Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry were the earliest and among the biggest influences/examples of my lifelong love and appreciation for animation. It was always a great way to help me relax and cheer me up. Love it even more so actually as a young adult with stretched and broadened horizons.
'Pinky and the Brain' has always had the slight edge over 'Animaniacs', though have always been a big fan of both. It has all the things that makes 'Animaniacs' such a great show while making them even better and having even more merits on its own. It is extremely well made, cute at times and very funny and actually hilarious frequently as a child. It is still the same through young adult eyes, and even more so with more knowledge of animation and understanding the humour more. Same with animation in general. 'Pinky and the Brain' is like 'Animaniacs', it has something for everybody and children and adults alike will love it, it is so much more than "just another kiddie show" and should never be dismissed as such.
"Brain Acres" is another gem of the show. The premise sounds absolutely absurd and strange, but the execution manages to be much more imaginative and cleverer than that. 'Pinky and the Brain' always was great at this, taking what could easily have come over as dumb and weird manages to be the opposite.
Have no qualms with the animation. The setting is an atmospheric one, credit is due making a quite confined setting interesting which this, and the whole of 'Pinky and the Brain' for that matter, does really well in this respect. The characters designs have no stiffness and instead move smoothly and fluidly, the backgrounds are very detailed and the colours are a mix of vibrant and atmospheric.
The dynamic and cleverly composed music adds further to the episode's many qualities, adding to the actions, expressions and gestures and doing what good music scores in animation should do in enhancing them.
'Pinky and the Brain' throughout its too short run was always superbly written. That is obvious too in "Brain Acres", the writing is extremely clever and well structured, at its worst it's very funny, at its best it's not just hilarious but riotous. It is zany, witty, smart and intelligence, with beautifully incorporated references that will delight adults especially. Will always love Brain's character writing and dialogue and the exchanges between him and Pinky.
While somewhat formulaic (all the stories in 'Pinky and the Brain' are, but in structure, the concept was actually very original), this is a not so common example of formulaic not being a bad thing and not mattering at all, because of the cleverness, creativity and idea variety of the writing and storytelling. It doesn't feel too much and it never gets repetitive even with a lot of content. Some of the content here is outrageous, but endearingly so (the outrageousness and creativity of Brain's plan was part of the show's charm and intentional, as is not being surprised by the outcomes, but it is from start to finish very engaging, lively in pace, clever and always structured coherently, being not being too complicated for children and not too simplistic for adults. 'Pinky and the Brain' always excelled when it came to references and spoofs, and the references to the likes of 'Oklahoma' are done with affection and wit.
Other than the writing, especially good are the characters. Pinky and Brain were two of the best characters on 'Animaniacs', Brain stole the show whenever he appeared, and more than deserved their own show. For me they are even more interesting and defined in this show and one can see that here, especially with Brain which for an episode centred around him that was important. It is hard though not to endear to Pinky and his inane comments and actions, he is very stupid and one can see why he frustrates Brain. But he is one of the finest examples of stupid not falling into the trap of being obnoxious, a trap often fallen into, Pinky instead is very funny and often hysterically so and simply adorable, as well as spirited.
Brain is slightly more interesting in the show and here, he is the infinitely smarter one of the two, a genius in fact, although also the meaner and more intricate personality is a very large contrast and in a good way. Somehow though he is still very lovable, it is impossible not to fall in love with his very clever if wonderfully absurdscheme, nor is it impossible not to love his deadpan personality and dark sarcasm.
One of the biggest of 'Pinky and the Brain's' endless strengths has always been the relationship/chemistry between Pinky and Brain and that is obvious throughout "Brain Acres". The two have such compellingly real personalities, so that there is more to them under the surface than one might think. The chemistry between the two is just a delight, fun and sometimes antagonistic but there has always been a lot of substance. It is essentially the heart of the show, it was important for it to work and it has always been one of the greatest assets of 'Pinky and the Brain'.
Maurice LaMarche especially blows me away consistently as Brain of the voice actors. He and Rob Paulsen are two of the best and deservedly most prolific voice actors around that time and in the voice acting business overall, and Paulsen also cannot be complained about as Pinky. They bring so much life and depth, their voices suiting the characters and their personalities perfectly. There has always been such a wonderful bond between them which plays a large part in the show's appeal.
Frank Welker is the standout of the remaining voice actors in the most memorable supporting characters, showing why he is also deservedly prolific and as ever multi-talented.
