Pinky and the Brain take over Frederick as ‘Animaniacs’ cast visits Weinberg Center

WTOP's Jason Fraley previews 'Animaniacs' at the Weinberg Center (Part 1)

They voiced Pinky and the Brain on the animated TV series “Animaniacs” and its spinoff series in the ’90s.

Maurice LaMarche (left) and Rob Paulsen attend the "Animaniacs" panel during SCAD TVFEST 2023 on February 11, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for SCAD)(Getty and Warner Bros Consumer Products via Canva)

Now, Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche will crack up the Weinberg Center in Frederick, Maryland, this Saturday.

“I am Yakko, Yakko Warner — helloooo Jason!” Paulsen told WTOP. “I’m also Pinky to Maurice’s Brain, which is quite disturbing really when you start to cross-pollinate those characters.”

“Quiet, Pinky, or I shall have to hurt you,” LaMarche told WTOP. “As you know, I am the Brain of ‘Pinky and The Brain.’ I am always being thwarted by that invertible boob, my cage-mate and partner in crime, except when I take over the world, it won’t be a crime.”

Can WTOP get Pinky and the Brain to announce a run for president?

“What makes you think I’m not actually running for president right now?” The Brain said.

“My entire platform can be summed up in five words: ‘What am I doing here?’ Narf!” Pinky said.

The two voice actors will perform live alongside Emmy-winning music composer Randy Rogel.

“It’s really a wonderful show because it’s full of songs and full of wonderful animation and tremendous performances,” Rogel said. “Both Rob and Maurice are very accomplished and very busy voice-over artists. I mean, half the voices you know from listening to television you can attribute to Rob and Maurice; they do so much.”

Indeed, Paulsen also voiced Raphael in the original animated TV series “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Snowjob and Tripwire in “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero,” P.J. Pete on “Goof Troop,” and Marco Smurf on “The Smurfs.”

LaMarche also voiced Six-Gun in “The Transformers,” Destro in “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero,” Dizzy Devil in “Tiny Toon Adventures,” Count Roy in “Ducktales,” Chief Quimby in “Inspector Gadget,” Egon Spengler in “The Real Ghostbusters,” multiple characters in “Futurama” and Toucan Sam on Kellogg’s Froot Loops commercials.

“Randy, because he’s just Mr. Prolific, has written several pieces that are proprietary pieces just for the show,” Paulsen said. “There are ‘Pinky and the Brain’ pieces, both musical and acting performances without music sketches that Randy has written just for the live show. … They absolutely kill every performance. It’s really fun.”

Find more information here.

WTOP's Jason Fraley previews 'Animaniacs' at the Weinberg Center (Part 2)

Listen to our full zany conversation on the podcast below:

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Jason Fraley

Hailed by The Washington Post for “his savantlike ability to name every Best Picture winner in history," Jason Fraley began at WTOP as Morning Drive Writer in 2008, film critic in 2011 and Entertainment Editor in 2014, providing daily arts coverage on-air and online.

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