101-615: The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series created by Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network . The series began as a student film called Whoopass Stew , made by McCracken while he attended the California Institute of the Arts in 1992. Two additional shorts, "Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins" and "Crime 101", later aired on Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons . The series officially premiered on November 18, 1998, lasting 6 seasons with 78 episodes total. A feature film ,
202-403: A CGI special titled Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed was announced to premiere that year, though it was later delayed to January 20, 2014. Former Beatle Ringo Starr promoted the special on Cartoon Network singing a new original song "I Wish I Was a Powerpuff Girl" with previews leading up to the airdate. Ringo also voiced a new character named Fibonacci Sequins in the episode. The special
303-419: A Kids' Choice Award during its run. The show revolves around the adventures of three kindergarten-aged girls with an array of various superpowers : Blossom (pink), Bubbles (blue), and Buttercup (green). The plot of an episode is usually some humorous variation of standard superhero and tokusatsu shows, with the girls using their powers to defend their town from villains and giant monsters . In addition,
404-548: A feature film , with the final episode airing on March 25, 2005. A total of 78 episodes were produced, in addition to the two pilots, a Christmas special, the film, a tenth anniversary special, and a special episode in computer animation . Various spin-off media include an anime , three CD soundtracks, a home video collection, comic books, a series of video games , a 2016 reboot series , and an upcoming reboot series , as well as various licensed merchandise. The series has been nominated for six Emmy Awards , nine Annie Awards , and
505-637: A "baby". The girls realize that the Professor is tired after preparing for his dissertation tomorrow, so when a burglar new to Townsville tries to rob them, the girls try to stop him without waking up the Professor. The Powerpuff Girls The Powerpuff Girls is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios ) for Cartoon Network . The show centers on Blossom , Bubbles , and Buttercup , three kindergarten -aged girls with superpowers . They live in
606-441: A "girl power" cartoon, and that it became successful among boys and girls for the inclusion of action scenes. Terrence Briggs of Animation World Network noted that, "at the very least, Powerpuff Girls works as an interesting comic deviation from the more sexual presences" of other fictional heroines. TV Guide chose The Powerpuff Girls as No. 13 in a list of the 50 Greatest cartoon characters of all time. IGN ranked
707-544: A Christmas special, and a 10th anniversary special were produced for the series. Episodes of The Powerpuff Girls have seen numerous VHS and DVD releases as well. The musical episode "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey" was never aired in the United States, but was broadcast on YTV in Canada in 2004–2005 as well as in other countries (including Japan), and is included on the complete series DVD box set. Craig McCracken made
808-501: A bible for the show, explaining the essential aspects of the characters. The Powerpuff Girls series debuted on November 18, 1998, and was the highest-rated premiere in Cartoon Network's history at the time. During its run, the series consistently scored the highest rating for an original series each week for the network across a wide range of demographics—from young children to adults. In October 2000, Cartoon Network credited
909-486: A brilliant plan to strip the Powerpuff Girls of their powers. However, the plan eventually fails, and Princess Morbucks and Mojo are sent to jail. A new boy in school creates an imaginary friend named Patches who starts causing trouble, with the boy getting blamed for most of Patches' antics. When the true culprit is discovered, the solution to stop Patches is another imaginary friend from the Powerpuff Girls. On
1010-563: A curse that turns everyone into dogs , including the Powerpuff Girls, but the three sniff out a solution and show Mojo Jojo that their bite is worse than his bark. Vile villain Roach Coach plots to infest Townsville with his army of cockroaches. The girls must fight their fear of bugs in order to squash Roach Coach's scheme and force him to bug off. The heinous Him toys with Bubbles' mind by speaking to her through Octi, her favorite stuffed animal. Following its instruction, Bubbles provokes
1111-481: A fight between her sisters that prompts the Professor to issue a time-out until the girls can make amends and make squid-meat out of the now giant, Him-controlled Octi. Buttercup develops a crush on Ace, the leader of the Ganggreen Gang. However, when the gang exploits her infatuation and lures Blossom and Bubbles into danger, Buttercup quickly comes to her sisters' rescue and shows the boys the real meaning of
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#17328024344611212-649: A four-week promotion featuring The Powerpuff Girls and Dragon Ball Z toys as well as special codes to redeem online for Cartoon Network's Cartoon Orbit . In the United Kingdom the characters of Buttercup and Mojo Jojo were given away in Kellogg's cereal boxes as part of the Cartoon Network Wobble Heads in 2003. From 2000 to 2006, DC published a series of seventy comics based on the television show. Golden Books also published
1313-416: A live-action television series based on The Powerpuff Girls was announced to be in development at The CW . According to Variety , it would depict Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup as "disillusioned twentysomethings" resentful at losing their childhood to fighting crime and faced with the choice of reuniting "when the world needs them more than ever." The project, produced by Warner Bros. Television Studios ,
