Have always loved animation. Have loved it from a very early age, especially Disney, Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera and Tom and Jerry (with tastes broadening further getting older with Pixar, Studio Ghibli and some of the more mature animations out there), and still love it to this day as a young adult.
'Pinky and the Brain' is every bit as great as 'Animaniacs' and perhaps surpasses it. Find it brilliant, extremely well made, cute at times and very funny and actually hilarious frequently as a child. Still think all of that as an adult, 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.
"This Old Mouse" is a brilliant episode. Not only does it have everything that makes 'Pinky and the Brain' so great, it has even more that makes it quite special such as a remarkably deep and mature story and more emotional impact than usual.
The animation quality is terrific. 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. The characters designs are smooth and not stiff at all, the backgrounds are very rich in detail and the colours are a mix of vibrant and atmospheric.
Similarly, the music is great. The scoring is dynamic and cleverly composed, 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. It is such smart writing, at its worst it's very funny, at its best it's not just hilarious but riotous. "This Old Mouse" has zaniness, wit and surprising intelligence and has references that will delight adults especially as they are more likely to get them, while having some educational parts for children. With it being a more depth-filled and serious episode, there is less of all that here but there is enough for it to not feel like it belonged in another show.
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 which are nowhere near as silly as one would think looking at the premise. One worries about repetition, no worries are needed because there is a lot of freshness and variety to stop that from happening and the setting and time period adds to the freshness. 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 outcome of Brain's plan), 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. There is also a surprising emotional impact here with one of the most depth-filled premises of the entire show that is quite deep for an animated show.
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 and one can see that here. It is hard 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, one has to admire his spirit and perseverance.
Brain is slightly more interesting in the showand being an episode centred around him he is much more interesting actually here, he is the infinitely smarter one of the two, a genius in fact, although also the meaner and more intricate one, a very large contrast. Somehow though he is still very lovable, it is impossible not to fall in love with his scheme here and how he goes about it, nor is it impossible not to love his deadpan personality and dark sarcasm. Again, there is a different side to him though in "This Old Mouse" and it is this side that is brought out more. The whole soul searching makes one feel for Brain and he is characterised with surprising pathos not present much before. Not knocking the show's previous episodes at all, just that this was special in this regard.
Although this is essentially a Brain-centric episode, there is enough of the relationship between him and Pinky. The two have such compellingly real personalities and one can see here even early on some development and there is more to them under the surface. The chemistry between the two is just a delight, fun and sometimes antagonistic but there is more substance to it than all of that. 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 and a huge part of the show's appeal.
Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche, two of the best and most prolific voice actors around that time and in the voice acting business overall, are flawless providing Pinky and Brain's voices. LaMarche in particular. They give Pinky and Brain so much life and also surprising depth, their voices suiting the characters and their personalities perfectly. The bond between them is obvious.
The rest of the cast are spot on too though with less to do.
Concluding, wonderful. 10/10 Bethany Cox
'Pinky and the Brain' is every bit as great as 'Animaniacs' and perhaps surpasses it. Find it brilliant, extremely well made, cute at times and very funny and actually hilarious frequently as a child. Still think all of that as an adult, 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.
"This Old Mouse" is a brilliant episode. Not only does it have everything that makes 'Pinky and the Brain' so great, it has even more that makes it quite special such as a remarkably deep and mature story and more emotional impact than usual.
The animation quality is terrific. 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. The characters designs are smooth and not stiff at all, the backgrounds are very rich in detail and the colours are a mix of vibrant and atmospheric.
Similarly, the music is great. The scoring is dynamic and cleverly composed, 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. It is such smart writing, at its worst it's very funny, at its best it's not just hilarious but riotous. "This Old Mouse" has zaniness, wit and surprising intelligence and has references that will delight adults especially as they are more likely to get them, while having some educational parts for children. With it being a more depth-filled and serious episode, there is less of all that here but there is enough for it to not feel like it belonged in another show.
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 which are nowhere near as silly as one would think looking at the premise. One worries about repetition, no worries are needed because there is a lot of freshness and variety to stop that from happening and the setting and time period adds to the freshness. 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 outcome of Brain's plan), 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. There is also a surprising emotional impact here with one of the most depth-filled premises of the entire show that is quite deep for an animated show.
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 and one can see that here. It is hard 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, one has to admire his spirit and perseverance.
Brain is slightly more interesting in the showand being an episode centred around him he is much more interesting actually here, he is the infinitely smarter one of the two, a genius in fact, although also the meaner and more intricate one, a very large contrast. Somehow though he is still very lovable, it is impossible not to fall in love with his scheme here and how he goes about it, nor is it impossible not to love his deadpan personality and dark sarcasm. Again, there is a different side to him though in "This Old Mouse" and it is this side that is brought out more. The whole soul searching makes one feel for Brain and he is characterised with surprising pathos not present much before. Not knocking the show's previous episodes at all, just that this was special in this regard.
Although this is essentially a Brain-centric episode, there is enough of the relationship between him and Pinky. The two have such compellingly real personalities and one can see here even early on some development and there is more to them under the surface. The chemistry between the two is just a delight, fun and sometimes antagonistic but there is more substance to it than all of that. 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 and a huge part of the show's appeal.
Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche, two of the best and most prolific voice actors around that time and in the voice acting business overall, are flawless providing Pinky and Brain's voices. LaMarche in particular. They give Pinky and Brain so much life and also surprising depth, their voices suiting the characters and their personalities perfectly. The bond between them is obvious.
The rest of the cast are spot on too though with less to do.
Concluding, wonderful. 10/10 Bethany Cox
