"Brainwashed" is a three-part serial/telefilm from the fourth and final season of Pinky and the Brain, an Emmy Award-winning animated television series that’s distributed by Warner Bros. Animation and Amblin Entertainment. Originally televised in 1998 as a serialized version on Kids' WB, this episode is divided into three parts, airing between September 14 and September 16.
Pinky and Brain stumble into a global conspiracy, and a trendy dance called the Schmëerskåhøvên is at the center of it all. The mice must get to the source of it and save the world so it can be available to take over the following night.
Plot[]
Part 1: "Brain, Brain, Go Away"[]
After yet another failed attempt to take over the world, Pinky and Brain return to Acme Labs. Brain laments Pinky over dancing to the hit new dance craze called the Schmëerskåhøvên, performed by Danish super-group BAAB. The craze is sweeping America while also dumbing down its participants.
To combat the rapid dumbing down of America, a conference is called at the White House to find solutions to the problem. Pinky and Brain attend the conference after Brain was accidentally invited the White House's coffee assistant Bobby-Bob Yokel. When they arrive, Brain looks on in agony as the guests dance along to the Schmëerskåhøvên. He then attempts to seize the festivities with his speech.
The mice are then ejected after the First Lady realizes a mistake as Brain's speech is stolen by an evil clown. As they pursue the clown into the Washington Monument, they are sedated and captured. After this, Brain's mind is erased and is assigned the hat name of Porkpie. Pinky is spared from mind erasure due to a lack of intelligence, but is still however assigned the hat name of Fez. The duo is then imprisoned in a strange and mysterious land called the Land of Hats. There, everyone is forced to identify by the hat they wear and must perform the Schmëerskåhøvên … multiple times a day.
Pinky takes advantage of Brain's new nature after seeing him perform the Schmëerskåhøvên (something he vowed never to do unless he "lost his mind"). The two spend the day doing certain stuff Pinky has always wanted to do with him. He starts feeling bad later in the evening, and attempts to bring Brain back to his senses as they become the Land of Hats' most wanted criminals.
Part 2: "I Am Not a Hat"[]
The two mice are put on trial by the Court of Hats. Brain gradually remembers who exactly he is. He tricks the court into dancing the 10:00 Schmëerskåhøvên. This gives the mice plenty of time to escape. Unfortunately, they're captured and taken to the robotic Top Hat for another mind-erasure process. Brain outwits the Top Hat with a so-called 'logic bomb' regarding what exactly "Narf" is. He then regains all of his memories from the malfunctioning Top Hat. The mice escape from the Land of Hats. The citizens regain their memory from the Top Hat's destruction; and the two returned to the lab.
Using a retrieved floppy disk of information, Brain deduces that the Schmëerskåhøvên is responsible for the stupification of the world. They attempt to find the identity of the songwriter {Pseudo-Nym}, but it gets too close. The disc uses the computer to activate a self-destruct sequence that destroys Acme Labs.
They retreat to Washington, D.C. and attempt to warn the President and First Lady, but to no avail. They learn that a Global Schmëerskåhøvên-a-thon is scheduled, where the entire world will dance along to the song together.
Desperate, Brain tries to get help from Bobby-Bob and return to the Land of Hats, now in ruins. No real progress is made as Bobby-Bob leaves. Brain concludes that Snowball must be the culprit due to a quick, cunning nature equal to his own. The duo tracks him down, only to discover that he's an inmate in his own mental institution. They find out that Snowball created the institution to research the Schmëerskåhøvên; but got imprisoned by his own bumbling staff, who were corrupted by the dance. The mice attempted to help Snowball escape, only for Brain to end up joining him as Snowball's inmate after he insults the staff.
Part 3: "Wash Harder"[]
By some miracle, Pinky released Brain and Snowball. They then escape the mental institution aboard a jet plane. They head off to a tropical island to confront the next prime suspect: Dr. Mordough, the one responsible for splicing the trio's genes. Mordough was responsible for signing the papers for Snowball's imprisonment. To the trio's surprise, it turns out that Dr. Mordough has been stupefied by the dance. The identity of the elusive {Pseudo-Nym} is really his cat named Precious.
