Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: "Animaniacs," "Pinky and the Brain," cartoons
Likes: Steven Spielberg
Dislikes:
Hates: Elmyra

The Show
When "Animaniacs" took off in popularity, it was mainly because of two parts of the show, the Warner Brothers (and the Warner sister) and Pinky and the Brain. Sure, many of the other segments in the anthology were good, but it was Yakko, Wakko and Dot, and their tiny mice friends that were the true stars.

While the Warners got most of the attention, Pinky and the Brain were popular (and interesting) enough to earn their own series, which focused on just their adventures, putting them ahead of even the Warners, who had to share their half-hour with several other stories.

The show's plot, which is repeated episode after episode with different variations, is a simple one. Brain, a lab mouse and genius who sounds like Orson Welles, is set on taking over the world, mainly because it needs him to make things work right. Sure, he's got an ego to match the size of his genetically-altered brain, but in the end, he just wants to improve the world and feels he's the right mouse for the job.

His pal Pinky, also a lab mouse and certainly not a genius, is there to make sure his buddy's plans don't work, though he doesn't mean to screw things up. He's just not that bright. He's also prone to nonsensical outbursts and rare moments of clarity. Together, they break out of Acme Labs each night, chasing the Brain's dreams of global conquest, be it by taking over TV or going back in time.

While "Animaniacs"' strength is its unpredictability, "PATB" is all about formula and how the stories twist it. In one episode, the Brain and his buddy are injected into the Superman origin story, attempting to use the baby Kryptonian to take over the world, in another, the plot of The Third Man is wrapped around a plot for global domination. And often, like the Warners, Pinky and the Brain would find themselves in another time and another land, at important points in history or folklore, be it the invention of the printing press or in the time of Robin Hood.

No matter the setting or period, you know exactly what the story is going to be each time, and you can be pretty sure about how it's going to end. That doesn't matter, because the way we get there is all the fun. Once in a rare while, the story gets sidetracked, as in "The Visit," where Brain meets his parents, but normally, it's a straight-forward progression.

The shorts in this series are a bit lighter on comedy than the ones on "Animaniacs", but the "PATB" segments always had a mix of adventure and comedy. Some shorts, such as "Welcome to the Jungle," are so heavy on action that the jokes are a secondary part of the show, and Pinky becomes important comedic relief, preventing things from getting lost in the drama.

But before the show becomes too heavy, there's an episode like "Brain's Song," which is just chock-full of silliness, as Brain creates a tear-jerking film to depress the world. Balance is a big key to this series, as the serious nature of the Brain is needed to contrast Pinky's madness, creating comedy out of the conflict.

Interestingly, there's a great deal of verbal gags in this series, an unusual choice for a kid's cartoon. While slapstick comedy is always present, and often injuring Brain (thus following the idea that slapstick works best when the affected has an air of respect), there's more word play at work. It makes sense that a show about an intelligent mouse would feature more intelligent jokes.

The DVDs
"Pinky and the Brain"'s first 22 episodes are collected on four DVDs, which are delivered in a handsome, "Steven Spielberg Presents"-branded package. The discs are housed in a three-panel digipak, with two trays, and the discs are overlapped, ala the The Pink Panther collection. The digipak, which has an episode breakdown, comes in a slipcase, that's designed with matte silver foil and embossed, spot glossy coating. It's really a nice-looking set, and more adult-oriented in design than one might expect. The discs have static, anamorphic widescreen main menus, with options to play all episodes, select individual shows, view special features and adjust languages. Language choices include English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 and Portuguese tracks, along with French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles, as well as closed captioning. Episode selection menus have text lists of shows.

The packaging says that these 22 episodes are specially selected from the show's four-year run, but based on looking at online episode guides, it's possibly just the first 32 shorts from the show's first and second season.

The Quality
Like the video on the "Animaniacs" DVDs, the full-frame transfers on these discs are quite solid, avoiding the troubles traditional animation has had with black-outline pixelation on DVD. The colors are bright and vivid, and the image is very crisp. The only negative seen in the video is the amount of obvious dirt and damage throughout the set. The specks and scratches aren't horrendous, but they aren't trivial either, and it's bound to annoy anyone who cares about such things.

The sound is a bit better than the video, as these episodes now feature a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The score gets added weight and some occasional sound effects are fed to the sides and rear speakers, while the center speaker pumps out clean dialogue and main music. The mix is as good or better than you would expect from a '90s cartoon series.

The Extras
Disappointingly, there's just one true extra included on this set, but at least it's a good one. The featurette "Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?" runs over 25 minutes, and includes interviews with the creators and main cast, as they discuss the series' origins and the making of the episodes and just generally talk about the show. More specific episode commentaries would have been nice, but this is a pretty well-done look back at the series. There are also six trailers on the final disc. Annoyingly though, each disc lists special features on the main menu, only to tell you they are found on another disc. Even disc two, which has the real extra, says look at the other discs. Very frustrating.

The Bottom Line
Spinning off the simple plot of "Animaniacs" favorite "Pinky and the Brain" into its own series was a good move, as the concept allows a wide range of stories to be told, and they need to be told in a different way than the original series'. "Pinky and the Brain" doesn't have the rapid surreal sense of comedy as its parent show, but instead builds its laughs from the plot and the well-defined personalities of its stars, delivering more of a story with the comedy. The DVDs look and sound great, besides the unfortunate dirt and scratches, and though the extra content is limited, what's included is very good. Fans of the series and fans of simply good cartoons can pick this up without concern, though some disappointment is likely considering the lack of bonus features compared to the price tag.

(Reviewer's Note: We've got "Animaniacs" and "Pinky and the Brain" on DVD...now where's "Freakazoid"?!)

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.