An introduction to ‘The Animaniacs’, in particular ‘Goodfeathers’ as an example of

vintage animation

Goodfeathers is part of an Animated television series called ‘The Animaniacs’ produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Warner Brothers (late 1980s – early 1990s)

The main characters, all of whom are pigeons, are parodies of the Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro characters in Goodfellas

Despite the overly dramatic Italian-American stereotypes, Goodfeathers is very unique because of the fact that the audience can identify the characters easily; unlike other Animaniacs characters such as Pinky and The Brain

Overly dramatic use of Italian-American stereotyping, audience can identify protagonists easily as parodies of Goodfellas

Marlon Brando reference as a morbidly obese ‘Godpigeon’ embraces his role as the Godfather

References to other films such as ‘Taxi Driver’ – the phrase ‘Are you talking to me?’

The segments featuring the 'Goodfeathers' were notable for parodying a variety of Mafia films, despite the fact that most of these films wouldn't be considered suitable for the show's supposed young audience. This helped give Animaniacs a touch of sophisticated comic credibility that would make it popular among older audiences.

Primarily comedy entertainment for young kids

Heavy use of slapstick actions and onomatopoeia are evidence of this

Young kids to primary/early secondary school age

Around 4 – 14 years old The mafia film elements of Goodfeathers

helps to attract an older audience to watch the Animaniacs with their kids

Some humour is aimed at adults directly, for example, the pigeon portraying Joe Pesci would often go off on a rant similar to Pesci's famous "Am I a clown to you? Do I amuse you?" bar scene.

In each episode, the three protagonists often stumble across a problem that is always solved before the clip finishes, for example, finding the ‘Girl Feathers’ or getting into the movie business

Every episode would often begin with Ray Liotta-esque voiceovers starting with "As far back as I can remember...." to open the shorts, similar to the opening of Goodfellas

The Goodfeathers often get hurt or injured in some way or another by the slapstick actions that occur throughout the short

This kind of comedy greatly entertains the children as it is funny to see them get run over by a NY taxi and then see them flat on the ground