Animaniacs reboot bringing back original actors & Pinky and the Brain

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

A reboot of Animaniacs is heading to Hulu and with it, so are the original voice actors. It has been announced that Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, and Tress MacNeille will return to voice Yakko, Wakko and Dot, respectively.

Paulsen made the announcement on the "Animanicast podcast", whose official Twitter page also tweeted out the big news. Paulsen also revealed that he would reprise his role as Pinky with Maurice LaMarche returning as the Brain. So far Yakko, Wakko, Dot, Pinky and the Brain are the only known returning characters for the Hulu reboot. You can check out the tweet below:

Animaniacs originally premiered in 1993 and became an instant classic for children's programming. Despite being aimed at kids, the series had a very advanced sense of humor that allowed it to be embraced by viewers of all ages. Animaniacs showcased the hijinks of several different and very wacky characters that were lead by Warner siblings, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. Pinky and the Brain, featured prominently on the show, proved popular enough to spin-off into their own series which ran from 1995-1998. Nearly 30 years after its premiere on Fox Kids, Hulu has gone all-in on the reboot but ordering two seasons up front.

Even though this will be the first time since the show ended its run that the trio will voice these characters on the small screen, Paulsen told "ComicBook.com" that he, Harnell, and MacNeille joined forces with composer Randy Rogel and traveled the world performing Animaniacs in Concert. Paulsen believes bringing them all back is the best decision the reboot could have made:

"It's impossible to quantify what a compliment that. Moreover, to be able to do that again, with Maurice, with Tress, with Jess. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot are back and so are Pinky and the Brain. Moreover is that in this era of celebrities doing a lot of animated characters — and I get why the producers do it. I totally get it — but I also know that just having a movie star do the talking chicken doesn't mean that the show's going to be a hit. You've got to have a good script, great characters, and terrific actors, whether they're celebrities or not."

Hulu is predicting a Fall 2020 premiere date for the reboot on the streamer. Will YOU be checking out the reboot? Were You fans of the original series?