Dr. Otto Scratchansniff
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Dr. Otto Scratchansniff is a fictional character on the Animaniacs animated television series.
Dr. Scratchansniff, the Warner Bros. studio psychiatrist, is a tall, thin, bald man who speaks with a thick Austrian accent. He has an oddly peanut-shaped head and wears very thick glasses. His primary job, as dictated by studio CEO Thaddeus Plotz, is to attempt to "civilize" the out-of-control Warner Brothers and Sister. At times, he seems to be the Warners' guardian as well, waking them up and driving them to a carnival in the short film I'm Mad. The Warners vex him endlessly, such as kissing him in a confusing manner or pronouncing the name of his occupation as "pea-sychiatrist" (rather than ignoring the silent "p"), but they usually display a near-filial affection for him. By comparison, Otto seems to dislike the Warners less than all the other regular characters, when they aren't being obnoxious.
A stereotypical Freudian psychologist, Scratchansniff keeps a bust of Sigmund Freud, which is also, apparently, a giant Pez dispenser, on his desk which he occasionally talks to. His incredibly sexy nurse, named Hello Nurse, assists him in his attempts to capture, tame and subdue the Warner siblings. Although he attempts to remain calm and rational, the Warners' zany antics routinely drive him to frustrated raving.
Scratchansniff is attracted to Hello Nurse. In the "Piano Rag" episode, he makes a Freudian slip when he says "Miss Nurse, you take... my breath away!" when he was giving her directions to look for the Warners.
Scratchansniff was not always bald; in the very first episode, which was a "flashback" episode, he sported a full head of shaggy gray hair (which was originally brown, as shown in pictures from his younger days). Upon meeting the Warners for the first time, he grew so exasperated with them over the course of their initial therapy sessions that, over time, he ripped out every single hair in frustration.
Occasionally, Scratchansniff brings out Mr. Puppethead, a hand puppet in his likeness, with which he tries to use to speak with the Warners. However, Scratchansniff usually ends up talking with the puppet himself, questioning his own sanity.
Dr. Scratchansniff is voiced by Rob Paulsen, who also provided numerous other voices for the show (including that of Yakko Warner). In the show's Japanese dub, he is voiced by Mitsuru Ogata.
The character's surname is no doubt a pun on "scratch and sniff". In the German dub, his surname is "Freudlos", literally meaning "joyless", an obvious pun on Sigmund Freud.
