Pinky, Elmyra and The Brain

I’m well aware that many people seem to hate this show, and even when I’m ok with their opinion, I think -based on what I have been reading- that that is somehow wrong. A lot of comments online seem to blame the failure of this show on a lack of enthusiasm from its creators... guys, that is really wrong. Most -if not all- of the people involved with this show had been working on it since the beginning as a sketch in a larger WB’s cartoon. It is clear that they really cared about these characters and that real effort was put behind every instance in where they were featured.

But there is something that may lead people in the wrong direction, and that is that the Warner Brothers was really annoying the staff of Pinky and The Brain, asking for stupid changes that didn't make any sense, and basically interrupting the creative process everytime they had the chance. The staff replied with an episode titled «You'll Never Eat Food Pellets in This Town, Again!» (which was really hilarious) and then did it again in the opening theme of their new show none less! talking about the situation with lyrics like «It’s what the network wants, why bother to complain?». That only goes to show that you can’t really mess with creative minds.

So, after a LOT of trouble Pinky, Elmyra and The Brain was created. This show changed the setting of the other two and pretty much reinvented itself on the march. Brain no longer had access to the lab equipment that so well worked for him in the prior programs, and this time had to jerry-rigging his way thru world domination. I can totally understand why many people didn't like that feature. But still, Pinky is Pinky no matter the scenario, and Elmyra makes for a really good partner for him (even when that wasn't actually needed, like Billie and Larry had already proven in the second show) being as dim-witted as she ever was and having lots of fun torturing them.

Look, the show obviously didn’t work as expected but still has some real value to it. I consider the episode «Patty Ann» to be one of the most hilarious they made, and the christmas special «Yule be Sorry» it’s actually touching. You just can’t accomplish these goals by accident. Too bad the program also featured episodes like «Narfily Ever After», and «Better Living Through Cheese» which are «Kiki’s Kitten» cringe-worthy quality and were made because they needed to fulfill a certain quota of episodes. It’s really how they feel, and it’s too bad because it is really likely that most people only saw those instead and made their judgement that way.

One thing I love is that Summer, LaMarche and Paulsen didn’t hold back during this show, keeping their voice-acting job at the top. Maybe something happened with this program in the inside, but they just didn’t care and delivered a terrific job. Heck, it is even more notorious when you see how well they play each other in the good episodes of this cartoon. Another thing I love is the addition of this new character, Rudy Mookich (voiced by Nancy Cartwright). You’d think that they already had enough dim-witted characters in the show, but no... they just kept coming, and Rudy it's a true highlight of the story, often confusing Brain’s robotsuit (Patty Ann) with a cute girl (despite having Brain’s head over the neck) and being constantly chased by Elmyra (who has a crush on him). Maybe many of the characters on this show didn't work as well, but Rudy had some great dialogue and attitudes, and was always nice to see him on an episode.

On a side note: I remember when I first saw «Star Warners». That episode was going to be the last of Pinky and The Brain, and really felt like an appreciation to their work on Warner Brothers. I just love how they created a spoof of a movie that was yet to be popular (for most people anyway) and crammed as many characters as they could in this single shot. It was just wonderful to see minor characters from Tiny Toon Adventures alongside the ones from Freakazoid! (for example). And, even when most of them were there only as a filler, that was really ambitious and awakened lots of memories for me as a viewer. Star Warners was one of the best cartoons I have ever seen, and was made only for Pinky and The Brain, working as their series finale (although it aired as part of Animaniacs! series finale). How they changed their minds from doing an entire episode to tribute their characters to force them into another show they didn't want to do in the first place, it is just beyond my comprehension.

Darn it, I'm way off track now. So... give it a go, guys. Is not as bad as they say.

You can find it fully uploaded on Youtube too, so it's not like you are blindly buying a DvD or something. You may end up loving it!

First posted here: http://80scartoons.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6450&highlight=