Season One was the strongest, and thankfully this collection includes all of the shows from the debut season, along with nine shows from Season Two.
"Napoleon Brainaparte"—One of the time-travel episodes which places the lab mice in Napoleonic France and involves them in a plot to blow up the country using an altered crepes suzette recipe.
"Snowball"—Brain's former genetically altered friend and now nemesis beats the pair to the conquer-the-world punch and woos Pinky away from Brain. Roddy MacDowall guests in another strong episode.
"A Pinky and the Brain Christmas"—Pinky wants to see Santa but Brain wants to plant hypnotic dolls in Santa's sack so he can control families all across the world. This one won an Emmy, and packs a message of glad tidings at the end.
"Around the World in 80 Narfs"—Another time-travel episode has the mice racing Benjamin Disraeli around the world in order to become the next president of the Pompous Explorer's Club, which is a mere stepping stone to Prime Minister. One of my favorites.
"Fly"—Brain wants to melt the icecaps, but only after buying up all the top floors on the tallest buildings.
"Ambulatory Abe"/"Mouse of La Mancha"—Shades of "The Great Mouse Detective," Brain tries to convince the world that Abe Lincoln is alive and takes up ventriloquism to put words in his creature's mouth; Brain also tells the story of Don Cerebro, a mouse who dreams of taking over the world.
"The Third Mouse"/"The Visit"—The Brain is dead? That's the thinking in post-WWII Vienna, but it sure confuses the heck out of pinky in another time-travel episode; also, when Brain tries to grab two more mice to help him with his latest plot, they turn out to be his parents. Ernest Borgnine guests as dear old dad.
"It's Only a Paper World"—If you build it, will they come? Not if it's a Chia Earth! Very funny episode.
"Collect 'Em All"/"Pinkasso"—In two art-related segments Brain uses the Guttenberg press to make highly collectible trading cards and Pinky's suddenly hot art might help fund Brain's latest plan.
"Plan Brain from Outer Space"—Brain has an intergalactic pen pal whom he hopes will help him take over the world, but Zalgar has a different agenda.
"The Pink Candidate"—In a way-silly episode Pinky's letter to the editor criticizing "The Family Circus" cartoon lands him, in a convoluted way, in the White House.
"Brain's Song"—Brain makes a movie so sad he hopes everyone will make him world leader out of pity.
"Welcome to the Jungle"—Snowball appears once more in an episode where animal rights activists mistake Pinky and the Brain for monkeys and release them into the jungle, and it's up to the boys to figure out how to get back to Acme Labs.
"A Little Off the Top"/ "Megalomaniacs Anonymous"—Brain's latest scheme involves research into what made Samson so powerful, and Brain becomes a reformed megalomaniac who now wants to devote himself to helping other power addicts.
"The Mummy"/"Robin Brain"—In another time-travel episode, Pinky and the Brain get trapped inside a pyramid where a mummy's on the loose; Brain's latest fundraising scheme takes a cure from Robin Hood, merry men apply here!
"Two Mice and a Baby"/"The Maze"—Shades of Superman, Pinky and the Brain discover a baby from another world who has super powers; the lab mice have to navigate a reality maze in order to acquire a microchip Brain needs for his latest takeover plan.
Video: The video quality is excellent, though with Spielberg putting his name on the product you'd expect the sound and picture to rock. Presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio, the cartoons stretch nicely across a wide screen. The colors are vivid and highly saturated, the delineation and contrast levels are excellent, and the old Warner Brothers "look" gets a nice face-lift with a surface that has the look of plasticity.
Audio: The audio is an unexpected treat, with English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 options (go for the 5.1!) and Portuguese Mono. The 5.1 has a rich, full sound that matches the high-sheen look of the cartoons, with a booming bass that makes the slightly demented theme song resonate. Subtitles are in French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Extras: There's only one extra (sorry, I don't count trailers), but it's a pretty decent one. Voice actors LaMarche and Paulsen are joined on-camera by voice director Andrea Romano as they talk about the show's creation and the work that went into each episode. I wouldn't say it's better than average for a feature like this, but it's certainly interesting and worthwhile. And I have to say that as a cartoon fan, I always love watching the voices of familiar characters come out of the actors' mouths so I can see the voice being "made."
Bottom Line: Are you pondering what I am pondering? In this case, probably. "Pinky and the Brain" is an entertaining extension of the Warner Brothers tradition. As Brain might say, though the episodes are uneven, the overall the shows are both an obsequious homage to WB animation and an obdurate attempt to carve out a new cartoon style. Or, to put it more simply, as Pinky would say, "NARF!"
