Pinky and the Brain is an American animated television series.
The characters Pinky and the Brain first appeared in 1993 as a recurring segment on the show
AnimaniacsSteven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...
. From 1995 to 1998, Pinky and the Brain were spun off into their own show on
The WB Television NetworkThe WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
,
Steven Spielberg Presents Pinky and the Brain, with 65 episodes produced by
Steven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
and
Warner Bros. AnimationWarner Bros. Animation is the animation division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Time Warner. The studio is closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters, among others. The studio is the successor to Warner Bros...
. Later, they appeared in the unsuccessful series,
Steven Spielberg Presents Pinky, Elmyra & the BrainSteven Spielberg Presents Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain is the retooling of the American animated television series Pinky and the Brain , with the title characters being joined by Elmyra Duff from their other show Tiny Toon Adventures...
.
Pinky and Brain are
genetically enhancedGenetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
laboratory mice who reside in a cage in the
Acme LabsThe Acme Corporation is a fictional corporation that features prominently in the Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons as a running gag featuring outlandish products that fail catastrophically at the worst possible times...
research facility. Brain is self-centered and
schemingMegalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
; Pinky is good-natured but feebleminded. In each episode, Brain devises a new plan to
take over the worldHegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
, which ultimately ends in failure, usually due to Pinky's idiocy or the impossibility of Brain's plan. In common with many other
Animaniacs shorts, many episodes are in some way a
parodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of something else, usually a film or novel. The opening song is preceded by the following dialogue:
Pinky: "Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?"
The Brain: "The same thing we do every night, Pinky—try to take over the world!"
Premise
Many of the
Pinky and the Brain episodes occur in the 1990s at Acme Labs, located in some large American metropolitan city near a bridge, presumably San Francisco or
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to tie in with
Animaniacs and the Warner Brothers studio lot. However, several episodes took place in historical times, with Pinky and the Brain under the laboratory care of some scientifically-minded person, including
MerlinMerlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
, H.G. Wells and
Ivan PavlovIvan Petrovich Pavlov was a famous Russian physiologist. Although he made significant contributions to psychology, he was not in fact a psychologist himself but was a mathematician and actually had strong distaste for the field....
.
The bulk of every episode involves one of Brain's plans for
world dominationHegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
with Pinky's assistance and the ultimate failure of that plan. One centers on his rival Snowball's plan to take over the world using Microsponge. Another episode features Brain's single day where he tries to do anything but take over the world: in the end, a group of people vote that he should take over the world on the one day he does not want to. There is very little
continuityIn fiction, continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time...
between episodes outside of the common fixtures of the mice, though some plans for world domination from early episodes are subsequently referred to in later seasons (for example, Brain's "human suit" used in "Win Big" reappears when Brain faces Snowball in "Snowball").
Both Pinky and the Brain, white mice kept as part of Acme Labs' experimentation, have undergone significant
genetic alterationGenetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
; as per the show's title lyrics, "their genes have been
splicedIn molecular biology and genetics, splicing is a modification of an RNA after transcription, in which introns are removed and exons are joined. This is needed for the typical eukaryotic messenger RNA before it can be used to produce a correct protein through translation...
" which gives the two mice amplified intelligence over that of a typical mouse, the ability to talk to humans, and
anthropomorphismAnthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
. "Project B.R.A.I.N." suggests that the gene splicing occurred on September 9, 1995, coincident to the first full episode of
Pinky and the Brain. The episode "Brainwashed" states that the gene splicing was done by
Dr. MordoughThe Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells. It is told from the point of view of a man named Edward Prendick who is shipwrecked, rescued by a passing boat, and then left at the ship's destination by the crew along with the ship's cargo of exotic animals...
, along with Snowball the hamster and Precious the cat, using the Acme "Gene Splicer and
BagelA bagel is a bread product, traditionally shaped by hand into the form of a ring from yeasted wheat dough, roughly hand-sized, which is first boiled for a short time in water and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior...
Warmer."
Although Pinky and the Brain plan to conquer the world, they do not show much animosity; in a
ChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
special Pinky even wrote to Santa that Brain had the world's best interests at heart.
The Brain
The Brain (voiced by
Maurice LaMarcheMaurice LaMarche is an Emmy Award winning Canadian-American voice actor and former stand up comedian. He is best known for his voicework in Futurama as Kif Kroker, as Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters, Verminous Skumm and Duke Nukem in Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Big Bob Pataki in Hey...
) looks and sounds like
Orson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, albeit with pink eyes. In "What Ever Happened to Baby Brain," Brain in fact crosses paths with Welles, who is working as a busboy in a Hollywood restaurant; they find themselves inadvertently yelling in unison, "Things will be different when I take over the world!" In "Project B.R.A.I.N." Brain's name is the acronym for "Biological Recombinant Algorithmic Intelligence Nexus." His tail is bent like a staircase—he often uses it to pick the lock of his cage—and his head is large and wide, housing his abnormally large brain. He is highly intelligent and develops complex plans for
global dominationWorld government is the notion of a single common political authority for all of humanity. Its modern conception is rooted in European history, particularly in the philosophy of ancient Greece, in the political formation of the Roman Empire, and in the subsequent struggle between secular authority,...
(only nobody believed he will), using politics, cultural references, and his own inventions toward his goal. He seems coldly unemotional, speaking in a deadpan. Nevertheless, Brain has a subtle sense of humor and even possesses some Christmas spirit. He has even fallen in love, with Trudie in the episode "The Third Mouse", and with Billie in "The World Can Wait."
