Creator of “Animaniacs” visits middle school in Tucson | News

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) — The creator of the hit show “Animaniacs” came to Lauffer Middle School in Tucson to speak to students.

Tom Ruegger also created “Pinky and the Brain” and was involved with many other cartoons like “Freakazoid.”

Ruegger is a friend of sixth grade teacher Joseph Letson. He drove from California to talk to Letson’s class about his career and showed them how to draw some of the characters from his shows.

“Everything you learn and everything you know, you get to know in school, comes in handy later in life,” Ruegger said. “So many of the experiences and memories I have from school, from childhood… I’ve used it in many of my cartoons. So it all counts.”

Ruegger has received 14 Emmy awards for his work in animation. He was not involved in the revival of “Animaniacs” which ran for three seasons on Hulu starting in 2020.