Pinky and the Brain, Vol. 1

Pinky and the Brain, a spin-off of Animaniacs, is a worthy offspring of the original classic Warner Bros. cartoons, boasting indelible personalities, virtuoso voice work, and ceaselessly inventive comedy writing. In each episode, the mouse with the enlarged cranium, a.k.a. the Brain (voiced by Maurice LaMarche, uncannily channeling Orson Welles), is foiled in his plans for world domination. Lending utterly useless assistance is his fellow gene-spliced laboratory rodent, Pinky (Emmy winner Rob Paulsen). "You can stop auditioning, Pinky," Brain remarks at one point. "No one's hiring village idiots anymore." The flexible series concept allowed this cartoon odd couple to appear in the strangest places, such as Napoleon Bonaparte's France, 1956 Tokyo, or 1932 New York during the golden age of radio. The series' catchphrases (Brain's triumphant, "Yes!" and "Are you pondering what I am pondering?") wear better than some of the topical humor (Family Guy's got nothing on Pinky and the Brain when it comes to sly pop culture shout-outs), but the show endures because its central pairing is one of animation's greatest (as the theme song reminds us—one is a genius, the other is insane). Perhaps the series' finest half hour is the Emmy-winning "A Pinky and the Brain Christmas," in which Pinky's selfless friendship inspires a Grinch-like transformation in the Brain, just as he is on the brink of global conquest. Compiling 22 “favorite” episodes from the series 1995-98 run, DVD extras here include a “making-of” featurette. Highly recommended. (D. Liebenson)