Brain has been compared to Napoleon Bonaparte and
Don Quixote.
Brain sees his inevitable rise to power as good for the world, and not mere
megalomaniaMegalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
. In
Wakko's WishSteven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish, usually referred to as Wakko's Wish is a 1999 American direct-to-video animated tragicomedy film based on the Warner Bros. 1993-98 animated series, Animaniacs, and also the swan song to the series...
, he said to Pinky "We're on our way to fame, fortune and a world that's a better place for all." Many of the Brain's plots had the
endgameIn chess and chess-like games, the endgame is the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board....
of winning over the people's hearts and having them make him their ruler. However, his motives are not pure. In one episode, Brain finds himself hypnotized by a psychologist he had planned to manipulate for one of his schemes, none other than
Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
. There Brain reveals that he originally lived with his parents in a tin can. When he was young, researchers took him from his home, and the last he saw of it was a picture of the world on the side of the can. Dr. Freud speculates that Brain's hunger to take over the world stems from wanting to go back home to his parents.
Pinky
Pinky (voiced by
Rob PaulsenRobert Fredrick "Rob" Paulsen III , sometimes credited as Rob Paulson, is an American voice actor, best known as the voice behind Raphael from the 1987 cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yakko Warner and Dr...
) is another genetically modified mouse who shares the same cage at Acme Labs, but is much more dim. He speaks with an exaggerated
cockneyThe term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
accent. He has several verbal
ticA tic is a sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic, stereotyped motor movement or vocalization involving discrete muscle groups. Tics can be invisible to the observer, such as abdominal tensing or toe crunching. Common motor and phonic tics are, respectively, eye blinking and throat clearing...
s, such as
"narf",
"zort",
"poit", and
"troz" (the last of which he started saying after noticing it was "
zort in the mirror"). Pinky has a straight tail, blue eyes, and a severe overbite, and is taller than the Brain. Pinky's name was given to him by Brain, thinking that Brain was calling him when in fact Brain was referring to his own pinky digit, when insulting some scientists while talking to himself.
Pinky is more open-minded than the Brain and much happier. Troubles never ruin his day, mostly because he is too scatter-brained to notice them. He helps Brain toward world domination, even though Brain insults him and often hits him on the head. Pinky actually seems to enjoy this, laughing after he's hit. He is happy just being with his best friend. He is obsessed with trivia, spending a lot of time watching
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and following
popular culturePopular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
fads. This
detritusDetritus is a biological term used to describe dead or waste organic material.Detritus may also refer to:* Detritus , a geological term used to describe the particles of rock produced by weathering...
is in the place of the Brain's rigorous logic. However, the Brain's schemes have sometimes tapped into this knowledge. Sometimes Pinky even finds non-rational solutions to problems. He has a number of unusual special abilities, something like 'magic', perhaps caused by his genetic engineering. He occasionally levitates, and also is apparently capable of telekinesis, as seen when he levitated several pieces of fruit in a bowl. An entire episode (entitled "The Pinky P.O.V.") even shows a typical night of attempted world domination from his point of view, showing his thought process and how he comes to the strange, seemingly non-sensical responses to the Brain's famous question.
Other characters
The show featured a few recurring characters. Snowball the
hamsterHamsters are rodents belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae. The subfamily contains about 25 species, classified in six or seven genera....
(voiced by
Roddy McDowallRoderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an English actor and photographer. His film roles included Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes film series...
) is Brain's former friend, also made intelligent by gene splicing. He has also developed a desire for world conquest, and Pinky and the Brain are sometimes forced to stop Snowball's schemes. Billie (voiced by
Tress MacNeilleTress MacNeille is an American voice actress best known for providing various voices on the animated series The Simpsons, Futurama, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Disney's House of Mouse, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Dave the...
) is a female mouse, another result of gene splicing. She is smarter than Brain, and makes him afraid she will beat him to his goal of world domination. He loves her: she fancies Pinky. Pharfignewton (voiced by
Frank WelkerFranklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
) is a racing
mareA mare is an adult female horse or other equine.In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...
who Pinky falls in love with. Larry (voiced by
Billy WestWilliam Richard "Billy" West is an American voice actor. Born in Detroit but raised in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Billy launched his career in the early 1980s performing daily comedic routines on Boston's WBCN. He left the radio station to work on the short-lived revival...
, when he's using the same voice as Stimpy from Ren and Stimpy) is a white mouse like
LarryLouis Feinberg , known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American comedian and actor, who is best known as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges.-Early life:...
of The Three Stooges inexplicably present in certain episodes. He was created as a response to demand from Kids WB executives to include additional characters on the show. As the writers of the show believed that including an additional character would ruin the chemistry between Pinky and The Brain.
Other characters that have appeared on the show have included both Brain's parents, and Pinky's parents and "sister" (an empty spool of thread), and their "child", "Roman Numeral I" (Romy for short) who was a result of a cloning mistake. Later seasons also feature recurring caricatures of celebrities, including both
BillWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and Hillary Clinton and
Christopher WalkenChristopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
.
Creation and inspiration
Pinky and the Brain was inspired by the peculiar personalities of two of producer Tom Ruegger's
Tiny Toon Adventures colleagues, Eddie Fitzgerald and
Tom MintonTom Minton is an American animation producer, writer, story editor and storyboard artist. He created and wrote the "Toby Danger" episode of Freakazoid!, wrote the lyrics to the song "Brainstem" and served as head model for the Warner Bros character the Brain in Pinky and the Brain...
