The Big Picture
- Pinky and the Brain are a successful comedic duo that follows the tradition of informed and uninformed idiot duos in Hollywood’s history.
- A Pinky and the Brain movie would bring back the classic comic dynamic that hasn’t been seen in a while, appealing to both adults and children.
- The timing is perfect for a movie because it can satirize the current divided and self-righteous society, addressing issues like mistrust of science and celebrity influence.
Steven Spielberg‘s Animaniacs introduced us to a wide variety of new, fun characters which, along with Tiny Toon Adventures just before it, brought back that element of WB zaniness that endeared their Looney Tunes cast to generations. Animaniacs had recurring gags (“Hellooooo, Nurse!”), and a healthy dose of both intellectual and juvenile humor (“The Great Wakkoroti” is a personal favorite). It would be fair to say, however, that the breakout stars from the show are the pair of Pinky and the Brain (Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen). They were popular enough to land their own series from 1995 to 1998 and featured in the Animaniacs 2020 revival. But what we haven’t seen yet, and what we need, is a Pinky and the Brain movie. The time couldn’t be better.
‘Pinky and the Brain’ Carry on a Grand Tradition
If you knew nothing about Pinky and the Brain, you would surmise, rightly, that the premise of two lab mice trying to take over the world is ridiculous at best. It is ridiculous, but ridiculousness at its best. Pinky and the Brain follow the grand tradition of the informed and the uninformed idiot duos throughout Hollywood’s history. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) and Ed Norton (Art Carney). Gilligan (Bob Denver) and the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.). Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) and Manuel (Andrew Sachs). It’s a classic comedy tradition that perseveres to this day, and Pinky and the Brain nail it.
There are many reasons why they are so successful with that tried and true formula. Pinky isn’t just dumb, he is as dumb as one can possibly be without requiring regular alarms telling you when to breathe in and out, the extreme end of the comic pairing. The Brain, on the other hand, has these great aspirations and genius ideas, but can’t seem to recognize that, as a two-inch tall lab mouse, the odds of ever taking over the world, even with the most brilliant plan, will never work. In that regard, Brain is at the other extreme end. Ralph Kramden may have had his get-rich-quick schemes on The Honeymooners, but never sought world domination. That wide disparity between the size of the goal and the size of the mouse with it adds an element to the trope that is unique.
Why the Time Is Right for a ‘Pinky and the Brain’ Movie
So, why a movie? Being a shining example of a great comic tradition, Pinky and the Brain have what it takes to bring that element back to the cinema. There hasn’t been a comparable classic comic duo on film in some time, with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost the closest to that smart idiot/idiotic idiot dynamic in recent memory (idiotic idiot/idiotic idiot pairs as seen in films like Dumb and Dumber are a dime a dozen). Additionally, they have the added benefit of appealing to adults and children alike, with a winning mix of humor that speaks to both. The right premise, like the one that Paulsen retweeted back in 2022 about the mice being turned into humans, would put it over the top. Heck, if The Smurfs can pull together a trilogy (and a new film in 2025) when all they do is “smurf the whole day long”, then how can a Pinky and the Brain movie not work?
Now if the argument for a movie is sound, it still doesn’t speak to why now is the time. Both Paulsen and LaMarche are on board with doing a film (Paulsen moreso), so that becomes a factor that should be taken into consideration, especially while they’re still interested. Logistically, that is why a Pinky and the Brain movie would make sense now, but there’s also a deeper reason. The world, as it stands today, is at a unique time in its history. People, at least the most vocal of us, have largely abandoned the middle road in favor of extremities. The internet has given one side all the information they need to support their arguments, and anyone that doesn’t agree is an idiot. Yet that same internet gives the other side all the information that they need to support their own arguments, and those that don’t agree with them are idiots. How perfect, then, is it to have two characters that are very much at extreme ends themselves? It’s the Brains versus the Pinkys, and no one is going to admit that they’re the Pinky.
A ‘Pinky and the Brain’ Movie Has No Shortage of Material In Today’s Society
That divisive worldview is just begging for someone to knock it down, in a clever way that skewers the self-righteousness of it all. A Pinky and the Brain film is just the right thing to play up that division while pointing out the foibles of one’s own reluctance to admit that they could possibly be wrong. In fact, there’s no shortage of material from today’s society that Pinky and the Brain couldn’t have fun with. There’s a general distrust of science, and scientists for that matter, as a whole, and “laboratory mice whose genes have been spliced” would, again, be ready-made to satirize that point of view.
Then there’s that element of society that buys into whatever celebrities are espousing as facts. It’s a piece that Brain could easily adapt into his latest plan to take over the world, becoming a celebrity that speaks in generalities about everything, not committing to a specific stand on issues but rather in such a way that his words can be interpreted as being agreeable to any side. There are just so many directions a film could go in, a ton of potential in the pair that can be utilized with almost no rules holding them back. Who knows if it will actually ever happen, but WB and Spielberg would do well to let us hear this someday, and sooner than later: “What are we going to do tomorrow night, Brain?” “Something new we haven’t tried yet, Pinky… try to take over the cinematic world!”
