The writers threw Spielberg's weight around a lot in those shows. Often very directly mocking celebrities and movie. VERY often. Like, every episode. Disney in particular got bitchslapped a lot. It was kinda obnoxious at times, because the jokes were aimed at kids, but the basis was for adults. So kids didn't get it and adults didn't find it funny. Looking back, Animaniacs had its fair share of laughs, but it was too silly. Tiny Toons and Freakazoid had better writing and didn't depend on celebrity potshots to be hilarious. Freakazoid took what was great about old WB cartoons and brought it to modern day. Tiny Toons, more so, obviously.