, respectively. Ruegger wondered what would happen if Minton and Fitzgerald tried to take over the world. Fitzgerald (who has also worked on
Mighty Morphin Power RangersMighty Morphin Power Rangers is an American live-action children's television series based on the 16th installment of the Japanese Super Sentai franchise, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. Both the show and its related merchandise saw unbridled overnight success, catapulting into pop culture in mere months...
and
Ren and Stimpy) is said to have constantly said
"Narf" and
"Egad" around the Tiny Toons production office. The gag credit for the
Tiny Toon Adventures episode "You Asked For It" credits Eddie Fitzgerald as "Guy Who Says 'Narf'". Series producer Peter Hastings described Eddie by saying, "He always greeted you like you were wearing a funny hat – and he liked it." The Fitzgerald/Minton connection to Pinky and the Brain is shown in the episode "The Pinky and the Brain Reunion Special". Two characters shown as writers for Pinky and the Brain cartoons within the short are caricatures of Fitzgerald and Minton.
While Ruegger initially based The Brain after Minton, the Welles connection came from Maurice LaMarche, a big fan of the actor/director, who had supplied the voice for
Orson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
in the 1994 movie
Ed WoodEd Wood is a 1994 American comedy-drama biopic directed and produced by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as cult filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film concerns the period in Wood's life when he made his best-known films as well as his relationship with actor Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau...
. LaMarche describes Brain's voice as "65% Orson Welles, 35%
Vincent PriceVincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
". Brain's similarity to Orson Welles was made explicit in the
Animaniacs episode "Yes, Always", which was based upon an
outtakeAn outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not...
from one of Welles' television commercials, colloquially known as
Frozen PeasFrozen Peas is the colloquial term for a blooper audio clip wherein American filmmaker Orson Welles performs narration for a series of British television advertisements for Findus...
, in which he ranted about the poor quality of the script. This cartoon was described by writer Peter Hastings as "a $250,000 inside joke": LaMarche used excerpts from it as sound check material, and Hastings took it to its logical conclusion. The series also alluded to Welles with an episode in which Brain took on the mind-clouding powers of a radio character called "The Fog": a parody of
The ShadowThe Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
, a popular radio character for which Welles once provided the voice. Other Welles allusions included the episode "The Third Mouse", a parody of
The Third ManThe Third Man is a 1949 British film noir, directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Many critics rank it as a masterpiece, particularly remembered for its atmospheric cinematography, performances, and unique musical score...
in which the Brain played the part of Welles' character Harry Lime (with Pinky as Holly Martins), and "Battle for the Planet", in which Brain, inspired by Welles' infamous
War of the WorldsThe War of the Worlds was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on October 30, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker...
radio broadcast and the hysteria it provoked, stages an alien invasion on television. A caricature of Orson Welles appears in a late episode of the series ("What Ever Happened to Baby Brain"), echoing a rant of the Brain's and introducing himself afterwards.
The episode "Win Big" was the very first
Pinky and the Brain segment. It was developed for
Animaniacs, written by Ruegger with a script by Peter Hastings, and directed by Rusty Mills. According to Ruegger, most of the elements that would become part of
Pinky and the Brain can be found in Hastings's original script. It held many dialog bits that became conventions of the entire series, including Brain's "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?", Pinky's "Oh wait…but no…" in response to a plan, and Pinky's final question, "What are we doing tomorrow night?"
Issues of sexuality
The prime time version of
Pinky and the Brain had 30-minute episodes, each with one storyline. Garth Ancier, the head of programming of
The WB, said that it would be impossible to do with only two characters, so the network added "what we call the family and romantic elements."
Jeffrey P. Dennis, author of the journal article "The Same Thing We Do Every Night: Signifying Same-Sex Desire in Television Cartoons", published in the
Journal of Popular Film & TelevisionJournal of Popular Film and Television is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Routledge, which purchased it from Heldref Publications in 2009. Michael Marsden, who was the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Northern Michigan University in the late 1990s, co-founded the...
, discussed sexual orientation in American cartoons from the 1950s to 2004. As part of the paper he argued that same-sex romantic desire was "coded" into
Pinky and the Brain. Dennis added that in early episodes of
Pinky and the Brain, while Pinky and the Brain shared one cage and collaborated on schemes, Pinky and the Brain were "coded" as "coworkers and bunkmates" instead of as lovers. Both Pinky and the Brain fell in love with other characters, and Dennis commented that Pinky was "especially promiscuous". Dennis argues that "erotic desire" was, from the start, in the relationship between Pinky and the Brain. Dennis said that in the prime time episodes, heterosexual partners appeared occasionally and Brain was "somewhat swayable" towards them, while Pinky was steadfastly in love with Brain. Dennis argued that the two shared a romantic love and represented a closeted homosexual couple in the later episodes. In one episode, Pinky and the Brain combine their DNA to form a child named Romy. Dennis argued that the authoritarian and nurturing dynamics of Pinky and the Brain result from their established personalities instead of stereotyped gender roles, and that Pinky and the Brain live together as men instead of living an emulation of a heterosexual couple. In a response to Dennis's article, Martin Goodman of
Animation World Magazine described Dennis's comments regarding
Pinky and the Brain as "interesting."
