As fans of Pinky and the Brain can tell you, the beloved Animaniacs characters have been on but one mission since their debut in 1993: to take over the world. However, the pair of genetically enhanced lab mice never quite manage to do so and over the years fans have come up with a theory that while Brain is presented as the genius of the pair, it’s the good-natured but not quite bright Pinky who is secretly the mastermind — either subtly sabotaging Brain’s plans or, in some variations of the theory, actually carrying out experiments on Brain. It’s a fascinating theory and now Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen, the voices behind the duo, are addressing the theory.
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Ahead of Animaniac‘s third and final season — Hulu revived the series back in 2020 — LaMarche and Paulsen told ComicBook.com’s Chris Killian that they don’t know if the theory is legit, but that it is integral to the story continuing that Brain manage to not actually take over the world.
“I don’t know if that’s a legit theory in terms of the ethos of the show,” LaMarche, who voices Brain, said. “I’ll tell you in real life, it’s Rob Paulsen who’s the genius and I’m insane. But if Brain succeeds in taking over the world, then, you know, show over and this is our third and final season.”
He went on to say that the show having its final season doesn’t necessarily mean it’s done forever and cited Futurama coming back for another reboot this summer as proof that stores can come back and continue and expressed hope at seeing more Pinky and the Brain in the future.
“We’re just taking a little rest,” he said. “And who knows if we’ll see these guys again. I, for one, would love to see a Pinky and the Brain motion picture.”
Will there be an Animaniacs movie?
While there hasn’t been any announcement of a movie, some of the cast are hopeful there will be a movie to wrap thing sup as the series heads towards its final season.
“Stranger things have happened and the nice thing is, we never thought it was going to come back this time and it did, so life is full of surprises,” Jess Harnell tells ComicBook.com’s Chris Killian. “Personally, I think an Animaniacs movie would be a great idea and giving them that room to run around in for 90 minutes I think would friggin’ be amazing, so I hope so.”
While the Animaniacs cast itself isn’t available to make the decisions, Tress MacNeille says fans of the show have the power to make such a feature film happen.
“We were discussing [an Animaniacs movie] earlier. I think it would be a great idea,” MacNeille adds. “Of course, we’re not in charge of that, but the fans can be a very powerful voting bloc, so I would encourage people to let their wishes be known.”
Even if there isn’t an additional film, other pieces of the show’s ensemble puzzle are thrilled they just got to return for this latest go-around.
“We don’t know at this point, but we’re grateful to have the chance to make 36 new episodes over three episodes and give people back their childhoods with our original voices,” Maurice LaMarche says. “Steven [Spielberg] had the right idea in that if you’re trying to give people back their childhoods, you can’t them new voices and we’re very honored and glad of that because this show holds up.”
The final season of Animaniacs hits Hulu on February 17th.
