Wakko's Wish

Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish, usually referred to as Wakko's Wish is a 1999 American direct-to-video animated tragicomedy film based on the Warner Bros. 1993-98 animated series, Animaniacs, and also the swan song to the series. The film relocates all the Animaniacs characters to a quasi-medieval fairy tale world and portrays their race to find the wishing star that will grant them a wish. While the film was released during the Christmas season, the holiday is not a factor in its plot, though the events do take place during winter.

Plot
In the town of Acme Falls within the kingdom of Warnerstock, all the Animaniacs characters live happily together. However, upon the death of the king, Sir William the Good, Warnerstock enters a state of civil war. Taking advantage of the situation, the neighboring fictional kingdom of Ticktockia (a parody of Time Inc., at the time of its merger with Warner Communications), led by King Salazar, the Pushy, takes over Warnerstock, and makes all its people poor and miserable due to overtaxing.

Three orphans, Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner, are particularly troubled, as Dot needs an operation. So Wakko decides to find work in another town to pay for it. But after he gets his pay(a ha'penny), Plotz takes it away from him, lying that it's for taxes.

Wakko, saddened about Dot's illness and finding no other choice, tries wishing upon a star. A fairy (who calls himself a "desire fulfillment facilitator" or "Pip") falls from the star he picks and explains that Wakko had just chosen the only wishing star in the sky. The star itself [which Rita and Runt witness] falls shortly after in the mountains and the fairy tells Wakko that whoever touches the star first gets one wish.

The following morning, the siblings tell the whole town about the star in their excitement, which makes them all rush towards the glow in the mountains, each wanting their own wish granted. King Salazar finds out about the star, orders Taxman Plotz to stop the Warners from reaching the star alive, and orders his troops to head to the star first and secure it.

Plotz doesn't manage to stop the Warners from reaching the star at the same time as all the other townsfolk. However, the King's army has already built a military base around the star, and a small ice palace to the side of it, and the townspeople (including Plotz) are all captured and locked up so that the King may have his wish. The Warners hint that the wishing process is not as simple as the king thinks in a desperate bluff. The King captures the Warners and tortures them with Animaniacs antagonists. The Warners tell the King that any wish he makes could have an ironic twist and demonstate this to his annoyance. He orders the Warners executed, but Dot uses her charms to save them. The Warners escape.

As the King is about to make his wish (for the Warners to leave him alone), the Warners show up, and he tries shooting them himself with a cannon. He misses, but Dot seems mortally wounded by the force of the explosion created when the cannonball hits the ground. Wakko seizes his chance to head to the star, and Yakko drops behind, trying to convince Dot that she can make it. Yakko then tells Dot the story of how Dot was born one last time. Dot then seemingly dies, causing the people of Acme Falls to cry in sorrow, along with some of the royal army, who become furious with King Salazar for his cruel nature. As everyone turns on the King, Wakko reaches the star. Dot reveals that she had been acting and was not actually injured (the two were buying time for Wakko), while Wakko wishes for two ha'pennies.

Wakko uses the first of these to buy food and "season tickets for the Lakers." The second one pays for Dot's operation, which is revealed to be a plastic surgery to give her a beauty mark. Wakko's first ha'penny, however, returns prosperity to the town as the butcher, the baker, and the grocer start spending the money they've just earned, and the people from whom they make purchases in turn do the same.

The Hospital finds Yakko, Wakko, and Dot's birth certificates, and reveals they were indeed the heirs to the throne. Their parents (seen for first and only time in a portrait) were the king and queen of Warnerstock. They then boot Salazar out of their palace (literally) where he is attacked by his own dogs. The movie ends showing how the Warners use their new-found royal authorities to grant the citizens of Acme Falls their wishes. Before the credits, everyone spins the Wheel of Morality. The moral of the story is "Just cheer up and never ever give up hope".