1414-528: A machine that will sprinkle the world with his sand and put everyone to sleep, leaving it to the Powerpuff Girls to fight the Sandman in his dreams to make him wake up. After being saved from a rushing train by the Girls, Big Billy defects from the Ganggreen Gang and pledges his loyalty to the Girls. Unfortunately, this leads to him getting in the way of their crime fighting. After a big battle, Blossom discovers
1515-402: A more realistic style. However, Cartoon Network executive Mike Lazzo convinced McCracken to stay true to his original vision, and allowed him to produce a second Powerpuff Girls short titled "Crime 101", which aired on What a Cartoon! in early 1996. Veteran ABC announcer Ernie Anderson , who narrated the pilot episodes and died of cancer in 1997, was replaced by Tom Kenny when it became
1616-635: A new line of comics based on various properties, including The Powerpuff Girls . The first issue was released in July 17, 2024. Three CD soundtracks were officially released for the series. The first, titled Heroes & Villains , features original songs about the Powerpuff Girls characters by a number of artists, including the new wave group Devo , Bis , The Apples in Stereo and Frank Black . Mark Mothersbaugh , who originally sought out to be
1717-519: A plan of his own, using the pinata featured at the party. Broccoli aliens land in Townsville with a plan to harvest all the Earth's vegetables, and the only way to beat the broccoli is to eat it. The Girls are able to defeat their most detested side dish with help from other kids in town. The Sandman wants to get some sleep, but can't as long as half the world is awake at any given time, so he builds
1818-524: A possible situation: recruit the former heroes, Captain Righteous, and his sidekick, Lefty, who used to fight against the Ministry of Pain. Unfortunately, these former heroes cannot agree with each other and Blossom's plan backfires when all five men suffer injuries and get taken to the hospital's intensive care unit. When the Professor gets a job offer at a research lab in the town of Citiesville, he and
1919-542: A pre-school show focused on new characters. In 2023, McCracken received the Winsor McCay Award at the Annie Awards ceremony for his "unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation". The Hollywood Reporter also named him one of the most powerful people in kids entertainment, in pair with Lauren Faust. Since his early years of career, McCracken has chosen to design characters in
2020-538: A prequel to the series, tells the story of how the Powerpuff Girls were created, and how Mojo Jojo became a supervillain. The movie received a rating of 63% at review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , as well as some criticism for the violence involved. In all, the movie grossed $ 16 million worldwide with an $ 11 million budget. In April 2005, plans for a Japanese anime series based on the cartoon, Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z , were announced. The series premiered in Japan
2121-458: A rainy day, because there isn't a crime to be found in the city, the Girls make their own crime fighting adventure inside their home using the power of their imagination. The Girls need an extra hand at saving the day and attempt to create a fourth Powerpuff Girl, named "Bunny." However, when they don't quite duplicate the famous ingredients that Powerpuff Girls are made of, Bunny comes out less than expected, releasing villains from jail and fighting
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#17328024344612222-475: A seemingly innocent little cat from the clutches of an evil villain, but when the girls discover it's actually the cat who is evil, they must save the Professor from becoming the "purr-fect" victim. After the Powerpuff Girls lose their baseball in Mojo Jojo's window, it seems to offer the evil villain the perfect opportunity to destroy the pesky superheroes. Unfortunately, he gets more than he bargained for when
2323-488: A serialized format and his return to the superhero genre since The Powerpuff Girls . He pitched 10 projects to Netflix in August 2021, but eventually left by April 2022 due to mass layoffs at Netflix Animation . On July 18, 2022, it was announced that McCracken began developing reboots of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends at Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe . Foster's Home will take form in
2424-458: A series of Powerpuff Girls -themed activity books and storybooks, including one written and illustrated by Craig McCracken, titled Big, Terrible Trouble? . Around 400,000 total units of these books had been sold by 2001. From 2013 to 2017, IDW Publishing published a range of comics based on the series. In 2014, that company published a variant cover which showed aged-up versions of Powerpuff Girls with breasts and dressed in latex . The cover
2525-552: A series of short cartoons featuring a character named No Neck Joe, which were picked up by Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation . While at CalArts, he also created a short entitled Whoopass Stew! , which would later become the basis for The Powerpuff Girls . In 1993, McCracken was hired by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons as an art director on the Turner Broadcasting System series 2 Stupid Dogs , alongside Tartakovsky. As his first job in
2626-414: A series. Following the second short, Cartoon Network picked up The Powerpuff Girls for a regular animated series. McCracken said that the show did not go through a large development process, but he was advised to change the name of the three main characters to Pink, Blue and Green, since the network executives found it hard to differentiate them by Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup. Instead, he put together
