Wakko's America

Infobox Animaniacs song
episode_name = Wakko’s America


caption = Wakko names South Carolina and its capitol.
season_no = 1
episode_no = 20
airdate = October 11, 1993
episode_theme = The United States of America
singer = Jess Harnell
writer =
Randy Rogel &
Tom Ruegger
director =
Rusty Mills &
Ron Fleisher
animator = StarToons

"Wakko's America" is a song sung by Wakko Warner from the American television series "Animaniacs". It is similar to Yakko's World in intention, but much more accurate and error-free. The song was written by Randy Rogel, directed by Rusty Mills and Ron Fleisher, and animated by StarToonscite episode | title = Closing Credits | series = Animaniacs | network = FOX Kids | airdate = 1993-10-11 | season = 1 | number = 25] The melody of the song is set to the tune of Turkey in the Straw. It has been used on some websites as an example of an educational song about state capitals [ [http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/songs/50capitals.html Mrs. Jones] ]

"Wakko's America" is also briefly seen in a cameo appearance on the show "Freakazoid!", where Wakko starts to sing the song but is quickly interrupted by the show's titular character, who wants to know what Wakko's doing. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NLrjVnMO7k]

ynopsis

"Wakko's America" begins where the Warner siblings are at school. Upon the beginning of the school day's "lesson", the classroom turns into a gameshow room that parodies (and in fact mentions) the game show "Jeopardy!". Wakko picks the Daily Double, bets all of his money (which was $100, as this was only the second "answer" of the game), and is told to name all of the fifty states of the United States of America and their respective capital cities. ("Capital" is in fact misspelled "capitol") Wakko then pulls out a map, freehand sketches the Mississippi River with chalk, takes out a fiddle, and begins to sing.

The song starts with a map of the United States, with Wakko naming every state and its capital city. As Wakko sings, he points to each state so it glows and a star appears, the star representing the capital city's location in that state.

When the song is finished, Wakko is disappointed to find out that his answer is counted as incorrect because he forgot to answer in the form of a question, which is the proper format for answering on "Jeopardy!". He then proceeds to break his fiddle over his head, knocking himself out cold.

(In the real series, Wakko would have been allowed to wager up to $500 at this stage of the game, and furthermore, since this was the opening round, the "answer in the form of a question" is not as strictly enforced, and Wakko would have been allowed to either start over with "What are" in the beginning or would have received credit.)

Peculiarities in the lyrics

*Wakko mentions Washington D.C., even though it isn't a state capital nor in any state, but is the country's capital. This may also fall under poetic license.

*Wakko says "Jefferson" rather than Jefferson City as the capital city of Missouri.

*Wakko pronounces Pierre as "pee-YAIR" (the French pronunciation); the city's name is pronounced "peer" by its residents although "peeYAIR" is still used outside South Dakota. Wakko also pronounces Montpelier "MONT-pee-lee-YAIR", rather than "mont-PEEL-yer". These and other minor deviations (e.g., Concord NH's stress on the second syllable rather than the first) might be attributable to Wakko's heavy Scouse accent and to the need to meet the meter and rhyming patterns of the song.

*The line "Salt Lake City out in Utah where the buffalo roam" references the first line in the classic Western ballad "Home on the Range", "Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam". It is notable that despite the line referencing Utah, "Home on the Range" has been the state song of "Kansas" since 1947.

*The line "And you can live in Frankfort in your old Kentucky home" is a reference to the Kentucky state song, "My Old Kentucky Home".

*Wakko refers to Oklahoma's capital city simply as "its city," by which natives call it, rather than Oklahoma City.

*The song deviates from "Turkey In The Straw" in the final line, "That's all the capitals there are!", which is instead set to the classic musical couplet "Shave and a Haircut".

*Wakko inserts the line "They have wonderful clam chowder" after Annapolis in Maryland on Chesapeake Bay. Chesapeake Bay is known for its clam chowder; Annapolis itself is not. Among other differences, Maryland or Chesapeake Bay clam chowder has a tomato base while Boston/New England clam chowder has a cream base.

*Regarding Nashville, Tennessee, Wakko says that "Elvis used to hang out there a lot, ya know"." However, Elvis Presley is more closely associated with Memphis, where he made his Sun Records recordings and where his home, Graceland, was located.

*Wakko says Providence, Rhode Island, is next to Dover, Delaware, though the two states do not touch each other. However, he may be referring to those two states being next to each other in terms of size, since they are the two smallest states.

ee also

* Animaniacs
* Yakko's World
* U.S. state

References

External links

* [http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/a/animaniacs8676/wakkosamerica295694.html Song lyrics]