Pinky at the Bat/Schpiel-borg 2000 is the 23rd episode of the 3rd season of the Pinky and the Brain spin-off series and the 48th episode overall. It originally aired on November 22, 1997. Both cartoons in this episode were animated by Rough Draft.
Pinky at the Bat[]
Plot[]
Brain creates a leather repellant that will render people unable to touch their wallets, seemingly leading to economic turnmoil. In order to enact this, Brain must unleash it at 10:00 PM on October 2nd at the home stadium of the failing baseball team the New Hampshire Pineapples. The mice join the baseball team to get them to victory and give them access to the stadium on the desired date.
Crew[]
- Written by Bill Braunstein and Gordon Bressack
- Directed by Nelson Recinos
Songs[]
Trivia[]
- The title is a parody of the famous poem "Casey at the Bat".
- The episode also parodies the 1984 baseball movie The Natural. Pinky gathered all of the splinters from the bench to make a baseball bat, carving the name "Thunderpoit" into the barrel (In the movie, Roy Hobbs makes his own baseball bat named "Wonderboy"). Pinky hitting the leather-repellent baseball which smashes into the stadium lights is a parody of the film's climactic moment.
- Brain's baseball musical number is set to the tune of the classic song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".
- New Hampshire Pineapples owner George Beanstainer is a parody of former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
- Brain's "Got Cheese" billboard is a spoof of the "Got Milk?" advertising campaign.
Schpiel-borg 2000[]
Plot[]
Executive producer Steven Spielberg seemingly takes the viewers on a tour of the mice's past adventures from this show and Animaniacs. It turns out that "Spielberg" is actually a robot copy created by The Brain and operated by Pinky.
Crew[]
- Written by Rob Davies
- Directed by Rusty Mills
Trivia[]
- Footage from various episodes of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain is used throughout this cartoon.
- The "Emmy" that Schpiel-borg shows is reference to the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program won by "A Pinky and the Brain Christmas" in 1996.
- When Pinky activates the Schpiel-borg's "Schpiel Program", the robot re-enacts the following Spielberg films: Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Jurassic Park (1993).
- At the end of the cartoon, Brain schemes for tomorrow night's plan involving a robot of entrepreneur Ted Turner: "The Ted Turnerator!"
- Archival footage from this episode is later used in the 2017 documentary Spielberg to highlight Steven Spielberg's animated career.
Gallery[]
Cast[]
| Voice Actors: | Character(s): |
| Rob Paulsen | Pinky, Additional Voices |
| Maurice LaMarche | The Brain, Additional Voices |
| Billy West | George Beanstainer |
| Corey Burton | Van Spoony |
| Frank Welker | Steven Spielberg, Additional Voices |