2727-476: A short titled "Whoopass Stew! The Whoopass Girls in: A Sticky Situation" as a student at the California Institute of the Arts . Four shorts were intended, though only the first one was finished. The other three were presented on the Complete Series DVD set accompanied by the original storyboards and their original audio. McCracken submitted "A Sticky Situation" to Cartoon Network, and some time later
2828-516: A show with the word "ass" in it, so two of his friends came up with The Powerpuff Girls as a replacement for the original title. His new pilot, " The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumkins ", premiered on February 20, 1995, on Cartoon Network 's World Premiere Toons-In , and a second short, " Crime 101 ", followed on January 28, 1996. The first short to be picked up by the network was Tartakovsky's Dexter's Laboratory , which McCracken would contribute to in early seasons. McCracken's Powerpuff Girls
2929-872: A simplistic way (as opposed to the realism of Warner Bros. or Disney feature films) because it is more practical for television production, as money and time limits what the animators can do. In addition to this, he claimed that the crew at Hanna-Barbera wanted their shows "to be different than what was on Nick and Disney". Some of his main inspirations were comic book artists such as Charles M. Schulz , Bill Watterson and Hergé . All of his series have had diverse influences in terms of design, comedy and storytelling. To mention some: 1960s Batman , Underdog and Rocky and Bullwinkle in The Powerpuff Girls , The Muppet Show and SpongeBob SquarePants in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (which also has
3030-561: A variety of settings in order to reclaim Chemical X and track down Mojo Jojo, who fed the material to all the villains in Townsville. IGN gave the game a positive review while giving the PSone version a 2.0/10 bad review. The Powerpuff Girls: Relish Rampage was released in November 2002. All three girls are playable in a 3D world, and the game received mixed reviews. The Powerpuff Girls: Mojo Jojo A-Go-Go released in 2001 centers around
3131-488: A very snobbish new enemy, intent on destroying them. A comic book geek named Lenny Baxter goes too far to complete his superhero collection when he traps the girls inside his power packages. Now, it's up to the people of Townsville to save the day. While in prison, Mojo Jojo, Princess Morbucks, and the Amoeba Boys all come up with plans to destroy the Girls at their television-covered birthday party. Later on, Him tries
List of The Powerpuff Girls episodes - Misplaced Pages Continue
3232-617: A visual style inspired by 60s psychedelia), Yellow Submarine and Looney Tunes in Wander Over Yonder , and Dennis the Menace and The Adventures of Tintin in Kid Cosmic . During his time at CalArts, he discovered the cartoons of United Productions of America (UPA), which also heavily influenced the visual style of his creations. His shows often present the underdog as the main focus. For example, Kid Cosmic
3333-514: Is about a group of "punk rock" characters who "may not have the skill or the talent, but they have the determination and conviction" to create a superhero team. Foster's also revolves around a group of misfit creatures that have been abandoned by their original owners. Although the Powerpuff Girls are not typical underdogs, the fact that they are little girls might make people underestimate them as superheroes. He also liked to present "the contrast of cute characters being strong and tough". Although
3434-452: Is an American cartoonist, animator, director, writer, and producer known for creating Cartoon Network 's The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends , Disney Channel and Disney XD 's Wander Over Yonder , and Netflix 's Kid Cosmic . Regarded as "one of the most successful creators of episodic comedy cartoons", his style was "at the forefront of a second wave of innovative, creator-driven television animation" in
3535-727: Is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art." As depicted in the opening sequence of each episode, the Powerpuff Girls Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup were created by Professor Utonium in an attempt to create the "perfect little girl" using a mixture of " sugar, spice, and everything nice ". However, he accidentally spilled a mysterious substance called "Chemical X" into the mixture, creating three girls and granting them superpowers, including flight, superhuman strength , superhuman speed, superhuman senses, limited invulnerability, x-ray vision, red heat vision, energy projection, space survivability, and thermal resistance. In
3636-479: Is not much protecting young viewers against the violent undertones. Robert Lloyd of the LA Times said that the series might be " transgressive " based on little violence, but "also cute." In another review, he had called it "perfectly drawn, perfectly written and perfectly voiced." The show began airing at the height of the " Girl power " trend in entertainment media. The Powerpuff Girls were often compared to
3737-427: Is set mainly in the city of Townsville, USA. Townsville is depicted as a major American city, with a cityscape consisting of several major skyscrapers. In his review of The Powerpuff Girls Movie , movie critic Bob Longino of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said, "the intricate drawings emanate 1950s futuristic pizzazz like a David Hockney scenescape," and that the show is "one of the few American creations that
