ANIMANIACS Creator Takes on Fairy Tales with THE 7D

Tom Ruegger is the creator of classic 1990s animated series such as Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures, and Pinky and the Brain. For those of you who are fans of these shows, you'll be happy to learn that he has developed a new series for Disney Junior called The 7D that he hopes will capture the same fun spirit of the awesome shows he previously worked on. 

As the title suggests, The 7D is about the adventures of the Seven Dwarfs, "30 years or so before their fateful run-in with Snow White. Living in the Enchanted Forest in the kingdom of Jollywood under the rule of Queen Delightful, the dwarfs are the area’s 'most trusted' heroes, righting the wrongs that arise and often thwarting the plans of evil-doers when the queen calls for help."

In a recent interview with the LA Times Ruegger said:

“I was very intrigued about taking these classic personalities that are so important to the company’s foundation and carefully nurturing them so that we didn’t do something too completely blasphemous.

“We realize that this is a fairly radical approach to them, but one thing that I realized about it is that it’s so different from the original that people might forgive us.

"There weren’t really many channels totally focused on kids when we made ‘Animaniacs’ and ‘Pinky and the Brain.’ As we went along on ‘The 7D,’ the folks at Disney Junior encouraged us to make something that Mom and Dad can get a laugh at."

That's what I was hoping for with this series. One thing I loved so much about Animaniacs is that it was something that both kids and adults enjoyed. When I watched it as a kid I loved it for its whacky craziness, as I got older and rewatched those episodes I realized that there were a lot of hilarious adult themes that flew over my head. 

The report goes on to give a few more details on the series, one of which includes the addition of a newlywed couple and 7D villains Hildy and Grim Gloom. They will be a magical duo who want to take over the kingdom. Ruegger explained:

“I don’t know why I thought it was such a funny idea … but they’re newlyweds that are sort of hipsters in the way they dress. Jollywood is sort of a starter kingdom, so they need to conquer it and show off their stuff.”

Some of the voice cast includes Jay Leno as the Crystal Ball, Whoopi Goldberg as the Magic Mirror, and Kelly Osbourne as Hildy. This sounds like it could be a really great show and something I'll be able to enjoy with my kids. 

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