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'Animaniacs' might get a Steven Spielberg-led reboot

Still feeling "zany to the max"? Get ready for new episodes featuring those old favorites Yakko, Wakko and Dot.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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How did the "Animaniacs" theme song go again? "Sit back and relax, you'll laugh 'til you collapse." Well, prep for some collapsing, because the 1990s animated favorite might be making a comeback.

More 1990s nostalgia

A IndieWire story on Tuesday claims Warner siblings Yakko, Wakko and Dot -- and their many friends -- may be returning.

"Animaniacs" is still fondly remembered by kids of the 1990s. Goofy Yakko, Wakko and Dot interacted with a large cast of cartoon friends and foes, the most famous of whom might be "Pinky and the Brain."

Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg developed, produced and served as head writer for the original show. IndieWire is vague about the show's timeline, saying only that "Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation are kicking around a brand new version of the hit 1990s cartoon," but the report also says Spielberg "is expected to be on board." (Someone might want to update the catchy opening credits, which feature the oh-so-'90s Bill Clinton playing his sax.)

Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But if it's true, 1990s kids, strap on your slap bracelets and pop in a Ring Pop, because it'll be as nostalgia-inducing as a big swig of Crystal Pepsi. Hey, if Zima can come back ...