AWESOME-tober-fest 2020: Animaniacs – Hot, Bothered & Bedeviled (1998)
Here we are guys, the day before Halloween! I can’t believe we made it. It was dicey there for a bit, but we made it through, relatively unscathed. This AWESOME-tober-fest has been fun. I’m really glad I got to do it. I’ll be honest, behind the scenes, it had it’s ups and downs. This was the first time I did the Mon, Wed, Fri format. I think it worked. So maybe I’ll try it again next year. We’ll see. Anyway, let’s get on with today’s article!
Okay, last time I looked at a Tiny Toons cartoon that was an adaptation of The Devil and Daniel Webster and featured an appearance of the Devil voiced by Ron Perlman. Today, I’m going to look at the return of Ron Perlman’s Devil, not on Tiny Toons, but on Animaniacs!
It’s from Season 1, episode 29 – Hot Bothered & Bedeviled! It’s a pretty great little adventure. Unfortunately there’s no nod or wink to the previous Ron Perlman Devil episode. That would have been awesome. But it’s a lot of fun filled with all the pop culture references you’d expect.
So let’s take a look at the episode.
Animaniacs title cards!
We start off with a Sadam Hussein analog giving a speech to his people when the podium he’s on opens up beneath him…
…and he’s immediately sucked down into Hell. Is that how the Devil is working in this cartoon? He just takes whomever he wants regardless of if they’ve died or not? Yikes.
After falling into Hell we see these three demonesses singing a tune reminicent of the Andrews Sisters’ Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B. With the requisite Hellish refrences. It’s actually pretty good. And if you’re going to Hell, it’s a nice way to be welcomed there.
We see some of the tortures that are going on in this Hell. One of them being marathons of The Facts of Life!
Here we are, the return of Ron Perlman’s Devil from Tiny Toons!
Then the Animaniacs show up unexpectedly a la Bugs Bunny not making that left turn at Albuquerque.
As soon as Wakko finds out they are in Hell, he runs all the way back up to the surface of the Earth and brings back a snowball to test out that age old idiom. And his conclusion, “Yep, it never stood a chance!”
Like Silly Symphony Hell’s Bells, we get an appearance of Cerebus! The Devil’s three headed hound and guardian of the Gates of Hell.
The Devil has had enough of their antics! He’s keeping them in Hell to torture them!
First the Devil locks them in a room to listen to nothing but political folk music from the 70s. I love that Bob Dylan is in this version of Hell.
While running all over Hell trying to get away from the Devil, the Animaniacs distract him by putting up a stage so he can do a stand up routine.
I think this is the first time we see the River Styx and the boatman in Hell! And the Animaniacs rope him into doing a musical number!
The Devil catches up to them. And he’s furious!
Trapped by the Devil, Yakko in his best Kirk impression asks Wakko if he has anything in his “gag bag” that could help. Wakko says no. Continuing as Kirk he asks Dot for any analysis or comments. She says “nothing Yakko”. So Wakko turns and asks Bones who says, “Darnit Yakko, I’m a doctor, not a magician!” Star Trek reference!
The Devil, completely fed up with their antics literally kicks the Animaniacs out of Hell so hard that they wind up in Heaven.
And that’s Part II of the animated Ron Perlman Devil. This one really felt like a classic Loony Tunes adventure. I really liked it. And the animation, as per usual on both Tiny Toons and Animaniacs, is fantastic.
So that’s it. Tomorrow is Halloween! I don’t have an article scheduled for tomorrow, so this is it for this year’s AWESOME-tober-fest! I hope you enjoyed it and, whatever you do, please have a fun but safe Halloween.
Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.
Cavalcade of Awesome 
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