3838-461: Is the toughest fighter. During Craig McCracken's first year in the character animation program of CalArts , he wanted to produce an animated short film based on a wrestler-type character he made named "El Fuego". In June 1991, he drew three girls with large eyes, visually inspired by the paintings of Margaret Keane , on a small sheet of orange construction paper as a birthday card design for his brother. Looking for some "diversity and balance" in
3939-561: Is turned into a monster. An undefeatable monster comes to Townsville, with Blossom (using team tactics) and Buttercup (using direct action) disagreeing on how to defeat the monster. On the other hand, Bubbles uses her "sugar" personality, by asking the monster to leave, which surprisingly ends up working well. A clumsy robber gets away from the girls with a diamond, but ends up losing it in a box of 'Lucky Captain Rabbit King' cereal. It just so happens that Professor Utonium happened to buy
4040-679: The What a Cartoon! shorts, with the first one being animated at Animal House in Japan and the second being animated at Fil Cartoons in the Philippines. James L. Venable , Thomas Chase, & Steve Rucker composed the opening theme of the series, and Scottish band Bis performed the ending theme song, as played during the credits. The opening theme uses a sped-up drum break sample of " Funky Drummer " performed by Clyde Stubblefield . In August 2008, McCracken revealed on his DeviantArt account, as had been announced in that year's Comic Con, that he
4141-425: The rave scene or in record shops. But I had no idea that it would take off to this extent." The cost per each episode was $ 500,000. A theatrical film based on the show, The Powerpuff Girls Movie , was also commissioned that year and was released July 3, 2002. The film received positive reviews from critics but was a commercial failure, earning $ 16 million worldwide against its $ 11 million budget. The production of
List of The Powerpuff Girls episodes - Misplaced Pages Continue
4242-405: The "can of whoopass" was renamed "Chemical X". McCracken's new short, titled "The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins", aired as part the network's World Premiere Toon-In on February 20, 1995. The short was not as popular as Dexter's Laboratory , a project McCracken and former classmate Genndy Tartakovsky (who also directed many episodes of The Powerpuff Girls ) worked on together; being
4343-589: The 1990s, along with that of other animators such as Genndy Tartakovsky , and has been credited as "a staple of American modern animated television". McCracken was born March 31, 1971, in Charleroi, Pennsylvania . He began drawing at an early age. He attended California High School in Whittier, California and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he met his friend and future collaborator, Genndy Tartakovsky . During his first year, he created
4444-660: The 90-minute television special "House of Bloo's" on August 13, 2004, on Cartoon Network. He developed the series with wife Lauren Faust and Mike Moon. The show ran for six seasons, all directed by McCracken, and concluded on May 3, 2009. It also won Emmy and Annie awards. In April 2008, he became executive producer of a new Cartoon Network showcase project called The Cartoonstitute . After 17 years of employment, he resigned from Cartoon Network in 2009, after it shifted focus to live-action and reality shows. He created Wander Over Yonder for Disney Television Animation and Disney Channel in August 2013. After Wander Over Yonder
4545-411: The Girls treat it like a visit to his house, just to cause trouble over a baseball. Craig McCracken directs every episode alongside co-directors. The new girl in school, Princess Morbucks, wants to be a Powerpuff Girl after discovering they have superpowers, one thing she doesn't have. However, when Princess is denied the opportunity to join the Girls because of her spoiled, bratty behavior, they make
4646-523: The Mayor's candy, the Girls learn what the extra sugar has done to them. The Mayor tries to save Townsville after being criticized by the nighttime cleaning staff woman that he just sits there and does nothing. He then causes destruction and the girls have to quickly find him before he inadvertently destroys the city in a hot air balloon. A little leech man sucks information from other people's brains. People find it hard to remember what happened after this, so
4747-502: The Nation that he had little involvement in this version: "I said, well, as long you keep that core foundation the same, feel free to reinterpret or re-imagine it in a way that you feel is going to better play in your marketplace [...] once we did the initial development on it, I kind of gave them my blessing and said, you guys can go off and make this show [...] I was really just there in the initial conception of it." On August 24, 2020,
4848-459: The Professor does some tests and it turns out that her eye vision has gone blurry as she looks in all directions even when talking to someone face to face. As she gets glasses, she gets made fun of by Blossom and Buttercup, who call her things like "dork" and "nerd". Mitch Mitchelson is an evil pet sitter for the class hamster Twiggy. He pretends to be nice to her around the others, but the girls see through Mitch's superficial niceness and soon Twiggy
4949-631: The Year at their 2001 awards ceremony. The array of products was so extensive in 2002 that, according to Janan Sheria of the Dayton Daily News , even people without cable television could recognize the Powerpuff Girls. The franchise made nearly $ 1 billion in retail sales by 2002, according to Cartoon Network. Beginning in 1999, Trendmasters made Powerpuff Girls dolls, playsets, and action figures, aimed primarily at girls ages 6–11. Craig McCracken and Genndy Tartakovsky were initially involved in
