Pinky & The Brain (TV series)

Pinky and the Brain are cartoon characters who have starred in the American animated television series Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain.

Pinky and the Brain first appeared in 1993 as a recurring segment on the show Animaniacs. From 1995 to 1998, Pinky and the Brain were spun-off into their own Emmy-award-winning show on The WB, Steven Spielberg Presents Pinky and the Brain, with 65 episodes produced by Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros. Animation. Later, they appeared in the unsuccessful series, Steven Spielberg Presents Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain.

Pinky and Brain are genetically enhanced laboratory mice who reside in a cage in the Acme Labs research facility. In each episode, Brain devises a new plan for the two mice (led by Brain) to take over the world, which ultimately ends in failure. In common with many other Animaniacs shorts, many episodes are in some way a parody of something else, usually a film or novel. The cartoon's tagline is:

"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
Most of the Pinky and the Brain episodes occur in the present time at Acme Labs, located in some large American metropolitan city near a bridge, presumably Los Angeles 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 Merlin, H.G. Wells and Ivan Pavlov.

The bulk of every episode involves one of Brain's plans for world domination 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 continuity 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 alteration; as per the show's title lyrics, "their genes have been spliced" which gives the two mice amplified intelligence over that of a typical mouse, the ability to talk to humans, and anthropomorphism. "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. Mordough, along with Snowball the hamster and Precious the cat, using the Acme "Gene Splicer and Bagel Warmer".

Although Pinky and the Brain plan to conquer the world, they do not show much antagonism; in a Christmas special Pinky even wrote to Santa that Brain had the world's best interests at heart.

The Brain
The Brain (voiced by Maurice LaMarhe) looks and sounds like Orson Welles, although his physical appearance is based on storyboard artist, Tom Minton. He is highly intelligent and develops plans for global domination and he will use all sorts of methods from politics to inventions to achieve his mission. Brain's name is revealed in "Project B.R.A.I.N." to result from the acronym for "Biological Recombinant Algorithmic Intelligence Nexus". His tail is bent like a staircase—he often uses it to pick the lock of the cage—and his head is large and wide, supposedly housing his abnormally large brain. He appears to be coldly unemotional and speaks in a deadpan manner. Nevertheless, Brain has a very subtle sense of humor, still posesses some Christmas spirit, and has even fallen in love once, with Billie. (Also, with Trudie in the episode "The Third Mouse"). Various episodes have compared Brain to Don Quixote, and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Intellectually, Brain sees his inevitable rise to power as beneficial to the world rather than mere megalomania. An example of this being what he truly believes can be seen in Wakko's Wish where he stated to Pinky "We're on our way to fame, fortune and a world that's a better place for all," showing while he does envision himself becoming world leader, he wants to make everything greater for everyone. In one episode, when Brain finds himself under the influence of hypnosis by a psychologist he had planned to manipulate for one of his schemes (none other than Sigmund Freud), it is revealed that Brain lived in a can with his parents when he was young. The 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. Sigmund Freud speculates that Brain's hunger to take over the world stems from wanting to go back home to his can and to his parents.

Pinky
Pinky (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is another genetically modified mouse who shares the same cage at Acme Labs, but is substantially less bright. He speaks with an exaggerated cockney accent. He frequently uses nonsensical interjections, such as "narf", "zort", "poid", and "troz" (the last of which Pinky started saying after noticing it was "zort in the mirror"). Although Pinky is also an albino lab mouse like the Brain, he has a straighter tail, blue eyes, a severe overbite, and is taller than the Brain. Pinky's name is given to him by Brain, thinking that Brain was calling to him when in fact Brain was referring to his pinky digit.

Pinky is more open-minded than the Brain and much more up-beat. He doesn't let troubles ruin his day, mostly because he's too scatter-brained to notice them. Pinky also works with Brain not withstanding the fact that Brain insults him constantly and often beats him over the head. However, Pinky actually seems to enjoy this, laughing after every hit. Pinky is just happy spending time with his best friend. Pinky is also more attuned to the world at large, due to a large amount of time watching television or following other popular culture fads; as such, he tends to think in less rigorous patterns than the Brain, and has offered solutions that Brain would have not come up with. Pinky has a number of unusual special abilities, something like 'magic', but caused by his genetic engineering. Most notably, he occasionally levitates, and also is apparently capable of telekinesis, as seen when he levitated several pieces of fruit in a bowl.