In an interview of the DVDs of
Pinky and the Brain Vol. 1 Unrated,
Maurice LaMarcheMaurice LaMarche is an Emmy Award winning Canadian-American voice actor and former stand up comedian. He is best known for his voicework in Futurama as Kif Kroker, as Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters, Verminous Skumm and Duke Nukem in Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Big Bob Pataki in Hey...
, Brain's voice actor, said that "the show is about the love" between Brain and Pinky.
Producers
As with
Animaniacs, Steven Spielberg was the executive producer during the entire run, Tom Ruegger was the senior producer, Jean MacCurdy was the executive in charge of production, and Andrea Romano was the voice director. Peter Hastings, Rusty Mills and Liz Holzman produced the show when it was spun off from Animaniacs, as well as the season it ran primetime on the WB. After the first season Hastings left the show and Mills took over as the supervising producer.
Writing
The original Pinky and the Brain shorts on
Animaniacs were written primarily by Peter Hastings. Upon moving into its own show, the writing staff included Gordon Bressack, Charles M. Howell IV, Earl Kress, Wendell Morris, and Tom Sheppard. Comedienne
Alex BorsteinAlexandrea "Alex" Borstein is an American actress, singer, voice actress, writer and comedian. She is best known for her long-running role as Lois Griffin on the animated television series Family Guy, and as a cast member on the sketch comedy series MADtv.A native of Highland Park, Illinois,...
was also a staff writer, years before her fame on
MADTVMADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
and
Family GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
. Classic Warner Bros. cartoon director Norm McCabe also wrote for the show.
Voicing
Pinky and the Brain were voiced by Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche, respectively. The series also used the work of many of the same voice actors for
Animaniacs including
Tress MacNeilleTress MacNeille is an American voice actress best known for providing various voices on the animated series The Simpsons, Futurama, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Disney's House of Mouse, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Dave the...
,
Jess HarnellJess Q. Harnell is an American voice actor and singer, best known for voicing Wakko Warner on Animaniacs. Harnell has been the announcer for America's Funniest Home Videos since 1998.-Life and acting career:...
,
Frank WelkerFranklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
, and
Jeff BennettJeffrey Glenn "Jeff" Bennett is an American voice actor and musician, listed "among the top names in the voice-over field", best known as the voice of Johnny Bravo in the series of the same name...
, as well as Paul Rugg,
Billy WestWilliam Richard "Billy" West is an American voice actor. Born in Detroit but raised in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Billy launched his career in the early 1980s performing daily comedic routines on Boston's WBCN. He left the radio station to work on the short-lived revival...
,
Grey DeLisleGrey DeLisle is an American voice actress, singer-songwriter, and comedienne. To date, she has released four solo albums and has featured on the tribute album Anchored in Love: A Tribute to June Carter Cash and film soundtrack of Loggerheads...
, and
Jim CummingsJames Jonah "Jim" Cummings is an American voice actor who has appeared in almost 100 roles. He has appeared in classic animated movies such as Aladdin and The Lion King, as well as taking on roles in more current films, such as Bee Movie, Princess and the Frog, and Winnie the Pooh.-Personal...
.
Celebrities such as
Roddy McDowallRoderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an English actor and photographer. His film roles included Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes film series...
,
Nora DunnNora Eloise Dunn is an American actress and comedian, perhaps best known for her work on NBC's Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...
,
Townsend ColemanTownsend Coleman is an American voice actor who performed in many animated series and TV commercials beginning in the early 1980s...
,
Ernest BorgnineErnest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
,
Eric IdleEric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
, Dick Clark,
Ed McMahonEdward Peter "Ed" McMahon, Jr. was an American comedian, game show host and announcer. He is most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson's sidekick and announcer on The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992. He also hosted the original version of the talent show Star Search from 1983 to 1995...
,
Steve AllenSteve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
,
Joyce BrothersJoyce Brothers is an American psychologist, television personality and advice columnist, publishing a daily syndicated newspaper column since 1960.-Personal life:...
,
Gavin MacLeodGavin MacLeod is an American actor most notable for playing Happy Haines on McHale's Navy, Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat...
,
John TeshJohn Frank Tesh is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. His 10-year-old 'Intelligence for Your Life Radio Show' reaches 14.2 Million listeners/week, and is syndicated by Teshmedia on 400 stations in US, Canada, and the UK...
,
Michael McKeanMichael John McKean is an American actor, comedian, writer, composer and musician, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Squiggy's friend, Leonard 'Lenny' Kosnowski, on the sitcom Laverne and Shirley; and for his work in the Christopher Guest ensemble films, particularly as David St...
,
Garry MarshallGarry Kent Marshall is an American actor, director, writer and producer. His notable credits include creating Happy Days and The Odd Couple and directing Nothing In Common, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, Valentine's Day, and The Princess Diaries.-Early life:Marshall was born in the New York City...
,
Mark HamillMark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
,
James BelushiJames Adam "Jim" Belushi is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is the younger brother of comic actor John Belushi.-Early life:Belushi was born in Chicago...
and
Steven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
have all performed guest voice work for the series as well.
Cree SummerCree Summer Francks , best known as Cree Summer, is a Canadian actress, musician and voice actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as college student Winifred "Freddie" Brooks on the NBC sitcom A Different World...
has also voiced characters in
Pinky and the Brain and reprised her role as Elmyra during
Pinky, Elmyra, and The Brain.
