Pinky and the Brain

Pinky and the Brain
Genre	Comedy Satire
Format	Animated series
Created by	Tom Ruegger
Starring	Maurice LaMarche Rob Paulsen
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	65 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	7, 11, or 22 min (depending on the episode)
Production company(s)	Warner Bros. Animation Amblin Entertainment Warner Bros. Television
Broadcast
Original channel	Kids' WB! (1995 - 2000)
Original run	September 9, 1995 (1995-09-09) – November 14, 1998 (1998-11-14)
Chronology
Preceded by	Animaniacs
Followed by	Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain

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 Animaniacs. From 1995 to 1998, Pinky and the Brain were spun off into their own show on The WB Television Network, 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. Brain is self-centered and scheming; Pinky is good-natured but feebleminded. In each episode, Brain devises a new plan to take over the world, 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 parody 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!"

Background

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 York 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,^[1] H.G. Wells^[2] and Ivan Pavlov.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5] 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"^[6] reappears when Brain faces Snowball in "Snowball").^[4]

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,^[7] 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."^[8]

Although Pinky and the Brain plan to conquer the world, they do not show much animosity; in a Christmas special Pinky even wrote to Santa that Brain had the world's best interests at heart.^[9]

Characters

The Brain

The Brain (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) looks and sounds like Orson Welles, 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."^[7] 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 domination (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." ^[10] Brain has been compared to Napoleon Bonaparte^[11] and Don Quixote.^[12]

Brain sees his inevitable rise to power as good for the world, and not mere megalomania. In Wakko's Wish, 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 endgame 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 Freud. 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.^[13]

Pinky

Pinky (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is another genetically modified mouse who shares the same cage at Acme Labs, but is much more dim. He speaks with an exaggerated cockney accent. He has several verbal tics, 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.^[7]

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 television and following popular culture fads. This detritus 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 hamster (voiced by Roddy McDowall) 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.^[4] Billie (voiced by Tress MacNeille) 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.^[10] He loves her: she fancies Pinky. Pharfignewton (voiced by Frank Welker) is a racing mare who Pinky falls in love with.^[14] Larry (voiced by Billy West, when he's using the same voice as Stimpy from Ren and Stimpy) is a white mouse like Larry of The Three Stooges inexplicably present in certain episodes.^[15][16] He was created as a response to demand from Kids WB executives to include additional characters on the show.^[17] 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,^[18] and Pinky's parents and "sister" (an empty spool of thread),^[19] 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

Caricatures of Minton (left) and Fitzgerald from "The Pinky and the Brain Reunion Special"

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 Minton, respectively.^[20] Ruegger wondered what would happen if Minton and Fitzgerald tried to take over the world. Fitzgerald (who has also worked on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Ren and Stimpy) is said to have constantly said "Narf" and "Egad" around the Tiny Toons production office.^[20] The gag credit for the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "You Asked For It" credits Eddie Fitzgerald as "Guy Who Says 'Narf'".^[21] Series producer Peter Hastings described Eddie by saying, "He always greeted you like you were wearing a funny hat – and he liked it."^[22] The Fitzgerald/Minton connection to Pinky and the Brain is shown in the episode "The Pinky and the Brain Reunion Special".^[16] Two characters shown as writers for Pinky and the Brain cartoons within the short are caricatures of Fitzgerald and Minton.^[23]

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 Welles in the 1994 movie Ed Wood. LaMarche describes Brain's voice as "65% Orson Welles, 35% Vincent Price".^[24] 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.^[25] 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 Shadow, a popular radio character for which Welles once provided the voice.^[26] Other Welles allusions included the episode "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),^[27] and "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. 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.^[28]

The episode "Win Big"^[6] 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,^[20] 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."^[29]

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 & Television, 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.^[30] 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.^[31] In a response to Dennis's article, Martin Goodman of Animation World Magazine described Dennis's comments regarding Pinky and the Brain as "interesting."^[32]

In an interview of the DVDs of Pinky and the Brain Vol. 1 Unrated, Maurice LaMarche, Brain's voice actor, said that "the show is about the love" between Brain and Pinky.^[33]

Production

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 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

Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche together at the 34th Annie Awards red carpet.

