For those who don’t know:
Tom Ruegger is the original creator of Animaniacs.
He’s the guy you have to thank for the iconic characters Yakko, Wakko, and Dot (for whom the primary inspiration was his own three sons.) Among many others, including the equally popular Pinky and the Brain.
He was also an involved writer/lyricist for the show and played a huge part in coming up with new song & story ideas.
Yet despite all of this, Tom was never asked back for the 2020 reboot.
In fact, he wasn’t even aware that a reboot was in production until it was announced to the public. Although Tom has expressed plenty of interest in being involved in the reboot, WB/Hulu has repeatedly turned him away.
Tom’s oldest son, Nate Ruegger (voice of Skippy Squirrel,) has spoken out about this on his twitter:
“the naked greed on display here to reboot a series without involving any of the original creative team so they can make *more* money, & then joke about it, is gross.” (x)
And he’s absolutely right.
Outside of the main voice cast, none of the original team was consulted for the reboot. Tom was/is an integral part of Animaniacs. Without him, the show would never have existed, let alone become a cultural phenomenon. It doesn’t seem right for him to be cut out of the revival of a show that he is largely responsible for bringing to life in the first place.
The mistreatment and blatant disrespect of creators by big-name companies is something I’ve seen way too much of lately, and even though this is far from the first time, that doesn’t make the practice in anyway right or okay.
I’ve seen petitions for this going around, but they rarely gain enough traction, so I’m taking a more direct approach:
I’m asking fans of the series - new & old alike, regardless of your opinion on the reboot itself - to please reblog this.
Or, simply spread the hashtag #BringBackTomRuegger somewhere on your social media.
So that we can let the new showrunners know that we, the fans, want to see Tom brought back for future seasons!!!
I’m not asking for a full rewrite, I just want the man who created these characters to have some say in what happens to them, as he should. Please share to show support, if you agree!
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