Music
As with
Animaniacs,
Pinky and the Brain was scored by a team of composers, led by supervising composer Richard Stone. This team included Steve and Julie Bernstein, who also orchestrated and sometimes conducted the 40-piece orchestra. The recordings were done on Stage A on the Warner Bros lot, the same stage (and with the same piano) where
Carl StallingCarl W. Stalling was an American composer and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts produced by Warner Bros., where he averaged one complete score each week, for 22 years.-Biography:Stalling was born to Ernest and...
recorded his Looney Tunes music. The theme music for
Pinky and the Brain was composed by Richard Stone with lyrics by Tom Ruegger.
Two versions of the opening sequence and theme, with slightly different lyrics, were used during
Animaniacs shorts. In the first version,
Yakko, Wakko, and DotYakko, Wakko and Dot Warner, also known as "The Warner Brothers " or "The Warner Siblings", or just simply "The Warners", are the three titular cartoon characters featured on the animated series Animaniacs. The trio of red-nosed Warner siblings were considered to be the stars of the ensemble of...
(voiced respectively by Paulsen, Harnell, and MacNeille) popped up in the lab and sang the theme while letting the two mice out of their cage. The second, later version had the singers off-camera as the Brain picked the lock on the cage door to free himself and Pinky. On the
Pinky and the Brain show, the theme gained an additional two verses and was sung by Gene Paul, mind and others.
The score sometimes includes references to classical music. For example, in the episode where the Brain builds a new
Papier-mâchéPapier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....
Earth, the theme from the 2nd and 4th movements of
DvorakAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's '
New World SymphonyThe Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 , popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 during his visit to the United States from 1892 to 1895. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular in the modern repertoire...
' can be heard throughout the episode. The episode
Napoleon Brainaparte makes frequent reference to the French anthem,
La Marseillaise"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's anthem in 1795...
, while in the episode in which Pinky becomes the artist "Pinkasso"
MussorgskyModest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
's
Pictures at an ExhibitionPictures at an Exhibition is a suite in ten movements composed for piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874.The suite is Mussorgsky's most famous piano composition, and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists...
can be heard.
Animation
Like
Animaniacs, most of the original
Pinky and the Brain shorts used a variety of animation studios, including
Tokyo Movie Shinsha, formerly known as , is a Japanese animation studio, founded on October 1946. One of the oldest and most prominent anime studios in Japan, it has also produced numerous animated series airing in other countries such as France, the United States, and Italy. The company currently uses "TMS...
,
StarToonsStarToons International, LLC was an American animation studio located in the Chicago, Illinois area. It was founded by Jon McClenahan, an animator who had previously worked for other studios like Hanna Barbera...
,
Wang Film ProductionsWang Film Productions is one of the oldest and most prolific Taiwanese animation studios...
, Freelance Animators New Zealand, and
AKOMAKOM Productions is a South Korean animation studio in Songpa-gu, Seoul that has provided much work since its conception in 1985 by Nelson Shin. Its biggest claim to fame is the overseas animation for 200 episodes of The Simpsons, to which that number is consistently rising...
. However, the bulk of the episodes created outside of
Animaniacs (seasons 2 and beyond) were produced by
Rough Draft StudiosRough Draft Studios, Inc. is an animation studio based in Glendale, California, United States, with its sister studio Rough Draft Korea located in Seoul, South Korea. RDS was founded in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California by Gregg Vanzo...
and Wang Film Productions. The only episode that was animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha on the spin-off was
A Pinky and the Brain Christmas.
Humor
Like
Animaniacs, much of the humor in
Pinky and the Brain was aimed at adult audiences.
ParodiesA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of pop culture icons were quite common on the series, more so during the original episodes developed for the WB prime time slot. In addition to previously mentioned political and actor caricatures, some episodes included complete parodies like those in
Animaniacs. The episode "The Megalomaniacal Adventures of Brainie the Poo" parodies Winnie The Pooh. "Cameos" include
JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
instead of
TiggerTigger is a fictional tiger-like character originally introduced in A. A. Milne's book The House at Pooh Corner. Like other Pooh characters, Tigger is based on one of Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed animals...
and
Al GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
instead of
EeyoreEeyore is a character in the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic, old grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-the-Pooh....
. Al Gore is "full of hot air", floating like a balloon. Other parodic elements include
Christopher WalkenChristopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
in place of
Christopher RobinChristopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, appearing in his popular books of poetry and stories about Winnie-the-Pooh. He has subsequently appeared in Disney cartoons....
and the "Brainie the Poo" book appears to have been authored by "
A.A.Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
Meeting." The three-part "Brainwashed" episode included several allusions to
The PrisonerThe Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
television show, though everyone in The Village was identified by the hat they wore, and not by number.
Three songs resemble the musical skits in
Animaniacs, matching existing music with new lyrics. Pinky sings "Cheese Roll Call" to
John Philip SousaJohn Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
's march "
Semper FidelisSemper Fidelis is Latin for "Always Faithful" or "Always Loyal". Well known in the United States as the motto of the United States Marine Corps , Semper Fidelis has served as a slogan for many families and entities, in many countries, dated to have been started no later than the 16th century...
" praising his love for all
cheeseCheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
s from around the world. To the music of "
Camptown RacesGwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster . It was probably composed in Cincinnati in 1849, according to Richard Jackson, and published by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore, Maryland, in February 1850...
