Warning: This article contains spoilers for Animaniacs final episode.
For many Animaniacs fans, 2020’s revival of the classic animated comedy series was a moment to celebrate, especially when the reboot did not make any huge changes to the format. Since its return, the show has gained plenty of praise from both audiences and critics, holding a strong 90% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics, but the cancelation of the series meant that season 3, which premiered this month, was set to be the last. However fans have reacted in disbelief as the final episode of the series saw things take a dark turn as the Wacko, Yakko and Dot were seemingly killed by a falling asteroid and their death was followed by a placeholder card simply reading, “Stay safe, Sweeties.”
The fact the series was ending was never in doubt, with Hulu originally only planning to make two seasons of the cartoon but extending that thanks to the high public demand for the show. However, many had hoped that despite Hulu calling the episode the last time the Warner Brothers and Warner Sister would be seen ever, there could be a chance that the show would be sold to someone else. That now doesn’t seem on the cards, and the resulting abrupt, skewed ending to the series has caused a wave of backlash online.
Animaniacs Fans Have Called Out The Cancelation While Shows Like Velma Exist
Naturally, the reaction of fans to any cancelation always included a comparison with other shows that perhaps shouldn’t have been green-lit according to popular opinion. In this case, Animaniacs demise coincides with the continued belief that Velma has secured a second season despite being one of the worst rated programs to ever hit HBO Max. Although Hulu’s decision making isn’t impacted in any way by what HBO Max is doing on their platform, it is seemingly hard for people to grasp how the two animated shows can be heading down such different paths.
When it comes to the two shows, there are many reasons why they shouldn’t be compared. Animaniacs is a direct continuation of the 90s series, bringing back loved voice stars and not making too many alterations to the characters that many people grew up with. The series was still aimed at a young audience, but had plenty for older fans to tap into as well. Velma on the other hand was a brand new idea inspired by the Scooby Doo franchise, which was aimed at adults and completely changed the characters and the setting from what has been a staple of Scooby-Doo shows for decades.
Beyond that, Animaniacs pulled in a lot of praise from both fans and critics, while Velma saw its ratings free-fall as thousands jumped to slam the show for every reason from voice casting, to character changes, to the lack of Scooby-Doo, etc etc. All in all, there was only one that should have been renewed for more episodes, but it seems that the world doesn’t work like that much to the annoyance of many Animaniacs fans.