How Steven Spielberg's Animaniacs Changed Popular Culture

"It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and sex on TV." This is the opening line in the theme song to Seth McFarlane's "Family Guy", which rings true thanks in no small part to the impact the show had on the industry. "Family Guy" is a show that continues to push what can be shown on cable television. It is filled to the brim with raunchy jokes and dark humor aimed to make adults laugh. Believe it or not, another show that had a very similar impact on television was a kids' show. Steven Spielberg's "Animaniacs" changed what could be shown on kids' television just like "Family Guy" changed what could be shown on cable television. It pushed for more adult humor and pop culture references while still being a quality family show.

"Animaniacs" does not shy away from using political commentary or referencing real-world events as jokes in its episodes. "Even in the show’s opening theme song, the Warners gleefully point out that they’re 'gender-balanced, pronoun neutral, and laughably diverse,' both bowing to and ribbing today’s cultural mores" (Asay 3). Many of the jokes in "Animaniacs" comes from poking fun at these real-world things. The episode Cutie and the Beast repeatedly makes fun of the Republican party, only to make fun of the Democratic party in the ending as well. "Family Guy" does the same thing, but arguably even more so. There have been entire episodes dedicated to dealing with issues of legalization of drugs or political parties. It often purposely tries to get a rise out of viewers by directly making fun of certain groups, opinions, and events. Both shows do the same thing, in often somewhat similar

How could a kid's show compare to something as adult and raunchy as "Family Guy"? People especially believe this because cable networks were much more strict on what could be shown during the time period "Animaniacs" was aired. "It [Animaniacs] was a show for adults masquerading as a cartoon for kids" (Wong 2). While "Animaniacs" is technically a show for children, it pushed the limits of what could be shown on children's networks of the time. Jokes were written for the adults just as much if not more than for the kids. Constant pop culture references, witty dialogue, and innuendos fill the show with plenty to chew on in an arguably more tasteful way than how "Family Guy" does it. While "Animaniacs" has its fair share of controversial lines, by being a show for kids and adults both, it is able to be witty without depending too much on controversy or shock value to get a laugh. Like "Family Guy", it still very much uses these tactics, though. Both shows are able to take the jokes far enough to either make the viewer laugh or make the viewer