#animaniacs analysis

From a personality standpoint, they compliment each other's strengths and weaknesses so well.

Max is earnest and honest. He always has been.

From Goof troop where he wants so badly to do good things, and goes immediately to an adult when he messes up, to A Goofy Movie, where he goes so far to impress the people around him, to his want to do a good job in House of mouse. It's a constant whenever we see him on screen.

Max has seen a lot of growth through his shows and movies, but he's also been consistent. Goofy has clearly done an incredible job raising Max. Max is pretty open about his emotions. He doesn't hide them from his friends or family. There's a level of vulnerability that comes from that, and despite being bullied and picked on, he knows who he is, it only become a matter of insecurity getting other people to see that.

In A Goofy Movie, he doesn't worry about being good enough for roxanne. He says with conviction that "after today, she'll be mine". He doesn't doubt his own abilities. He's confident in what he does, and what he knows he's good at, like skateboarding.

Max is dramatic, he's flamboyant and a show off. He has made himself the center of attention on purpose before; as long as it's something he's well versed in and is confident he can impress with, he thrives. He loves to have that positive attention from big crowds. It pushes him forward.

He is also, and this is very important, a troublemaker.

He always has been, and not just in a well meaning sense.

In Goof Troop, he shows that he's the scheming type, he's the type to cause problems on purpose, just because it's fun. It's often the problem or the solution to several episodes.

Just like the Warners.

Now, these are never super harmful, he's a good kid at his core. He's kind and patient and understands his mistakes, but he's an absolute menace. He would have no trouble fitting in with patented Warner antics.

This next point is talked about a lot.

Max's issues and insecurities make for a fantastic story of growth with Yakko and his siblings. He's worried about being laughed at, at people hearing his laugh (something that is the best part of individuals and their expression of self) and worries about what other people think of it. This issue of his hits against Yakko's need to make people laugh.

They're complimentary. They're foils to each other.

Yakko is similar, but because of how he grew up, and the role he was forced into, he mirrors Max's traits as well.

Yakko is sarcastic, he undercuts a lot of sincerity with humor or hides it behind a veil of snark. He hides his feelings for fear of backlash. Unlike Max, who has his emotions on his sleeve, and has been encouraged to feel them openly from a young age.

Yakko's not able to be so open emotionally, because doing so has gotten both him and his siblings hurt.

Yakko is smart. He's tactical where Max is emotional. He schemes as well, as the spearhead and leader of the zany trio, but he sees more angles than Max does.

He does it out of self preservation in ADDITION to doing it to be a menace and for fun. He's the mastermind of the group, just like Max is to his own group. They're both the snarky personas. Yakko wants, NEEDS to make people laugh, his self worth is tied to it, it's what he was made to do. It's a source of anxiety for him, but also a source of joy. We've seen several instances of moments where Yakko falls back on his "Nations of the World" song, because he wants to make a good impression. We also have evidence of him stressing about his ability to perform in his sleep.

Being able to tell exactly how others are feeling helps Yakko pivot his plans and react in line to the antagonist. He has a hard time being sincere sometimes, prefers to keep himself protected.

But he also craves attention. Loves to be at the center of it, loves it more when it's something he's passionate in or prides himself with.

His jokes, his wit, his singing. His ability to sing and speak tongue twisters that nobody else can. All things he's confident in.

Yakko's strengths lie more in his mind, as opposed to Max's physical capabilities.

Together, they create a dynamic duo of mischief, being people with similar senses of humor, (we have seen both Yakko and Max tell almost identical jokes)they make each other laugh.

With strong senses of justice, they both aren't afraid to bring out the schemes on "special friends", or on people who deserve it; we see that a lot in Goof Troop.

Max is used to havoc. He's closely acquainted with it, he's been doing Goof Luck damage control since he was a small child, constantly being pushed to take the wheel of his dad's mishaps, sometimes very literally.

He would fit in seamlessly to the Warner's adventures, egg them on or do damage control. He's perfectly suited to fill in the space where he's needed, like a liquid changing shape to its container.

They're two sides of the same coin. They are opposites but they support each others weaknesses.

The emotional openness vs. The guarded emotions.

The need to make people laugh vs. The need to not show his laugh.

The physical vs. mental strengths.

Together, they gain inner and outer strength. They'll have someone to confide in, someone with much different upbringings and experiences than their own. Both in and out of universe.

But that's not really all there is to it, is there?

No, because family is so integral to both of their characters, we can't really talk about how good Yax is, and why it works, without talking about Goofy, Wakko, and Dot.

Yakko would never date someone, or even be friends with someone if they didn't like his siblings. Not just get along, like.

The Warners are "All for one, and one for all times 3". There is no talking about such a major change to the Warner dynamic without addressing every Warner, because they're affected too.

Dot and Wakko need someone to be friends with outside of themselves. They need familiarity and kindness.

