There should be an "AU" episode where the Brain actually succeeds in taking over the world -- and it turns out he hates it! He thought once he was dictator it would be easy to remake the world into his image of utopia, but it's actually really hard and stressful, nothing he tries seems to work out the way he wants it to, and his subjects all hate him even though he's doing all of this for their own good!! He realizes his dream was a sham and his whole life's quest was a waste of time, and starts to have a nervous breakdown -- and then he wakes up, it was all a dream! What a relief! Of course it would be foolish to take such a nightmare seriously -- when he really takes over the world it will be exactly as great as he always imagined it! Now time to get back to the lab and prepare for tomorrow night...
Brandon: Where do you get the story ideas from? Do you come up with them, or...?
Rob: No. Well, I have to say that I don't, in particular. There are a staff of writers who do that; that's they're job, to come up with story ideas. However, Mr LaMarche has been instrumental in influencing -- yes! -- in influencing sev-- {Pinky} several of the stories on recent Pinky & The Brain episodes--
Maurice: Oh, you're exaggerating. One! One with the possibility of another one coming up.
Rob: {Pinky} I don't mind telling you, Brandon, that my friend Maurice LaMarche, a.k.a. The Brain, has influenced Peter Hastings, who is the producer of the show, {normal} and actually you've started to write a couple of scripts--
Maurice: {deep throaty voice} I've influenced him like this. [mimes passing out money] Peter, here, beef up the Brain's part, would ya? Lose the skinny mouse!
Rob: All you kids out there, when you can't get something done, just pay people. It's no problem. No, but, he has...
Maurice: {normal} He's used one of my story ideas already, and there's another one that he was very impressed by and might be working up. I can maybe tip off one story idea -- the one we've already recorded: The Brain tries to get some help, because he feels he's being a little compulsive about taking over the world. That's all I'll say. That's it.
Rob: He has to go to a 12-step program for compulsive world dominators.
Maurice: That's right -- Megalomaniacs Anonymous. That was an idea I suggested, so I'm very honored. The other one, we'll see what happens. But you heard it here first, on Brandon's show!
I always thought that was cool, since "Megalomaniacs Anonymous" is one of my favorite episodes -- but I've also always wondered what that second idea was that Moe suggested, and whether they ever made it into an episode?
tbh one thing I liked about early PatB is how the fact that they're mice kind of... mattered... more than it does later in the show? like it used to be that Brain always had to use his mecha suit to pass as a human; later in the show he could just throw on some clothes -- or sometimes not even bother with that -- and be accepted by everyone as just a short guy. Like I understand why the show had to evolve; you can only tell so many stories about the characters struggling to drive a car or do other basic things; at some point it becomes more convenient to just assume Brain can do everything a normal human can do without difficulty.
But at the same time, it kind of takes something away from the original concept... the inherent comedy in the idea of a puny mouse who wants to rule the world, and the implication that Brain is so power-hungry because he's always been so small and helpless... like there's a reason it's a show about two mice and not a couple of regular human guys with world-domination ambitions, yknow?
tbh one thing that kinda bugged me about the patb reboot from the very first episode is the degree to which the writers seem to have been influenced by the popular but inaccurate description of the original showās format as āBrain has a plan for world domination, Pinky messes it upā. In fact (according to my own calculations) on the classic show Pinky was only responsible for the planās failure about 20% of the time ā usually the failure is clearly Brainās own fault. On the other hand in the new show so far Pinky was to blame for the failure in 6 out of 13 episodes ā about half the time ā while the failure was unambiguously Brainās fault in only 4 episodes. Iām not crazy about that writing decision and I hope in the next season they focus more on Brain fucking up his own plans, which I personally find more interesting.
@angrykaleido said: Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Doesnāt the reboot only have 12 patb episodes? Does the one where they are the DJ in the rap battle count to you?
Frig, youāre right. I wrote these numbers down a while ago and donāt remember now where I got the 13 from. I think the actual fraction of Pinky-caused failures is 5/12
tbh one thing that kinda bugged me about the patb reboot from the very first episode is the degree to which the writers seem to have been influenced by the popular but inaccurate description of the original show's format as "Brain has a plan for world domination, Pinky messes it up". In fact (according to my own calculations) on the classic show Pinky was only responsible for the plan's failure about 20% of the time -- usually the failure is clearly Brain's own fault. On the other hand in the new show so far Pinky was to blame for the failure in 6 out of 13 episodes -- about half the time -- while the failure was unambiguously Brain's fault in only 4 episodes. I'm not crazy about that writing decision and I hope in the next season they focus more on Brain fucking up his own plans, which I personally find more interesting.