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, Jess Harnell, 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.^[34] 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 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 Stalling recorded his Looney Tunes music. The theme music for Pinky and the Brain was composed by Richard Stone with lyrics by Tom Ruegger.^[20]

Two versions of the opening sequence and theme, with slightly different lyrics, were used during Animaniacs shorts. In the first version, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot (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-mâché Earth, the theme from the 2nd and 4th movements of Dvorak's 'New World Symphony' can be heard throughout the episode.^[35] The episode Napoleon Brainaparte makes frequent reference to the French anthem, La Marseillaise,^[11] while in the episode in which Pinky becomes the artist "Pinkasso" Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition can be heard.^[36]

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

See also: Hallmarks of Animaniacs

Like Animaniacs, much of the humor in Pinky and the Brain was aimed at adult 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. 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 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."^[37] 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.^[38][39]

Three songs resemble the musical skits in Animaniacs, matching existing music with new lyrics. Pinky sings "Cheese Roll Call" to John Philip Sousa's march "Semper Fidelis" praising his love for all cheeses from around the world.^[40] To the music of "Camptown Races," Brain lists the major parts of the human brain, with Pinky jumping in at the chorus to shout "Brainstem! Brainstem!".^[41] "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 such historical leaders as Napoleon and Cleopatra, while Pinky mentions how they all fell.^[42] 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."

Like Animaniacs, there was a gag credit in the closing credits: 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."^[43]

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 cucumber that small called a gherkin?" or "if they called them sad meals, 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.

Response

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 Internet 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 Franken, and Barenaked Ladies are fans of the shows.^[44]

Nominations and awards

Pinky and the Brain won several Emmy and Annie Awards.^[45] In 1996, the series won a Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Animated Program" for the episode "A Pinky and the Brain Christmas".^[9] 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",^[46] in which Brain was subject to the effects of smoking by a tobacco company, won a PRISM Award for its anti-smoking message.^[47]

Allusions in other media

The Rice University Neologism dictionary^[48] 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^[49] 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 2 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 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. 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 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.

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 Chicken 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. Dave Sheridan voiced Pinky and Seth Green voiced Brain.

In the 2006 film Lady in the Water, Bryce Dallas Howard'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.

History

On Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain

Main articles: List of Pinky and the Brain episodes and Animaniacs

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 Kids 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 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

Main article: 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.^[17] The episode "Pinky and the Brain ... and Larry"^[15] was a response to this pressure.^[17] 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.^[17][50]

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 Toons character Elmyra Duff; 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 Show.

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 Facebook.

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.^[51][52] 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 Disney's Jetix 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.^[53] 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! 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.^[54]

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.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date	Additional Information
Volume 1	22	July 25, 2006[55]	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[56]	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 Knight 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[57]	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 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 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 2 the character may encounter an albino mole-rat that calls himself "The Brain".^[58] "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.

