Spun-off from Animaniacs, 'Pinky and the Brain' is highly addictive and intelligent television about 2 mice. The Brain's voice is an excellent imitation of Orson Welles and Pinky has a British accent constantly shooting out quips like 'narf' or 'poit'.  I recall watching it when it came out always hoping to own the episodes in an easy format (like DVD) - to watch at my leisure (as opposed to Saturday morning) - and here we are. There are 22 episodes covering 4 discs in the Volume 1 package. The show remains extremely inventive - like another great TV series - 'The Simpsons' - Pinky and the Brain's writers are ruthless with satire and parody on media related targets like film, pop culture and advertisements. This gives them a strong adult following. One example of this might be the 'Tokyo Grows' episode - with open references to Godzilla - but every so often they irrationally cut to a scene with a character resembling Raymond Burr holding a pipe (see below). He usually makes a non-conforming (to the plot) yet innocuous statement. For those unfamiliar - this is how the US version of Godzilla was produced - using the original Japanese and cutting in scenes of Mr. Burr after the fact. Purists often scoff at the US release. The series is filled with similar obscure and hilarious references.

The image quality is, like much TV to DVD these days, non-progressive, but it thankfully maintains its 1.33 ratio (occasionally DVD productions move to 1.78 to suit widescreen TV owners). It looks quiet acceptable on a tube with vibrant colors although it is not as sharp as high-end system owners might appreciate. One complaint is there are optional close-captioned English subtitles (and French, Spanish and Portuguese). There is a 5.1 audio option that is occasionally tested with explosions or the like, but both it and the simple stereo channel sounded very good.

The set includes Pinky and The Brain: The Start of All Things Wacky - A 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 as they discuss antidotes and antics about Steven Spielberg and the enjoyment they had from the creation of Pinky and the Brain.

I can't see too many people NOT getting a huge kick out of this series. Watching it continuously may get repetitive but just throwing on one episode before a feature film is a fabulous way to start an evening. Strongly recommended! (trust me on this one!)     

Gary W. Tooze