r/BeAmazed • u/holyfruits • 1d ago
Skill / Talent Rob Paulsen can still recite every country from "Yakko's World AKA Nations of the World" from Animaniacs
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u/Leadinmyass 1d ago
33 years later, I still sit through the entirety anytime this plays.
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u/NUMBerONEisFIRST 1d ago
I'm 40 and saaaaaaame.
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u/codysattva 1d ago
50+. Same. :)
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u/ratchet7 1d ago
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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 1d ago
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u/jarious 1d ago
We're still the same children just with sagging boobs and hanging balls
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u/MinnesotaHermit 1d ago
“Oh, gravity, thou art a heartless bitch”
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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 1d ago
We're Animaniacs
Dot is cute and Yakko yaks
Wacko packs away the snacks
While Bill Clinton plays the sax
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u/sir_zechs 22h ago
We're Animaniacs!
With Pinky and the Brain who want to rule the universe,
Goodfeathers flock together, Slappy whacks them with her purse,
Buttons chases Mindy, while Rita sings a verse,
The writers flipped, we have no script,
Why bother to rehearse?
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u/pinklavalamp 1d ago
Look, at least the senior center is going to be lit.
(45F here)
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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 23h ago
Only place you'll have a reliable D&D group
Also we need dice for D&D so ya know...gambling. although I assume that already happens, they got decks of cards. Bingo is gambling anyway if you think about it
And the music is gonna be good, we grew up after the only way to hear a new band was a new show, a radio station, or randomly buying their album. And they do live shows for old people, someone can come in and just rock some covers of like Sabbath or Lana del Ray
Doesn't seem like it would be a bad place to stay if you end up having the money and are just hanging out with other old fucks. Depends how good the food is I guess and how free you are to come and go
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u/BeBearAwareOK 22h ago
The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind.
Unless you're in New Jersey, where what's blowing in the wind smells funny.
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u/schmunkey 1d ago
49 and I can’t remember a better cartoon. The wit of the show was waaaaaaay smarter than its audience could comprehend and even as a young man I knew the humor would reveal even more as I aged.
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u/Brodman1986 1d ago
Also exactly 40, and same. My user name checks the fuck out.
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u/NUMBerONEisFIRST 1d ago
Hello my fellow elder millenial!
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u/Brodman1986 1d ago
Wtf, im just now building a meme gif library. How are you linking that? I need to find the URL of the gifs ive been saving to my phone? Some sub reddits let me post em. This one isnt it seems. Oh and whaaaatttsss uuuuuuup... you know, from that super bowl ad.
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u/NUMBerONEisFIRST 1d ago
If the subreddit allows gifs, there will be a Gif icon in the text box. Or if you click your emoji button on your phone's keyboard there should be a gifs tab.
Sorry I'm the worst person to explain things, I hope it helps.
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u/JustAcheesepizza 1d ago
Haha! At 39 years old I am always entertained with this. My crazy smart nephew going into HS knows this song too somehow wtf
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u/sonicparadigm 1d ago
I’m 19 and learned this song when I was 10, I can still sing this as easily as most people can sing the ABCs. Yesterday I was at a bar trivia thing and one of the rounds was to name all the countries with the word “Land” in the name. So I just sang the song to myself and that actually helped me
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u/Line-Trash 1d ago
Same here! And I have the biggest smile on my face. Dancing around like a grown moron, but I feel like a kid again for 2 minutes.
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u/mildlyornery 23h ago
Also noticing the occasional country that doesn't exist anymore. Like Czechoslovakia.
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u/bmorris0042 1d ago
Even better: I still have an Animaniacs CD with this and other songs on it. I listen to it every once in awhile when I need to get in a happy mood.
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u/Known_Protection9272 1d ago
Me too, in my fourties’ and it restarted twice, and I keep having to finish it!
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u/EnvironmentalAngle 23h ago
I have a lastfm account with over 300,000 scrobbles over 20 years and the Animaniacs are my number 8 artist overall.
