Yakko Marx

I've been watching 2 things (on TV at least) as of late. Old Marx Brothers movies and Animaniacs. Not on purpose, mind you, but it is a fun chance to see the parallels. Animaniacs is not exactly "based" on the Marx Brothers, but there's no chance Animaniacs would exist without the forefathers of modern comedy.

The Marx Brothers worked because you had 3 personas that were funny by themselves and funnier working together. Is it cliche to say they were ahead of their time? It would be if you could describe their situation any other way, but we're left with hard, cinematic proof that those in charge had very little idea how to make these guys work. Elaborate musical numbers and melodramatic plots were not what made the brothers great, but that seems to be what the studios wanted to do. The brother's Marx played along and made all the movies watchable, but somehow there's always just a touch of disappointment. Where is that perfect Marx Brothers movie we never got? If we had the Marx's around today, could we make better movies? My vote is a big yes, but who really knows. That's the beauty of these hypothetical situations, after all.

On the other hand, Animaniacs is quite the opposite. It is a show firmly looking back, in many ways behind the times. That isn't to say it wasn't fresh, funny, and one of the best things on television at the time (because it was), but just take a few moments to consider. The show tells us the characters themselves were products of early WB cartoonists (the chubby creator shown creating them bears some semblance to Tex Avery). The segments are based on character teams and formulas like most of earlier WB cartoons (especially Friz Freleng's). The use of a full orchestra doing Stalling-esque effects as an integral part of the soundtrack. And on and on. But for all this looking back, I never really considered the show as carrying the torch of WBs cartoons. Don't get me wrong, I do love me some cartoons, but the era of the great film cartoons of WB, MGM, Paramount, etc. has been dead since cartoons came to TV.

So to wrap it up...Groucho has a little bit of new life (but mostly recycled life) in Yakko, Harpo's antics and destructive tendencies are given voice and action in Wakko, Chico (my favorite) was left out in the cold, and no one cares about Zeppo, Gummo, or Dot*.

*-not exactly accurate, it just sounded better on paper