70

Pinky and the Brain are mice in a scientific laboratory of some sort.

What, if any experiments are being performed on them?

Ben Miller
  • 2,857
  • 2
  • 21
  • 25

1 Answers1

47

Some form of genetic experimentation, involving gene splicing, but I'm not aware of anything more specific than that.

They're Pinky and The Brain
Yes, Pinky and The Brain
One is a genius
The other's insane
They're laboratory mice
Their genes have been spliced

  • Presumably, it was this splicing that increased the Brain's intelligence. Pinky would likely then be the result of a failed experiment, or maybe a control subject. – Roger Jul 10 '14 at 14:00
  • 33
    @Roger not necessarily. there's a fan theory out there that says it's actually the reverse: Pinky is the smart one that knows how to do stuff and the Brain is a failed experiment with delusions of grandeur. There's an episode where Pinky writes a formula, Brain corrects it, but it's his version that fails instead of Pinky's. there's also a minor implication due to the order of their names and assigned qualities in the intro. – Nzall Jul 10 '14 at 14:11
  • 15
    @NateKerkhofs Don't forget that One is a Genius, and the other is insance. Brain is clearly the insane one - he consistently tries to take over the world. Pinky keeps stopping him - the genius. – Dr R Dizzle Jul 10 '14 at 14:14
  • 1
    That's what I meant with the minor implication. – Nzall Jul 10 '14 at 14:15
  • I've read that theory, yes, and it's definitely an interesting (and not improbable) idea. But regardless, Brain's intelligence has clearly been enhanced, even if it happened to cause the side effect of delusional behavior. – Roger Jul 10 '14 at 14:16
  • 10
    I would just like to thank you fellows in the comments for warping my understanding of a childhood program for the rest of my life :) – Mac Cooper Jul 10 '14 at 16:44
  • 1
    I will take some google-fu to find it, but I recall another site walking thru the logic of Pinky's statements.. Basically, he seems to go into non-sequiturs, but he's just not 'showing his work' -- if you follow the chain of logic behind it, his statements make sense. – K-H-W Jul 10 '14 at 16:53
  • 1
    @NateKerkhofs - Mind. Blown. – System Down Jul 10 '14 at 17:12
  • 5
    I wouldn't say it's just a fan theory - Season 3 pretty much said as much. See the S3 episodes "Pinky's Plan", "Pinky's Turn" and "The Pinky P.O.V" for evidence. – Omegacron Jul 10 '14 at 17:20
  • 1
    @NateKerkhofs Billie is possible further in-series evidence of that theory; she resembles Pinky far more than Brain, and is also smarter than Brain – Izkata Jul 10 '14 at 18:08
  • 1
    Isn't there a specific episode, the one that introduced Snowball, that explicitly shows how they became more than ordinary lab mice? – Zibbobz Jul 10 '14 at 20:16
  • 1
    Yeah, the gene splicing thing is likely correct. That, or they're working on the same things the science department of NERV from Neon Genesis Evangelion is working on: in one episode you can see a symbol that looks like the face of Lilith and the symbol of SEELE as used in Rebuild (the triangle with three eyes on one side and four on the other). But if this is the case, then NGE has this as a shoutout to PatB, given that the latter came first. – Thomas Jacobs Jul 10 '14 at 20:36
  • 9
    One of the producers said in an interview that Pinky is the genius. If I could just find it, I'd show you. I'd show you all. – James Sheridan Jul 11 '14 at 06:00
  • @KHW: Is this Cracked article the one you were talking about? http://www.cracked.com/article_20382_5-fan-theories-about-cartoons-that-will-ruin-your-childhood_p2.html – James Sheridan Jul 11 '14 at 23:36
  • @JamesSheridan -- Nope; the article I read actually walked thru a bunch of his statements and explained why they made sense. It was.. bizarre. I'd actually guess it was a Usenet posting, from way back when./ – K-H-W Jul 11 '14 at 23:56