Precious reveals her desires for vengeance on humanity after being rejected for her "ugly" appearance following an accidental gene-splicing process (she acknowledges she could just walk through the gene-splicer again to regain her "cute" looks, but decides against it). She concocted the Schmëerskåhøvên with intentionally-hypnotic lyrics and dance moves to dumb down the target. She's assisted by the evil clown (who's also rejected by society). Precious then reveals that she will debut a new verse at the Global Schmëerskåhøvên-a-thon, which will hypnotize the people into acting like cats. She then traps Pinky, Brain and Snowball in a cage and leaves them in a de-splicing machine, as she escapes with the clown.
Brain tricks the cat-like Mordough to release them, but is almost foiled when the cage gets stuck on him. Snowball attempts to flee from the mice, but is sent back to the gene-splicer by his vengeful lawyers, who sent him to the island in the past to seek out the doctor, then captured by him and neglected by Snowball. Pinky and Brain escape as Snowball is reduced to an ordinary hamster, devoid of any enhanced intelligence. Brain then devises a verse of his own, designed to undo the damage caused by the dance.
The duo then ventures out to Washington, D.C. just in time for the Global Schmëerskåhøvên-a-thon; intending to have BAAB perform it. Due to a mix-up, they end up using Bobby-Bob. Inspired by Brain's earlier failed plan, the mice shrink down in a microscopic ship and venture inside Bobby-Bob's body. Brain poses as his subconscious and directs him to perform the new verse. It successfully undoes the damage and saves humanity.
Bobby-Bob is rewarded for his heroism, and his appointed Chief-of-Staff (Brain uses this to his advantage and arranges for Acme Labs to be rebuilt). A defeated Precious is then taken in by Bobby-Bob and gets redeemed. The mice leave D.C., regrown and victorious. Form their newly rebuilt home of Acme Labs, Brain tells Pinky to prepare for the following evening, where they're about to do the same thing every night — try to take over the world!
The opening scene, where Pinky and Brain journey inside Tom Bodett’s body, is one of several examples that have great influence from the 1966 science-fiction adventure film Fantastic Voyage.
The Schmëerskåhøvên is a parody of the Macarena, a Spanish dance song by Los del Rio that became an international hit single and dance craze in the mid 1990s.
The Schmëerskåhøvên is recorded by Danish pop music group BAAB, which is an animated spoof of the Swedish Europop group ABBA, whose song hits dominated European charts in the mid- to late-1970s. ABBA’s record albums have also been certified multi-platinum.
A caricature of Bob Denver, who’s best-known for his television role of Gilligan in the self-titled 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island”, can be seen in the first part of this three-part episode.
A portion of this three-part episode takes some cues from “The Prisoner”, a British sci-fi television series that first aired in 1967.
The scream used by the citizens in the Land of Hats is a reference to that sound effect used in the 1978 film adaptation of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
While Pinky and Brain pretend to sleep at the White House bedroom, Pinky mentioned something about “Doug”, the popular animated television series that first aired on Nickelodeon in 1991.
The “Microsponge Center for Psychiatric Research” takes some cues from the prison asylum scene in the 1991 psychological horror film The Silence of the Lambs.
A caricature of Jack Nicholson is seen imprisoned in the Center as a nod to his Academy Award-winning role as Randle Patrick McMurphy from the 1975 psychological comedy drama film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
As Pinky, Brain and Snowball fly over to Dr. Mordough’s island in a private jet, Pinky made a reference to the Baldwin brothers, the most famous of which consist of Alec Baldwin.
The character of Dr. Mordough is a reference to the 1996 film adaptation of The Island of Dr. Moreau. The doctor himself is even a caricature of Marlon Brando, who played the character in that film.
Dr. Mordough said this line – “I’m gonna make the world a fruit salad you can’t refuse.” – which is a stylized parody of this famous movie quote stated by Marlon Brando’s character of Vito Corleone in the 1972 gangster epic film The Godfather.
Before Pinky and Brain chase Precious in a helicopter, Pinky said this line – “Bad ol’ puddy tat!” – a reference to the famous cartoon quote stated by Sylvester and Tweety, both animated characters created by Friz Freleng.
At the end of this episode, Bobby Bob Yokel said this line – “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” – which is a stylized parody of this famous movie quote at the end of the 1942 romantic drama classic Casablanca.
Notes[]
This three-part episode marks the final appearance of Snowball, who’s turned back into a regular hamster by the gene splicer. Actor Roddy McDowall passed away a few weeks after this episode was televised.
Other characters:Snowball • Billie • Dr. Mordough • Precious Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain-only characters:Elmyra Duff • Rudy Mookich • Vanity White • Wally Faust
