The Pinky Protocol is the 10th episode of the 3rd season of the episode of the Pinky and the Brain spin-off series and the 35th overall. It originally aired on September 22, 1997.
The Pinky Protocol[]
Animation by: Akom
Plot[]
After being stalked by conspiracy theorist-filmmaker Gulliver Sloane, Brain decides to take advantage of conspiracy theories by creating one about himself that claims the government is keeping Brain from stepping into power. Meanwhile, the eccentric Big Jake falls for Brain's conspiracy and takes drastic measures to "help" the mice out.
Crew[]
- Written by Rich Fogel
- Directed by Kirk Tingblad and Rich Arons
Trivia[]
- The film director, Gulliver Sloane, is a parody of film director Oliver Stone, best known for touching on controversial and political issues. One of his films, Nixon, is satirized in this cartoon.
- Later on Sloane's film about this subject features a caricacture of Sir Anthony Hopkins performing Brain going off of his performance of Richard Nixon in Nixon. He is joined by a caricature of Christopher Walken, and they act out a typical Pinky and the Brain episode. Nixon's praying on the eve of his resignation is also parodied.
- Billy West's Nixon impression would later become particularly known through Nixon's caricature in Futurama.
- Sloane is one of the very few humans in the series who is aware about the two lab mice's worldly ambitions.
- This cartoon features the recurring news program in the Animaniacs universe, Punchline, a parody of news programs such as Dateline and Nightline; with Ted Koppel caricature Fred Floppel hosting.
- The name Brain uses in this episode, "Harold Foster Brain," is a reference to Charles Foster Kane (originally portrayed by Orson Welles) in the 1941 film Citizen Kane.
- A movie that Harold Foster Brain supposedly appeared in, The Day The Earth Moved Just A Smidge, is a parody of the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still. One of the names on the poster, Skeets Edwards, would later be used (as "Skeetz Edwards") as a director in "Calvin Brain" and the Animaniacs cartoon "The Sunshine Squirrels."
- Brain's face used in the doctored photograph of him making Nixon comes from the same picture Brain took for his "no-spill" coffee mugs in the episode "Fly."
- Brain claims that the conspiracy against him started in 1968, "After a mouse went to Orlando and took over Florida. A group of government officials secretly got together and swore they'd never let another mouse have that much power again." This references Disney World and mascot Mickey Mouse.
- Different conspiracies are satirized in this episode, including the Grassy knoll from the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Watergate scandal, what ever happened to actress Joyce DeWitt, and the case of two actors portraying Darrin Stephens in the 1964-1972 sitcom Bewitched (and why they have the same first name: Dick York and Dick Sargent).
- Former US president Gerald Ford is portrayed as being a clumsy golfer, who injures Brain multiple times. In reality, this cartoon wasn't too far off, as he had also injured people during golf games in real life.[1]
- One of the police officers is a caricature of actor Don Knotts in a nod to his role as Barney Fife in the 1960-1968 sitcom The Andy Griffith Show.
- The public affairs program, The McLaughlin Group, is parodied in this cartoon as The McLoudness Group. Among the panelists satirized are host John McLaughlin and Eleanor Clift.
- News program 20/20 is parodied as 50/50, and then-co-host Barbara Walters is caricatured as well.
- Photographer Adam Ansel, who exposes Brain's fake photographs, is a parody of a photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams.
Gallery[]
Soundtrack[]
- "Shortnin' Bread"
- "How Dry I Am"
- "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia"
- "Symphony 6, Movement 1: Pastorale"
- "Hail to the Chief!"
Cast[]
| Voice Actors: | Character(s): |
| Rob Paulsen | Pinky |
| Maurice LaMarche | The Brain |
| Tress MacNeille | Mary Hartless, Barbara Walters |
| Frank Welker | Fred Floppel, Mr. President |
| Jeff Bennett | Gulliver Sloane, Christopher Walken |
| Townsend Coleman | Big Jake, FBI Agent |
| Billy West | Anthony Hopkins (Nixon), John McLaughlin |
Title in other languages[]
| Language | Title | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 European Portuguese
|
O Protocolo Pinky | The Pinky Protocol |
References[]
- ↑ Marjorie Hunter - Ford, Teeing Off Like Agnew, Hits Spectator in Head With Golf Ball. Published June 25, 1974. Retrieved December 2, 2022.