Since water ebbs and flows I think it’s possible to have more than one high-water mark. I was tempted to say that Animaniacs was a high-water mark because of so much of the kids’ animation that immediately preceded it, but that would be damning with faint praise. By the time Animaniacs came along I was on the cusp of adulthood and had given up on watching children’s animation because, with the exception of the Warner Brothers cartoons, so much of it seemed like crap.
Shortly after Animaniacs came along I worked at a summer camp, and was delighted that there was this new animation show that I could enjoy and talk about with kids who were less than half my age. And then they turned me onto this show called Ren & Stimpy, and comparing that to any other animation was like the difference between Kansas and Oz.
Anyway, maybe it’s my inner diplomat that wants to say that golden-era Looney Tunes were the high-water mark, but Animaniacs came very close to reaching the same level. But, hey, what do I know?
