Tom Ruegger - Creator of Animaniacs, Pinky & the Brain, Tiny Toons | AW 27

In this week’s episode, we are joined by animation legend Tom Ruegger, the creator of Animaniacs, Pinky & The Brain, and Tiny Toons. Tom has been in the animation industry for over four decades and has worked on some of the most memorable cartoons at Warner Brothers, Hanna-Barbera, and Disney. He has won seventeen Emmy Awards for his work that has defined generations of childhoods across the world. To say that I am thrilled to finally sit down with Tom is an understatement!

Tune in as Tom takes us back to his journey to fully realizing his animator dreams (you won’t believe what the final straw was for Tom to leave New Jersey!) and the events that led him to work amongst animation’s biggest names in the 80s. Tom also shares what it was like to work with the likes of Hanna Barbera, Jo Barbera, and Steven Spielberg. Finally, Tom goes into detail about how his iconic works such as Animaniacs, Tiny Toons, and Pinky & The Brain came to be. This is definitely a very inspiring and nostalgic episode!

Timestamps:

[7:20]Tom Ruegger’s Humble Beginnings

[17:39]The Phone Booth Call That Changed Tom’s Life Forever

[22:13]Tom Talks About Working With Hanna-Barbera

[29:39]Meeting Steven Spielberg and creating the most iconic cartoon shows of the 90s

[41:21]Tom talks about the Will You Wear A Mask project

[47:53]Tom shares his process

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