Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain

Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain
Format Animated series
Created by Tom Ruegger
Starring Maurice LaMarche
Rob Paulsen
Cree Summer
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 13 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 11 minutes (22 minutes in "Teleport A Friend")
Broadcast
Original channel The WB (Kids' WB!)
Original run September 19, 1998 (1998-09-19) – April 10, 1999 (1999-04-10)
Chronology
Preceded by Pinky and the Brain

Steven Spielberg Presents Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain is the retooling of the American animated television series Pinky and the Brain (itself being a spin off from Animaniacs), with the title characters being joined by Elmyra Duff from their other show Tiny Toon Adventures. Executive Produced by Steven Spielberg, the series was produced by Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Animation, and aired from 1998 to 1999 on The WB Television Network, running for 13 episodes. This was the last animated television series produced by Amblin Entertainment until 2007's The Land Before Time, which is based on The Land Before Time films.

Contents

Premise

The story of the series starts with Pinky and The Brain's home, Acme Labs, gone (due to the Lab's bankruptcy):

"The situation's changed/For Pinky and the Brain/No laboratory, alone in the rain,/And someone's looking 'round for where they might be found ..../It's stinky for Pinky and the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain,/Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain ..."

Pinky and The Brain end up in a pet store, where Elmyra Duff purchases a turtle which is accidentally carrying Pinky and The Brain in its shell:

"Trapped inside a store,/A girl ran in the door./She bought a discount turtle,/but ended up with more."

Pinky and the Brain go through new methods of trying to take over the world, sometimes with the useless help of Elmyra.

Controversy

The decision to put Pinky and the Brain with Elmyra was controversial from the beginning. Warner Bros. network executives had wanted Pinky and the Brain to be part of a sitcom "more like The Simpsons".[1] In a press release, Warner called the move "a fresh approach to popular favorites Pinky and The Brain."[2] The idea, however, was panned by animation fans and even the producers of the series.[3] Writer and producer Peter Hastings had even left Warner Bros. for Disney over the decision.[3]

Dissatisfaction shown in work

Dissatisfaction with Warner Bros. decision to change Pinky and the Brain even showed up in the actual cartoons of Pinky and the Brain and Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain. On Pinky and the Brain, the last script Peter Hastings wrote before leaving Warner Bros. was the cartoon "You'll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town Again", in which the demise of Pinky and the Brain are caused by network decisions to change the show.[3]

Pinky Elmyra & the Brain had also shown dissatisfaction towards Warner Bros.; the theme song for the series had said: "Now Pinky and the Brain, share a new domain, it's what the network wants, why bother to complain?" A clip during the theme showed Pinky and The Brain getting kicked out of the Warner Bros. office during that line. Furthermore, a spoken line by The Brain towards the end of the theme adds "I deeply resent this."[3]

Nominations and awards

During its short run Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain received critical acclaim, winning major animation awards. The series won an Annie Award, in 1999, for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production." Both Rob Paulsen for his voicing of Pinky, and Cree Summer for her voicing of Elmyra, were nominated in the category, with Paulsen winning the award.[4] That same year Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain was nominated for another Annie Award, "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television Production,"[4] as well as being nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award, "Outstanding Children's Animated Program."[5] The series also won a Daytime Emmy Award, in 2000, for "Outstanding Children's Animated Program."[5]

Media information

Broadcast history

The series's initial run was from 1998 until 1999; the series ended up being unsuccessful with only 6 episodes being shown before the series was cancelled. The rest of the episodes were chopped up into segments as part of The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show along with segments from other Warner Brothers cartoons.[6] The show's part in the Big Cartoonie Show lasted from January to September 1999.

Episode lengths

Many Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain episodes had been split into two parts and aired at different times.[7] The split sections of these episodes were only 10 to 11 minutes long, versus the standard 22 minutes for most animated cartoon series.

Home video

Unlike the original Pinky and the Brain series, this series was not released on VHS or DVD, and Warner Bros. has yet to announce any plans to release the show onto DVD.

Toys

Carl's Jr. and Hardee's offered a collection of four Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain toys with meals.

