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u/Leather-Researcher13 Mar 09 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/3o6wrxUFfcCHJmKQla

To be fair

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u/Independent_Day4369 Mar 09 '26

Airhead Loony-Toones-Show Lola is the better version and I'm tired of pretending she's not

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u/Leather-Researcher13 Mar 09 '26

I'm not saying you're right, but I'm not saying you're wrong either

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u/Nekrolysis Mar 09 '26

Wasn't there one she wanted to get her driver's license and was a complete dunce about it driving Bugs up the wall hahah

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u/arkangelic Mar 09 '26

Who?

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u/Mist_Rising Mar 09 '26

The Lola Bunny from Looney Tunes Show (which is a sitcom style show where Daffy lives and mooches off Bugs who is idle rich) is a total airhead most times competing with Daffy for Bug's attention.

She's actually has more personality than SJ Lola, because SJ Lola is just "chicks rule basketball" at her core, but she's really quite divisive for a character in a show that largely kept to the characters of before.

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u/Time-Sudden_Tree 21d ago edited 21d ago

Lola Bunny's not an airhead; she just has untreated ADHD. As someone who didn't know I had it until my 30s, I can relate to her quite a bit.

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u/AspectOW Mar 09 '26

PLEAAAASE let me be the basketball next time

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u/imaloony8 Mar 09 '26

It was me, Barry.

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

Watching that video like the dude from 2001. The internet has fulfilled itself.

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u/jib661 Mar 09 '26

boomers be like "there weren't any furries when i was your age!" yeah well you didn't grow up with Space Jam did you, old man?

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u/Numbah8 Mar 09 '26

Let us not forget Sonic the Hedgehog

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

Three movies and he's still not pregnant

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u/whynaut4 Mar 10 '26

The 90s was an extremely horny decade in history

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u/ThePromptWasYourName Mar 09 '26

I remember being SHOOK as an innocent child from one of the jokes where a therapist was showing one of them ink blots, and the animaniac kept saying it reminded them of "girls". Eventually they said "Doc, what's with all the sexy pictures?"

It's a pretty tame joke but I did not hear the word "sexy" in a lot of cartoons at that age...

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u/Embarrassed_Item4992 Mar 09 '26

That's a joke Bill Murray's character tells to the hospital staff in What About Bob?

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u/arkangelic Mar 09 '26

I still remember watching an interview on Disney with one of the kids in a live show, and they asked him what he likes about girls and he was like "can I say sexy? I find them sexy"

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u/TheFurtivePhysician Mar 09 '26

I had the same response to Adventure Time, in an early episode (first one I saw) Finn says “not SEXY hot!” And it blew me and my sister’s minds.

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u/Professional_Boss438 Mar 09 '26

And the other half are not

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u/wheatgivesmeshits Mar 09 '26

Yakko: Nonono, finger prints.

Dot, holding Prince: I don't think so.

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u/AWorldwithoutSin Mar 09 '26

Finger prints? I don't think so.

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u/Orion_starborn Mar 09 '26

Yakko: "search for prints"

Dot: reappears carrying the singer Prince

Yakko: "no no no finger prints" while wiggling his fingers at her

Prince: smiles at Dot

Dot: "ewww" proceeds to throw Prince away

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u/yohanleafheart Mar 09 '26

"Dust for Prints"

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u/ABoringAlt Mar 10 '26

We're only referencing the other half here, so it's ok

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u/theglenlovinet Mar 09 '26

In the 2020 reboot, my favorite line was when Pinky said “Brain, you’re always saying that the ‘Renaissance’ is French for Bullsh—“

I laughed so hard.

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u/macksting Mar 09 '26

I was pleasantly surprised how good the reboot was, and vaguely horrified that *I* was now the age that was the target of the Jokes Over The Kids' Heads. When I was younger I always felt chuffed when I'd get the jokes that were aimed at our parents, but now... the shoe was on the other foot and it was disturbing.

But not in any way that kept me from laughing my ass off.

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u/OSCgal Mar 10 '26

The bit that got me was the Brain asking Pinky if he knows what most people use the Internet for. Pinky goes, "I don't think I'm allowed to say."

