"I think the hallmark of Warner Bros. cartoons is a certain kind of sarcasm and sly humor," said Steve Bernstein, a Warner Bros. composer who worked with Mr. Stone. "You know, if there was a bucket of glue on the screen, the music was 'The Old Gray Mare Just Ain't What She Used to Be.' Carl Stalling created that language, and Richard was a master at speaking it."

Stone was widely considered the modern-day successor to Carl Stalling, the legendary composer who wrote hundreds of wacky musical scores for such Warner Bros. classics as "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" from the late 1930s to the 1950s.

When watching cartoons, I was much more aware of the animation than the music, so I never gave a thought to the composer or musical director. Now, after reading about Richard Stone, I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't notice. He composed the theme or scored episodes (or did both) for a few of my favorite cartoons of the 90s. He worked on Tiny Toon Adventures, my high school favorite, before moving to Animaniacs, my all time favorite. His theme songs are some of the catchiest, and certainly the most memorable for me. It was his theme that got me watching Tasmania, and it was, without a doubt, the music the got me hooked on Animaniacs (I still sing songs from the show, probably much more often than is healthy in someone approaching 30).

I couldn't find much on Stone online. Other than a mention in credits, most information consists of his obituarty (he died in 1999). Here is the IMDb entry.