Pinky and the Brain (film)

Pinky and the Brain is a 2022 live action/computer-animated adventure comedy film based on the characters of the same name from the Animaniacs franchise. The film will be co-produced and directed by longtime Animaniacs producer Steven Spielberg and written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger. Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche, who originally voiced the duo, will reprise their respective roles, with the addition of Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, and Chris Rock.

Pinky and the Brain was theatrically released in several markets internationally on May 25, 2022, and in the United States on June 3, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was praised for its humor, visuals, characters, music, and fan service, but was criticized for its usage of licensed songs and screenplay. It has grossed $301 million, making it one of the highest-grossed live-action/animated films of all time. A sequel, Pinky and the Brain: Plan B, is scheduled for release on July 25, 2025.

Plot
Many years ago, a young mouse lives a happy peaceful life in a park in Burbank, California. On his way back to his home -- a can -- holding food, he is suddenly captured by wranglers and put in a van, carrying him to ACME Labs, a laboratory located in a dark, thundery area in town, located under a highway. The mouse is brought to a group of scientists. One of whom, named Dr. Maurice Mordough, places him, alongside another mouse, into a machine that splices DNA from many animals, known as the Gene Splicer. Throughout this process, one mouse becomes quite intelligent with his head grown much larger, and the other becomes dimwitted, yet friendly.

In present day ACME Labs, the intelligent mouse, named the Brain, introduces the dimwitted mouse, named Pinky, to his latest plan: travel to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, to retrieve the glorious Hope Diamond, and use it to bring bad luck and misfortune to the entire world. This plan backfires, due to Pinky's impulsiveness. Back at the lab, Brain goes through stress and comes to the conclusion that every one of his plans were failures and could never take over the world. Pinky cheers him up by saying that they can't do it by themselves.

Meanwhile, two ACME Lab scientists named Katrin and Sayaka do an experiment on Brain. They give him a potion that could give him superhuman strength and growth once emotionally scarred and angered to the extreme. Katrin begin to question why using creatures like Pinky and Brain for experiments is a good idea. Sayaka reassures her that it is their job and going against the laboratory would get them fired. Dr. Mordough gathers everyone with the announcement that he will be retiring from ACME Labs and that the lab will be shut down.

Brain eavesdrops this conversation and worries that all of his life's work will be left behind once they leave the lab for good. Pinky assures him that everything will be alright. Katrin and Sayaka are introduced to their new boss, Dr. Lawrence Fissix. He announces that the reason ACME Labs will be shutting down is because a much more technologically advanced ACME laboratory just opened in New York City and the work will move to that location. The mice are relieved that Brain's work will be safe.

The next day, the lab mice travel to New York City and are introduced to their new lab, which has a luxurious interior. Once their cage is settled in their luxurious lab room, Pinky brings Brain on a tour of the city. Around the block, Brain spots two figures who claim to be megalomaniacs on a quest to find a diamond that would help them take over the world. The mice follow them into a headquarters located on the basement floor of a building. They eavesdrop on the figures meeting up with their leader, a megalomaniac named Hughe Tuffgi.

They get spotted by one of the guards and are sent to Hughe. Brain introduces themselves and claim that they are megalomaniacs as well. Hughe introduces them to their organization, the American League of Megalomaniacs (ALOM) and their members. They plan to steal a valuable diamond located in a bar in the middle of nowhere called The Howlin' Huffers Bar and Grill. Brain steps in and volunteers himself and Pinky to find the diamond to prove themselves worthy of being part of ALOM. Hughe is reluctant at first, claiming that the job would be too dangerous for small individuals like the mice, but changes his mind quickly afterward.