Other characters
The show featured a small number of recurring characters. Snowball the hamster (voiced by Roddy McDowall) is Brain's former friend and also made intelligent by gene splicing, and has since developed a stronger desire for world conquest, and Pinky and the Brain are forced to, at times, stop Snowball's schemes. Billie (voiced by Tress MacNeille) is a female mouse who also has undergone gene-splicing whom Brain falls in love with though she is more infatuated with Pinky. An experiment turned Billie smarter than Brain, making him afraid she'd beat him to his goal of world domination. Pharfignewton (voiced by Frank Welker) is a racing mare who Pinky falls in love with; her name a juxtaposition of Volkswagen's "Fahrvergnügen" slogan, the racehorse Phar Lap, and Fig Newton cookies. Larry (voiced by Billy West) is a white mouse similar to Larry of The Three Stooges that is inexplicably present in certain episodes, and was created as a response to demands from Kids WB executives to include additional characters on the show.

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 Bill and Hillary Clinton and Christopher Walken.

Creation and inspiration
The inspiration for Pinky and the Brain is based on the unique personalities of two of producer Tom Ruegger's Tiny Toon Adventures colleagues, Eddie Fitzgerald and Tom Minton, respectively. Ruegger thought of the premise of Pinky and the Brain when he wondered what would happen if Minton and Fitzgerald tried to take over the world. Fitzgerald (who has also worked on Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures 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 parodied further in the episode "The Pinky and the Brain Reunion Special". The two cartoon writers within the short that write for Pinky and the Brain are caricatures of Fitzgerald and Minton, and they reflect on the Pinky and the Brain cartoons that they write.

While Ruegger initially based The Brain after Minton, the Welles connection came from LaMarche, who is a big fan of the actor/director, and had supplied the voice for Orson Welles in the 1994 movie Ed Wood. LaMarche describes Brain's voice as "65% Orson Welles, 35% Vincent Price". Brain's similarity to Orson Welles was made explicit in the Animaniacs episode "Yes, Always", which was based upon an outtake from one of Welles' television commercials, colloquially known as Frozen Peas, 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. Strengthening the Welles connection was an episode in which Brain took on the mind-clouding powers of a radio character called "The Fog": a parody of The Shadow, a popular radio character for which Welles once provided the voice. Other episodes alluding to Welles included an episode entitled "The Third Mouse", a parody of The Third Man in which the Brain played the part of Welles' character Harry Lime (with Pinky as Holly Martins), and an episode, "Battle for the Planet", in which Brain, inspired by Welles' infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast and the hysteria it provoked, stages an alien invasion on television, believing that this will cause humanity to erupt in mass panic, allowing him to seize power. A caricature of Orson Welles even 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. The story was by Tom Ruegger, the script was by Peter Hastings, and it was developed for the Animaniacs series. According to Ruegger, most of the elements that would become synonymous with Pinky and the Brain can be found in that original story. "Win Big" contained many dialog bits that became conventions of the entire series, including "Are you pondering what I'm pondering", Pinky saying "Oh wait…but no…" in response to a plan, and ending every story with "What are we doing tomorrow night? (etc.)" among others.

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 produced the show when it was spun off from Animaniacs, as well as the season it ran primetime on the WB.

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 Borstein was also a staff writer, years before her fame on MADTV and Family Guy. 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 MacNeille, Joe Alaskey, Frank Welker, and Jeff Bennett, as well as Paul Rugg, Billy West, Grey DeLisle, and Jim Cummings. Celebrities such as Roddy McDowall, Nora Dunn, Townsend Coleman, Ernest Borgnine, Eric Idle, Dick Clark, Ed McMahon, Steve Allen, Joyce Brothers, Gavin MacLeod, John Tesh, Michael McKean, Garry Marshall, Mark Hamill,James Belushi and Steven Spielberg have all performed guest voice work for the series as well.

Cree Summer has also voiced characters in Pinky and the Brain and reprised her role as Elmyra during Pinky, Elmyra, and The Brain.

Music
As was Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain was scored primarily by Richard Stone, with assistance from 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 Stalling recorded his Looney Tunes music. The theme music for Pinky and the Brain was composed by Richard Stone with lyrics by Tom Ruegger. The theme during Animaniacs shorts were sung by Yakko, Wakko, and Dot (that is, Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, and Tress MacNeille). On the Pinky and the Brain show, the theme gained an additional two verses and was sung by Gene Paul, mind and others.