Hulu is not available in my country so Iāll have to wait to watch the episodes, still I was able to watch the first one and it was a blast! Hereās a quick fanart of itĀ
tbh one thing I liked about PEatB was the "Any questions?" catchphrase/running gag. There was something cute about Brain being annoyed at first by Pinky's pointless questions but then always patiently/resignedly answering them anyway at the end of the episode. I would have liked it if they'd brought that back in the reboot.
Looks like the critic at collider didnāt really care for much else in the Anamaniacs reboot in the review besides PatB haha same
From reading this, it looks like everyone noticed that Brain was different in the reboot, and LaMarche was not a fan of that when he was handed the new scripts. This must be the quote you mentioned:Ā "Well, Brain was kind of lovable in the '90s because his plans, they were fluffy and make people stick to the ceiling," and now we're talking about fucking destructor rays and stuff like that, but it fits. It fits for a character that has been trying to take over the world for 25 years and he still hasn't. He's angry. He's a little edgier. So, I got into playing him a little more that way ā
I guess I could think of Reboot Brain like that, but tbh to me it just feels when Iām watching the og show like Iām watching a slightly different character in a different version of the show with a different team of writers. And I honestly donāt mind seeing a lot of variety between two teams of writers between reboot projects if the results are interesting.(Or just, you know, good... Iām looking at you, Magic School bus reboot... sigh) If Iām trying to think of the reboot as literally a direct continuation of the og show, then reboot Brain feels honestly a bit like an ooc retcon of og Brain, especially since (I think??) theyāve given him a whole new backstory that appears to be central to the newer episodes. (I can see again why that would feel jarring!)
Thatās just me though lol- Iām a new fish that hasnāt seen all of the og show yet, so I might be missing some character development that happens in that. And I watched the reboot first, so I wasnāt comparing it to any other version when I did- I had no expectations or previous versions of Brain in my brain. :3 And I liked him a lot!
The thing about the new Brain being a different character from the old Brain is interesting to me, because at the time I watched the new series -- before I'd seen a lot of commentary on it -- he didn't really seem that different to me? (With the major exception of Episode 8, which I'll get to in a minute.) But I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I've always seen the classic show as pretty loose with respect to continuity and even characterization -- the characters might not act 100% the same from episode to episode, depending on the writers. And like so far, the new series hasn't done anything to suggest to me that itās going to be any different, in terms of the looseness around continuity? Like they're still doing "AU" episodes where the characters are suddenly in a different setting without explanation, etc.
So new Brain's behavior generally falls within the range of behavior I might have expected from old series Brain -- except for Episode 8, where he's much more amoral; but I initially saw that as just kind of a single-episode aberration, not necessarily a reflection on the reboot as a whole? (Of course if you became interested in Brain's character specifically because of how he acts in that episode, obviously you would feel differently haha.) Also, as the ending strongly suggests Julia might return in future episodes, that left open at least the possibility that one of these might involve Brain realizing that what he did to her was wrong, etc. So I didn't even see that episode as necessarily being a "complete story" in itself, or the final word on Brain's actions in that instance.
Similarly with the backstory thing -- the old show had like four different episodes with origin story flashbacks, and they all contradicted each other. The flashback in the new series seemed well in keeping with that tradition to me -- both in that it seemed believable that old series Brain might have that kind of history; but also in keeping with the general tradition of "backstory flashbacks that appear in one episode and then are never mentioned again". Like, I wasn't really taking it as "this is Brain's One True Canon Backstory now".
(Also the whole "Pinky has daddy issues" thing I've seen people talk about -- to me, that was just two different episodes that happened to have jokes about dads in them; I didn't see it as a consistent "theme" that the writers are consciously developing or whatever.)
But who knows -- the second season isn't out yet. Maybe it will turn out to be more continuity-conscious than I'm expecting.
(The one other instance I can think of where the new show did immediately strike me as "edgier" than the old was the ending of Episode 10, where the mice are apparently about to be vivisected; but that was an edginess in terms of events, not Brain's character.)
