Airdate: January 1, 1994
The opening theme is from the show's French dub.
Schnitzelbank: The Warners visit Germany to learn the International Friendship Song.
The Helpinki Formula: Brain devises a shrinking formula which he plans to sell via infomercials.
Le Bouton et le Ballon: A Buttons and Mindy short taking place in Paris, France.
Kung Boo: There's a martial arts tournament, and only Moo Goo Gai Boo can win it for the Dragon Dojo.
Schnitzelbank has examples of
- Rage Breaking Point: Prof. Schnitzelpusskrakengescheitmeyer takes the Warners' antics with patience and laughter...up until they start actively abusing him.
- Sesquipedalian Smith: Inverted: Professor Otto von Schnitzelpusskrakengescheitmeyer. Lampshaded in the Friendship Song.
The Helpinki Formula has examples of
- Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?: "I think so, Brain, but me and Pippi Longstocking? I mean, what would the children look like?"
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Everyone in the TV studio turns into a giant Swiss yodeler and rampages through the building and out into the streets.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: When a woman expresses to Brain that she always wanted longer, fuller hair he uses the Helpinki Formula to shrink her. This causes her to have the long hair she's always wanted, but now she's even tinier than a mouse.
- Body Horror: When Brain tries to shrink a guest on the infomercial her body shrinks while her nose remains the same size, giving her an oversized nose on a tiny body.Brain: Her nose must be made of inorganic material.
- The Ditz: Jim, the host of Amazingly Fantastic Stuff. He's overly enthusiastic about the products his program sells, even when it's used to unwillingly shrink him!
- Forced Transformation: If more than one drop of the Helpinki Formula is applied to a victim they will turn into a giant Swiss yodeler.Brain: Oh, no. They've all become giant Swiss lederhosen-clad dancing yodelers!Pinky: Talk about unpredictable!
- Incredible Shrinking Man: Brains plan is to use his new invention, the Helpinki Formula, to shrink everyone on Earth so they are tiny compared to Brain and Pinky. With humanity reduced to a tiny size they can finally take over the world. They do succeed in shrinking a few people before Brain's plan is foiled.
- Infomercial: Brain decides to distribute the Helpinki Formula by presenting it on an infomercial called Amazingly Fantastic Stuff.Brain: The problem is, how can I convince everyone in the world to use something that they don't need in any conceivable way?
- Lack of Empathy: Brain has no compunction about (permanently) shrinking people or turning them into giant yodelers.
- Magic Pants: When the victims of the Helpinki Formula are shrunk, their clothing shrinks with them. And when it turns them into Swiss yodelers, their clothing transforms into stereotypical Swiss attire.
- Plothole: Brain says that a womans nose didn't shrink along with her because it was made of inorganic material. But earlier in the episode he demonstrates the formula by using it to shrink a television set.
- Resized Vocals: The victims who get shrunk speak in a high pitched voice. When they get turned into giant Swiss yodelers they develop a deep voice.
- Take That!: Against infomercials, the people who appear on them, and the products they hawk.
- Too Dumb to Live: People are so eager to use Brains product they will pay for it, even if it means it will shrink them.
- Trampled Underfoot: Pinky and the Brain receive their comeupance when they get trampled by the giant Swiss yodelers.
- Victimized Bystander: The studio audience are all transformed into giant Swiss yodelers.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Jim, the host of Amazingly Fantastic Stuff, isn't seen again after Brain shrinks him. Did he also turn into a giant Swiss yodeler? Or did he remain an Incredible Shrinking Man?
- Yodel Land: A second dose of Brain's formula ends up turning its victims into yodeling Swiss stereotypes.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: A non-fatal example with Jim, the infomercial host. Jim starts the show by introducing Brain and the Helpinki Formula. Brain promptly uses it on him and once Jim has been shrunk to a tiny size, Brain takes over his duties as host and Jim isn't seen again.Jim: And now we are going to meet the Amazingly Fantastic discoverer of this Fantastically Amazing discovery, the Smallerizer Plus System! Here's the Brain!Brain: Thank you, Jim. I am so pleased to be here to tell you about some...amazingly fantastic stuff.Jim: Is it fantastically amazing?Brain: Yes.Jim: I understand that it can shed excess pounds, grow hair, get you real estate with no money down...Brain: ...And get rid of unnecessary hosts![Brain puts a single drop on Jim's finger and he immediately shrinks until he's tiny compared to Brain.]Jim: [High-Pitched] Fantastically Amazing!
Le Bouton et le Balloon has examples of
- Accidental Art: While chasing after Mindy, Buttons runs into a painter. He gets covered in paint and shakes it off, causing it to fly on the painter's canvas. The painter looks at the mess Buttons made and sees it as art.
- Badly Battered Babysitter: Buttons. He gets poked in the butt by a spiky fence, falls in the water, gets squashed by a boat, gets run over by a group of nuns, falls off Notre Dame, gets splattered with paint, fights with Baby Plucky over the elevator controls in the Eiffel Tower (and gets his nose slammed in the doors), keeps getting hit by buildings while hanging onto the rope of a hot air balloon, and squashed by the balloon itself when it lands in Mindy's backyard.
- Bilingual Bonus: All of the dialogue is French with the exception of the Warners' cameo, where they all play Quasimodo saying, "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!"
- Bittersweet Ending: Mindy is returned home safely, but Mindy's Mom punishes Buttons for messing up her laundry (it was the hot air balloon that landed on it).
- The Cameo: The Mime makes a brief cameo, as does Baby Plucky, who does his "I push da button" routine from "Going Up" in French.
- Chasing a Butterfly: Mindy chasing her balloon is what kickstarts the episode's plot.
- Digital Destruction: Some versions of this episode have English subtitles, while others don't. The version on the DVD did not have subtitles, while Hulu restored them.
- Shout-Out: A couple of French references.
- The entire short is a parody of The Red Balloon.
- At one point, Buttons passes by a little girl who is followed by two straight lines of nuns.
- In Notre Dame, the Warner siblings ring the bells [[The Hunchback of Notre Dame dressed as hunchbacks and shouting "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!"
Kung Boo has examples of
- Ice-Cream Koan: The Dragon Dojo's sensei is full of these.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The entire short is one big riff on The Karate Kid. The Only Sane Man in this segment is played by Ralph Macchio.
