Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain

"''"Gee Brain, what do you want to do today?"

"The same thing we do every day, Pinky: endure Elmyra, then try to take over the world!"'''"

"It's what the network wants, why bother to complain?"

Sometime after all their failed attempts at taking over the world in their original series, Pinky and The Brain are forced out of Acme Labs when it is torn down and turned into a Disney Store. To make matters worse, a man named Wally Faust is pursuing the mice so that he can use them in his own world domination schemes. In their attempts to escape Faust, the duo end up in a pet store, where they -- and a turtle named Mr. Shellbutt -- are purchased by Elmyra Duff. Now stuck living in Elmyra's house, Pinky and The Brain continue planning their world domination schemes -- provided, of course, they survive the distraction of their new owner.

This crossover -- which marked Warner Bros Animation's final collaborative effort with Steven Spielberg -- came about entirely from Executive Meddling (specifically, Jamie Kellner's insistence that Pinky and The Brain become Lighter and Softer). The writers were not at all happy with Kellner's demands -- to the point that Peter Hastings wrote an episode of the original series predicting that the series' downfall would occur because of this ("You'll Never Eat Food Pellets in This Town Again") and later left Warner Bros. to create Disney's One Saturday Morning -- and the fans, unsurprisingly, agreed with them. Only five full episodes of Pinky, Elmyra, and The Brain were aired before Warner Bros. pulled the plug, and the remaining segments were aired as part of the compilation program The Cat & Birdy Warneroonie Pinky Brainy Big Cartoonie Show. The series has since disappeared; it has never accompanied the original series in syndication reruns or DVD releases.

This spin-off contains examples of:
"Brain: Any questions?
 * All Love Is Unrequited: Elmyra has a crush on a slob named Rudy Mookich (apparently forgetting about Montana Max), but Rudy has the hots for her cousin Patty Ann - who is really just Brain in his mechanical suit. Brain, needless to say, does not return Rudy's affections, but Elmyra seems to think "she" does.
 * Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?: In addition to the usual Running Gag, the series also included a variation that would appear in addition to or instead of the usual exchange. Brain would ask if Pinky has "Any questions?", with Pinky responding by asking a completely irrelevant question. Then, at the end of the episode, Brain gives Pinky the answer to his question. For example:

Pinky: Just one. If Fred Flintstone knew the giant order of ribs was going to tip over his car, why did he order them every week?

(Later)

Brain: It was an end title.

Pinky: What?

Brain: Fred Flintstone doesn't order ribs every week. That was only animated once, then music and voice tracks were added. The footage is run at the end of the show in the same spot every time. It's called an end title."

"Pinky: Egad! That cat hates us meeces to pieces! Doesn't he, Mr. Pixie?
 * Biting the Hand Humor: The opening song features the line "It's what the network wants, why bother to complain?" At the end of the song, Brain says "I deeply resent this."
 * Calling Me a Logarithm: Elmyra has a tendency to mistake Brain's technical jargon for "naughty-waughty potty talk".
 * Christmas Episode: "Yule Be Sorry"
 * Chuck Norris: Elmyra goes to Chuck Norris Grammar School (instead of Acme Looniversity).
 * Credits Gag: Similar to the Credits Gag of the original series, the credits here have Elmyra attempting to define the words instead, and we end up with things like the word "onomatopoeia" being defined as, "Naughty potty word!"
 * Expository Theme Tune
 * Expy: Rudy Mookich is pretty much Nelson Muntz without the "Haw-haw!"
 * In fact, acording to the author of the most extensive article on this series over at platypuscomix, they even share the same voice actor.
 * Fractured Fairy Tale: "Narfily Ever After"
 * It's a Wonderful Plot: The above-mentioned Christmas Episode is about Brain dreaming that he still lives at Acme Labs and that he's never met Pinky, but somehow Elmyra has found her way to the lab.
 * Multi Character Title
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Wally is Christopher Walken.
 * Paper-Thin Disguise: Taken to its extreme when Brain pretends to be Patty-Ann. He doesn't bother disguising his voice, and somehow no one notices the Larynx Dissonance.
 * Replacement Love Interest: Rudy is pretty much this for Montana Max.
 * Retcon: As if it wasn't enough that this series was basically an unneeded Retool to a show that was doing fine the way it was, practically everything else about Tiny Toon Adventures is never mentioned.
 * Self-Parody: The writers even take shots at the new direction in the theme song.
 * Shout Out: One episode opens with Mr. Pussy-Wussy chasing Pinky and Brain, who are shown respectively wearing a vest and a bow-tie, ala Pixie and Dixie from The Huckleberry Hound Show.

Brain: Stop calling me Mr. Pixie! This isn't funny, it's sick!"


 * In one episode, Elmyra talks about spelling something with "lots of Qs". It's a reference to a mid-1990s Flame War on alt.tv.animaniacs (and particularly, its associated IRC channels) over a Verbal Tic that got out of hand.
 * Soap Punishment: Elmyra does this to Brain every time she thinks he is swearing (when he is actually just indulging in Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness).
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Rudy Mookich and Mr. Pussy-Wussy replacing Montana Max and Furrball, who aren't even mentioned in this spin-off.
 * Take That: "That's Edutainment!" contains jokes at the expense of the E/I rule, Disney's One Saturday Morning (Pinky's response to Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering? is "I think so, Brain, but Pepper Ann makes me sneeze," and he later performs as a parody of Manny the Uncanny), and the decision to put Elmyra in the show.
 * Writer Revolt: See...most of this page. You'll understand.