5050-402: The aircraft was repainted with a different Powerpuff Girls theme to promote The Powerpuff Girls Movie . The Powerpuff Girls series has won two Primetime Emmys, two Annie Awards, and including those four wins, has been nominated a total of sixteen times for various awards. The Powerpuff Girls Movie was released in the United States on July 3, 2002, by Warner Bros. Pictures . The movie,
5151-416: The animation industry, he was "never really happy with how that [show] worked". While McCracken was at Hanna-Barbera, studio president Fred Seibert began a new project: an animation incubator consisting of 48 new cartoons running approximately seven minutes each. Dubbed What a Cartoon! , it motivated McCracken to further develop his Whoopass Girls! creation. He recalled that the network could not market
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#17328024344615252-438: The art in "Monkey See, Doggy Two". A trio of old villains called the Ministry of Pain return, and the girls intend to fight them, but Blossom mentions that fighting their elders is the wrong way to approach the situation, and they must respect them for their age, leading to the Ministry going on a crime spree where Blossom refuses to let her sisters bring them to justice because of their old age to "respect their elders". She finds
5353-404: The box the diamond is in. The robber disguises himself as the character Lucky Captain Rabbit King, but his 'costumed attempts' meet with failure. The girls get a reward for saving the day: candy, which they quickly grow an addiction to. When nothing happens in Townsville, they convince Mojo Jojo to do crimes so they can get awarded and then the girls will bust him out the next day. When Mojo steals
5454-423: The colors of their eyes with black stripes, as well as white stockings and black Mary Janes . They individually represent body, mind and spirit, and despite being the same age, they adopt the characteristics of the oldest, middle and youngest child. The closing theme song offers a nutshell description of their personalities: Blossom, commander and the leader. Bubbles, she is the joy and the laughter. Buttercup, she
5555-609: The conception of these toys. From August 21 to October 1, 2000, Subway promoted the series with four toys in their kids' meals . A set of six kids' meal toys was available as part of an April 2001 Dairy Queen promotion, which also included a sweepstakes offering the Powerpuff Girls VHS Boogie Frights . Jack in the Box released six Powerpuff Girls toys in July 2002 as a tie-in for The Powerpuff Girls Movie . On February 10, 2003, Burger King began
5656-535: The drawing, he had created a blonde, a redhead, and a brunette. He liked how "cute" they looked and turned them into superheroes, thus replacing the aforementioned wrestler. The following year, the girls starred on McCracken's animated short Whoopass Stew! The Whoopass Girls in: A Sticky Situation . Initially, McCracken wanted to animate all four Whoopass Girls shorts, but only one was produced. McCracken's shorts were selected to be shown at Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation in 1994. While he
5757-498: The fictional city of Townsville with their father and creator, a scientist named Professor Utonium, and are frequently called upon by the city's mayor to help fight nearby criminals and other enemies using their powers. While attending his second year at CalArts in 1992, McCracken created a short film, Whoopass Stew! , about a trio of child superheroes known as the Whoopass Girls, which was only shown at festivals. Following
5858-529: The film also marked the series' switch from traditional cel animation to the digital ink and paint technique. Following the series' fourth season, the closing of Hanna-Barbera Productions and the death of its executive William Hanna in 2001, along with the muted reception to The Powerpuff Girls Movie , McCracken left the series to focus on developing his next animated series for the network, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends , leaving Chris Savino to take his place while production of The Powerpuff Girls
5959-418: The final time. Bubbles' love for animals goes too far. After the Professor finds animals in the closet, she is told to stop bringing these animals home. She now has to keep her newest animal, a baby whale, out of the Professor's eyes, but her chance starts to drown when the whale dries up. For the remainder of the series, Paul Stec serves as art director, although he is uncredited for the first two episodes of
6060-438: The following year with 52 half-hour episodes, airing each Saturday from July 1 to December 23, 2006, and from January 6 to June 30, 2007. Powerpuff Girls Z deviates from the original series in terms of genre and animation style. It features junior high school students Momoko Akatsutsumi (Hyper Blossom), Miyako Gotokuji (Rolling Bubbles), and Kaoru Matsubara (Powered Buttercup) as the three heroes. McCracken told NPR 's Talk of
6161-402: The fourth season of The Powerpuff Girls , in which each Sugababes member portrays a Powerpuff Girl. A crossover parody of The Powerpuff Girls and 2 Broke Girls was done in the second season of Cartoon Network's TV series MAD , known as "2 Broke Powerpuff Girls". The episode, which aired on January 30, 2012, is of Bubbles and Buttercup, who are broke and work for "Him" in a diner after
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#17328024344616262-608: The girls have to deal with the normal issues that young children face, such as sibling rivalries, loose teeth, personal hygiene, going to school, bed wetting , or dependence on a security blanket . Episodes often contain hidden references to older pop culture (especially noticeable in the episode "Meet the Beat Alls", which is a homage to the Beatles ). The cartoon always tries to keep different ideas within each episode with some small tributes and parodies thrown in . The show
