Hulu’s Animaniacs reboot is already a play for ‘90s cartoon nostalgia, resurrecting a beloved cartoon from the Clinton era for more wacky adventures with the Warner brothers (and their Warner sister)—not to mention a side-dish of similarly wacky adventures from evil mice Pinky and the Brain. We know some might argue that only the Brain is evil, but Pinky has hung around him long enough that he should know better by now.
Anyway, during the show’s New York Comic-Con panel, Hulu showed off a new teaser for the second season of its Animaniacs reboot, and there’s… something different about it. It’s still tapping into that retro cartoon nostalgia, but it almost seems like it’s nostalgic for a different cartoon. Like, maybe one that’s not from the ‘90s at all?
It’s a fun gag, especially since it takes up the entire teaser, but there is something perversely meta about a retro cartoon making a joke about even older cartoons. Animaniacs has never been exclusively about timely pop culture references, because otherwise there’d be no reason for so many ‘90s kids to know who Orson Welles was, but… yeah. Until Adam Wingard makes his ThunderCats movie, this is all we’re going to get for now.
Animaniacs will return to Hulu on November 5, with all episodes premiering at the same time. A press release says that it will involve “pop culture parodies, musical showstoppers, takedowns of historical baddies,” and “even some important safety tips.” There will also be more from Pinky and the Brain and “season one favorites” Starbox and Cindy, plus “some rejected Animaniacs characters that were left on the cutting room floor.” We don’t know what that means, but it certainly seems intriguing. Are these rejected characters going to be Too Wacky For TV, or will they be Not Wacky Enough?