Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain

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Pinky, Elmyra, & The Brain (originally titled Pinky & the Brain Meets Elmyra, The Continuing Adventures of Pinky & the Brain, and Pinky & the Brain: The Elmyra Years) is the retooling of the American animated television series Pinky and the Brain (itself being a spin off from Animaniacs), with the title characters being joined by Elmyra Duff from their other show Tiny Toon Adventures. The show is executive produced by Steven Spielberg and the series was produced by Amblin Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Animation, and aired from 1998 to 1999 on The WB Television Network, running for 13 episodes. This was also Steven's last collaborative effort with Warner Animation.

Of the thirteen episodes, only six were shown before the series was cancelled. The remaining seven episodes were chopped up into segments as part of The Cat and Birdy Warneroonie Pinky Brainy Big Cartoonie Show (or The Big Cartoonie Show for short) with segments from other Warner Bros. cartoons.

The only clear connection between this series and Tiny Toon Adventures is the character of Elmyra Duff. While she essentially has the same personality as her Tiny Toon counterpart and lives in Acme Acres, her character is different from that on Tiny Toon Adventures in various ways. She goes to a normal school with other human kids rather than her Tiny Toons co-stars, and harbors an unrequited crush on Rudy Mookich rather than Montana Max (though like Montana Max, Rudy does not return her affections). Her pets are also different than those on Tiny Toon Adventures; in this case, a cat named "Mr. Pussy-Wussy" and a turtle named "Mr. Shellbutt" (the same turtle that Pinky and the Brain hide in while looking for a new laboratory) rather than Furrball and Byron Basset.

The show's theme song is set to the same tune as the Pinky and the Brain theme song, but with different lyrics explaining how Pinky and the Brain ended up with Elmyra after the destruction of their lab in the last episode of Pinky and the Brain. The lyrics to the theme song can be seen in the section below.

Controversy

Warner Bros. network executives wanted Pinky and the Brain to be part of a sitcom "more like The Simpsons". In a press release, Warner called the move "A fresh approach to popular favorites Pinky and the Brain. The idea, however, was panned by many animation fans, namely those of Pinky and the Brain and Tiny Toon Adventures alike, as well as the producers of the series. Former WB writer and producer, Peter Hastings even left Warner Bros. for Disney over the decision.

Dissatisfaction shown with work

Even before Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain, dissatisfaction with Warner Bros.' decision to change Pinky and the Brain showed up in some of the later episodes of Pinky and the Brain. The last script that Peter Hastings wrote before leaving Warner Bros. was the cartoon, You'll Never Eat Food Pellets in this town again, in which the demise of Pinky and The Brain was caused by the Network's decisions to change the show.

Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain has also shown dissatisfaction towards Warner Bros.; Some of the lyrics in the theme song had said, "So Pinky and the Brain, Share a new domain, it's what the network wants, why bother to complain?", referring to the means of executive meddling. During this line, a clip showed Pinky and the Brain getting kicked out of the Warner Bros. office. Furthermore, a spoken line by the Brain at the end of the song adds, "I deeply resent this."