6363-484: The girls move there. The girls are quick to offer their help to the city; however, the high degree of property damage that they cause prompts the Mayor of Citiesville to reject the use of super powers. When the girls tell the Professor that they hate living in Citiesville, he reveals that he hates it too and they all agree that they should move back to Townsville. When Bubbles can't take a direct hit at The Giant Ant,
6464-431: The girls then use the Mayor as a defense to give the leech nothing. After the girls do chores around the house, the Professor awards them with a Sacagawea dollar each. Buttercup is so ecstatic that she accidentally knocks out one of Bubbles' teeth. However, her sadness turns to greed when Bubbles receives a dollar from the tooth fairy. Buttercup then proceeds to knock out the teeth of numerous villains, and starts hoarding
6565-450: The girls trick the Mayor into giving back Monster Isle to all the monsters. When the Mayor's toaster is broken, he gives it to the Professor to fix it, and he accidentally discovers the Professor's secret stash of Chemical X. He believes that it is a hair growth formula, but instead, The Chemical X makes the Mayor grow huge and it is up to the Powerpuff Girls to calm him down and return him down to size without constantly telling him that he's
6666-467: The likes of Sailor Moon , Lara Croft , and Buffy the Vampire Slayer , who are also strong and heroic female leads. Craig McCracken argued that he did not create the show to fill a gap in the market encompassed by the "Girl Power" slogan, but that its true vehicle was "good, strong characters" that made for good storytelling. However, he did believe that it gained momentum from being considered
6767-415: The money she receives. As it comes to a head, Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy Lumpkins, Him, the Ganggreen Gang, and countless thugs decide to teach her a lesson by breaking her teeth and using her money savings with the Professor to pay for her dentist bills. This episode is laden with The Beatles references. For the final time, Craig McCracken directs every episode of the season. Don Shank serves as art director for
6868-406: The most popular of the shorts, Dexter's Laboratory was the first to be greenlit by the network. Furthermore, McCracken's cartoon did not do well with a test audience composed by 11-year-old boys; "They were saying, 'This is stupid, little girls can't be heroes'", he recalled in 1999. They also found the girls' designs to be disturbing, which caused McCracken to panic and attempt to redesign them in
6969-437: The name "Whoopass Stew!" was changed to "The Powerpuff Girls". Both shorts are written and directed by Craig McCracken , with Genndy Tartakovsky as animation director, Paul Rudish as art director and Mike Moon as layout designer. Series creator Craig McCracken directs every episode alongside co-directors. Craig Kellman serves as art director of each episode. Mojo Jojo steals a magical Anubis dog head and unleashes
7070-512: The name change to The Powerpuff Girls , McCracken submitted his student film to Cartoon Network, who aired the series' refined pilot, "Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins", in its animation showcase program World Premiere Toons on February 20, 1995, along with its follow-up, "Crime 101", on January 28, 1996. Network executives gave McCracken the greenlight for a full series, which debuted as a Cartoon Cartoon on November 18, 1998. The Powerpuff Girls aired on Cartoon Network for six seasons, three specials, and
7171-614: The name of the Powerpuff Girls' mission to stop Mojo Jojo and his minions. The game received mixed reviews. The Powerpuff Girls: HIM and Seek was released in 2002 where the girls battle their variety of enemies through Townsville while on a scavenger hunt. The game received mostly positive reviews. PC games were also made for the series. These include: The Powerpuff Girls: Mojo Jojo Clone Zone , The Powerpuff Girls: Princess Snorebucks , The Powerpuff Girls: Mojo Jojo's Pet Project , and The Powerpuff Girls: Gamesville . Craig McCracken Craig McCracken (born March 31, 1971)
7272-519: The original concept, the accidental substance was a can of "Whoopass" , which was replaced by "Chemical X" in the television show. The three girls all have abnormally large eyes inspired by Margaret Keane 's art, and stubby arms and legs, and lack of noses, ears, fingers, flat feet, toes, and necks. McCracken preferred them to look more symbolic of actual children rather than going for a "realistic" look, meaning fewer body parts were needed. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup normally wear dresses that match
7373-405: The original show, also expressed a similar sentiment, suggesting that the idea was "strong" and could work if there's "good people attached to it". A pilot was officially ordered on February 9, 2021, and Maggie Kiley was hired as the director. Variety later reported that Chloe Bennet , Dove Cameron and Yana Perrault were cast as Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. On March 30, 2021, following
7474-407: The paste, Elmer turns into a destructive Paste Monster. Buttercup has to get out of a sticky situation by doing something against her tough nature—apologizing. Bubbles is tired of people dismissing her as more sugar than spice, especially the Professor and her sisters, who treat her like a baby. When she sets out to prove she is hardcore, she takes everyone by surprise, even Mojo Jojo. Bubbles saves
7575-437: The perfect (and otherwise impossibly priced) Father's Day gift for the Professor among the rubble, leading to feelings of guilt and suspicion of theft from Bubbles and Buttercup. When Professor gets arrested, Blossom realizes she must confess after failing to convince them that Mojo did the stealing. Princess Morbucks is tired of failing to come up with a good plot to destroy the Powerpuff Girls, so she hires Mojo Jojo to create