Seeing Moe talk about Brain being much angrier and edgier in the new series though makes me feel like I must have missed something and I should probably rewatch it and pay more attention lol.
man why these mice stay in the lab if they can go out and get jobs and houses n stuff. like. why they stay to keep getting experimented on
Well hi, this is actually a question Iāve actually been thinking a lot about this week, partly because Iām watching the og show and noticing differences in the writing between og Brain and reboot Brain.Ā
The literal answer is probably that the show is based around the idea of lab mice sneaking about and trying to take over the world, often via theĀ lab, so to change the basic setting would be a kind of overhaul into something different. (see: Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain) I also just watched The Jungle, and Brain has a line that goes something like āThe lab yes, we are lab mice, thatās where we live, put us backā.Ā
I also donāt think either the reboot or the og show ever explicitly depicts their current situation as horrible. (Except that one bit from Inherit the Wheeze I saw?) The reboot does spend some time showing Brain getting experimented on in a cruel way in the past, but during the episodes the lab itself never feels confining, or like something they would really need to escape from. And they show no interest in doing so.
But, I have been thinking about experimenting with the lab in fic and how it could potentially be used as an extension of whatās going on inside Brain. This is the neat thing about environments in fiction- they can be as much a part of the character as the narration or the action is, while being simultaneously being the setting that everything happens inside of.Ā
And hereās where the difference between og Brain and reboot Brain comes in:
I could, (for fic purposes) interpret the lab as something BrainĀ needs in order to take over the world. Itās the base of operations, with all the tech and resources, ect. Iām sure by non-cartoon logic he could get things elsewhere, but the lab as their main source and workshop is sort of a thing. Get back to the lab by tomorrow night--> take over the world. So, if weāre rolling with the metaphor of staying at theĀ lab= continue trying to take over the world,Ā then the idea of giving up the lab and moving on, āgo out and get jobs and houses n stuffā - thatās not just leaving the lab, thatās accepting not taking over the world.
Og Brain is motivated to take over the world because he wants to remake it as he sees fit. But he gives victory up to save Pinky at least twice? Iām a couple seasons into watching the original series + the Halloween special, and I can imagine og Brain mellowing out slightly and eventually leaving the lab one day. Heād be ok.Ā Ā
Reboot Brain? Reboot Brain doesnāt just want to rule the world, Reboot Brain wants to be in control of a horrible memory gnawing at him from deep inside. He has a long ways to go before heād ever, ever leave that lab.
Yeah like I just rewatched "Snowball" and the lab is definitely presented as their home in that one -- the image of the wrecked lab and broken cage is presented as sad...
And as you said, and as is implied in āWelcome to the Jungleā, the lab is the place where Brain has access to all the materials & resources that he's familiar with and knows how to use. And I mean given that Brain's plans (including those aimed more immediately at money-making) always fail -- supposing he did come up with a scheme to somehow gain enough money to set up his own lab with all the same resources somewhere else, does it really seem likely that he would succeed?
But also -- conversely -- surely one of the reasons for Brain's continued failures is that his fixation on global domination and trying to achieve it immediately doesn't allow for a lot of long-term planning or building up a power base before going for the main goal. Like it's not always or maybe even usually the case that Brain's plan actually proceeds and fails in the course of a single night, but taking over the world is definitely presented as something that he tries to do "every night". Would he really be willing to put his world domination plans on the back-burner for who knows how long while he works on establishing a superior setting/home base, even if that would put him in a better position for future attempts?
The mice are occasionally shown being subjected to unpleasant experiments in the og show -- e.g. in āWhere No Mouse Has Gone Beforeā -- but honestly I can easily believe that Brain would willingly put up with that in exchange for continuing to live in the lab with all its conveniences rather than distract himself from world domination long enough to find somewhere better to live; especially since he always seems to believe heās right on the verge of success no matter how many times heās failed before.
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND by Michael K. Neylon & Eric O. Costello
Here, have a classic fanfic (āclassicā as in āposted to the animaniacs newsgroup in 1997ā) where Brain thinks heās accidentally killed Pinky.
like a decade ago when I was in college I got super into Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain and spent a lot of time obsessively trawling through the decayed remains of the showsā internet fandom (which had been quite active in the 90s when they were on tv but was mostly dead by the time I discovered it, decade-old newsgroup archives and ancient geocities pages full of dead links being all that remained)
anyway watching the fandom rise from the dead with the reboot is quite surreal
I for one welcome our new mouse overlords @patb-adder - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
