Pinky & The Brain (TV series)

Pinky & The Brain is an Emmy-award-winning show on The WB, with 65 episodes produced by Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros. Animation. Later, the show was spun off into an unsuccessful series entitled "Pinky, Elmyra, & The Brain." In common with many other Animaniacs shorts, many episodes are in some way a parody of something else, usually a film or novel.

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. 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 the episode of the sname). 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 take over the world, they do not show much evilness; in a Christmas special, Pinky even writes to Santa that Brain has the world's best interests at heart.

The Brain
The Brain (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) 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. 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 states 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," "poit," 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 u-beat. He doesn't let troubles ruin his day, mostly because he's too scatterbrained to notice them. Pinky also works with Brain notwithstanding 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." 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". 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 & 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.

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 Chri

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
The entire series is available on D.V.D.

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.