Where can I watch "Animaniacs" in Canada?

Animaniacs, the 2020 revival of the 1993–98 animated series featuring the characters Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner as well as Pinky and the Brain, premiered on Hulu in the United States on November 20, 2020.

Although commissioned (ordered) by Hulu (now controlled by Disney), both the original series and its revival are/were produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment alongside Warner Bros., and are distributed internationally by the latter.

In Canada, where Hulu is not available, broadcast and streaming rights to the series are currently held by Corus Entertainment, which has a partnership with Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia for much of its animated programming. This includes operation of licensed Canadian versions of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, as well as rights to programs produced by Warner Bros. for other services like Looney Tunes Cartoons. Some of these programs also (or instead) air on Corus' more widely-distributed Teletoon channels.

As a result, the Animaniacs revival premiered in Canada on Teletoon – with the first four episodes airing the day of its U.S. release, and the remaining nine first-season episodes rolled out over subsequent weekends, with repeats continuing to air Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. ET/PT on Teletoon (as of mid-June 2021). The series is also available to stream on StackTV, an add-on to Amazon Prime Video offered by Teletoon's parent company, Corus.

Can I watch the new season on demand?

All first-season episodes of the revived series are currently available on-demand to Teletoon subscribers through cable, satellite and IP-based TV providers. This can be accessed through your set-top box, or through websites and apps operated by your TV provider.

For example, Rogers digital cable subscribers can access the series via Rogers on Demand (channel 100), or on the Rogers Anyplace TV website and apps. (The steps will be similar but not exactly the same for customers of other services, including Rogers' newer Ignite TV platform.)

Note however that unlike Corus' networks for mature audiences (which are available on the Global TV app), Teletoon does not currently offer its own mobile app for on-demand access to its programming, and its website only offers a bare minimum in terms of programming and subscription information.

Note as well that it is not yet clear how long these episodes will be available on demand. Several recent Warner Bros. series aired by Corus channels, like the first season of the adult animated series Harley Quinn (which aired on Adult Swim Canada), have been available on-demand for up to a year after release but eventually dropped off, and the affected seasons have not always landed at any other subscription service. Animaniacs may well end up being handled similarly, but there's no guarantee either way at this point.

Where can I watch "Animaniacs" if I'm a cord-cutter in Canada?

Teletoon, including on-demand access to programs like Animaniacs, is included in Corus' StackTV add-on package to Amazon Prime Video. StackTV offers a 30-day free trial; after that, it's $12.99 per month, on top of Amazon Prime which is $7.99 per month or $79 a year (all prices are plus applicable sales taxes).

The only other true over-the-top option at this point is VMedia's RiverTV service, which offers a 7-day trial and includes the same channels as StackTV plus a few others for $16.99 per month (plus taxes).

There are other over-the-top-style options that may be available depending on your internet provider, which are essentially cable providers which can run solely through an app instead of requiring a set-top box. Because they are based on existing rules for CRTC-regulated TV providers, the service is necessarily tied to that provider. For example, you can only subscribe to Bell's Fibe Alt TV if you're a Fibe Internet subscriber. It's similar for services like Telus' Pik TV, TekSavvy TV, and some versions of VMedia's regular TV service.

It's likely that these episodes will be released for individual or season purchase at a later date through digital retailers like the Apple TV / iTunes Store. But at this point we can't offer a prediction of when that would be.

How about classic episodes of "Animaniacs"?

Although Hulu acquired streaming rights to the original series in the U.S., as far as we can tell, episodes of the 1993–98 series are not currently available on a linear or streaming service in Canada. The last broadcast we are aware of is on the now-defunct Teletoon Retro channel, which aired them in the mid-2010s.

The original Animaniacs series is, however, available for purchase on DVD on Amazon.ca (either as individual seasons or a complete series), and digitally on the Apple TV / iTunes Store and the Google Play Movies & TV store.