‘Animaniacs in Concert’ to bring back some of cartoon’s greatest songs – (axs.com)

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If you’re a music fan who grew up in the 1990s, you likely crossed paths with “Animaniacs.” The Warner Bros. animated series wasn’t just a kids’ cartoon but it also featured some of the most creative and most beloved original songs of its time, and now the company is reviving the music for a nationwide concert tour called “Animaniacs in Concert” that will launch later this year.

“Animaniacs in Concert” features the original stars of the animated series – Rob Paulsen (who portrayed Yakko Warner), Jess Harnell (Wakko Warner), and Tress MacNeille (Dot Warner) – along with the show’s songwriter Randy Rogel, as they perform some of their biggest hits with the backing of a live orchestra and the accompanying animated scenes displayed behind them on a massive screen.

The concert was previously staged as a one-off in 2014 with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and you can watch a clip from that performance now by using the media player included with this article.

One of the songs on the set list is “Yakko’s World,” in which Paulsen’s character names every single country to the tune of the classic “Mexican Hat Dance.” Rogel and Paulsen have updated the lyrics for “Animaniacs in Concert” to reflect the countries that have come and gone since the original version in 1993. That alone should make “Animaniacs in Concert” a must see for animation buffs.

But even if you didn’t watch “Animaniacs” or have never even seen a Saturday morning cartoon, “Animaniacs in Concert!” should be on your concert radar once the complete tour lineup is announced later this year. Rogel and everyone who helped put the show’s music together came up with songs that stood on their own as fast-paced, funny numbers with plenty of panache.

There was also “All The Words In The English Language,” which for obvious reasons was not actually every word in the English language, but it’s amazing how Rogel and Paulsen were able to make their various segments work, especially when they had to string together all the words that started with Z. And the names of state capitols in “Wakko’s America” didn’t exactly fit conventionally for Harnell either.

But these songs captured the interest of a generation and to this day many folks not only remember them, but remember the information in them. That’s something pretty remarkable, and “Animaniacs in Concert” is now reviving them plus adding some extra excitement by introducing a live element where audiences can finally see the actors behind the voices – not to mention realize just how talented they are. This tour should be a sell-out whenever its schedule is revealed, and it’s fantastic news that even after 20 years “Animaniacs” can still draw a crowd.