"Snowball"—Brain's former genetically altered friend and now nemesis beats the pair to the conquer-the-world punch and woos Pinky away from Brain. Roddy MacDowall guests in another strong episode.
"A Pinky and the Brain Christmas"—Pinky wants to see Santa but Brain wants to plant hypnotic dolls in Santa's sack so he can control families all across the world. This one won an Emmy, and packs a message of glad tidings at the end.
"Around the World in 80 Narfs"—Another time-travel episode has the mice racing Benjamin Disraeli around the world in order to become the next president of the Pompous Explorer's Club, which is a mere stepping stone to Prime Minister. One of my favorites.
"Fly"—Brain wants to melt the icecaps, but only after buying up all the top floors on the tallest buildings.
"Ambulatory Abe"/"Mouse of La Mancha"—Shades of "The Great Mouse Detective," Brain tries to convince the world that Abe Lincoln is alive and takes up ventriloquism to put words in his creature's mouth; Brain also tells the story of Don Cerebro, a mouse who dreams of taking over the world.
"The Third Mouse"/"The Visit"—The Brain is dead? That's the thinking in post-WWII Vienna, but it sure confuses the heck out of pinky in another time-travel episode; also, when Brain tries to grab two more mice to help him with his latest plot, they turn out to be his parents. Ernest Borgnine guests as dear old dad.
"It's Only a Paper World"—If you build it, will they come? Not if it's a Chia Earth! Very funny episode.
"Collect 'Em All"/"Pinkasso"—In two art-related segments Brain uses the Guttenberg press to make highly collectible trading cards and Pinky's suddenly hot art might help fund Brain's latest plan.
"Plan Brain from Outer Space"—Brain has an intergalactic pen pal whom he hopes will help him take over the world, but Zalgar has a different agenda.
"The Pink Candidate"—In a way-silly episode Pinky's letter to the editor criticizing "The Family Circus" cartoon lands him, in a convoluted way, in the White House.
"Brain's Song"—Brain makes a movie so sad he hopes everyone will make him world leader out of pity.
"Welcome to the Jungle"—Snowball appears once more in an episode where animal rights activists mistake Pinky and the Brain for monkeys and release them into the jungle, and it's up to the boys to figure out how to get back to Acme Labs.
"A Little Off the Top"/ "Megalomaniacs Anonymous"—Brain's latest scheme involves research into what made Samson so powerful, and Brain becomes a reformed megalomaniac who now wants to devote himself to helping other power addicts.
"The Mummy"/"Robin Brain"—In another time-travel episode, Pinky and the Brain get trapped inside a pyramid where a mummy's on the loose; Brain's latest fundraising scheme takes a cure from Robin Hood, merry men apply here!
"Two Mice and a Baby"/"The Maze"—Shades of Superman, Pinky and the Brain discover a baby from another world who has super powers; the lab mice have to navigate a reality maze in order to acquire a microchip Brain needs for his latest takeover plan.
Video: The video quality is excellent, though with Spielberg putting his name on the product you'd expect the sound and picture to rock. Presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio, the cartoons stretch nicely across a wide screen. The colors are vivid and highly saturated, the delineation and contrast levels are excellent, and the old Warner Brothers "look" gets a nice face-lift with a surface that has the look of plasticity.
Audio: The audio is an unexpected treat, with English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 options (go for the 5.1!) and Portuguese Mono. The 5.1 has a rich, full sound that matches the high-sheen look of the cartoons, with a booming bass that makes the slightly demented theme song resonate. Subtitles are in French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Extras: There's only one extra (sorry, I don't count trailers), but it's a pretty decent one. Voice actors LaMarche and Paulsen are joined on-camera by voice director Andrea Romano as they talk about the show's creation and the work that went into each episode. I wouldn't say it's better than average for a feature like this, but it's certainly interesting and worthwhile. And I have to say that as a cartoon fan, I always love watching the voices of familiar characters come out of the actors' mouths so I can see the voice being "made."
Bottom Line: Are you pondering what I am pondering? In this case, probably. "Pinky and the Brain" is an entertaining extension of the Warner Brothers tradition. As Brain might say, though the episodes are uneven, the overall the shows are both an obsequious homage to WB animation and an obdurate attempt to carve out a new cartoon style. Or, to put it more simply, as Pinky would say, "NARF!"
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[release]18754[/release]