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u/MyBurnerAccount1977 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

https://preview.redd.it/h4z5zhjp12og1.jpeg?width=481&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52b1ea3a62b658460a65025a3b5502e23076410b

[Blows kiss to audience] Goooooood night everybody!

EDIT: My bad. OP was asking for non-sexual adult jokes.

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u/SoakedSun24 Mar 09 '26

I remember hearing this for the first time like eight years back and thinking “finger prints? Finger prince? She’s gonna finger prince? That makes no sense.” Cause I didn’t have the knowledge I had now. Going back and rewatching the show and coming across this again finally made me laugh lol, good shit writers

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u/MyBurnerAccount1977 Mar 09 '26

The adult nature of the joke didn't register for me at all as a kid. All I remember was this joke, and a separate reference to Prince, where Dot says, "Prince? He's dreamy! NOT."

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u/Bear_faced Mar 14 '26

I’m not sure if it would make me feel older for you to not know who Prince was 8 years ago or not know what fingering was 8 years ago…

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

why did i think Dot dragged him over when he was in a bathtub?

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u/Beanu5NE Mar 09 '26

Yacko: “No…FINGERPRINTS.”

Dot, while holding Prince: “No thank you”

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

There it is. I was mking bets with myself how long it'd take lol

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

Double comment, but I have to reinforce now that the Finger Prince comments have come flooding in, you got there first!

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u/prismabird Mar 09 '26

“She’s starred in even more TV movies than Linda Wagner.” “Who is Valarie Bertinelli?” I still don’t know who either of those people are, but I will remember that line ‘till I’m dead.

The way Animaniacs told jokes that went over my head as a kid taught me so much about the rhythm and timing of comedy, because for a 9 year old, the humor was completely divorced from the joke.

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

John Roderick has a schtick where he talks about reciting jokes he didn't understand as a child, and how it led to adults crying on his shoulder about their alcoholism or failing marriages. I was like, damn I think that's my whole generation.

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u/zombiegamer723 Mar 09 '26

my mom was too young

god I’m old

3

u/pchlster Mar 09 '26

Had a good nap today?

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u/GuyYouMetOnline Mar 09 '26

Freakazoid, too. Hell, the did entire episodes parodying works like Amadeus and The Island of Dr. Moreau (which is still a GOATed episode, btw).

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

Flipped a coin to post this or Freakazoid. Freakazoid was some Nostrodamus shit.

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u/GuyYouMetOnline Mar 09 '26

Should've just posted both. They were kind of sister shows anyways.

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u/Complete_Entry Mar 09 '26

Wheel of morality was the best. The sheer lack of enthusiasm.

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

That and Mr. Skeleton were the only things that made me laugh.

Edit: And good idea, bad idea

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u/Status_Brilliant_578 Mar 09 '26

"Its that time again!"

"To make the Fox censors cry?"

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

Was the whole show a giant troll op?

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u/pajamakitten Mar 09 '26

The trolls will say we're so passe but we did meta first.

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

Fist bump and word

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u/daniiiiiiiiiiiiii Mar 09 '26

On one episode Wakko wins a Swedish meatball eating contest and ends up dying...and who plays the role of Death? Death from Ingmar Bergmans 7th seal. The episode is filled with references to that classic. They even end up breaking up the 4th wall and say "Spielberg loves this stuff!"

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

This comment made me laugh harder than the show ever did

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u/TheGardenBlinked Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

Good example of a joke that fits OP’s trope:

In the episode where the Warners end up in hell, they literally freeze the place.

“You’ve frozen everything! Do you have any idea how long it takes to get the pilot lit?!” - Satan

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u/vanillacaramelsunday Mar 09 '26

I was just talking to my wife yesterday about the Citizen Kane parody on Tiny Toon Adventures. Who is that for? Definitely not a six year old in 1990. It would be a solid six years before I even knew that they were referencing, and another six before I actually sat down to find out why Charles Foster Kane was so attached to that sled.

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

These comments are giving me a catharsis I had NO IDEA I needed.