Episodes

On Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain

# Original title (top) Directed by Written by Original airdate Prod. code
1a "Patty Ann" Nelson Recinos John P. McCann September 19, 1998 (1998-09-19)
In his robot suit, Brain poses as "Patty Ann". The illusion is so convincing (not) that Elmyra's crush, Rudy, falls head over heels for him. 
1b "Gee, Your Hair Spells Terrific" Nelson Recinos Tom Ruegger and Charles Howell September 19, 1998 (1998-09-19)
Brain plans to clone dinosaurs from fossilized amber mosquitos. To get the money, he'll have to somehow get Elmyra to win a spelling bee, but the only way to make that work is to help her cheat. 
2a "Cute Little Alienhead" Russell Calabrese Kate Donahue and Scott Kreamer September 26, 1998 (1998-09-26)
Using an intergalactic radio Brain manages to flag down a passing alien, in hopes of trading for advanced weapons. Unfortunately the alien is driven away by an annoying Elmyra. 
2b "Better Living Through Cheese" Russell Calabrese Wendell Morris and Tom Sheppard September 26, 1998 (1998-09-26)
Brain wants the prize money from a science fair and builds a high-tech device for Elmyra to show off. Rudy decides to get a cheap laugh and punches and destroys the device right before it can be judged by "Bob Quack the Science Hack." 
3a "My Fair Brainy!" Nelson Recinos Doug Langdale October 3, 1998 (1998-10-03)
In a parody of My Fair Lady, Brain devises a plan to take over the world from outer space through Elmyra, who's entered a contest to become the first child aboard a space shuttle. 
3b "The Cat That Cried Woof" Nelson Recinos Wendell Morris and Tom Sheppard October 3, 1998 (1998-10-03)
Brain creates a formula that makes Elmyra's cat think that he is a dog. 
4a "The Girl With Nothing Extra" Russell Calabrese and Rob Davies Gordon Bressack and Charles Howell November 7, 1998 (1998-11-07)
Brain tries to make Elmyra popular so that he and Pinky can work through her fame to take over the world. 
4b "Narfily Ever After" Russell Calabrese and Rob Davies Gordon Bressack and Charles Howell November 7, 1998 (1998-11-07)
Brain tells Elmyra a bedtime story that closely follows the plot of Cinderella. 
5a "The Icky Mouse Club" Nelson Recinos Wendell Morris and Tom Sheppard November 21, 1998 (1998-11-21)
Brain decides that he should organize the neighborhood kids into a gang, and when they grow up they will still see him as their leader. 
5b "The Man From Washington" Nelson Recinos John P. McCann November 21, 1998 (1998-11-21)
Wally Faust tries to steal Brain's latest invention and kill Brain. 
7a "Yule Be Sorry" Nelson Recinos John P. McCann December 12, 1998 (1998-12-12)
Christmas episode. After Brain gets angry at Pinky and wishes that Pinky was never his friend, he has a dream that shows him what things would really be like if they were in Acme Labs with Elmyra instead. 
7b "How I Spent My Weekend" Nelson Recinos Charles Howell, Wendell Morris, and Tom Sheppard December 12, 1998 (1998-12-12)
Elmyra narrates the story of Brain's plan to build a giant robot that will fly to France, and shoot out laser beams that turn all the cheese into stupid American tourists 

On The Big Cartoonie Show

Less than halfway through the series's run, Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain began airing on The Big Cartoonie Show, in which one episode segment was shown at a time, rather than complete episodes.[6] The exception to this airing change was episode 10, which was shown completely on its respective airdate.[7]