," Brain lists the major parts of the human
brainThe brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
, with Pinky jumping in at the chorus to shout "Brainstem! Brainstem!". "A Meticulous Analysis of History" is set to "When I Was a Lad" from
Gilbert and SullivanGilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
's
H.M.S. PinaforeH.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
, and sung by both Brain and Pinky, with Brain reciting the rise to power of such historical leaders as Napoleon and Cleopatra, while Pinky mentions how they all fell. In addition, "Brainwashed" featured a song called the Schmëerskåhøvên, a parody of the
Macarena"Macarena" is a Spanish dance song by Los del Río about a woman of the same name. Appearing on the 1994 album A mí me gusta, it was an international hit between 1995 and 1996, and continues to have a cult following. It was ranked the "#1 Greatest One-Hit Wonder of all Time" by VH1 in 2002.The song...
, which would brainwash you if done correctly. The song include such odd lyrics as "Put your fingers in your ears then stick them in your belly" and "Bop yourself on the head and cross your eyes."
Like
Animaniacs, there was a gag credit in the
closing creditsClosing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
: each show featured an English word appropriate for the episode with its definition. For example, "Around the World in 80 Narfs", where the mice are foiled by trying to speak "cabbie" and end up going in circles, the gag credit word was "anophelosis" defined as "morbid state due to extreme frustration."
Another common element in nearly each episode is the following exchange (often referred to by the acronym "AYPWIP"):
Brain: Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Pinky: I think so, Brain, but...
Pinky's response ends with a non-sequitur such as, "we're already naked," "isn't a
cucumberThe cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
that small called a
gherkinThe gherkin is a fruit similar in form and nutritional value to a cucumber. Gherkins and cucumbers belong to the same species , but are from different cultivar groups....
?" or "if they called them
sad mealsA "Happy Meal" is a meal specifically marketed at children, sold at the fast-food chain McDonald's since June 1979. A toy is typically included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a small box or paper bag with the McDonald's logo....
, kids wouldn't buy them." Brain would then become furious, often bashing Pinky over the head. Twice in the series Pinky and Brain indeed pondered the same thing, though in one of these Pinky dismissed his idea as being too stupid. Just one time the answer was "Yes!", though when Pinky's intelligence is elevated to match Brain's in one episode, he reveals that he's usually thinking
exactly what Brain is thinking, but doesn't want to steal Brain's thunder or make him feel inadequate.
Popularity
Pinky and the Brain were popular on
Animaniacs, and the popularity continued into their own series. It attracted many of the same fans as
Animaniacs, and
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
outreach attracted more. Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen appeared on voice actor tours around the Warner Bros. Studio Stores.
In an interview on the third DVD volume, LaMarche and Paulsen noted that Roy Langbord (vice-president of Showtime),
Al FrankenAlan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
, and
Barenaked LadiesBarenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
are fans of the shows.
Nominations and awards
Pinky and the Brain won several
EmmyAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
and
Annie AwardThe Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
s. In 1996, the series won a Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Animated Program" for the episode "A Pinky and the Brain Christmas". Rob Paulsen won the Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for "Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Television Program Production in 1996 and 1997, while Maurice LaMarche won the same in 1998. Paulsen also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for his role as Pinky subsequently in 1999. The series itself won the 1999 Daytime Emmy for "Outstanding Special Class Animated Program".
The episode "Inherit the Wheeze", in which Brain was subject to the effects of smoking by a tobacco company, won a
PRISM AwardThe Entertainment Industries Council is a United States non-profit organization founded in 1983 that promotes the depiction of accurate health and social issues in film, television, music, and comic books...
for its anti-smoking message.
Allusions in other media
The
Rice UniversityWilliam Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
Neologism dictionary includes not only "narf" as a random sound or
nonce wordA nonce word is a word used only "for the nonce"—to meet a need that is not expected to recur. Quark, for example, was formerly a nonce word in English, appearing only in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. Murray Gell-Mann then adopted it to name a new class of subatomic particle...
, but also "narfed" as a verb to mean "to be struck completely" with some embarrassment or folly, much as Pinky would be hit on the head by Brain after his follies ruined Brain's plan. Both words are directly attributed to
Pinky and the Brain. The International Dictionary of Neologisms includes the word "narfistic" as "an idea or concept that works fine when you think about it – but is very difficult to express to someone else", as a result of Pinky only saying "Narf!" after Brain elaborates on one of his extensive plans.
Pinky and the Brain appear in the post-apocalyptic roleplaying game
Fallout 2Fallout 2 is a computer role-playing game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay in 1998. The game's story takes place in 2241, 80 years after the events of Fallout...
by Interplay, portrayed as a sibling couple of mutant albino mole rats. One creature is utterly insane, muttering intentions of taking rulership. The other is a highly intelligent cult leader who has intricate plans to claim domination of the post-apocalyptic world, he also has a taste for cheezy poofs.
Pinky and the Brain were alluded to in
The Incredible HulkThe Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
#438 as two white mice, kept by Omnibus. One of the realistically drawn mice had an enlarged cranium, and when their cage was destroyed the sound "narf" is indicated. Also when Jailbait asked what they would do during the night Hotshot replied "The same thing they do every night...whatever that is". Omnibus claims that he is being haunted by The Leader, but once the mice have escaped their cage, the "ghost" of the Leader is silenced and Omnibus is robbed of his brilliant schemes for world domination.
The
Virgin New AdventuresThe Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
novel,
Death and DiplomacyDeath and Diplomacy is an original novel written by Dave Stone and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz and the first appearance of Jason....
by
Dave Stone-Biography:Stone has written many spin off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and Judge Dredd.Stone also contributed a number of comic series to 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, focusing on the Dreddverse...
includes two characters repeating the "Are you pondering…" lines, and near the end, two of the fallen villains in the story recover, one telling his comrade that they must prepare for tomorrow night when they will take over the universe.
