r/animaniacs • u/PassengerImpressive3 • 5d ago
Discussion Runt deserved better
This might sound like a hot take given the controversy surrounding the character but I’m just gonna say it: Runt was completely harmless and didn’t deserve any of the hatred thrown at him from people demanding his removal from the series for ableist reasons.
As someone who is neurodivergent, I genuinely like the character. His personality is someone who cares despite his dimwitted nature (he’s a dog so that makes sense) and he even gets along with other characters in both Animaniacs Stew and Wakko’s Wish. He’s a generally friendly guy with a capacity for emotional intelligence even if he isn’t the brightest, he still cares about his friends and will help out on occasion.
I think the Rain Man parody stuff is an understandable sore spot for the Autistic community and that movie definitely has its detractors who view it as a misrepresentation of the disability spectrum. However, I don’t think this justifies throwing vitriol at a character who simply wanted to be loved and cared for while being a silly comedic cartoon character.
Even in Wakko’s Wish, it implies he was putting on a brave face for Rita in the original show given how aware he was of how awful his situation actually was. He was homeless, had traveled the world while suffering hardships that would break most people. But at that point, he was losing hope. It was only after the kindness of the townspeople gave him and Rita a chance at sincere happiness that he was finally at peace with his situation…
…until the 2020 reboot undid all of it and tried to kill him off.
This was the tipping point for me. They treated him with distain and threw him away alongside many other characters from the cartoon ensemble cast. It was insulting and a slap in the face to everyone who genuinely liked the character.
It wouldn’t have been hard to make Rita and Runt therapy pets. Especially for other animal characters who needed it. It would’ve been amazing to see him using his empathy, kindness and goofy personality to help others.
I think it wasn’t fair to disregard him and the others. It was definitely shameful and pretty ableist to throw him away when all he wanted was to be treated with kindness despite his problems.
He definitely deserved better.
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u/BrookieCore005 5d ago
How could they do this to
poor innocent Runt, he didn’t deserve this. Besides, I’m a fan of Rita and Runt
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u/madlibs13 5d ago
Runt is the most underrated Animaniacs character. I have a few neurodivergent family members who are between 10 and 25, and they all love Runt because they recognize themselves in him. (The oldest hates Rita with a passion because in her words "She uses Runt and not is his friend")