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Published Feb 22, 2026, 10:00 AM EST
Rohan Naahar is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.
He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.
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The 1990s were a major decade for Steven Spielberg, who not only delivered the record-breaking blockbuster Jurassic Park, but also cemented himself as a "serious filmmaker" with movies such as Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. Known to juggle multiple projects at the same time — he worked on Schindler's List and Jurassic Park concurrently — Spielberg also put his stamp on a project few would remember he was involved with. The project in question is an animated series, which, like scores of other Cartoon Network gems from that era, is heading to a free streaming service this March. Several hits, such as Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, and Ben 10 are returning to streaming after being removed by HBO Max over the last few months.
Among them is the show on which Spielberg served as an executive producer: Pinky and the Brain. Created by Tom Ruegger, the show aired 65 episodes across four seasons, from 1995 to 1998. Such was Spielberg's popularity at the time that the show was marketed as "Steven Spielberg Presents: Pinky and the Brain." The cartoon followed the adventures of two mice who were first introduced as supporting characters on Animaniacs, another show that'll return to streaming in March. One of the mice, Pinky, serves as a simple-minded sidekick to his megalomaniac companion, The Brain, who has only one goal in life: to take over the world. The Brain's personality was modeled on the larger-than-life Orson Welles, while Pinky was given a Cockney accent.
When and Where To Watch 'Pinky and the Brain'
Episodes generally revolved around The Brain coming up with a harebrained scheme to take over the world and invariably failing because of his own hubris or Pinky's ineptitude. The characters later appeared in the single-season show Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain, which aired from 1998 to 1999, and in the Animaniacs revival that aired from 2020 to 2023. Pinky and the Brain will debut on the free Tubi streaming service on March 1, along with scores of other Cartoon Network titles, including fellow cult classics such as Courage the Cowardly Dog and Ed, Edd n Eddy. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Release Date 1995 - 1998-00-00
Network The WB
Directors Kirk Tingblad, Charles Visser, Russell Calabrese, Al Zegler, Mike Milo, Audu Paden, Michael Gerard, Alfred Gimeno
Writers Tom Sheppard, Wendell Morris, Gordon Bressack, Earl Kress, Jed Spingarn, Brett Baer, John P. McCann, Dave Finkel, David Finkel, John Ludin, Tom Minton, Rich Fogel, Bill Canterbury, Bill Matheny, Reid Harrison, Patric M. Verrone, John Loy, Gene Laufenberg, Bill Braunstein, Paul Rugg, Norm McCabe, Wayne Kaatz, Elin Hampton, David Fury
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Rob Paulsen
Pinky (voice)
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English (US) ·