Pinky and the Brain

The Pied Piper of Hamelin: In the background of Brain's antics in this episode, the plot of the old story The Pied Piper of Hamelin is being played out. In the story, a town pays a piper to hypnotize the rats and lure them out of their village. When they refuse to pay him after he does this, he hypnotizes the town's children and leads them to a river to drown. In the episode, the piper is first seen trying to lure Pinky and the Brain. Later a townsperson mentions that they hired a piper to get rid of the rodents but 'didn't actually pay him', followed by a the piper heading towards a river with children behind him.