Episode 65 (PATB): Star Warners

Episode 65 (PATB): Star Warners
Series
Season	4
Episode	7
Gags
Brain's Word	Nympholepsy- To have a desire for an unattainable idea
Broadcast Details
Premiered	November 14th, 1998
Episode Chronology
Previous	Episode 64
Next	N/A

Star Warners is the 65th and final episode of the Pinky and the Brain spin-off series. It was originally aired on November 14, 1998, under The Ultimate Animaniacs Super Special with episode 99 of Animaniacs.

Star Warners

Animation by Wang

Plot

What would happen if Star Wars and Animaniacs were put in a blender? The final Pinky and the Brain episode, Star Warners is the answer. The episode, which includes many of the Animaniacs cast is a Star Wars parody of A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi with Pinky and the Brain (as 3-PinkEO and Brain2-Me2) planning to use the Mega Star for their galactic domination plans. Along the way, the two become entangled in an adventure to save Princess Dot from the menacing Girth Plotz, who schemes to use the Mega Star for his own nefarious purposes.

Crew

• Written by Liz Holzman, Charles M. Howell IV and Tom Ruegger
• Directed by Nelson Recinos

Songs

• "Pinky and the Brain Theme (Star Warners)"
• "We're Off To See The Has-Been"

Trivia

• This cartoon was rarely seen in reruns (one notable re-airing occurred in 1999 on Kids WB! to celebrate the release of The Phantom Menace).
• This episode's gag credit word "Nympholepsy" is theorized to represent Brain's general improbable desires to take over the world (or galaxy in this episode's case).
  • It is also theorized to be a jab at Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain; the retool desired by executives that failed to win over the show's own crew and fans.
• Like Wakko's Wish, many regular and minor characters appear throughout the cartoon. A few Looney Tunes characters can also be found.
• Dot's "five year mission" line is a reference to the opening lines for the Star Trek intro, which were originally spoken by Captain James T. Kirk (portrayed by William Shatner).
• Wakko's Luke Skywalker costume looks similar to an outfit he wears in "Hercule Yakko."
• If this episode were under the episode count of Animaniacs, then this would count as their 100th episode.
• Rita, Buttons, and Runt do not appear.
• When Wak Skylicker, Brain2-Me2 and 3-PinkEO go to find Slappy, 3-PinkEO thinks Slappy Wanna Nappy will help him get a brain. The scene after, they perform a brief musical number parodying the "We're Off to See the Wizard" dance in The Wizard of Oz. Wak even asks if they have wandered into a wrong movie.
• The cantina is named "the studio of Mos Eisner," a play on the names of the Mos Eisley cantina and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
• During the cantina scene, the Tiny Toon Adventures robot character Clyde appears alongside Looney Tunes star Egghead Jr.. The two were part of the initial pre-production Animaniacs line-up, but were scrapped from the final roster (see here for more information).
  • A band consisting of Freakazoid, Fan Boy and Mo-Ron appear during the cantina scene performing a Star Wars-style arrangement of the "Freakazoid! Theme Song."
  • Several Star Trek characters can be seen in the cantina including Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Captain Picard, and a Gorn waitress.
  • The cantina bartender is a caricature of Humphrey Bogart's portrayal of Rick Blaine in the 1942 film Casablanca.
• While pitching her pilot, Slappy says her show "is like The Lucy Show, but with a squirrel." The Lucy Show is a sitcom starring Lucille Ball and was the follow-up to I Love Lucy.
  • I Love Slappy is a reference to I Love Lucy, a 1950s sitcom starring Lucille Ball.
• Spacefeld is a parody of Seinfeld, a sitcom starring Jerry Seinfeld.
• The alien family on the Comedy Planet resembles the Jetsons.
• Despite a parody of the original Star Wars trilogy, there were a few concepts from this episode that ended up being similar to elements in future Star Wars media.
  • Pinky's C-3PO has similar characteristics to a battle droid pawn.
  • Slappy is portraying a spoof of Obi-Wan Kenobi, here a female "Jedi"-like warrior. Female Jedis would later be explored in future Star Wars media through characters such as Rey.
  • Hello Nurse portrays a female Stormtrooper in this cartoon. Captain Phasma, a female Stormttooper, would later debut in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
• In the end, the ending chorus calls Pinky and the Brain “3Pinky and the Fridge”, as the lyrics scroll and Brain replies “I am not a refrigerator!”. Then a four dot ellipsis appears, dot by dot as the chorus resumes “Dot dot dot dot!”.

