Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain
Pinky and the Brain endure Elmyra's affection while plotting world domination.
Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain is an American animated television series that aired from 1998 to 1999 on Kids' WB. It served as a spin-off and crossover of Tiny Toon Adventures and Pinky and the Brain, both created by Tom Ruegger. The series was executive produced by Steven Spielberg and marked his final collaboration with Warner Bros. Animation until the 2020 revival of Animaniacs.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Science fiction comedy
- Creator
- Tom Ruegger
- Developer
- Rusty Mills
- Runtime
- 11 minutes (22 minutes in "Teleport a Friend")
- Based on
- Pinky and the Brain and Tiny Toon Adventures; by Tom Ruegger
- Composer
- Richard Stone
- Harvey R. Cohen
- Steve Bernstein
- Julie Bernstein
- Executive producers
- Steven Spielberg
- Producer
- Liz Holzman
- Charles M. Howell IV
- John P. McCann
Facts from the source article.
Premise
After ACME Labs is destroyed and turned into a Dissy Store, Pinky and the Brain become homeless and flee from Wally Faust. They end up in a Shanghai pet shop, hide inside a turtle, and are purchased by Elmyra Duff, who names the turtle Mr. Shellbutt. In their new home, they continue trying to take over the world while enduring and eventually accepting Elmyra's affection.
Development
Warner Bros. network executives reportedly wanted Pinky and the Brain to be part of a sitcom more like The Simpsons. A press release described the series as a fresh approach with the characters moving from ACME Labs to America's suburbs after being adopted by Elmyra. The idea met resistance from the series' producers. Producer Peter Hastings wrote the episode You'll Never Eat Food Pellets in This Town Again! before leaving for Disney Television Animation; in that episode, network decisions cause the demise of Pinky and the Brain. The theme song included the lyric So Pinky and the Brain share a new domain. It's what the network wants, why bother to complain? accompanied by a shot of the characters being kicked out of the Warner Bros. office. A spoken line by the Brain near the end states I deeply resent this.
Nominations and awards
In 1999, Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain won an Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production, with Rob Paulsen winning for his voicing of Pinky; Cree Summer was also nominated for voicing Elmyra. That same year, the series was nominated for another Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television Production. It was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Animated Program in 1999, losing to Arthur, but won the award the following year in 2000.
Media information
The series initially ran from 1998 to 1999 with six episodes; the remaining episodes were split into segments and aired as part of The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show from January to September 1999. In the United Kingdom, it aired on CITV during 2001, and in Canada on YTV. Hulu acquired streaming rights on January 4, 2018, and removed the series in 2023. Many episodes were split into two parts of 10 to 11 minutes each. A two-disc complete series DVD set was released by Warner Home Video. Carl's Jr. and Hardee's offered four Pinky, Elmyra and Brain toys with kids' meals.
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