Merchandise

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

Episodes

#	Title	Description	Directed by	Written by	Airdate
1a	Patty Ann	The Brain builds a robot suit to disguise himself as Elmyra's cousin, Patty Ann. Rudy falls head over heels for him.	Nelson Recinos	John P. McCann	9/19/1998
1b	Gee, Your Hair Spells Terrific	The Brain plans to clone dinosaurs from fossilized amber mosquitos. To get the money, he has to get Elmyra to win a spelling bee, and the only way to make that work is to cheat, something celebrity judge Baloney the Dinosaur doesn't take too kindly to.	Nelson Recinos	Tom Ruegger, Charles Howell	9/19/1998
2a	Cute Little Alien Head	The Brain uses an intergalactic radio to flag down a passing Alien, in hopes of trading for advanced weaponry. Unfortunately, Elmyra drives the Alien away.	Russel Calabrese	Kate Donahue, Scott Kreamer	9/26/1998
2b	Better Living Through Cheese	To win the prize money from a science fair, The Brain builds a high-tech device for Elmyra to show off. Rudy destroys the device just before it can be judged by Bob Quack the Science Hack.	Russel Calabrese	Wendell Morris, Tom Sheppard	9/26/1998
3a	My Fair Brainy	In a parody of My Fair Lady, The Brain devises a plan to take over the world through outer space. To get there, he enters Elmyra in a contest to be the first child aboard a space shuttle.	Nelson Recinos	Doug Langdale	10/3/1998
3b	The Cat That Cried Woof	The Brain creates a formula that makes Elmyra's cat, Mr. Pussy-wussy, think he is a dog.	Nelson Recinos	Wendell Morris, Tom Sheppard	10/3/1998
4a	The Girl With Nothing Extra	The Brain tries to make Elmyra popular so that he and Pinky can work through her fame to take over the world.	Russel Calabrese, Rob Davies	Gordon Bressack, Charles Howell	11/7/1998
4b	Narfily Ever After	The Brain tells Elmyra a Cinderella-esque bedtime story.	Russel Calabrese, Rob Davies	Gordon Bressack, Charles Howell	11/7/1998
5a	The Icky Mouse Club	The Brain organizes the neighborhood kids into a gang, so that when they grow up, they will see him as their leader.	Nelson Recinos	Wendell Morris, Tom Sheppard	11/21/1998
5b	The Man From Washington	Wally Foust tries to steal The Brain's latest invention and use it to kill him.	Nelson Recinos	Wendell Morris, Tom Sheppard	11/21/1998
6a	At the Hop	Elmyra wants to go to the school dance with Rudy, who would rather go with Patty Ann, The Brain's robot disguise. The Brain tries to use this to his advantage, who needs a sample of his cologne to make people instantly attractive.	Rob Davies	John P. McCann	1/16/1999
6b	Pinky's Dream House	Pinky dreams of living a normal family life, so Elmyra dresses him and Brain and places them in a dollhouse.	Rob Davies	Gordon Bressack	1/23/1999
7a	Yule Be Sorry	The Christmas episode. The Brain gets angry and wishes that he never met Pinky. As a result, he has a dream that shows him what things would be like if he were at Acme Labs with Elmyra instead.	Nelson Recinos	John P. McCann	12/12/1998
7b	How I Spent My Weekend	Elmyra narrates the story of The Brain's plan to build a giant robot that will by to france and shoot laser beams that turn cheese into stupid American tourists.	Nelson Recinos	Charles Howell, Wendell Morris, Tom Sheppard	12/12/1998
8a	Wag the Mouse	Elmyra runs for class president, but doesn't stand a chance against the other candidates. This episode marks the debut appearance of Vanity White.	Rob Davies	Ken Segall	2/13/1999
8b	A Walk in the Park	Elmyra takes a trip to the Disney-esque theme park, Duckyland, and The Brain plans to switch the looping song recording at the "Small World" ride with a hypnotic message. This plan fails because he uses a "Baloney's Greatest Hits" tape by accident.	Rob Davies	Gordon Bressack, Charles Howell	2/20/1999
9a	Squeeze Play	Rudy takes The Brain's latest invention, which The Brain needs to conquer the world. To get it back, Pinky and the Brain must get past Rudy's pet snake.	Nelson Recinos	Erin Ehrlich, Alex Bornstein	1/30/1999
9b	The Ravin!	The Brain reads an altered version of the classic Edgar Allan Poe poem, "The Raven". In this episode, it is revealed that Acme Labs was turned into a Dissy Store.	Nelson Recinos	Wendell Morris, Tom Sheppard	2/6/1999
10	Teleport A Friend	The only half-hour-long Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain episode. The Brain accidentally fuses his body with Elmyra's hand if he can't reverse the transformation caused by the device he built, they will remain that way forever. The Brain's only hope is Pinky, who, unfortunately for the Brain, spends most of the cartoon chasing a pig.	Rob Davies	John P. McCann, Mitch Watson	3/6/1999
11a	Mr. Doctor	Elmyra takes some of her pets, Brain, Pinky, the Alien from "Cute Little Alienhead", and Mr. Pussy-Wussy to the vet, who notices her cat is acting like a dog.	Nelson Recinos	John P. McCann	3/13/1999
11b	That's Edutainment	Pinky and The Brain get their own educational children's television program.	Nelson Recinos	Wendell Morris, Tom Sheppard	2/27/1999
12a	Fun, Time and Space	The Brain creates a black hole in Elmyra's bedroom, hoping to exploit the theory that black holes can transport someone to other universes or send someone back in time.	Rob Davis	John P. McCann	3/20/1999
12b	Hooray For Meat	Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain go to a "Meat Festival". There, The Brain discovers a plan to take over the world using "Meats of Evil".	Rob Davies	Earl Kress, Wendell Morris, Tom Sheppard	3/27/1999
13a	Party Night	Vanity White throws a party, and invites Rudy Mookich, but not Elmyra. Elmyra, thinking Vanity just forgot to invite her, shows up anyway.	Nelson Recinos	John P. McCann	4/3/1999
13b	"The Mask of Braino"	The Brain becomes "Braino", a masked crime fighter, and a parody of Zorro.	Nelson Recinos	Earl Kress, Charles Howell, Wendell Morris, Tom Sheppard	4/10/1999

Theme Song Lyrics

Pinky (spoken): "Gee, Brain, what do you want to do today?"
Brain (spoken): "The same thing we do every day, Pinky, endure Elmyra, then try to take over the world!"
(Pinky and the Brain scream as Elmyra gives them a bone-crushing hug. Elmyra laughs)

Singers: The situations changed
For Pinky and the Brain
No laboratory
Alone in the rain.
And someone's looking round
For where they might be found

It's stinky
For Pinky and the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain,
Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain,
Brain.

Their pressure magnified
With every lab they tried
They had to flee constantly
Needing a place to hide
Trapped inside a store
A girl ran in the door
She bought a discount turtle
but ended up with more

Elmyra: Furry things are nice
I love my talking mice

I take them to school
And make them eat rice.

I spray them with perfume
In my own bedroom.

Singers: They're crinkly
and often in great pain, pain, pain, pain
pain, pain, pain, pain,
Brain.

So Pinky and the Brain
Share a new domain
It's what the network wants,
Why bother to complain?

The Earth remains their goal,
Some things they can't control,
They're Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain,

Brain (spoken): "I deeply resent this."

Singers: Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain,

Pinky (spoken): "Troz!" (Laughs)

Elmyra (spoken): "Mousies!"

Home Video Releases

The complete series was released on a 2-disc DVD set on January 28, 2014.