Characters

• The Brain as Brain2-Me2 (parody of R2-D2)
• Pinky as 3-PinkEO (parody of C-3PO)
• Dot as Princess Dot (parody of Princess Leia)
• Wakko as Wak Skylicker (parody of Luke Skywalker)
• Yakko as Yak Soho (parody of Han Solo)
• Slappy as Slappy Wanna Nappy (parody of Obi-Wan Kenobi)
• Thaddeus Plotz as Girth Plotz (parody of Anakin Skywalker “Darth Vader”)
• Dr. Scratchansniff (parody of Grand Moff Tarkin)
• Chicken Boo as Chewbooboo (parody of Chewbacca)
• Skippy as Skippoda (parody of Yoda)
• Flavio Hippo as Flabby the Butt (parody of Jabba the Hutt)
• Minerva Mink as Oola
• Hello Nurse as Sgt. Major Nurse
• Ralph as Clone
• Pip as Pip
• Mindy as UnJawa (parody of Jawa)
• The Goodfeathers as The GoodTroopers (parody of Stormtroopers)

Cameo Characters

• Wile E. Coyote
• Foghorn Leghorn
• Yosemite Sam
• Duck Dodgers
• Marvin the Martian
• Freakazoid
• Fan Boy
• Mo-Ron
• Gossamer
• Hugo the Abominable Snowman
• Baloney
• Zalgar
• Monstar Pound
• Monstar Bang
• Monstar Nawt
• Monstar Bupkus
• Monstar Blanko
• K-9
• Mr. Skullhead
• Toe and the Aliens from "Space-Probed"
• Egghead Jr.
• Clyde
• Rick Blaine

Gallery

Production Art

Script of the episode signed by most of the cast and crew, courtesy of series creator Tom Ruegger's "Cartoonatics" Blog

Animation cel of Skippoda and Slappy Wanna Nappy

Production Notes

• "Star Warners" was initially due to premiere alone without the Animaniacs cartoons on Friday, October 9, 1998. Two days before its initial planned air-date, the delay was announced. Later on October 28, the new date of November 14 was confirmed.
  • From the same citation; the existence of this episode was initially confirmed by Tom Ruegger on July 13, 1998.
• This cartoon was primarily promoted on-air by Kids' WB under The Ultimate Animaniacs Super Special, presumably due to most of the Animaniacs cast appearing.
  • "Star Warners" is in fact, documented as an episode of Animaniacs under an alternate listing, presumably due to airing during the special. Additional listings for the episode under its standard Pinky and the Brain labeling exist as well.
• This is the final Pinky and the Brain cartoon without Elmyra Duff until "Of Mice and Memes" from the Animaniacs reboot in 2020, exactly 22 years and 6 days after this episode first aired.
• Much like Animaniacs, this series' first episode featured material animated by Wang and this final episode also featured material animated by Wang, providing bookends of sorts for the series.

Cast

Voice Actors:	Character(s):
Rob Paulsen	3-Pinky-O, Yak Soho, Dr. Scratchansniff, Additional Voices
Maurice LaMarche	Brain-2-Me-2, Squit Additional Voices
Jess Harnell	Wak Skylicker, Additional Voices
Tress MacNeille	Princess Dot, Sergeant Major Nurse, Additional Voices
John Mariano	Bobby
Chick Vennera	Pesto
Frank Welker	Girth Plotz, Ralph T. Guard, Chewbooboo, Flabby the Butt
Sherri Stoner	Slappy Wanna-Nappy
Nathan Ruegger	Skippoda
Nancy Cartwright	Mindy
Julie Brown	Minerva Mink
Ben Stein	Pip
Neil Ross	Marvin the Martian
Jeff Bennett	Baloney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Spacefield

Transcript

See here

References

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