7676-444: The pilot would be reworked off-cycle, with the cast and crew remaining on board. The script was later leaked to overwhelmingly negative reviews on social media. Mark Pedowitz , the head of The CW, stated that the script would be largely rewritten. On August 11, Bennet dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. In May 2022, it was said to be in "some stage" of redevelopment. However, on May 18, 2023, The CW announced that
7777-455: The police. The Girls eventually tell her that she is doing everything wrong, and when they subsequently get into more trouble than they can handle, Bunny saves them. Unfortunately, she explodes at the end of the episode due to being unstable. A race home from school finds the Girls breaking the speed of light and traveling to an alternate future, where the day they had traveled to the future meant they mysteriously disappeared from history, leaving
7878-429: The price of making prank calls. There's a new man in town: Major Man, an impossibly perfect superhero who cuts in on the Girls' turf. Unfortunately, Major Man isn't as perfect as he is supposed to be as the girls soon discover, and come up with an idea to make Major Man reveal the fraud that he is in the midst of a monster attack. Buttercup teases paste-eating classmate Elmer. When a fly with atomic chemicals enters into
7979-442: The season. The Professor and Miss Keane go out on a date set up by the girls, though Ms. Keane and Professor get distracted from using the hotline so much that the Mayor cannot reach the girls. When the Mayor finds the deed to Monster Isle, the monsters move to Townsville causing havoc between monsters and humans. The girls try to keep the peace and let everyone in Townsville live in harmony, but when Townsville gets far too crowded,
8080-478: The series 18th in its Top 25 Primetime Animated Series of All Time list in 2006. Delta Express promoted the series by having a Boeing 737-232 jet painted with a special livery featuring the characters Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup on its exterior. The plane's inaugural flight was held at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts , on July 17, 2000. It was approved to serve in 21 airports. In 2002
8181-428: The series for its Friday night prime time ratings win among cable networks. By the end of 2000, merchandising based on the series encompassed a whole variety of products, including T-shirts, toys, video games, lunchboxes, and dishware. Concerning the show's success, Craig McCracken has stated, "I thought it would get on Cartoon Network and college kids would watch it and there would be a few random T-shirts out there in
8282-470: The series had been cancelled by its new majority owners, Nexstar Media Group , and that the rights had been returned to Warner Bros. On July 5, it was reported that the series was no longer in development at Warner Bros. Television. In 2001, Warner Bros. Consumer Products deemed The Powerpuff Girls their flagship brand, given the success of the show's merchandise. The International Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association (LIMA) named it License of
8383-477: The series' composer, produced the album along with Bob Casale , his bandmate of Devo. The album did well, topping the Billboard ' s children's music chart for six weeks. Another album titled The City of Soundsville features electronica-style character themes and also did well with critics. The third album, titled Power Pop , features a more teen-oriented variety of pop songs. This third and final album
8484-412: The show got placed on permanent hiatus . Tara Strong (Bubbles) and Tom Kane ("Him") reprised their roles here. The MAD episode with the parody ranked #26/30 for the week with 1.903 million viewers. Several video games were made for this show all being action in genre. The Powerpuff Girls: Bad Mojo Jojo , released on November 14, 2000, follows Blossom as she tries to beat Mojo Jojo. The game
8585-441: The show's use of adult humor and pop culture references, declaring it "the sort of playful satire that can appeal as much to a viewer of 37 as 7." Joly Herman of Common Sense Media described the show as a "cute, highly stylized series [that] thrills the senses with its strange characters, funny situations, and lots of lowbrow humor". She went on to say, however, that the show does go from innocent to violent in no time and that there
8686-453: The special has few flaws. Den of Geek gave the special a 2.5 out 5 said "The Powerpuff reboot needs those paddles to jump-start it. I want more. But I want better." In a 2000 Entertainment Weekly review, Marc Bernardin complimented the show on its "spot-on pop-culture acumen" and "unparalleled sense of fun", giving it a warm welcome from earlier "lame" superhero cartoons that he grew up with. Peter Marks of The New York Times noted
8787-471: The title change to Powerpuff , Donald Faison was cast in the role of Professor "Drake" Utonium. On April 1, Nicholas Podany was cast as Joseph "Jojo" Mondel Jr., the son of Mojo Jojo. On April 7, production on the pilot began. On April 9, Robyn Lively was cast as Sara Bellum and Tom Kenny was confirmed to be reprising his role as the Narrator from the original series. On May 24, The CW announced that
8888-404: The video game Dance Dance Revolution ) to take over Townsville. Common Sense Media gave the special 3/5 stars citing the "tasteful update of the original animation style" however recommends it for older kids around the age of 7. Geeked Out Nation gave the show a B rank and described it as "...a good special with the return of the characters that many of us grew up [with]", while they said that
