Despite being a big animation aficionado, there will be the admission that not everything animated is great, just putting it out there for anybody wondering whether there is any bias. Have seen a fair share of animated films and shows that are mediocre or less, some even terrible. A lot of animation though is watchable to brilliant, regardless of age or budget (modestly budgeted animation has more than once been surprisingly good).
'Pinky and the Brain' has always been one of my all-time favourites and not just for nostalgia reasons. Have actually found that films and shows that were favourites when younger are not as good as an adult or don't hold up. 'Pinky and the Brain' is not one of those. Won't say that every episode is amazing and that it is a completely consistent show, but for me it is one of those shows where there isn't a bad episode, something that can't be said for a lot of shows, ones that start off really well and then at some point decline drastically to the extent that the show is unrecognisable. Not the case here. Actually find it to be even better through adult eyes with more gotten out of the writing, humour, characters and how they interact. 'Pinky and the Brain' is like 'Animaniacs', it has something for everybody and children and adults alike will love it, as has been said many times it is so much more than "just another kiddie show" and should never be dismissed as such. And will continue to say it as family oriented films and shows, especially animated ones, are always over-generalised as being just for children and whenever it is panned that is used as an excuse, and it gets annoying and almost insulting.
Talking properly about the episode, like many episodes of 'Pinky and the Brain' there are two segments. Luckily once again, this is not a case of one segment being significantly better than the other. Both are equally a joy, with a marginal preference for "Pinky's Turn" for making a successful attempt at trying something different. Meaning a rare role reversal between the two titular characters, with Brain trying a backseat allowing a different and cleverer side to Pinky, which was great.
Very little to criticise the animation quality for. The characters designs have no stiffness (personally think they have a little more refinement than those in 'Animaniacs'), the backgrounds have nice rich detail and the colours are a mix of vibrant and atmospheric. Music is similarly blameless. The scoring is dynamic and composed in a way that is always adding to the actions, expressions and gestures and doing what good music scores in animation should do in enhancing them.
Still love the writing. It is very smart, its best parts riotous. It is zany, witty and surprisingly intelligent, with references that will delight adults especially as they are more likely to get them. It achieves a perfect balance of never being too simplistic or too muddled, always trying while not trying too hard. Once again, this episode is a not so common example of formulaic not being a bad thing, like 'Pinky and the Brain' in general, and not mattering at all, because of the cleverness, creativity and idea variety of the writing and storytelling, here benefitting from a different opened up location. One worries about repetition, no worries are needed because there is a lot of freshness and variety in both segments to stop that from happening.
Understanding the writing and storytelling shouldn't be too much trouble for younger audiences but adults will get more out of it, because the humour is more understandable when older due to more familiarity. It is easy to follow while not being childish.
Characterisation always was a major strength. Pinky and Brain were two of 'Animaniacs' best characters, Brain especially stole the show whenever he appeared and elevated already very good to great episodes to an even better level, and more than deserved their own show. For me they are even more interesting and defined here, appropriate seeing as they are the focus and lead characters here. Pinky is incredibly endearing and as ever amusing, nice to see a more interesting and cleverer side to him. Also still love Brain for his deadpan personality and dark sarcasm. Have always loved the relationship between the duo, with such different personalities one worries as to whether they would gel together or clash but 'Pinky and the Brain' was always a masterclass of how to contrast two completely different characters and their personalities harmoniously and with substance and complexity.
Rob Paulsen and especially Maurice LaMarche are in my mind irreplaceable as Pinky and Brain.
All in all, terrific. 10/10
'Pinky and the Brain' has always been one of my all-time favourites and not just for nostalgia reasons. Have actually found that films and shows that were favourites when younger are not as good as an adult or don't hold up. 'Pinky and the Brain' is not one of those. Won't say that every episode is amazing and that it is a completely consistent show, but for me it is one of those shows where there isn't a bad episode, something that can't be said for a lot of shows, ones that start off really well and then at some point decline drastically to the extent that the show is unrecognisable. Not the case here. Actually find it to be even better through adult eyes with more gotten out of the writing, humour, characters and how they interact. 'Pinky and the Brain' is like 'Animaniacs', it has something for everybody and children and adults alike will love it, as has been said many times it is so much more than "just another kiddie show" and should never be dismissed as such. And will continue to say it as family oriented films and shows, especially animated ones, are always over-generalised as being just for children and whenever it is panned that is used as an excuse, and it gets annoying and almost insulting.
Talking properly about the episode, like many episodes of 'Pinky and the Brain' there are two segments. Luckily once again, this is not a case of one segment being significantly better than the other. Both are equally a joy, with a marginal preference for "Pinky's Turn" for making a successful attempt at trying something different. Meaning a rare role reversal between the two titular characters, with Brain trying a backseat allowing a different and cleverer side to Pinky, which was great.
Very little to criticise the animation quality for. The characters designs have no stiffness (personally think they have a little more refinement than those in 'Animaniacs'), the backgrounds have nice rich detail and the colours are a mix of vibrant and atmospheric. Music is similarly blameless. The scoring is dynamic and composed in a way that is always adding to the actions, expressions and gestures and doing what good music scores in animation should do in enhancing them.
Still love the writing. It is very smart, its best parts riotous. It is zany, witty and surprisingly intelligent, with references that will delight adults especially as they are more likely to get them. It achieves a perfect balance of never being too simplistic or too muddled, always trying while not trying too hard. Once again, this episode is a not so common example of formulaic not being a bad thing, like 'Pinky and the Brain' in general, and not mattering at all, because of the cleverness, creativity and idea variety of the writing and storytelling, here benefitting from a different opened up location. One worries about repetition, no worries are needed because there is a lot of freshness and variety in both segments to stop that from happening.
Understanding the writing and storytelling shouldn't be too much trouble for younger audiences but adults will get more out of it, because the humour is more understandable when older due to more familiarity. It is easy to follow while not being childish.
Characterisation always was a major strength. Pinky and Brain were two of 'Animaniacs' best characters, Brain especially stole the show whenever he appeared and elevated already very good to great episodes to an even better level, and more than deserved their own show. For me they are even more interesting and defined here, appropriate seeing as they are the focus and lead characters here. Pinky is incredibly endearing and as ever amusing, nice to see a more interesting and cleverer side to him. Also still love Brain for his deadpan personality and dark sarcasm. Have always loved the relationship between the duo, with such different personalities one worries as to whether they would gel together or clash but 'Pinky and the Brain' was always a masterclass of how to contrast two completely different characters and their personalities harmoniously and with substance and complexity.
Rob Paulsen and especially Maurice LaMarche are in my mind irreplaceable as Pinky and Brain.
All in all, terrific. 10/10