# Original title (top) Directed by Written by Original airdate Prod. code
6a "At the Hop!" Rob Davies John P. McCann January 16, 1999 (1999-01-16)
Elmyra wants to go to the school dance with Rudy, but Rudy actually wants to go with Patty Ann, which is actually Brain in disguise. This suits Brain, because he needs to rescue his cologne that makes people instantly attractive. 
6b "Pinky's Dream House" Rob Davies Gordon Bressack January 23, 1999 (1999-01-23)
When Pinky dreams of living a normal family life Elmyra dresses up both he and Brain and places them in a doll house. 
9a "Squeeze Play" Nelson Recinos Erin Ehrlich and Alex Borstein January 30, 1999 (1999-01-30)
Rudy takes Brain's latest invention, which Brain needs to take over the world. To get it back, Brain and Pinky will have to get past Rudy's snake. 
9b "The Ravin!" Nelson Recinos Wendell Morris and Tom Sheppard February 6, 1999 (1999-02-06)
Brain reads an altered version of the Edgar Allan Poe poem "The Raven". 
8a "Wag the Mouse" Rob Davies Ken Segall February 13, 1999 (1999-02-13)
Elmyra runs for class president, but she doesn't stand a chance against the other candidates. This cartoon introduces Vanity White. 
8b "A Walk in the Park" Rob Davies Gordon Bressack and Charles Howell February 20, 1999 (1999-02-20)
Elmyra takes a trip to a Disney-esque theme park, and Brain makes plans to switch the looping song recording at the "Small World" ride with a hypnotic message. This fails because Brain uses the wrong tape and “Baloney's Greatest Hits” comes out instead. 
11b "That's Edutainment" Nelson Recinos Wendell Morris and Tom Sheppard February 27, 1999 (1999-02-27)
Pinky and the Brain get their own children's entertainment program. 
10 "Teleport a Friend" Rob Davies John P. McCann and Mitch Watson March 6, 1999 (1999-03-06)
The only full-length Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain cartoon. Brain's body is fused with Elmyra's, and if Brain can't reverse the transformation caused by the device he built, they will remain that way forever. Brain’s only hope is Pinky, who, unfortunately for Brain, is spending most of the cartoon chasing a pig. 
11a "Mr. Doctor" Nelson Recinos John P. McCann March 13, 1999 (1999-03-13)
Elmyra takes some of her pets--Brain, Pinky, the extraterrestrial from "Cute Little Alienhead", and Mr. Pussy-Wussy--to the vet, who notices her cat is acting like a dog. 
12a "Fun, Time, and Space" Rob Davies John P. McCann March 20, 1999 (1999-03-20)
Brain creates a black hole in Elmyra's room, hoping to exploit that theory that black holes can transport someone to other universes or send someone back in time. 
12b "Hooray for Meat" Rob Davies Earl Kress, Wendell Morris, and Tom Sheppard March 27, 1999 (1999-03-27)
Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain go to a "Meat Festival". Brain discovers a plan to take over the world using "Meats of Evil". 
13a "Party Night" Nelson Recinos John P. McCann April 3, 1999 (1999-04-03)
Vanity throws a party, and invites Rudy but not Elmyra. Elmyra shows up anyway thinking Vanity just forgot to invite her. 
13b "The Mask of Braino" Nelson Recinos Earl Kress, Charles Howell, Wendell Morris, and Tom Sheppard April 10, 1999 (1999-04-10)
Brain becomes "Braino", a masked crimefighter, and an allusion to "Zorro". 

See also

References

  1. ^ O'Dell, Ron. "Warner Bros. Animation Chronology: 1998". The Warner Bros. Animation Archive. Toon Zone. http://wba.toonzone.net/archives/98.html. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 
  2. ^ "Kids' WB! Unveils All-New Saturday Morning with Returning Favorites and Exciting New Series from Steven Spielberg and The Jim Henson Company for 1998-99 Season". TimeWarner.com Newsroom. TimeWarner. January 12, 1998. http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,666956,00.html. Retrieved 2007-06-16. "an animated comedy from Steven Spielberg which takes a fresh approach to popular favorites as Pinky and The Brain move from ACME Labs to America's suburbs when they are adopted by the extremely excitable Elmyra" 
  3. ^ 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. 
  4. ^ a b "27th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners". Annie Award Database. http://annieawards.com/27thannieawardwinners.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 
  5. ^ a b Unnamed author. "Awards for "Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain"". IMDB.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0170996/awards. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 
  6. ^ a b "Toon Zone News Archives: January 1999". Toon Zone News. Toon Zone. January 11, 1999. http://news.toonzone.net/1999/feb/. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 
  7. ^ a b "Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain episodes". Toon Zone. http://www.toonzone.net/shows/episodes/peatb.html. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 

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