Overview: Two lab mice, ("One is a genius, the other insane") living in the Acme labs seek to formulate a plan for the duo, led by Brain, to take over the world. Watch each episode as Pinky and the Brain take on each attempt with a dry wit and humor and likely a parody of other media. 22 Episodes from the Emmy Nominated Series for the first time on DVD.

DVD Verdict: Spun-off from Animaniacs, 'Pinky and the Brain' has a fantastic concept that constantly bears fruit - Two lab mice ("One is a genius, the other insane" in the words of the theme tune) are constantly thwarted in their attempts to take over the world. Like Wile E. Coyote before them, they seem to eventually lose sight of what they are trying to do and why, and just use more and more outlandish ruses to reach their target (Brain as the Country and Western singer is my favourite). The concept itself may not have worked if the characters weren't so well written and performed. To my memory there was only ever three continuous characters in the show - Pinky, Brain and occasionally Snowball, a genius hamster and rival to Brain voiced by the late, great Roddy McDowell. With such reliance on a small cast (the rest of the characters featured - the humans - were different every week), the creators worked hard to get them to be well-rounded and likable (although they are essentially villains - at least Brain is anyway). That they came fully formed from Animaniacs is an even higher praise. The use of catchphrases helped make this show highly accessable ("Poit" and "Narf" from Pinky and "Yes!" from Brain as well as the opening exchange. Elsewhere on this page, the show is described as "mindless fun" - not so. Fun, yes. Mindless, never. This was a show that had Looney Tunes sensibilites but with a brain (literally). Although the writing was hit and miss at times, it was never short of brilliant and the animation was much more consistant than its parent show which sometimes veered into amateurish. The theme tune is one that gets in the head and refuses to budge, and watch out for the definition of a new word in the end credits of every show. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

22 episodes on four discs
Pinky and the Brain: The Start of All Things Wacky - featurette with senior producer Tom Ruegger, writer Peter Hastings, the voices of Pinky and the Brain stars, Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche, and voice director Andrea Romano