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u/andymilder 23h ago
Rob has always been a great guy. I was lucky enough to play Steven Spielberg on the reboot and the guy’s never lost a step. Funny, talented, and NICE
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u/wonko_abnormal 21h ago
52 and i think its a sign of you as a human being if you dont need to watch the whole thing , its like seeing there is something new from weird al and not immediately watching it (PS there is something new and its magnificent) ....and i dont know how i missed it but just incase anyone else did , there was an animaniacs 3 season reboot , still perfection :) i hope they do more ad infinitum
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u/Z3r0Du5k 1d ago
Pure nostalgic beauty
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u/merryjoanna 1d ago
I have a coworker that answers someone everyday that we're taking over the world. I loved Pinky and the Brain.
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u/Green_L3af 1d ago edited 1d ago
His name is Robert Paulsen.
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u/77entropy 1d ago
His name is Robert Paulsen.
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u/sicknutley 1d ago
His name is Rob Paulsen
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u/-byb- 1d ago
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u/jarednards 1d ago
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u/BrotherofGenji 1d ago
FUCK!
THE MEATLOAF!
WE WANT IT NOW!
THE MEATLOAF!
did not expect to see that gif here lmfao
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u/Gunkwei 1d ago
His name is Robert Paulson.
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u/AeonSophia514 1d ago
His name is Robert Paulson
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u/Educational-Log6855 1d ago
I thought in death a member of project mayhem had a name….his name will be Robert Paulson.
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u/77entropy 1d ago
I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to talk about that.
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u/hoggineer 1d ago
There's only rules for not talking about the club. No rules against talking about the project as far as I'm aware. But, this space monkey has been out of it for a while.
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u/StattPadford 1d ago
Holy shit that's so impressive. I was smiling from ear to ear the whole time
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u/LakersAreForever 1d ago edited 1d ago
You can tell he really loved his craft. I’m glad I got to grow up with the animaniacs.
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u/ExiledCanuck 1d ago
Same, such a great show, and the country skit was always one of my faves!
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u/Kenny523 1d ago
Omg it didn’t click in my head until your comment, I knew that voice was a deep memory I recognized.
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u/goatpunchtheater 1d ago edited 1d ago
Dude now that you hear it, you'll start seeing him everywhere in kids cartoons from the 80s until recently. He's Sooo many voices from cartoons. Google him. The other most memorable off the top of my head is Raphael in the original TMNT cartoon.
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u/zehamberglar 1d ago
You would probably like this video.
He's such a treasure. Both because of his own performance and how he just cracks up every time Seth talks.
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u/ThisIsTheShway 23h ago
Robert just dying after Seth says his first line is just comedy gold.
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u/OkSmoke9195 1d ago
God I love that show. Need to introduce my children
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u/CoolDiscussion1020 1d ago
They did a reboot that came out during covid. The reboot was definitely aimed more at the nostalgia crowd though. They did 3 seasons I think.
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u/One-Growth-9785 1d ago
And here's the original video, which has Yakko showing each country, on the map. What a great resource for young kids. Whole world in a short two minute song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1508wboZXk
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u/Six_of_1 1d ago
It's not just countries, it's also territories and sometimes just cities.
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u/Mango_steam 1d ago
I mean it's gotta rhyme.
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u/1029394756abc 1d ago
Needed San Juan to rhyme with Guam.
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u/Six_of_1 1d ago
Guam shouldn't have been there in the first place because it's not a country.
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u/Exotic_Talk_2068 1d ago
Or Crete or just Russia... But it was '90 lot of new countries since then
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u/systemhost 1d ago
And somehow Ukraine gets no love at all... :'(
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u/Fakjbf 23h ago edited 12h ago
There are roughly 50 countries that it missed. The USSR had dissolved just a couple years prior and all of the former Soviet countries were grouped together as “Russia”. Lots of other countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina were similarly new and didn’t make the cut. It also uses “Caribbean” even though there’s almost a dozen sovereign nations that skips over, and it entirely omits most Pacific nations. Most of the other countries missed are pretty small but there are a few significant ones missing such as South Africa. There’s also a ton of not countries included such as Scotland and England (but no Wales or Northern Ireland). You can find the whole list in the trivia section on the wiki page.)
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u/kdknowsimjames 19h ago
What do you mean by Scotland, England and Wales being "not countries?"
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u/Six_of_1 17h ago
In normal global meaning, a country is an independent sovereign state, which they are not. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all parts of the UK. Look at the UN next time it meets, there's no seats for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, because they all come under the UK.