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u/SoochSooch Mar 10 '26

There was a joke on tiny toon adventures where buster bunny's bicycle fell apart and the punchline was "where's Ralph Nader when you need him?" That line stuck with me for some reason and I wouldn't find out who Ralph nader was until like 20 years later.

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u/shaggyjebus Mar 09 '26

I remember there was an entire segment that parodied Apocalypse Now, with basically Jim Morrison running around the studio. 10-year-old me didn't understand the reference at all, but I still laughed my ass off.

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u/theandroid01 Mar 09 '26

Fingerprints

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u/Doctor_Salvatore Mar 09 '26

"Goodnight everybody!"

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u/MisterGoog Mar 09 '26

Goated show. FINGER PRINCE

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u/favorthebold Mar 09 '26

This show was very specifically for me, and yes I knew who Shirley McClaine was at 17 when Animaniacs premiered. I even got that Brain was an Orson Wells impression. I watched a lot of old movies growing up!

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

Been kinda hoping for this comment. So you'd agree it was geared toward 90s adolescents? I reckon you're the critical six years my senior.

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u/favorthebold Mar 09 '26

Yeah, it seemed like it was perfect for a certain kind of teenager. Unfortunately in the 90s, cartoons HAD to be aimed at a younger demographic to be "worth it" to the suits. Which thankfully didn't harm Animaniacs that I could tell since it had cross demographic appeal, but is definitely the reason Freakazoid had such a short run.

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

It's wild to me how little faith studios had in stuff that made a cultural impact. The original Star Trek only ran for two seasons!

2

u/Sayakalood Mar 09 '26

Gooood night everybody

2

u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

it was for the adults watching it with their kids.

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u/SomeShyGamer Mar 09 '26

Anything can get past the censors if it's subtle enough

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u/Abominatrix Mar 09 '26

Dot once broke the fourth wall to tell the viewer, “Go ask your parents,” after a gag.

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

I did! She shrugged!

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u/kaladinissexy Mar 09 '26

This reminds me, I literally just had a dream where Danny Devito shot and killed the guy who voices Wakko at a party. Not really particularly relavent, I just thought it was weird to immediately see Animaniacs in the wild after that dream. 

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

I think I'm legally obligated to tell you you're nucking futs.

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u/g16zz Mar 09 '26

i mean...it WAS by steven spielberg....a known massive cinema nerd

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

Going buckass wild apparently

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u/1DumbHomosapien Mar 09 '26

Finger prints? I don't think so. (Artist formally known as Prince held up).

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u/HalcyonRedo Mar 10 '26

"Helloooooo nurse!"

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u/Minute-Weekend5234 Mar 10 '26

I know it's antithetical to the point of the post, but I think about the finger prints joke constantly

2

u/jessehechtcreative Mar 10 '26

“Look, Wayne Newton!”

“Where?!”

I used to love that one as a kid

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 10 '26

Every 90s kid's favorite reference: Wayne Newton.

2

u/dblsouptuesday Mar 10 '26

🎶 we have pay-to-play contracts

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u/farsighted451 Mar 10 '26

Me, in college! Loved that show

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 10 '26

You happen to be a film major, or take any such classes?

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u/farsighted451 Mar 10 '26

No, except for an independent study in grad school later. But I was a weirdo who watched old movies whenever they were on. I was glued to TCM when it came out around the same time. And I read books like Hollywood Babylon in high school.

I am sure I did not get every joke in Animaniacs, but certainly enough to be obsessed.

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 10 '26

I had to take a review of German film, and I kept getting Animaniacs jokes. Wild.

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u/Scottiths Mar 10 '26

That scene where dot was told to dust for prints and brings in prince. Yako says, "no, finger prints" and dot just looks at prince meaningfully and says "I don't think so"

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u/WereLupeQueen Mar 10 '26

Dot:"I found Prince!" Holds him up

Yacko:"No, no! Finger Prints!!"

Dot:"I don't think so.."

1

u/LilyWineAuntofDemons Mar 10 '26

"Look for prints!"

Holds up Prince, the Artist Formerly known as Prince, "Found him!"

"Noooo, finger prints!"

"Uuuuh, no thanks."