This is Not a Game, a novel by Walter Jon Williams begins "Plush dolls of Pinky and the Brain overhung Charlie's Monitor..." and the theme of world domination is central to the plot.
In Destroy All Humans during the final boss battle against Silhouette when you read her mind one of the things she says is "What do I do? The same thing I do every night. Try and take over the world!"
The
Robot ChickenRobot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...
episode "Kramer Vs. Showgirls" featured a segment where Michael Moore interviews cartoon characters from the 90s Pinky and the Brain were among them, they were tested upon Pinky had an ear growing on his back and Brain was blind and had arthritis as a result.
Alan TudykAlan Wray Tudyk is an American actor known for his roles as Simon in the British comedy Death at a Funeral, as Steve the Pirate in DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, as Sonny in the science fiction drama I, Robot, as Doc Potter in 3:10 to Yuma, as Tucker in the Tucker & Dale vs Evil and as Hoban...
voiced Pinky and
Seth GreenSeth Benjamin Green is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and television producer. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris...
voiced Brain.
In the 2006 film
Lady in the WaterThe soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise, and rock 'n' roll revivalists Silvertide. Each of the four songs was written by Bob Dylan...
,
Bryce Dallas HowardBryce Dallas Howard is an American film actress and daughter of director Ron Howard. She made her acting debut in her father's 1989 movie Parenthood and went on to have small roles in films and make stage appearances for the next several years...
's character is a sea creature that is called a narf. It is unsure whether the term was inspired by
Pinky and the Brain or is a coincidence.
On Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain
Pinky and the Brain first appeared as a recurring segment on the animated series
Animaniacs, another show produced by Steven Spielberg. On September 14, 1993, Pinky and the Brain premiered on television in the episode
Win Big, which aired on the
FOX KidsFox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
network.
On September 9, 1995,
Pinky and the Brain were spun off onto their own half-hour series on
Kids' WBKids' WB! was Warner Bros. American childrens programing division brand for The WB Television Network. In September 2006, the block moved to The CW Television Network. The CW is the result of The WB's merger with UPN in 2006...
, with each episode consisting of one or more segments, including some of the segments from
Animaniacs. The first season of the show was scheduled in a
prime-timePrime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
slot from September 10, 1995 through July 21, 1996 as part of the new WB Network lineup, and as a result, tended to have more jokes and humor aimed to adults rather than children. However, due to poor ratings, subsequent seasons were moved to Saturday mornings as part of the
Kids' WB programming block.
Even though they had their own show, they still had several shorts in Animaniacs after they got the show, they still appeared in the shows intro, and often appeared in cameo appearances.
On Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain
Around 1997 the overall structure within the WB Network changed, including the placement of
Jamie KellnerJamie Kellner is an American television executive. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a division of Time Warner which includes TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network. Kellner took over the post in 2001 and handed over the company to Philip Kent in 2003...
as head of the
Kids WB programming. Along with this came pressure on the writers of the show to back off on the idea of world domination and to include more characters on the show. The episode "Pinky and the Brain ... and Larry" was a response to this pressure. At this point, Peter Hastings, a key writer for the series, decided to quit the show, with his last script being, "You'll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town, Again!" directly addressing the issue of networks trying to retool shows that otherwise work already.
With increased pressure from the WB network, the series was retooled on September 19, 1998 into
Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain, in which Pinky and the Brain were owned by
Tiny ToonsSteven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, usually referred to as Tiny Toon Adventures or simply Tiny Toons, is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. It began production as a result of Warner Bros....
character
Elmyra DuffElmyra Jessica Duff is a cartoon character from the Warner Bros. animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures. She is one of the main characters from the show. Elmyra is voiced by Cree Summer in all of her appearances...
; the unusual change in format was even sarcastically noted in the altered title song. The show lasted for 13 episodes, 6 of which were shown whole and 7 of which were chopped into segments and aired as part of
The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie ShowThe Cat & Birdy Warneroonie Pinky Brainy Big Cartoonie Show, or The Big Cartoonie Show for short, is a compilation program that aired on Kids' WB from January 16, 1999, to August 24, 2000...
.
The characters' final appearance was in
Wakko's Wish.
There have been many internet rumours of a "Pinky and the Brain movie", set to be live action with the mice as CGI characters. It's still not known if this is true, even Paulsen and LaMarche have been commenting about it on personal blogs, stating that they need to talk Steven Spielberg into it. Paulsen and LaMarche are currently members of the "Animaniacs Revival Project" on
FacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
.
Cancellation and syndication
After
Pinky and the Brain and
Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain were canceled from Kids' WB!,
NickelodeonNickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
acquired syndication rights to broadcast all 65 episodes of
Pinky and the Brain on their network, and later on Nicktoons TV, beginning on September 4, 2000. While the episodes' content aired unchanged, Nickelodeon altered the opening sequence, masking various items such as beakers with the orange Nickelodeon logo in the same shape and the Acme Labs sign changing into a Nickelodeon logo (this garnered a lot of negative criticism from fans). It continued to air on Nicktoons Network until 2005 when it was taken off both channels. It was later aired on
Toon DisneyToon Disney was an American cable television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company. A spinoff of Disney Channel, it mostly aired children's animated series and some live action programming. Its format had similarities to those of Cartoon Network and Nicktoons...
