"Moon Over Minerva" is the second segment of Animaniacs episode 30.
Summary[]
A melancholic Minerva avoids the come-ons of geeky Wilford Wolf, until the full moon brings out the real wolf in both of them.
Plot[]
As Minerva Mink wanders through the woods, attracting a few male animals in the vicinity, she finds a quiet spot by the pond to sadly write in her diary about her progress in finding her "special someone." As she concludes her entry, a nerdy wolf named Wilford approaches, shyly hoping to win her heart. Minerva finds Wilford's attempts to woo her rather pathetic and annoying. She sarcastically flirts with him and butters him up, much to his delight, only then to harshly tell him off and leave. Later, outside her window, Wilford attempts once more to win Minerva's affections by serenading her. But this attempt fails miserably as Minerva, having just got out of the shower, drenches him with a garden hose and snaps, "Hit the road, Jack!"
That night, sad that Minerva doesn't like him, Wilford wanders away to a small cliff overlooking the forest, to mourn his sorrows by howling at the moon. Minerva can hear his woeful howls from her window, which annoys her so much that she angrily sets out to put a stop to the nonsense. As Wilford continues to howl, the clouds part, revealing the full moon. At that moment, Wilford undergoes an intense transformation, in which he becomes a handsome, muscular "werewolf," whom the female animals in the area find quite attractive. An irritated Minerva approaches to tell him off, but when she sees Wilford's handsome form, falls head-over-paws in love. She tells him to stay put and dashes off, much to Wilford's confusion. Clouds pass over the moon, concealing it and reducing Wilford back to his nerdy form. Minerva returns, dressed in a stylish dress and opera gloves (reminiscent of Jessica Rabbit), and asks him if he likes her outfit. Wilford compliments her, saying she looks "simply peachy." Shocked, Minerva asks Wilford where the handsome werewolf went, not realizing that they are one and the same. She frantically searches around, thinking Wilford scared "him" away. When the handsome werewolf cannot be found, she sits down upon a rock and mourns over her loss. Unseen by her, the clouds part and Wilford turns back into his handsome form, much to Minerva's delight. He uses the same pick-up lines she used on him earlier, which truly excites her. But she doesn't see the clouds conceal the moon, which changes Wilford back into a nerd again, which in turn causes her to faint. The clouds part and Wilford changes back once more. When she awakens to find that she's in the handsome Wilford's arms, she delightedly plants a big kiss on him, only for the sun to rise at that moment and change Wilford back into his nerdy form once again.
Minerva is quite surprised and demands an explanation, asking him what kind of a wolf he is. When Wilford tells her he's a werewolf, this interests Minerva. She asks him when the next full moon will occur, to which he explains "according to most lunar calendars, every 28 days." The short concludes with Minerva saying "Good things are worth waiting for," implying that she will keep her schedule open for Wilford's enhanced form.
Trivia[]
This is the second "Minerva" short, thus making it the last short in the "Minerva Mink" segment.
In the original short, Minerva's cleavage proved to be too revealing. Thus, the animators painted it out in the close-up shots. However, if one looks closely on the DVD edition, they can see where the cleavage was painted out.
Much like Minerva's beauty attracts all male animals, Wilford's handsome werewolf form attracts all female animals.
After Wilford's miserably failed attempt to serenade Minerva, when she yells "Hit the road, Jack!," this is quite possibly a reference to the Ray Charles song of the same name.
The piece of music featured at the start of the short is a remix of Claude Debussy's Arabesque No. 1.