The musical score for Pinky and the Brain will frequently contain veiled musical references — for example, in the episode where the Brain builds a new Papier-mâché Earth, the theme from the 2nd and 4th movements of Dvorak's 'New World Symphony' can be heard throughout the episode. The episode Napoleon Brainaparte makes frequent reference to the French anthem, La Marseillaise, while in the episode in which Pinky becomes the artist "Pinkasso" Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition 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, StarToons, Wang Film Productions, Freelance Animators New Zealand, and AKOM. However, the bulk of the episodes created outside of Animaniacs (seasons 2 and beyond) were produced by Rough Draft Studios 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 both adult and younger audiences. Parodies of pop culture icons were quite common on the series, more so during the original episodes developed for the WB prime time slot. Notably, these episodes included political figures such as then-President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary and other world leaders at the time, and actors such as Christopher Walken.

Some episodes including more complete parodies similar to those in Animaniacs. The episode "The Megalomaniacal Adventures of Brainie the Poo" parodies Winnie The Pooh. "Cameos" include Jagger instead of Tigger and Al Gore instead of Eeyore. Al Gore is "full of hot air", floating like a balloon. Other parodic elements include Christopher Walken in place of Christopher Robin and the "Brainie the Poo" book appears to have been authored by "A.A. Meeting." The three-part "Brainwashed" episode included several allusions to The Prisoner television show, though everyone in The Village was identified by the hat they wore, and not by number.

There have been three notable songs similar to the musical skits in Animaniacs such as "Yakko's World" in how they play on existing music with new lyrics. "Cheese Roll Call" is sung by Pinky to the march "Semper Fidelis" by John Philip Sousa and praises his love for all cheeses from around the world. "Brainstem" is sung to "Camptown Races" with Brain listing out all the major parts of the human brain, 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 Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, and sung by both Brain and Pinky, with Brain reciting the rise to power of famous historical leaders such as Napoleon and Cleopatra, while Pinky mentions how they all fell from power. In addition, "Brainwashed" featured a song called the Schmëerskåhøvên, a parody of the Macarena, 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."

Another similarity with Animaniacs was the presence of a gag credit in the closing credits; specifically, each show featured an uncommon English word, typically appropriate for the theme or some aspect of the episode, along 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: Dot, are you pondering what I'm pondering? Dot: I think so, Brain, but..." Pinky's quote is completed with a unique non-sequitur such as, "we're already naked," "isn't a cucumber that small called a gherkin?" or "if they called them sad meals kids wouldn't buy them.", tending to infuriate Brain.

Popularity
The creation of the Pinky and the Brain series was a result of the popularity of the characters from Animaniacs. The show continued attracting many of the same fans as Animaniacs along with the rise of the availability of the Internet. 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 Franken, and Barenaked Ladies are fans of the shows.

Nominations and awards
Pinky and the Brain has won several Emmy and Annie Awards. 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 Award for its anti-smoking message.

Allusions in other media
The Rice University Neologism dictionary includes not only "narf" as a random sound or nonce word, 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 were alluded to in The Incredible Hulk #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. 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 Adventures Doctor Who novel, "Death and Diplomacy" by Dave Stone 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.

There is a heavy metal band in Niagara Falls, New York called thinksobrain.

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 11, 1993, Pinky and the Brain premiered on television in the episode Win Big, which aired on The Disney Channel Network.

On September 9, 1995, Pinky and the Brain were spun off onto their own half-hour series on Kids' WB!, 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-time slot from September 9, 1995 through May 12, 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 Kellner 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 1, 1998 into Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain, in which Pinky and the Brain were owned by Tiny Toons character Elmyra Duff. The show lasted for 13 episodes, 5 of which were shown whole and 6 of which were chopped into segments and aired as part of The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show.

The characters' final appearance was in the 1999 direct-to-video Animaniacs feature, Wakko's Wish.

Cancellation and syndication
After Pinky and the Brain and Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain were canceled from Kids' WB!, Nickelodeon 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). During 2003, Pinky and the Brain aired on Boomerang (also owned by Time Warner) with the theme song unaltered. It continued to air on Boomerang and Nicktoons Network until 2005 when it was taken off both channels. It aired on Toon Disney's Jetix block (despite Warner Bros. being one of Disney's biggest competitors). On February 15, 2009, Pinky and the Brain was returned on Sundays-Mondays at 3:00AM ET/2:00AM CT on Disney XD.

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 is currently airing on YTV having started on September 3, 2007. The theme song has been unaltered.

Merchandise
Pinky and the Brain, along with Animaniacs, aired coincident with the formation of The Warner Bros. Studio Store chain across the United States, and, as a result, numerous t-shirts, coffee mugs, stuffed animals, animation cels, 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-Barbera 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 VHS 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 Video has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 in 3 volume sets.

Print
Pinky and the Brain were also regulars in the Animaniacs comic book published by DC Comics. 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 other 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 2 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 drama or audiobook fashion was released as a CD in 1997 by Rhino Entertainment.