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Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain - Wikipedia

  • ️Sat Sep 19 1998

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Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain
Also known asSteven Spielberg Presents Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain
GenreAnimated sitcom
Science fiction
Comedy
Created byTom Ruegger
Developed byRusty Mills
StarringRob Paulsen
Cree Summer
Maurice LaMarche
ComposersRichard Stone
Harvey R. Cohen
Steve Bernstein
Julie Bernstein
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producerSteven Spielberg
Running time11 minutes
(22 minutes in "Teleport a Friend")
Production companiesAmblin Entertainment
Warner Bros. Television Animation[a]
Original release
NetworkKids' WB
ReleaseSeptember 19, 1998 –
April 10, 1999
Related
Tiny Toon Adventures
Pinky and the Brain
The Plucky Duck Show
Animaniacs
Animaniacs (2020 TV series)

Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain is an American animated sitcom featuring characters from the television series Tiny Toon Adventures and Pinky and the Brain, both created by Tom Ruegger.[1] Serving as a spin-off and crossover to the two series, the series was executive produced by Steven Spielberg and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation and Amblin Entertainment. It aired from 1998 to 1999 on Kids' WB, running for 13 episodes. This show would be Spielberg's final collaborative effort with Warner Bros. Animation until the 2020 revival of Animaniacs.

The series starts with ACME Labs destroyed and subsequently converted into a Dissy Store (a parody of Disney Store), leaving Pinky (Rob Paulsen) and the Brain (Maurice LaMarche) homeless and on the run from a man named Wally Faust. Pinky and the Brain finally end up in a pet shop in Shanghai and take refuge inside a turtle; they are still inside the turtle when it is purchased by Elmyra Duff (Cree Summer) and named Mr. Shellbutt. In their new home, Pinky and the Brain continue to attempt new methods of trying to take over the world while at the same time enduring, and later accepting and adjusting to, Elmyra's affection.

Warner Bros. network executives had reportedly wanted Pinky and the Brain to be part of a sitcom "more like The Simpsons".[2] In a press release, Warner Bros. stated that the new series was "a fresh approach to popular favorites as Pinky & The Brain move from ACME Labs to America's suburbs when they are adopted by the extremely excitable Elmyra".[3] The idea was reportedly met with resistance from the producers of the series.[4]

The apparent dissatisfaction with Warner Bros.' decision to change Pinky and the Brain showed up in episodes. The last script that producer Peter Hastings wrote before leaving Warner Bros. for Disney Television Animation was the episode "You'll Never Eat Food Pellets in This Town Again!", in which the demise of Pinky and the Brain is caused by network decisions to change the show.[4]

The theme song for Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain included the lyric: "So Pinky and the Brain share a new domain. It's what the network wants, why bother to complain?" The lyric is accompanied by a shot in which Pinky and the Brain get kicked out of the Warner Bros. office. In addition, a spoken line by the Brain towards the end of the theme song states: "I deeply resent this".[4]

Nominations and awards

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Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain won an Annie Award in 1999, for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production." Both Rob Paulsen for his voicing of Pinky and Cree Summer for her voicing of Elmyra were nominated in the category, with Paulsen winning the award.[5] That same year Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain was nominated for another Annie Award, "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television Production."[5]

Also in 1999, Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award, for "Outstanding Children's Animated Program", which it lost to PBS Kids show Arthur. The next year in 2000, the show was nominated again for the award and won.[6]

The series's initial run was from 1998 to 1999 with a total of six episodes. The rest of the episodes were split up into segments as part of The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show along with segments from other Warner Bros. cartoons.[7] The show's inclusion in The Big Cartoonie Show lasted from January to September 1999. In the United Kingdom, the series was fully broadcast on CITV during 2001.

On January 4, 2018, Hulu acquired the streaming rights to Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain along with Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs, and Tiny Toon Adventures.[8] The series was removed in 2023.

Many Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain episodes had been split into two parts and aired at different times.[9] The split sections of these episodes were 10 to 11 minutes long, versus the standard 22 minutes for most animated cartoon series.

A two-disc complete series DVD set of the show was released by Warner Home Video on January 28, 2014.[10]

Carl's Jr. and Hardee's offered a collection of four Pinky, Elmyra and Brain toys with their kids' meals.

Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain

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The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show

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Less than halfway through the series' run, Pinky, Elmyra and Brain began airing on The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show, in which one episode segment was shown at a time, rather than complete episodes.[7] The exception to this airing change was episode 10, which was shown completely intact on its respective air date.[9]

  1. ^ Animation outsourced to Rough Draft Studios and Wang Film Productions.
  1. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 617–619. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  2. ^ O'Dell, Ron. "Warner Bros. Animation Chronology: 1998". The Warner Bros. Animation Archive. Toon Zone. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  3. ^ "Kids' WB! Unveils All-New Saturday Morning with Returning Favorites and Exciting New Series from Steven Spielberg and The Jim Henson Company for 1998-99 Season". Time Warner Newsroom. Time Warner. January 12, 1998. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
  4. ^ a b c "Platypus Comix article on Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain". Platypus Comix. Retrieved 2006-06-16.
  5. ^ a b "27th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners". Annie Award Database. Archived from the original on May 31, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  6. ^
  7. ^ a b "Toon Zone News Archives: January 1999". Toon Zone News. Toon Zone. January 11, 1999. Archived from the original on October 6, 2002. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  8. ^ Petski, Denise (4 January 2018). "'Animaniacs' Reboot Gets Two-Season Straight-To-Series Order At Hulu". Deadline. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Pinky, Elmyra and Brain episodes". Toon Zone. Archived from the original on May 3, 2022. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  10. ^ Pinky, Elmyra, and The Brain The Complete Series coming to DVD 2014!!!