Being such a big fan of animation, here wouldn't be any question of seeing anything animated regardless of the studio, director, style, how old it is and its critical reception. It will be admitted that there are examples of terrible animation, shows and films, this is not coming from someone biased, but there are also many masterpieces. With my knowledge having been extended and broadened, my love and appreciation has overtime significantly increased.
Think very highly of 'Animaniacs', but do consider 'Pinky and the Brain' the slightly more superior show. All of 'Animaniacs' numerous qualities are present here while making them even better, even more in quantity and even bigger in quality. It has always been one of my favourite shows, extremely well made, cute at times, extremely clever and very funny and actually hilarious frequently as a child. As an adult even more so with more knowledge of animation and understanding the humour more. Same with animation in general. 'Pinky and the Brain' is like 'Animaniacs', it has something for everybody and children and adults alike will love it, it is so much more than "just another kiddie show" and should never be dismissed as such.
One of my favourite episodes of one of the rare shows why for me there isn't an episode that's "bad". As far as the previous episodes go, the lesser ones were still good.
There is nothing to criticise the animation quality for. The characters designs have no stiffness (personally think they have a little more refinement than those in 'Animaniacs'), the backgrounds are very detailed and the colours are a mix of vibrant and atmospheric. The Las Vegas setting has all the excitement and glitz necessary, without being overblown.
Music is also faultless. The scoring is dynamic and composed in a way that is always adding to the actions, expressions and gestures and doing what good music scores in animation should do in enhancing them. The songs, embedded with parodies and references, make for one of the show's best soundtracks, those sung by Brain benefited from such clever lyric writing.
Have never faulted the writing in 'Pinky and the Brain' and don't here in "Brain's Way". It is such smart writing, its best parts riotous and the exchanges are mini masterpieces. There is zaniness, wit and surprising intelligence and has references that will delight adults especially as they are more likely to get them, while having some educational parts for children. It achieves a perfect balance of never being too simplistic or too convoluted.
While somewhat formulaic (all the stories in 'Pinky and the Brain' are, but in structure, the concept was actually very original), this is a not so common example of formulaic not being a bad thing and not mattering at all, because of the cleverness, creativity and idea variety of the writing and storytelling which are nowhere near as silly or confined as one would think looking at the premise. One worries about the episode being repetitive, no worries are needed because there is a lot of freshness and variety to stop that from happening. Some of the content here is outrageous, but in a way that endears (the outrageousness and creativity of Brain's plan was part of the show's charm and intentional, as is not being surprised by the outcome of Brain's plan), but it is from start to finish constantly engaging, lively in pace, clever and always structured coherently.
Easy to understand for younger audiences but adults will find it still intelligent and with some degree of complexity. It's easy to follow while not being childish. 'Pinky and the Brain' always excelled when it came to references and spoofs, and there is no exception here. The numerous film and music parodies, whether through song or not, are just ingenious, full of wit and nostalgia, there is a lot here yet it doesn't feel cluttered. Any issues with familiarity doesn't come over as an issue, am a classic film and music (in the age and style of Frank Sinatra et al) fan and have been since an early age so recognition and familiarity was not a problem for me personally.
Also a major strength is the characterisation. Pinky and Brain were two of 'Animaniacs' best characters, Brain especially stole the show whenever he appeared and elevated already very good to great episodes to an even better level, and more than deserved their own show. For me they are even more interesting and defined here in 'Pinky and the Brain' and that is present in "Brain's Way", even if Brain has more to do. It is hard not to endear to Pinky and his inane comments and actions, he is very stupid and one can see why he frustrates Brain. But he is one of the finest examples of stupid not falling into the trap of being obnoxious, a trap often fallen into. Pinky instead is very funny and often hysterically so and simply adorable, one has to admire his spirit and perseverance.
Do find Brain the slightly more interesting character in the show and with the episode being centred around him he is more interesting here. He is the infinitely smarter one of the two, a genius in fact, although also the meaner and more intricate one, a very large contrast. Somehow though he is still very lovable, it is impossible not to fall in love with his scheme and how he goes about it, nor is it impossible not to love his deadpan personality and dark sarcasm.
One of the biggest strengths of 'Pinky and the Brain' is, and always has been, the relationship/chemistry between Pinky and Brain and that is obvious in "Brain's Way", even when a Brain-centric episode. The duo's always compelling personalities never feel forced, and the depth to their contrasting personalities and relationship has not been lost. The chemistry between the two is just delightful, sometimes antagonistic but there is more substance to it than all of that. It is essentially the show's heart, it was essential for it to work and it does brilliantly. Evident in "Brain's Way" too.
Pinky and Brain in my mind cannot be voiced by anybody else other than Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche. Both are amazing and throughout the show gave some of their best ever work, especially LaMarche. The life and depth they bring to the characters is instrumental in why the characters work so well, their voices suiting the them and their personalities perfectly. The bond between them throughout 'Pinky and the Brain' has always been present and never been lost.