Who better to open the Warner's to a kinder life, than a toon from a company all about the power of familial and romantic love? The themes that surround Max and Goofy(as well as many other Disney's), are exactly the kind of thing that those kids need the most.

Wakko and Dot need to have love that comes from the outside. Love from a parental figure who isn't their older brother, and love from a real friend, someone who cares about them who they aren't related to and can talk through issues they may otherwise be uncomfortable talking to their siblings about. The Warners are closer than any siblings that have or will ever exist, but there's still some things that are easier to talk about with a third party.

With Goofy, (someone who knows how to raise a kid, and what they would need to thrive) the Warners can finally, just be kids.

Yakko being happy is a the big part, but having the Warners brought into the Disney family by Goofy Goof, the man with so much understanding and love to give, who GETS kids, and has always let Max be a kid and help him through it?

It would help all three of them lean on outside help.

His appearance through Yakko and Max knowing each other, gives the Warners a positive adult figure in their lives who will be there to support them instead of criticize them for being "too much".

Yax isn't JUST about Yakko and Max, it's about the connections these kids make beyond the studio lot.

The connections that start with the eldest himself opening up. Start with Yakko overcoming that fear of rejection and letting people in.

It's about learning the world around them isn't just filled with people who want them locked up.

It's also about Max having someone who can match his energy. Max already has some friends who let him be himself and are wonderful people , but The Warners open up a different side of Max that can allow him to show that freer, mischievous side and have fun in that same way he had enjoyed in Goof Troop. He's allowed to revel in it, instead of worrying about stressing out his friends by getting them in on the antics.

The world is also filled with people who embrace their weirdness and energy, and who will guide them.

Even if you just like yax as friends, it's easy to see the potential and benefits

The Warners and the Goofs, to have lives grow richer.

And more, with them being from separate companies, their worldview would be able to grow to incorporate new ideas and thoughts.

The Warners aren't very open with their emotions, so a father son duo who have always been open and communicative would be able to show them the benefits of doing so themselves.

Plus, watching the Warner Siblings wreak havoc with a smile, hurting no innocents, would be exactly the type of thing to make Max smile in turn.

They deserve each other, deserve kindness and acceptance. ALL of these kids do. And every single one of them get that through Yax.

Plus, through Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Yakko and Max exist within the same universe. They're so close. It's not a stretch to see them interact and understand each other.

Now, there's a lot more to talk about. How it came to be, and how the shipping climate and the timing of the original shows allowed for this to line up to happen.

In Wakko's Wish, this is all the information we get on the Warner parents:

-William was a good and kind king who was violently overthrown by Salazar

-As told in Yakko's story, William was a strong knight and his wife was a beautiful princess. They wanted a daughter.

-The painting above.

That's all. And yet, their characterization is so incredibly strong. From the painting alone, what can we glean? The king more resembles Wakko while the queen more resembles Yakko and Dot. We can extrapolate that the king had more of Wakko's personality, loyal and strong and true, but also a little goofy. The queen likely had more of the natural inquisitiveness and confidence that characterize Yakko and Dot.

In addition, they don't look like the traditional, arrogant, stoic royal family. The king and queen have kindly eyes. The children are all smiling and relaxed. Wakko and Dot are comfortable in their parents' arms- their parents haven't neglected raising them just because of their royal duties. Yakko beams with pride, likely wanting to live up to his parents' regal image. Overall, we can see that they appear to be a close and genuinely loving family. This is a royal couple who cared about their children as more than just heirs.

Finally, their usually accepted names of William and Angelina. William's name is directly stated in the movie, while Angelina is extrapolated from Dot's full name of Princess Angelina etc. the Third. If she is the third, there were others who came before her. It makes sense that her mother was also a Princess Angelina. While not official, it's another thing that just seems to make sense.

Like in the main show, there in an unsaid story of tragedy unfolding in the background of the main characters. The Warners are orphans, their parents are gone. Salazar violently took the kingdom. In the painting, Yakko looks probably 4 or 5, old enough to remember. He remembers enough to craft an accurate bedtime story about his parents' backgrounds. Dot thought it was just a story, but it likely isn't to Yakko. The events he described did loosely happen. His parents really were the sort to dote on their daughter and nuzzle her and call her cute and tickle her to sleep. They were likely the sort to do so for all of their children. It's a tight knit, extremely loving family that the Warners lost. You can see their tightness reflected in the mutually supportive relationship of the Warners. They would do anything for each other, and their parents would have done the same for them. Yakko's parenting style came from them. You can easily imagine a Warner family that got the chance to grow up together with loving parents and a nice home life. The kids turned out great anyway, but imagine what else they could have gotten up to if they weren't occupied with scraping by in a bleak, orphaned existence.

It's really impressive to me. Just a few nuggets form a natural, compelling picture of a loving family and a tragic backstory. Just a few nuggets form two strong new characters who never actually appear. You can easily imagine them because they are essentially reflections of the very well established characters/dynamics of the Warner siblings.