Being a lifelong animation aficionado from a very early age (always will do), with Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry being the earliest and among the biggest influences/examples, there wouldn't be any question of seeing anything animated regardless of the studio, director, style, how old it is and its critical reception, having always made a real effort to be fair and open-minded. Still love it to this day as a young adult and even more so actually.
Love 'Pinky and the Brain' even more than 'Animaniacs', another personal favourite, with it having all the things that makes 'Animaniacs' such a great show while making them even better and its merits are even more in quantity and even bigger in quality. It has always been one of my favourite shows, extremely well made, clever, very funny and actually hilarious frequently as a child. Love it even more 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.
Yet another wonderful episode, really like to love all the previous episodes yet "Brainy Jack" is towards the top.
Nothing 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 are very detailed and the colours are a mix of vibrant and atmospheric. Music is also great. 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.
Writing was always superb throughout 'Pinky and the Brain'. It is such smart writing, riotous at its best. There is 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. It achieves a perfect balance of never being too simplistic or too convoluted. With an ambitious subject, "Brainy Jack" could have been very heavy handed or be over-complicated that it would go over youngsters' heads, it does neither and what is striking is how remarkably accessible it was.
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 or confined as one would think looking at the premise. One worries about the episode being repetitive, no worries are needed because there is a lot of freshness and variety to stop that from happening, including a more colourful and more opened up setting that was something of a change of pace for 'Pinky and the Brain'. It is from start to finish constantly engaging, lively in pace, clever and always structured coherently, it's easy to understand for younger audiences but adults will find it still intelligent and with some degree of complexity. It's easy to follow while not being childish, and although it actually is pretty ambitious and with potential to be too complicated it manages to still be accessible and also one of the show's mature.
Alongside the writing, especially good are the characters. Pinky and Brain were two of the best characters on 'Animaniacs', Brain especially stole the show whenever he appeared and elevated already very good to great episodes to an even better level (speaking as somebody who did find 'Animaniacs' a consistent show). Their own show was more than well deserved. For me they are even more interesting and defined than in 'Animaniacs' 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.
Do find Brain the slightly more interesting character in the show. 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, his scheme a clever and quite memorable one and how it impacts the two characters is entertaining to watch. Nor is it impossible not to love his deadpan personality and dark sarcasm. Actually rooted for him somewhat here.
One of the biggest strengths of 'Pinky and the Brain' is, and always has been, the relationship/chemistry between Pinky and Brain, evident in "Brainy Jack". The duo's always compelling personalities never come over as false, and there is more depth to their contrasting personalities and relationship than one might think. Other episodes may do better, especially the holiday specials, at bringing out different sides to the characters and their relationship, but that hardly matters here. The chemistry between the two is delightful, fun and sometimes antagonistic but with heart underneath. It is essentially the heart of the show, and would have made or broken the show and thankfully it makes it.
Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche have always been two of the best voice actors around that time and in the voice acting business overall, hence why they are two of the most prolific. Both are flawless here, and throughout 'Pinky and the Brain' and one cannot imagine anybody better than either of them for the characters. Particularly adore LaMarche. The life and depth they bring to the characters has always been, and always will be, loved by me, their voices suiting the characters and their personalities perfectly and their bond feels so authentic.
To conclude, wonderful episode. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Love 'Pinky and the Brain' even more than 'Animaniacs', another personal favourite, with it having all the things that makes 'Animaniacs' such a great show while making them even better and its merits are even more in quantity and even bigger in quality. It has always been one of my favourite shows, extremely well made, clever, very funny and actually hilarious frequently as a child. Love it even more 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.
Yet another wonderful episode, really like to love all the previous episodes yet "Brainy Jack" is towards the top.
Nothing 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 are very detailed and the colours are a mix of vibrant and atmospheric. Music is also great. 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.
Writing was always superb throughout 'Pinky and the Brain'. It is such smart writing, riotous at its best. There is 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. It achieves a perfect balance of never being too simplistic or too convoluted. With an ambitious subject, "Brainy Jack" could have been very heavy handed or be over-complicated that it would go over youngsters' heads, it does neither and what is striking is how remarkably accessible it was.
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 or confined as one would think looking at the premise. One worries about the episode being repetitive, no worries are needed because there is a lot of freshness and variety to stop that from happening, including a more colourful and more opened up setting that was something of a change of pace for 'Pinky and the Brain'. It is from start to finish constantly engaging, lively in pace, clever and always structured coherently, it's easy to understand for younger audiences but adults will find it still intelligent and with some degree of complexity. It's easy to follow while not being childish, and although it actually is pretty ambitious and with potential to be too complicated it manages to still be accessible and also one of the show's mature.
Alongside the writing, especially good are the characters. Pinky and Brain were two of the best characters on 'Animaniacs', Brain especially stole the show whenever he appeared and elevated already very good to great episodes to an even better level (speaking as somebody who did find 'Animaniacs' a consistent show). Their own show was more than well deserved. For me they are even more interesting and defined than in 'Animaniacs' 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.
Do find Brain the slightly more interesting character in the show. 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, his scheme a clever and quite memorable one and how it impacts the two characters is entertaining to watch. Nor is it impossible not to love his deadpan personality and dark sarcasm. Actually rooted for him somewhat here.
One of the biggest strengths of 'Pinky and the Brain' is, and always has been, the relationship/chemistry between Pinky and Brain, evident in "Brainy Jack". The duo's always compelling personalities never come over as false, and there is more depth to their contrasting personalities and relationship than one might think. Other episodes may do better, especially the holiday specials, at bringing out different sides to the characters and their relationship, but that hardly matters here. The chemistry between the two is delightful, fun and sometimes antagonistic but with heart underneath. It is essentially the heart of the show, and would have made or broken the show and thankfully it makes it.
Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche have always been two of the best voice actors around that time and in the voice acting business overall, hence why they are two of the most prolific. Both are flawless here, and throughout 'Pinky and the Brain' and one cannot imagine anybody better than either of them for the characters. Particularly adore LaMarche. The life and depth they bring to the characters has always been, and always will be, loved by me, their voices suiting the characters and their personalities perfectly and their bond feels so authentic.
To conclude, wonderful episode. 10/10 Bethany Cox
