There wouldn't be any question of seeing anything animated regardless of the studio, director, style, how old it is and its critical reception, being an enormous fan my whole life. There are examples of terrible animation, shows and films, but there are also many masterpieces for both. Still love it to this day as a young adult and even more so actually thanks to broader knowledge outside of my earliest influences Disney, Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera and Tom and Jerry.
Despite thinking very highly of 'Animaniacs', do consider 'Pinky and the Brain' the slightly more superior show. Everything that makes 'Animaniacs' a favourite is present here while making the numerous qualities even better and its merits are 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.
Yet another wonderful episode, none of the previous episodes proved to be bad (all actually good to outstanding) but this is for me in the top half.
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.
Music is also great. 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.
Have never faulted the writing in 'Pinky and the Brain' and don't here in "The Real Life". 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, it's 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 Real World' and MTV is spoofed in a fresh and inspired way here, am not an MTV personal usually but "The Real Life" made it interesting.
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 episode to a 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 has never been lost. 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. 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 "The Real Life". The duo's always compelling personalities never come over as false, and there is more depth to their contrasting personalities and relationship than one might think. The chemistry between the two is just a delight, fun and sometimes antagonistic but there is more substance to it than all of that. It is essentially the heart of the show, it was essential for it to work and it does brilliantly.
Cannot imagine anybody else voicing either Pinky or Brain other than Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche , both flawless. Particularly 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 episode in every way. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Despite thinking very highly of 'Animaniacs', do consider 'Pinky and the Brain' the slightly more superior show. Everything that makes 'Animaniacs' a favourite is present here while making the numerous qualities even better and its merits are 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.
Yet another wonderful episode, none of the previous episodes proved to be bad (all actually good to outstanding) but this is for me in the top half.
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.
Music is also great. 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.
Have never faulted the writing in 'Pinky and the Brain' and don't here in "The Real Life". 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, it's 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 Real World' and MTV is spoofed in a fresh and inspired way here, am not an MTV personal usually but "The Real Life" made it interesting.
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 episode to a 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 has never been lost. 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. 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 "The Real Life". The duo's always compelling personalities never come over as false, and there is more depth to their contrasting personalities and relationship than one might think. The chemistry between the two is just a delight, fun and sometimes antagonistic but there is more substance to it than all of that. It is essentially the heart of the show, it was essential for it to work and it does brilliantly.
Cannot imagine anybody else voicing either Pinky or Brain other than Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche , both flawless. Particularly 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 episode in every way. 10/10 Bethany Cox