See also

	Animation portal
	United States portal

• List of Pinky and the Brain episodes
• World Domination
• Jamie Kellner

References

1. ^ "Spellbound". Animaniacs. 1993-11-10. No. 38, season 1.
2. ^ "When Mice Ruled The World". Animaniacs. 1993-11-23. No. 47, season 1.
3. ^ "Pavlov's Mice". Animaniacs. 1993-10-06. No. 18, season 1.
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Snowball". Pinky and the Brain. 1996-01-20. No. 7, season 1.
5. ^ "Brain's Night Off". Pinky and the Brain. 1998-02-21. No. 52, season 3.
6. ^ ^{a b} "Win Big". Animaniacs. 1993-09-14. No. 2, season 1.
7. ^ ^{a b c} "Project B.R.A.I.N.". Pinky and the Brain. 1998-09-28. No. 59, season 3.
8. ^ "Brainwashed: Wash Harder". Pinky and the Brain. 1998-09-16. No. 64, season 4.
9. ^ ^{a b} "A Pinky and the Brain Christmas". Pinky and the Brain. 1995-12-13. No. 8, season 1.
10. ^ ^{a b} "The World Can Wait". Animaniacs. 1993-11-18. No. 44, season 1.
11. ^ ^{a b} "Napoleon Brainaparte". Pinky and the Brain. 1995-11-26. No. 7, season 1.
12. ^ "The Mouse of La Mancha". Pinky and the Brain. 1996-02-25. No. 12, season 1.
13. ^ "Leggo My Ego". Pinky and the Brain. 1997-11-07. No. 44, season 3.
14. ^ "Jockey for Position". Animaniacs. 1995-10-25. No. 27, season 1.
15. ^ ^{a b} "Pinky and the Brain…and Larry". Pinky and the Brain. 1997-09-13. No. 28, season 3.
16. ^ ^{a b} "The Pinky and the Brain Reunion Special". Pinky and the Brain. 1998-09-21. No. 61, season 3.
17. ^ ^{a b c d} "Platypus Comix article on Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain". Platypus Comix. http://www.platypuscomix.net/kidzone/fuzzyheads.html. Retrieved 2006-06-16. 
18. ^ "The Visit". Pinky and the Brain. 1996-05-12. No. 13, season 1.
19. ^ "The Family That Poits Together, Narfs Together". Pinky and the Brain. 1998-02-21. No. 53, season 3.
20. ^ ^{a b c d} Jeff (1995-04-05). "Peter Hastings' Q&A – P&TB". alt.tv.animaniacs. (Web link). Retrieved 2007-06-30. 
21. ^ "You Asked For It". Tiny Toon Adventures. 1990-10-11. No. 20, season 1.
22. ^ Will, Ed (1996-06-11). "BRAIN POWER: Pinky, genius pal to resume plotting in 1997". The Denver Post 
23. ^ takinek (2006-12-19). "The Silver Age of Animation". Retro Junk. http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/1120/. Retrieved 2007-06-24. 
24. ^ Arseneau, Adam (2006-07-25). "Pinky And The Brain: Volume 1". DVD Verdict. http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/pinkyandbrainvol1.php. Retrieved 2007-06-24. 
25. ^ "Yes, Always". Animaniacs. 1994-02-11. No. 52, season 1.
26. ^ "Pinky and the Fog". Pinky and the Brain. 1995-09-24. No. 4, season 1.
27. ^ "The Third Mouse". Pinky and the Brain. 1996-05-12. No. 12, season 1.
28. ^ "Battle For the Planet". Animaniacs. 1993-10-01. No. 15, season 1.
29. ^ "Going Big-time Putting 'Pinky' In His Prime Time." Mediaweek. May 27, 1996. Retrieved on October 29, 2009.
30. ^ Dennis, Jeffrey P. "The Same Thing We Do Every Night: Signifying Same-Sex Desire in Television Cartoons." Journal of Popular Film & Television. Fall 2003. Volume 31, Issue 3. 132-140. 9p, 3bw. Within the PDF document the source info is on p. 135 (4/10)
31. ^ Dennis, Jeffrey P. "The Same Thing We Do Every Night: Signifying Same-Sex Desire in Television Cartoons." Journal of Popular Film & Television. Fall 2003. Volume 31, Issue 3. 132-140. 9p, 3bw. Within the PDF document the source info is on p. 136 (5/10)
32. ^ Goodman, Martin. "Deconstruction Zone — Part 2." Animation World Network. Wednesday March 10, 2004. 4. Retrieved on October 28, 2009.
33. ^ Tucker, Hannah. "Fine 'Tooning." Entertainment Weekly. 888 (2006): 50. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. (Location at EBSCOHost) "LaMarche confirms that Brain was an extended Orson Welles impression and insists "the show is about the love" between his megalomaniacal mouse and sensitive pal Pinky, who does indeed embody the role of neglected spouse, apron and all."