Brain and Pinky, disguised as a trucker couple, hijack a truck and drive all the way to The Howlin' Huffers to retrieve the diamond. Once they enter the bar, they are stopped by all of the patrons. Brain decides to have Pinky create a distraction, in which he does so by playing a song which gets all of the patrons to sing and dance along to, while Brain goes for the diamond. He fails to retrieve it at first, but Pinky steps in to help. Once they have their paws on it, they attempt to escape, but are stopped by the patrons. Brain takes action and they manage to escape with the diamond. They drive off back to the city, but the patrons on motorcycles chase after them. They catch up to them and begin to attack and grab the diamond, but Pinky throws miscellaneous objects found in the truck. He attempts to throw the diamond at them, but Brain stops him, causing the truck to swerve off the road. This gets the bikers to crash into a tree. Brain steers the truck back onto the road and drives their way back to the city.

Back there, they return with the diamond. Hughe is surprised and astonished that mice like Pinky and Brain would accomplish such task and welcomes the duo into the organization. The next day, they throw an "inauguration/pool party" at Hughe's condo to celebrate the welcoming of the mice. The mice are now living the high life, as Pinky claims. Brain agrees and is proud that they are welcomed into the group. Later, they begin the plan. Hughe calls in the mice and tells them that they are being promoted. Pinky thinks he would be promoted alongside Brain, but it turns out that Brain is the one getting promoted. Hughe tells Brain that he's putting him in charge of the organization as the director of the plan due to his intelligence and tells Pinky that he is not "megalomaniac material". Pinky gets jealous of this promotion and tries to back Brain out of it. Brain tells Pinky that it would not be necessary, as he is happy with new position and agrees with Hughe on what he said. Brain begins to scold Pinky on all of his failures and tells him that his help is no longer needed. A heartbroken Pinky leaves the building.

Later, Brain begins his duty as the plan director. He instructs the members of the organization on the plan and helps them out on the blueprints and machinery used for it. Meanwhile, a moping Pinky wanders throughout the rainy streets and meets a roaming city hamster named Gary. Needing a friend who has his back, Pinky befriends him. Gary introduces him to his home, a hole in the wall of a martial arts/fencing school. Pinky takes interest in fencing and comes across Jessica Tsui, a skilled Hong Kongese spy who is a student in a fencing class. Pinky decides to join the class and brings Gary along. Together, they meet Jessica's brothers Jason and Patrick Tsui and learn the art of fencing, taught by a lady named Christina.

Back at ALOM Headquarters, Hughe calls Brain into his office and tells him that he will be let go from the organization. Brain begs him to rehire and Hughe explains that he is planning to rehire him. This turns out to be a trick as Brain will be used as a test subject for their plan: use the diamond, revealed to contain an element that could eliminate all rodents, for a machine that will destroy every rodent in the entire world, and will use it on a rocket-fueled platform to shoot a laser beam towards a space satellite, causing it to beam down, destroying every last rodent on Earth. Hughe reveals that he hates rodents because a squirrel once attacked his father on the deck of his condo, causing him to fall to his death. Brain scolds him, saying that he stabbed him in the back, to which Hughe replied that he did the same to Pinky. Hughe attempts to kill Brain but manages to escape when all of the members chase him down. Brain hides from them in a dead-end alley and wallows in shame for what he has done to Pinky.

Pinky and his new friends have finally graduated from fencing class and throw a pizza party to celebrate. Jessica claims that it takes intelligence and skill to learn the art of fencing and martial arts, causing Pinky to realize that he misses Brain. He tells everyone about what a good friend he was until he stabbed him in the back and kicked him out of ALOM. Pinky takes a walk to relieve his stress, with Gary following, but hears Hughe and the members of ALOM around the block discussing their plan to kill Brain and all of the other rodents of the world. Pinky decides to go to warn Brain. They check the lab, but Brain isn't there. They continue looking for him, until he spots Brain moping in the dead-end alley.

Pinky and Gary confront Brain, who breaks down in tears and apologizes to him, admitting that he is a failure, and he is better off alone. Pinky tells him that he is not a failure and that he always knows what to do when the chips are down. He recounts all of the times Brain has made the world a better place and has made him a better mouse. Pinky tells him that he needs him and tells him about what ALOM plans to do. Brain decides that in order to save the rodents, they need to save the world.