's
JetixJetix was a worldwide children's television programming brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The Jetix brand was used for blocks and channels featuring action-related and adventure-related live-action and animated programming. It was also what Disney eventually turned Fox Kids into...
block from October 2007 until September 2008. On February 15, 2009,
Pinky and the Brain was returned on weekend late nights at 3:00AM ET/2:00AM CT on Disney XD, but was taken off the channel on June 15, 2009.
During 2006,
Pinky and the Brain, among other Kids' WB! shows, was broadcast on the AOL broadband channel, In2TV. However, as of 2007,
Pinky and the Brain is no longer a featured series on the site.
In Canada,
Pinky and the Brain aired on YTV having started on September 3, 2007. The theme song was presented unaltered.
Also in Australia,
Pinky and the Brain had aired on
GO!GO! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 9 August 2009.-Origins:...
from 21 December 2009 - 18 June 2010. The theme song was also presented unaltered. The series has returned to
GO! and started airing again since August 2011.
Merchandise
Pinky and the Brain, along with
Animaniacs, aired coincident with the formation of
The Warner Bros. Studio StoreThe Warner Bros. Studio Store was a chain of retail stores selling Looney Tunes and other merchandise based on Warner Bros. films, similar in style to The Disney Store. They first opened in 1991 and when Warner Bros...
chain across the United States, and, as a result, numerous
t-shirtA T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
s, coffee mugs,
stuffed animalA stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw, beans, plastic pellets, cotton, synthetic fibres, or other similar materials. Stuffed toys are also known as plush toys A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw,...
s, animation
celA cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid was used during the first half of the 20th century, but since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable it was largely replaced by cellulose acetate...
s, and original artwork from the show were available through these outlets. Other merchandise included comic books, computer games, and video tapes. When Warner Brothers acquired the
Hanna-BarberaHanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
animation properties in 1998, there was a significant decrease with such merchandise through the store. By the time the series was canceled, very little merchandise was available.
VHS releases
Five
VHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
collections of
Pinky and the Brain episodes were released from 1993 to 1995:
A Pinky and the Brain Christmas,
Cosmic Attractions,
Mice of the Jungle,
World Domination Tour, and
You Will Buy This Video!, each with approximately 4 episodes that including both Pinky and the Brain shorts from
Animaniacs and their own show. These collections are now out of print.
DVD releases
Warner Home VideoWarner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 in 3 volume sets.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
| Volume 1 |
22 |
July 25, 2006 |
This four-disk box set includes the first 22 episodes from the series. Contains "Pinky and the Brain: Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?" — Featurette with Tom Ruegger, Peter Hastings, Rob Paulsen, Maurice LaMarche, Andrea Romano as they discuss why they had so much fun working on the show. |
| Volume 2 |
21 |
December 5, 2006 |
This four-disk box set contains the next 21 episodes from the series. Contains "The Return of World Dominating Extras" – Featurette with Mark Hamill and Wayne KnightWayne Eliot Knight is an American actor, comedian, and voice actor perhaps best known for his role as Newman in the TV sitcom Seinfeld...
as they answer a casting call to do the voices of Pinky and The Brain and get coached by Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen. |
| Volume 3 |
22 |
June 19, 2007 |
This four-disk box set contains the final 22 episodes of the series. Contains the featurette, "It's All About the Fans" – Rob Paulsen (Voice of Pinky) and Maurice LaMarche (Voice of the Brain) pay tribute to their fans. |
Print
Pinky and the Brain were also regulars in the
Animaniacs comic book published by
DC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. From July 1996 through November 1998, they starred in their own comic book also published by DC Comics, which ran for 27 issues before cancellation. Following the cancellation of the
Pinky and the Brain comic, the mice later starred in stories that took up half of the later
Animaniacs issues, which, starting at issue #43, was retitled
Animaniacs featuring Pinky and the Brain, and ran for another 16 issues before cancellation.
Computer games
There are a couple of computer games dedicated to
Pinky and the Brain, called
Pinky and the Brain: World Conquest for the PC, produced by SouthPeak Interactive and distributed by Warner Bros. However, the characters have appeared in several of the
Animaniacs games, such as
Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt.
Pinky and the Brain also star in their own Gameboy Advance game,
Pinky and the Brain: The Master Plan. The game was produced by Warthog, and distributed by SWING! Entertainment in 2002.
In the computer game
Fallout 2Fallout 2 is a computer role-playing game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay in 1998. The game's story takes place in 2241, 80 years after the events of Fallout...
the character may encounter an albino mole-rat that calls himself "The Brain". "The Brain" created a cult that attempts to restore the humanity of the ghoul characters (humans that were badly damaged by radiation), by a process referred to as "Renewal". By doing so "The Brain" hopes to take over the world. The player can engage in dialogue with "The Brain", with one of the dialogue possibilities being, "Big plans for an oversized rat".
Music
While
Pinky and the Brain does not feature as many songs as
Animaniacs, some of the music from the show can be found across the three
Animaniacs CDs. An expanded version of the episode "Bubba Bo Bob Brain" presented in a
radio dramaRadio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
or audiobook fashion was released as a CD in 1997 by
Rhino EntertainmentRhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
.
See also
- List of Pinky and the Brain episodes
- World Domination
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
- Jamie Kellner
Jamie Kellner is an American television executive. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a division of Time Warner which includes TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network. Kellner took over the post in 2001 and handed over the company to Philip Kent in 2003...
External links