Each and every week, your hosts revisit an episode of the series in the order in which they first premiered. They discuss their favorite jokes, gags, and discuss all the cultural references they can find! In this special episode, Joey, Nathan and Kelly welcome back Tom Ruegger as well as the incredibly talented Randy Rogel who wrote some of the most iconic songs from Animaniacs!
Tom and Randy discuss their song writing process and what it was like to collaborate with Richard Stone and other composers working on Animaniacs such as Steve and Julie Bernstein. Randy talks about the writing process and the excitement of seeing a full orchestra perform the songs that he wrote. Randy states that "The music was born at the podium."
Some of the show's musical parodies are also discussed including "Les Miseranimals" which was so close to the original "Les Miserables" that at one point Tom was certain that they would all get sued!
Tom Ruegger mentions that he heard that the newest incarnation of Animaniacs will continue to use a live orchestra which is very rare in today's world.
Tom and Randy discuss Randy's first song he wrote for Animaniacs, "Yakko's World!" Tom marvels at the complexity of the song and talks about how it started off as a song involving Yakko wearing different hats of the world and eventually turned into
Randy and Tom talk about their musical influences. Tom's influences are eclectic and include everything from Rock n' Roll to TV theme songs. Randy talks about his background in musical theater and how it influenced his writing. Randy's performance in "Singin' in the Rain" is discussed as well as how the satirical compositions of Tom Lehrer had an influence on his writing.
Randy and Tom talk about the difference between lyrics on the show versus the show's soundtracks. Randy talks about the time his song "A Quake! A Quake!" was re-recorded for the soundtrack "Yakko's World" and how he scrambled over to Tom's office to try to stop his lyrics from being changed!
Randy talks about working with Rob Paulsen and performing the songs of Animaniacs in front of a live audience. Randy and Rob have toured across the country and will have a eight shows coming up at Joe's Pub in New York. Cody Ruegger is also set to appear for one of the shows as well! For more information, go to AnimaniacsLive.com!