Voice cast
Rob Paulsen as Yakko Warner, Pinky and Dr. Otto Scratchansniff

Jess Harnell as Wakko Warner

Tress MacNeille as Dot Warner, Marita Hippo, Hello Nurse and Mindy's Mother

Maurice LaMarche as Brain and Squit

Sherri Stoner as Slappy Squirrel

Nathan Ruegger as Skippy Squirrel

Nancy Cartwright as Mindy

Frank Welker as Buttons, Ralph, Baron von Plotz, Runt and Flavio Hippo Dee Bradley Baker as Pesto

John Mariano as Bobby

Bernadette Peters as Rita

Paxton Whitehead as King Salazar

Ben Stein as Desire Fulfillment Facilitator (aka, "Pip")

Jeff Bennett as Baloney, and the Captain of the Guard

Paul Rugg as Mr. Director

Julie Brown as Minerva Mink

Tom Bodett as the Narrator

Production and release
Wakko's Wish featured 10 original songs, with lyrics written by Tom Ruegger and Randy Rogel, and songs composed by Animaniacs composer, Richard Stone. The compositions Stone wrote for the film were some of the last he wrote for Warner Bros. Animation prior to his death.

Although Wakko’s Wish had been rated highly amongst children and adults in test screenings, Warner Bros. decided to release it rather than spending money on marketing a wide release. Wakko's Wish was released only on VHS on December 21, 1999 by Warner Home Video. While Warner Bros. began to release the Animaniacs series in volumes on July 25, 2006, a recent discussion at the Home Theater Forum with Warner Home Video representatives revealed that Warner has "no plans" for more Animaniacs releases on DVD. On August 25, 2008, Wakko's Wish was released for rental or purchase on iTunes, and more recently has become available on Netflix. Wakko's Wish has aired on stations such as Cartoon Network and more recently, Cinemax.

Reception
Test screenings of Wakko's Wish on children and parents revealed very positive reactions to the film. In February 1999, ToonZone reported that "97% of kids and parents gave it a review of 'highly positive'", and that "98% of children [screened] gave [the film] a rating of good, very good, or excellent".

Critical reviews for Wakko's Wish were generally mixed. Many comments of the film focused on the introduction of a serious tone to a series known for its off-the wall humor. Brett Rogers of AOL Hometown gave the film a positive review, saying that "there’s a lot about this movie that will please die-hard Animaniacs fans," noting the appearances of almost all the main characters and antagonists of the original series. Rogers pointed that the pathos not usually seen in the series may leave some Animaniacs fans distant from the film, but that the serious tone is "backed up with superb voice acting," by Paulsen and Harnell. Other reviews were not so positive. MaryAnn Johanson of FlickFilosopher wrote that "imposing the kind of story and characters necessary to fill a 90-minute movie upon the Animaniacs constrains their lunacy," and that doing so left the characters boring, so much so that "older kids and adult fans of the Warners et al will be sorely disappointed." Michael Stewart of Entertainment Weekly found that the lack of the typical Animaniacs humor was positive, saying that the film "avoids the forced wackiness that plagues the television series," while "delivering some laughs for both kids and adults." However, he noted a similar criticism to Johanson, saying that placing the entire Animaniacs cast into the film felt uncomfortable, and that the "warm sentiments" of the film aren't the "specialty" of Animaniacs. He rated the film a "C+" overall. Michael Dequina of TheMovieReport.com gave one of the most positive reviews of the film. Praising the film's "smart, satiric in-jokes for the adults and broader slapstick for the young ones," Dequina said that the film was "one glorious example" of a family film that would appeal to the whole family, and rated the film with three and a half out of four stars.

In 2000, Wakko's Wish was nominated for four Annie Awards: One for "Outstanding Achievement in An Animated Home Video Production", one for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production" (Richard Stone, Steve Bernstein, Julie Bernstein Gordon L. Goodwin & Timothy Kelly), one for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting By a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production" (Tress MacNeille), and one for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting By a Male Performer in an Animated Feature Production" (Maurice LaMarche). Since its release, Wakko's Wish has been rated as one of the "Top 60 Animated Features Never Theatrically Released in the United States" by the Animated Movie Guide.