34. ^ "Pinky and the Brain – Full Cast List". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112123/epcast. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
35. ^ "It's Only a Paper World". Pinky and the Brain. 1996-09-07. No. 14, season 2.
36. ^ "Pinkasso". Pinky and the Brain. 1996-09-14. No. 15, season 2.
37. ^ "The Megalomaniacal Adventures of Brainie the Poo". Pinky and the Brain. 1998-02-07. No. 51, season 3.
38. ^ "Brainwashed: Brain, Brain Go Away". Pinky and the Brain. 1998-09-02. No. 62, season 4.
39. ^ "Brainwashed: I Am Not a Hat". Pinky and the Brain. 1998-09-10. No. 63, season 4.
40. ^ "Cheese Roll Call". Pinky and the Brain. 1995-10-01. No. 4, season 1.
41. ^ "Brainstem". Pinky and the Brain. 1995-09-17. No. 3, season 1.
42. ^ "A Meticulous Analysis of History". Pinky and the Brain. 1997-09-20. No. 31, season 3.
43. ^ "Around the World in 80 Narfs". Pinky and the Brain. 1996-02-03. No. 10, season 1.
44. ^ Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen (2007-06-19). "It's All About the Fans" extra on "Pinky and the Brain Volume 3" (DVD). 
45. ^ "IMDB - List of Nominations and Awards for Pinky and the Brain". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112123/awards. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
46. ^ "Inherit the Wheeze". Pinky and the Brain. 1998-02-28. No. 54, season 3.
47. ^ "MIRAMAX, NBC, CBS & ABC AMONG WINNERS OF PRISM Awards Which Champion Accurate Depiction Of Drug Use In Movies & On Tv". 1999-03-09. http://archives.drugabuse.gov/newsroom/99/PI-39.html. Retrieved 2007-07-05. 
48. ^ "Rice University Neologism Dictionary". Archived from the original on 2007-06-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070630221313/http://esa4.rice.edu/~ling215/. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
49. ^ "International Dictionary of Neologisms". http://www.neologisms.us/. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
50. ^ "You'll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town, Again!". Pinky and the Brain. 1998-04-25. No. 50, season 3.
51. ^ "Toon web sans synergy: WB sells to Nick: Cartoon Network turns down Spielberg-produced skeins". Variety.com. Reed Business Information. August 30, 2000. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117785754.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&query=animaniacs. Retrieved 2007-04-30. 
52. ^ "Nickelodeon Acquires Exclusive Television Rights to Warner Bros. Animation's STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS PINKY & THE BRAIN". TimeWarner.com Newsroom. TimeWarner. August 29, 2000. http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,667814,00.html. Retrieved 2007-06-08. 
53. ^ "AOL to Launch New Video Portal". TimeWarner Newsroom. TimeWarner. 2006-07-31. http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1220659,00.html. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
54. ^ http://go.ninemsn.com.au/pinkyandthebrain/
55. ^ Lambert, David (2006-03-29). "Pinky and the Brain - Art, Info, and Conformation of Date... The Pinky and the Brain - Vol. 1 Plot Exposed!". TVShowsonDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Pinky-Brain/5397. Retrieved 2007-06-15. 
56. ^ Lacey, Gord (2006-08-16). "Pinky and the Brain - Ponder This: Volume 2". TVShowsonDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Pinky-Brain/6279. Retrieved 2007-06-15. 
57. ^ Lacey, Gord (2007-02-28). "Pinky and the Brain - Ponder the end of Pinky and the Brain on DVD: The final release hits DVD on June 19". TVShowsonDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Pinky-Brain/6975. Retrieved 2007-06-15. 
58. ^ Dembowski, Pawel (June 19, 2006). "Brain - The Vault, the Fallout wiki". http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Brain. Retrieved 2009-08-27. 

External links

• The official DVD website
• Pinky and the Brain at TV.com
• Pinky and the Brain at the Internet Movie Database