They head back to the lab, where Brain shows Pinky a modified version of his robotic man suit, built with rocket fuel and higher scale technology. Together, they fly towards the platform Hughe is using the machine on. He starts it up, but it runs on a timer for 20 minutes before the laser beam can strike the satellite. The mice confront Hughe and attack him and his minions with the suit's many weapons. Hughe fights back and destroys the man suit. Pinky calls in his fencing team, who arrive on robotic jet-pack horses Brain gave them earlier. Brain uses them as a distraction, so he can deactivate the machine before it can start. They attack Hughe and his minions, with many successions but Hughe is unstoppable. The team is defeated. Hughe spots Brain, who is in the middle of deactivating the machine, and throws him off the machine on the platform's ground.

Hughe grabs Pinky and threatens Brain to leave the machine alone and gives him a choice: the world or Pinky. Brain chooses the latter, but Hughe ends up dropping Pinky from the platform, leaving him to fall into his incoming demise. Brain kneels down in grief, as he reminisces of all of the good times they had together, including clips of their moments from the Animaniacs franchise. Brain suddenly gets extremely angry and morphs into a giant Hulk-like monster, the potion's effects from earlier, called Brawn. Brawn fights Hughe and his minions, causing the platform to collapse in on itself and the machine to be destroyed, diamond included, on the streets of Times Square. Brawn drops down and confronts a grounded Hughe.

Hughe backs up and runs off cowardly. Brawn morphs back into Brain, and collapses. Pinky, Gary, and the fencing team find a slowly dying Brain on the ground. Pinky holds him in his arms and Brain thanks him and the rest of the team for their hard work on saving the world. He thanks Pinky especially for being a good friend, even during the toughest of times before dying. Pinky and the rest mourn his loss. Later, back in the lab, a mourning Pinky lays on the couch, with Gary comforting him. Brain returns, revealed to be still alive, and the two reconcile, Gary joining in.

Meanwhile, Hughe runs off from the destruction and gets stopped by the police. It was revealed that Jessica called the police on him, and Hughe gets arrested by them. Later, back at the lab, Katrin and Sayaka find out that Dr. Fissix disrespected Mordough's wishes, as the latter wasn't intending to close down the lab in Burbank and that he was blackmailed into doing so. Thus, the New York ACME Laboratory will be closed, and the work will be moving back to the Burbank location. Before leaving, the mice say goodbye to Gary and the fencing team and thank them again for their help.

Back at the Burbank ACME Laboratory, Brain and Pinky are welcomed back into their old lab room. In typical Pinky and the Brain fashion, Brain says that they will prepare for tomorrow night, to which Pinky replies why. Brain closes the film by saying his signature line, "The same thing we do every night, Pinky, try to take over the world!"

In a mid-credit scene, on an undiscovered island, a bamboo-constructed building beams a mysterious glow. A mysterious figure runs away from the building, pulling out a picture of the Brain. This mysterious figure is revealed to be his old nemesis, a hamster named Snowball, who begins his quest for vengeance.

In a post-credit scene, it is revealed that the Warner siblings -- Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, the main characters from parent series Animaniacs, have been watching the movie in the theater. They provide brief commentary on it before standing up from their seats. On their way out, Yakko reads an article on his phone, claiming that Warner Bros. started development on an Animaniacs movie, to their excitement.

Voice cast

 * Maurice LaMarche as the Brain: A short, but intelligent laboratory mouse bent on world domination.
 * Rob Paulsen as Pinky: Brain's tall, dimwitted friend who often assists Brain with his schemes and inadvertently ruins them.
 * Rob also voices Yakko Warner, who appears alongside his siblings, Wakko and Dot Warner, in the post-credit scene. His role as Yakko was left uncredited for some reason.
 * Chris Rock as Gary: A roaming big city hamster who befriends Pinky and joins the fencing team.
 * Danny DeVito as Snowball: An evil hamster who appears in the mid-credit scene, setting the scene for upcoming Pinky and the Brain sequel, claiming vengeance after escaping his lab on an undiscovered island. Snowball previously appeared in the Pinky and the Brain spin-off series in 1995, voiced by the late Roddy McDowall, and served as Brain's nemesis.
 * Jess Harnell as Wakko Warner: Yakko and Dot's brother, the middle Warner child, who appears with the aforementioned characters in the post-credits scene. His role was left uncredited, for the same reason.
 * Tress MacNeille as Dot Warner: Yakko and Wakko's sister, the youngest Warner child, who appears with the aforementioned characters in the post-credits scene. Her role was also left uncredited for the same reason.