Overall, another 'Pinky and the Brain' gem. 10/10 Bethany Cox
'Pinky and the Brain' has always had the slight edge over 'Animaniacs', though have always been a big fan of both. It has all the things that makes 'Animaniacs' such a great show while making them even better and having even more merits on its own. It is extremely well made, cute at times and very funny and actually hilarious frequently as a child. It is still the same through young adult eyes, and even more so with more knowledge of animation and understanding the humour more. Same with animation in general. 'Pinky and the Brain' is like 'Animaniacs', it has something for everybody and children and adults alike will love it, it is so much more than "just another kiddie show" and should never be dismissed as such.
"Brain Acres" is another gem of the show. The premise sounds absolutely absurd and strange, but the execution manages to be much more imaginative and cleverer than that. 'Pinky and the Brain' always was great at this, taking what could easily have come over as dumb and weird manages to be the opposite.
Have no qualms with the animation. The setting is an atmospheric one, credit is due making a quite confined setting interesting which this, and the whole of 'Pinky and the Brain' for that matter, does really well in this respect. The characters designs have no stiffness and instead move smoothly and fluidly, the backgrounds are very detailed and the colours are a mix of vibrant and atmospheric.
The dynamic and cleverly composed music adds further to the episode's many qualities, adding to the actions, expressions and gestures and doing what good music scores in animation should do in enhancing them.
'Pinky and the Brain' throughout its too short run was always superbly written. That is obvious too in "Brain Acres", the writing is extremely clever and well structured, at its worst it's very funny, at its best it's not just hilarious but riotous. It is zany, witty, smart and intelligence, with beautifully incorporated references that will delight adults especially. Will always love Brain's character writing and dialogue and the exchanges between him and Pinky.
While somewhat formulaic (all the stories in 'Pinky and the Brain' are, but in structure, the concept was actually very original), this is a not so common example of formulaic not being a bad thing and not mattering at all, because of the cleverness, creativity and idea variety of the writing and storytelling. It doesn't feel too much and it never gets repetitive even with a lot of content. Some of the content here is outrageous, but endearingly so (the outrageousness and creativity of Brain's plan was part of the show's charm and intentional, as is not being surprised by the outcomes, but it is from start to finish very engaging, lively in pace, clever and always structured coherently, being not being too complicated for children and not too simplistic for adults. 'Pinky and the Brain' always excelled when it came to references and spoofs, and the references to the likes of 'Oklahoma' are done with affection and wit.
Other than the writing, especially good are the characters. Pinky and Brain were two of the best characters on 'Animaniacs', Brain stole the show whenever he appeared, and more than deserved their own show. For me they are even more interesting and defined in this show and one can see that here, especially with Brain which for an episode centred around him that was important. It is hard though not to endear to Pinky and his inane comments and actions, he is very stupid and one can see why he frustrates Brain. But he is one of the finest examples of stupid not falling into the trap of being obnoxious, a trap often fallen into, Pinky instead is very funny and often hysterically so and simply adorable, as well as spirited.
Brain is slightly more interesting in the show and here, he is the infinitely smarter one of the two, a genius in fact, although also the meaner and more intricate personality is a very large contrast and in a good way. Somehow though he is still very lovable, it is impossible not to fall in love with his very clever if wonderfully absurdscheme, nor is it impossible not to love his deadpan personality and dark sarcasm.
One of the biggest of 'Pinky and the Brain's' endless strengths has always been the relationship/chemistry between Pinky and Brain and that is obvious throughout "Brain Acres". The two have such compellingly real personalities, so that there is more to them under the surface than one might think. The chemistry between the two is just a delight, fun and sometimes antagonistic but there has always been a lot of substance. It is essentially the heart of the show, it was important for it to work and it has always been one of the greatest assets of 'Pinky and the Brain'.
Maurice LaMarche especially blows me away consistently as Brain of the voice actors. He and Rob Paulsen are two of the best and deservedly most prolific voice actors around that time and in the voice acting business overall, and Paulsen also cannot be complained about as Pinky. They bring so much life and depth, their voices suiting the characters and their personalities perfectly. There has always been such a wonderful bond between them which plays a large part in the show's appeal.
Frank Welker is the standout of the remaining voice actors in the most memorable supporting characters, showing why he is also deservedly prolific and as ever multi-talented.
Overall, another 'Pinky and the Brain' gem. 10/10 Bethany Cox
