Minerva Mink
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Minerva Mink is a character in the Warner Bros. animated television series Animaniacs. She is an anthropomorphic mink created by Warner Bros. animation producers Paul Dini and Sherri Stoner. Her initial designs were handled by character artist Barry Caldwell, while her final design was done by Dan Haskett. Her voice was performed by Julie Brown.
Originally called Marilyn Mink, after cinema bombshell Marilyn Monroe, her initial design had her clothe-less, very much like character Slappy Squirrel (note of interest: Slappy Squirrel's curvaceous design on her "Got Milk?"/Buttermilk parody skit, is a close representation of this initial Minerva design.) WBTA's management felt this "al fresco design" was inappropriate for family entertainment, with final designs and name change occurring prior to the first Minerva episode airing.
Minerva has white fur with long blonde hair and an enormous soft blonde tail. Being a fashionable girl, she is rarely seen wearing the same outfit twice, though most production art shows her wearing a red jumpsuit. Her scale changes with the plot. In her first appearance she was shown to be the size of a normal mink (this is in relation to her size compared to Newt, who was shown earlier in that episode only coming up to his master's knee). However, she was most often shown the same size as human beings, only about a head shorter than Hello Nurse.
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[edit] Character profile and personality
Minerva was created with an initial thought of creating a female counterpart to Bugs Bunny's wit, cunning, and humor. However, her final concept was for her to drive every male, no matter their species, into wild take-filled Tex Avery-styled conniptions at her beauty. However, when she spots a sexy male, she goes into lustful spasms of her own.
Personality-wise, Minerva can best be described as a "gold-digger", so to speak, being extremely vain and egotistical. She typically was seen using men to do whatever she wanted, showing no interest in them what-so-ever. As an example of poetic justice, episodes typically ended with her receiving a taste of her own medicine, as she chases after men with similar exacting standards who don't seem to find her attractive at all.
Minerva starred in the least number of shorts of all the ensemble cast, allegedly on account that the content of her shorts was so overtly sexual that it was decided that it would be inappropriate for the intended predominantly children's audience. For example, on one occasion, Minerva was seen as a nude silhouette while bathing in a lake. Additionally, many of the zany wild-takes on part of the male cast members were filled with innuendo and metaphor for erections.
Her second and last solo short, "Moon Over Minerva", was slightly edited for content before broadcast. Some shots of her cleavage were considered too voluptuous for a children's cartoon and were thus air-brushed out. The intent was for her chest to resemble a large puff of fur, but resulted in what fans tend to refer to as a "uni-boob". Only some shots, mostly close-ups, were censored - others were left alone.
[edit] Minerva melting
One of Minerva's more popular character traits when it came to her zany wild-takes at the sight of attractive men, was her habit of melting into a puddle. In both of her solo cartoons, Minerva ends up doing just that.
In "Meet Minerva", when she finally meets her friend's cousin, and explodes into fits of arousal, one of the things she does is melt (quite literally) in his arms. She promptly reforms herself into the form of an obnoxiously loud boat horn, broadcasting her passion, much to the male mink's irritation.
In "Moon over Minerva", when she encounters Wilford Wolf's Fabio-like alter-ego for the second time, she melts into a creamy multi-colored puddle at his feet. She is reformed back to her original state only after Wilford picks her up and wrings her out like a wet towel.
[edit] "Meet Minerva" (Episode 54)
The dachshund, Newt, is sent by his master to hunt down a mink. Newt finds Minerva and intends to bring her back to his master. However, each caging attempt on his part backfires when Minerva uses her sexuality to turn him into a (more) bumbling idiot; after Newt attempts reverse psychology on her, she stops running, rubs her tail against Newt, calls him cute, and gives him a kiss on the nose. He spins around, falls, and lands softly on her tail like a bed of fur and rests there as she comforts him. After he asks her about the wedding, she tosses him into a gopher hole. Minerva simply calls him a "Yutz" and takes the challenge in stride.
By the end of the episode, Newt decides to just blow her to smithereens from a distance and plants dynamite all around her house. After striking the detonator, her home is blown into the air but lands overlooking a scenic pond. Minerva is overjoyed at seeing her home placed right where she wants it and gives Newt a big hug. Newt is overwhelmed and promptly self-destructs. Minerva snickers at his reaction but then stumbles upon a gorgeous male mink, the cousin of her best friend. Minerva explodes in a string of wild-takes, finally collapsing. The male mink rolls his eyes and calls her a "Yutz".
[edit] "Moon Over Minerva" (Episodes 30, H03)
In "Moon Over Minerva", Minerva is courted by the stereotypically nerdy wolf named Wilford. Minerva tells him off, hurting Wilford's feelings. A full moon then rises, causing Wilford to undergo a lycanthropic change; he turns into a werewolf. But not just any werewolf; Wilford transforms into an extremely buff, Fabio-like hunk that causes all the female animals in the vicinity to engage in lustful wacky wild-takes of their own and Minerva is no exception.
Minerva falls in love at first sight, and attempts to catch the attractive werewolf, but each time the full moon is obscured by clouds, he changes back into the dorky Wilford. Thinking Wilford has scared him off, she searches for the hunky werewolf, and at one point she sticks her head in a pond and yells, in a parody of a child's hide and seek game, "Oli oli oxygen-free!" Eventually, after planting a big kiss on him, Minerva puts two and two together. She asks Wilford when the next full moon is, to which he replies, "According to most lunar calendars, every 28 days." Apparently, Wilford seems more intelligent than he appears to be. Minerva sighs "Good things are worth waiting for," and keeps her schedule open accordingly for Wilford in his enhanced form.
[edit] The comics
While Minerva mostly appeared as a background character in the TV series, she was featured far more prominently in the comic book series, which was allowed a freer range when it came to the adult nature of its humor.
Minerva starred in the following issues:
- Animaniacs #15 "Shopping Beauty"
- Animaniacs #17 "Minervadrama"
- Animaniacs #25 "A Taxing Situation"
- Animaniacs #28 "Natural Chemistry"
- Animaniacs #32 "Booth Bait"
- Animaniacs #34 "Minerxa, Warrior Princess"
- Animaniacs #36 "Nature, Part XIV: "Sly Minks""
- Animaniacs #39 "Bombshell"
- Animaniacs #41 "The Little Furmaid"
[edit] Last appearance
Minerva's last official appearance, as well as the last appearance of numerous other Animaniacs characters, was in the straight-to-video movie, Wakko's Wish.
In that movie she was seen as a background character attempting to reach the wishing-star before everyone else. She only received a few individual lines in the film, but received a rather grand credit after the film's conclusion.
[edit] External links
- Minerva Mink's Pondside Haven - a site devoted to Minerva Mink.