Live action cast

 * Jon Hamm as Hughe Tuffgi: The leader of the American League of Megalomaniacs (ALOM) and the film's main antagonist, who has a vendetta against rodents, but hides it from the mice when they join the team.
 * Kristen Wiig as Angela Evelle: Hughe's fiancé and vice leader of ALOM.
 * Steve Schirripa as Dr. Maurice Mordough: A retired ACME Labs geneticist who is responsible for building the gene splicer and making Brain and Pinky into who they are now.
 * Jet Li as Jason Tsui, a skilled Hong Kongese martial artist.
 * Will Yun Lee as Patrick Tsui, a skilled Hong Kongese martial artist and former scientist at ACME Labs. He is Jason and Jessica's brother.
 * Michelle Yeoh as Jessica Tsui, a skilled Hong Kongese spy who befriends Pinky. She is Jason and Patrick's sister.
 * Anna Apfelbaum as Katrin: A scientist at ACME Labs.
 * Chika Sakamoto as Sayaka: Katrin's lab partner at ACME Labs.
 * Jim Parsons as Dr. Lawrence Fissix: The new manager of ACME Labs, who planned to move the lab's work to the new ACME high-tech laboratory in New York City.
 * Shin Aomori as Kentaro: Sayaka's father.
 * Tina Turner as Christina: Pinky and Jessica's fencing instructor.
 * Daryl Lee as Kwok Chung-Ping
 * Pierce Brosnan as himself
 * Daniel Craig as himself
 * Linda Hamilton as herself
 * Barbara Broccoli as herself
 * Seth Rogen as himself
 * Charles Fleischer as himself

Production
On July 13, 2018, over a year after word that Animaniacs was getting a reboot, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that a Pinky and the Brain spin-off film was in development.

Music
On March 17, 2022, it was announced that John Debney would compose the film's score. On the same day, it was announced that The Weeknd and Lil Nas X have written songs for the film, along with two musical numbers by original Animaniacs composer Randy Rogel.

Marketing
The poster for this film was revealed on January 26, 2022, with the first trailer releasing the next day on January 27. The trailer featured an epic remixed version of the Poppy Family song "Where Evil Grows" with an epic version of the Pinky and the Brain theme instrumental mixed in. The trailer received positive reception from fans.

A special TV spot, with a length of 30 seconds, aired during the Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022. Another TV spot, spoofing another Warner Bros. film, The Batman, was released on March 4, 2022, to celebrate said film's release in theaters.

Another poster was revealed on April 7, 2022, with the second and final trailer releasing the next day on April 8.

Theatrical
Pinky and the Brain was theatrically released in the United States on June 3, 2022. The film had its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, on May 24, 2022. The film was first released in theaters in Italy, France, and the Netherlands on May 25, 2022. It was initially scheduled to be released in the US on May 28, 2021, but was delayed, alongside many other films, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Home media
The film was released to streaming on HBO Max on June 18, 2022. It was later released on Blu-Ray, DVD, and Ultra HD Blu-Ray on August 16, 2022.

Future
On March 17, 2022, Warner Bros. and Amblin announced that a second Pinky and the Brain film, along with a Animaniacs film, both of which are foreshadowed in this film's mid-credit and post-credit scenes respectively, and a Wakko Warner spin-off are in development. Paulsen and LaMarche are set reprise their roles for the sequel, and Jess Harnell is set to reprise his role as Wakko for the latter project.