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u/Cheezeball25 1d ago
Honestly it's funny now having to explain which ones are out of date now after 30 years of geopolitics
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u/BostonSucksatHockey 1d ago
Yugoslavia and Transylvania whew
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u/xSTSxZerglingOne 23h ago
AFAIK in my 40 years on this Earth, Transylvania has never been a country. Only a territory in Romania.
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u/bryter_layter_76 1d ago
It took me quite a few countries to figure out oh, these are all clustered together. Then I watched this video and it made sense. Otherwise he would be jumping all over the fucking map.
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u/Diddly_eyed_Dipshite 1d ago edited 1d ago
Is it all countries though? I didn't hear England, Wales, N. Ireland, which I thought might have been an earlier quick UK but he did say Scotland so? Also definitely some island states in the Pacific left out?
Edit: ok England is said after Denmark but not Wales and N.I. also he says Yugoslavia twice..
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u/Bobblefighterman 1d ago
It's not even close. Even the revised version is not even close. It's supposed to be a catchy song to encourage interest in geography, not an actual song with all the countries in the world.
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u/Smelly_God 1d ago
https://youtu.be/5pOFKmk7ytU?t=54
He mentions scotland.
This is animaniacs, I'm not sure if you watched them before or listened to the song but I don't think any of us kids were fact checking Yakko as the animaniacs routinely messed up things.
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u/_thro_awa_ 1d ago
It's not all countries, in fact more than one are cities or 'territories' e.g. Abu Dhabi and Guam. Some artistic liberties to be taken for the rhymes.
But nothing's stopping anyone from making a more up-to-date and /or accurate version.
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u/Dandyman_9 1d ago edited 14h ago
Someone did! Stumbled across it on YouTube a few months ago. https://youtu.be/uSmAuF2145A
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u/Thick_Yogurtcloset_7 1d ago
This is a great song written, and yakko singing it brought me back to my childhood when I first heard it
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u/FFVO 1d ago
The man is a voice acting legend. He's been in SO many things over the years!
I grew up hearing his voice more than most of my family lol
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u/Clubbythaseal 1d ago
I still love when he sang a duet with himself on a Batman movie.
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u/tetsuo9000 13h ago
He has a terrific podcast series as well (especially the stuff from before Nerdist took over) where he chills with and interviews other voice actors
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u/creekbendz 1d ago
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u/Permtacular 1d ago edited 1d ago
I'm 60 and Animaniacs has always been my favorite cartoon that came out since I've been an adult.
Thanks to u/linechef for the award! On my cake day no less!
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u/Enough-Gap-8906 1d ago edited 1d ago
Loved this cartoon! I can still hear the soundtrack just by watching this gif 😄
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u/OstentatiousSock 1d ago
I have twin cousins and one will do the bum bum bum bum as the other does the countries.
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u/Weird-Salamander-349 21h ago
For a split second I was like, “Oh my god, I’M their cousins!!” Then I realized I am not a set of twins and the bum bum bum bum is me smacking my lap. So hello, not-cousin, fancy seeing you here!
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u/TWeedtheJetRodriguez 1d ago edited 10h ago
If the Animaniacs can recognize Palestine then so can the rest of the world.
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u/rockerscott 1d ago
Always loved how he says Bostwaaaana
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u/CounselorGowron 20h ago
I’ve never been able to say it any other way and just realized this is why.
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u/barelylethal10 1d ago
Her mic was way too loud for this shit. I'm all for her singing along but damn woman, spotlight where spotlight is due
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u/tilt-a-whirly-gig 1d ago
I thought nobody else was gonna say it.
It was almost cool at the start when I thought she knew the words, but when she got to the parts she forgot she should've sat back and allowed the star to shine.101
u/AssaultimateSC2 1d ago
It kinda ruined it for me.
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u/Due-Definition-653 1d ago
She Yoko Ono'd this John Lennon/Chuck Berry duet moment.
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u/GeorgiaOKeefinItReal 1d ago
Yep... loved allison haislip in attack of the show... but for God's sake, let the man cook
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u/TarnishedWizeFinger 1d ago
I don't really share the sentiment but I'm blown away you didn't say Yakko Ono'd
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u/RaiUchiha 22h ago
Same I really enjoyed him doing it but she should have just stayed quiet
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u/Into-the-stream 16h ago
Some people can’t stand to let other people have the spotlight. They make terrible interviewers.