8989-464: The word "crush." Bubbles must face her fear of the Boogie Man after he blocks out the sun and allow his monster friends to party all the time. The Ganggreen Gang gets hold of the Mayor's hotline to the Powerpuff Girls and makes prank calls , sending the Girls on a wild goose chase all over town. However, when it's the notorious villains Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy, and Him that the gang disturbs, they learn
9090-575: The world for 50 years with their absence, as well as everything and everyone in the clutches of their most evil enemy—Him. Ms. Bellum begins using her feminine wiles to coax the Mayor into giving her time off, but it turns out she wants to commit crimes. When something seems amiss, the Powerpuff Girls investigate and find out that "Ms. Bellum" is actually the villainess Sedusa in disguise. As with previous seasons, Craig McCracken directs every episode with different co-directors. Don Shank serves as art director of every episode, with Craig Kellman co-directing
9191-403: Was being written by Heather Regnier and Diablo Cody , who were also serving as executive producers with Greg Berlanti , Sarah Schechter and David Madden. Craig McCracken was not involved; however, he declared his liking of Berlanti's superhero shows and admitted he was "curious" to see what they would do with their adaptation. Genndy Tartakovsky , who directed and produced several episodes of
9292-603: Was called "simple and boring" by GameSpot and was a failure critically. The Powerpuff Girls: Paint the Townsville Green , another game released in November 2000, follows Buttercup as she fights crime. The Powerpuff Girls: Battle HIM follows Bubbles in her fight against HIM and was released in February 2001. The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-traction was released in October 2001, where the girls battle enemies in
9393-424: Was cancelled, McCracken pitched a new show to Disney, based on his 2009 comic strip The Kid from Planet Earth . Disney ultimately passed on the project, and he eventually left the company in 2017. He then pitched his idea to Netflix and it was greenlight under the name of Kid Cosmic . The show premiered on February 2, 2021, and ended on February 3, 2022. It is the first of McCracken's original works to have
9494-523: Was considered a "big disappointment" and was not received as well as the previous albums. The British girl group Sugababes also released a song called " Angels with Dirty Faces " to promote The Powerpuff Girls Movie . The song received generally positive reviews from critics and peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart . The music video hearkens to " Nano of the North ", an episode from
9595-415: Was designed by an artist working for Cartoon Network who was "thinking of it more along the lines of 'female empowerment' than the kind of thing you guys are talking about". Cartoon Network said in a statement: "We recognise some fans' reaction to the cover and, as such, will no longer be releasing it at comic book shops." On October 12, 2023, Dynamite announced a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to create
9696-519: Was directed by Dave Smith, who directed episodes for the series in the past, and featured the original cast members reprising their roles. This Powerpuff Girls special marked the first time that series creator Craig McCracken had no input. The episode's plot has Mojo Jojo kidnap Fibonacci along with an opera singer and a badger. The girls rescue all of them, and the Powerpuff Girls defeat Mojo yet again. Not deterred, he then goes on to invent an evil video game called "Dance Pants R-EVILution" (a parody of
9797-409: Was meant to be the final episode of the series, but Cartoon Network was against giving their series a definitive ending at the time. Unlike all the previous episodes, the special was animated using Adobe Flash at Cartoon Network Studios. It also provides a glimpse of Sara Bellum's face as an easter egg , which at the time could be captured with a TiVo digital video recorder. On January 28, 2013,
9898-462: Was moved to Cartoon Network Studios . The show's last original run episode was on March 25, 2005; in all, six seasons were made. Cartoon Network had offered to give McCracken and Savino a seventh season of the series, but they believed six was enough, and that the series had run its course. All of the original episodes were hand-drawn and produced at the Korean studio Rough Draft Studios , except
9999-495: Was the fourth cartoon to be greenlit a full series, which premiered on November 18, 1998, with the final episode airing on March 25, 2005. The show has won Emmy and Annie awards. In 2002, McCracken directed The Powerpuff Girls Movie , a prequel to his series. The film received generally positive reviews but was a box office failure. McCracken left The Powerpuff Girls after four seasons, focusing on his next project, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends . It premiered with
10100-453: Was working on 2 Stupid Dogs in 1992, McCracken's Whoopass Girls short was picked up for a series by Cartoon Network. The name Whoopass was dropped for inclusion as part of the What a Cartoon! animated shorts showcase. McCracken explained that Cartoon Network executives believed no one would make a children's show with the word "ass" in it, so the title changed to The Powerpuff Girls and
10201-574: Was working with Cartoon Network on a new half-hour The Powerpuff Girls special to celebrate the series' tenth anniversary. Titled "The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!", it aired on the Pan-Euro Cartoon Network on November 29, 2008, during the Powerpuff Girls Birthday Marathon, and in the United States on January 19, 2009, as part of its 10th anniversary marathon. Originally an idea for season 4, the special
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