To conclude, wonderful Las Vegas fun with Pinky and Brain. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Think very highly of 'Animaniacs', but do consider 'Pinky and the Brain' the slightly more superior show. All of 'Animaniacs' numerous qualities are present here while making them even better, even more in quantity and even bigger in quality. It has always been one of my favourite shows, extremely well made, cute at times, extremely clever and very funny and actually hilarious frequently as a child. As an adult even more so with more knowledge of animation and understanding the humour more. Same with animation in general. 'Pinky and the Brain' is like 'Animaniacs', it has something for everybody and children and adults alike will love it, it is so much more than "just another kiddie show" and should never be dismissed as such.
One of my favourite episodes of one of the rare shows why for me there isn't an episode that's "bad". As far as the previous episodes go, the lesser ones were still good.
There is nothing to criticise the animation quality for. The characters designs have no stiffness (personally think they have a little more refinement than those in 'Animaniacs'), the backgrounds are very detailed and the colours are a mix of vibrant and atmospheric. The Las Vegas setting has all the excitement and glitz necessary, without being overblown.
Music is also faultless. The scoring is dynamic and composed in a way that is always adding to the actions, expressions and gestures and doing what good music scores in animation should do in enhancing them. The songs, embedded with parodies and references, make for one of the show's best soundtracks, those sung by Brain benefited from such clever lyric writing.
Have never faulted the writing in 'Pinky and the Brain' and don't here in "Brain's Way". It is such smart writing, its best parts riotous and the exchanges are mini masterpieces. There is zaniness, wit and surprising intelligence and has references that will delight adults especially as they are more likely to get them, while having some educational parts for children. It achieves a perfect balance of never being too simplistic or too convoluted.
While somewhat formulaic (all the stories in 'Pinky and the Brain' are, but in structure, the concept was actually very original), this is a not so common example of formulaic not being a bad thing and not mattering at all, because of the cleverness, creativity and idea variety of the writing and storytelling which are nowhere near as silly or confined as one would think looking at the premise. One worries about the episode being repetitive, no worries are needed because there is a lot of freshness and variety to stop that from happening. Some of the content here is outrageous, but in a way that endears (the outrageousness and creativity of Brain's plan was part of the show's charm and intentional, as is not being surprised by the outcome of Brain's plan), but it is from start to finish constantly engaging, lively in pace, clever and always structured coherently.
Easy to understand for younger audiences but adults will find it still intelligent and with some degree of complexity. It's easy to follow while not being childish. 'Pinky and the Brain' always excelled when it came to references and spoofs, and there is no exception here. The numerous film and music parodies, whether through song or not, are just ingenious, full of wit and nostalgia, there is a lot here yet it doesn't feel cluttered. Any issues with familiarity doesn't come over as an issue, am a classic film and music (in the age and style of Frank Sinatra et al) fan and have been since an early age so recognition and familiarity was not a problem for me personally.
Also a major strength is the characterisation. Pinky and Brain were two of 'Animaniacs' best characters, Brain especially stole the show whenever he appeared and elevated already very good to great episodes to an even better level, and more than deserved their own show. For me they are even more interesting and defined here in 'Pinky and the Brain' and that is present in "Brain's Way", even if Brain has more to do. It is hard not to endear to Pinky and his inane comments and actions, he is very stupid and one can see why he frustrates Brain. But he is one of the finest examples of stupid not falling into the trap of being obnoxious, a trap often fallen into. Pinky instead is very funny and often hysterically so and simply adorable, one has to admire his spirit and perseverance.
Do find Brain the slightly more interesting character in the show and with the episode being centred around him he is more interesting here. He is the infinitely smarter one of the two, a genius in fact, although also the meaner and more intricate one, a very large contrast. Somehow though he is still very lovable, it is impossible not to fall in love with his scheme and how he goes about it, nor is it impossible not to love his deadpan personality and dark sarcasm.
One of the biggest strengths of 'Pinky and the Brain' is, and always has been, the relationship/chemistry between Pinky and Brain and that is obvious in "Brain's Way", even when a Brain-centric episode. The duo's always compelling personalities never feel forced, and the depth to their contrasting personalities and relationship has not been lost. The chemistry between the two is just delightful, sometimes antagonistic but there is more substance to it than all of that. It is essentially the show's heart, it was essential for it to work and it does brilliantly. Evident in "Brain's Way" too.
Pinky and Brain in my mind cannot be voiced by anybody else other than Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche. Both are amazing and throughout the show gave some of their best ever work, especially LaMarche. The life and depth they bring to the characters is instrumental in why the characters work so well, their voices suiting the them and their personalities perfectly. The bond between them throughout 'Pinky and the Brain' has always been present and never been lost.
To conclude, wonderful Las Vegas fun with Pinky and Brain. 10/10 Bethany Cox