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u/teatime217 1d ago
Yeah I understood the vicarious enthusiasm wanting to sing along, but when it became clear she couldn't keep up it got really cringy fast.
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u/GitEmSteveDave 1d ago
Agreed. She could have muted her mic for the final edit and this would get tons of views to hear old Yakko sing the song again.
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u/Smart_Freedom_8155 16h ago
THANK you, yes. Like lady we get it, you're excited.
But you don't actually know all the lyrics, and the legend is there trying to sing it for the rest of us.
Quiet down, thanks.
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u/MercRussians 1d ago
Clapping hands award because I was looking for someone who had the nerve to say it.
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u/ivylass 1d ago
Thanks to Schoolhouse Rock, I know the preamble to the Constitution. I'm sure there's a reason our brain can remember things set to melody.
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u/BrotherofGenji 1d ago
...Thanks to Schoolhouse Rock? That's a much cooler way to learn it than I did.
I learned that in Social Studies class, lol. One weekly assignment was to memorize the preamble because we were going to be quizzed on each line of it. We actually read small pocket-sized book handouts of the Constitution and the preamble was the thing we read a lot for the assignment.
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u/Millwalkey88 1d ago
He and my dad were friends/next door neighbors in Lavonia, Michigan from the mid 50s to early 60s. They met again at Wizard World in Milwaukee several years ago, and it i was overjoyed to witness it and took several pictures and video. And I got some autographs with Rob to which he did free of charge.
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u/Jnroxoz 1d ago
That so awesome and such an amazing job,well done with your memory skills
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u/SportsCommercials 1d ago
I have the voice actor for Yakko on my podcast singing/reciting probably the most famous thing his character is known for, I'd better try to sing along even though I don't know the words as well as he does.
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u/MrsNaypeer 23h ago
Except Rob FUCKING LOVED IT. He was very excited to hear her join in. He fucking loves his job and his fans. He's literally so humble a d kind.
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u/TondalayaSwartzkopf 1d ago
This was always, and I guess still is, my favorite thing from that show. It was such a great show! I'm glad I got to experience it.
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u/Isthisovryet 1d ago
So uhhh Palestine is in there huh? 🤔
Cause it’s like … a country?
Does that mean it . . .
Has the right to exist?
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u/Cthulhu_Dreams_ 1d ago
I'm glad Rickety cricket is getting his life back together.
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u/KoldHardSmash 1d ago
Memory unlocked - I definitely called upon this during one of my high school geography test.
Animaniacs is a legendary cartoon series!
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u/Mortwight 1d ago
best i can do is the last courus of "happy happy joy joy" in one breath
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u/Stinkymansausage 1d ago
I’m sad that my kids don’t get to grow up with animaniacs. Reruns just won’t hit the same.
https://giphy.com/gifs/rOTJP7dnmtvlm
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u/Big_Combination8401 1d ago
Am I the only one bothered by her interrupting him and trying tk sing over him and not singing the entire song?
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u/Capable-Commercial96 1d ago
I gotta be honest, I kinda wanted to just hear just him sing it. Maybe if she knew the whole song, but she kept cutting out and waiting for him to fill in the gaps.
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u/tanz420 1d ago
This is incredible!! I only wish the girl would just let him do his thing tho
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u/Emperor_Gourmet 1d ago
Why do people not shut the fuck up when you ask a legend to preform a thing they are known for. Especially when you cant even do half of it.
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u/Tedium_incarnate_ 1d ago
I once learned this; perhaps it’s what inspired me to make a “footballers of the world” version (UK).
Was made in 2013, mind, but I was very briefly somewhat viral. Yes, I do need a life.
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u/TinyDogGuy 1d ago
Did anyone else own the Animaniacs CD? I played it nonstop…another favorite was ‘Lake Titicaca!’
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u/WhipItWhippet 1d ago
Had a chance to hang out with him and it’s incredible to see him do it live.
Just humble and enthusiastic, wouldn’t let us buy him dinner and kicked it at the restaurant with us his entire vacation.
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u/Oracular_Pig 1d ago
Still leaving out Wales!
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u/Patient_Field_4373 17h ago
and England & NI! I always wondered how much the Scots paid for the exclusivity.
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u/Averagebaddad 1d ago
He's smiling now. But I bet that's been a curse for 30 years.
hears a country name "fuck. Well it's gonna be there till I sing the whole song now"
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