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'''''The Powerpuff Girls''''' is an [[United States|American]] [[animated television series]]<!--Is this sentence needed?: ...series]] about three little girls born with [[superpower]]s who have dedicated their lives to fighting crime and the forces of evil. The series was--> created by [[animator]] [[Craig McCracken]], and produced by [[Hanna-Barbera]] until [[2001]] when [[Cartoon Network Studios]] took over production for [[Cartoon Network]].
'''''The Powerpuff Girls''''' is an [[United States|American]] [[animated television series]bout three little girls born with [[superpower]]s who have dedicated their lives to fighting crime and the forces of evil. The series was--> created by [[animator]] [[Craig McCracken]], and produced by [[Hanna-Barbera]] until [[2001]] when [[Cartoon Network Studios]] took over production for [[Cartoon Network]].


The animation director is [[Genndy Tartakovsky]], of ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'' and ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' fame. He has also directed many of the shows themselves.
The animation director is [[Genndy Tartakovsky]], of ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'' and ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' fame. He has also directed many of the shows themselves.

Revision as of 09:06, 4 February 2007

The Powerpuff Girls
Left to right: Blossom, Bubbles, Professor Utonium and Buttercup
Created byCraig McCracken
StarringCathy Cavadini
Tara Strong
E.G. Daily
Tom Kane
Tom Kenny
Roger L. Jackson
Jennifer Hale
Jennifer Martin
Jim Cummings
Jeff Bennett
Kath Soucie
Narrated byTom Kenny
Country of origin United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes78 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time30 minutes (usually 15 minutes per episode)
Original release
NetworkCartoon Network
ReleaseNovember 18, 1998 –
March 25, 2005

The Powerpuff Girls is an American [[animated television series]bout three little girls born with superpowers who have dedicated their lives to fighting crime and the forces of evil. The series was--> created by animator Craig McCracken, and produced by Hanna-Barbera until 2001 when Cartoon Network Studios took over production for Cartoon Network.

The animation director is Genndy Tartakovsky, of Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack fame. He has also directed many of the shows themselves.

The series is a spoof on American superheroes as well as Japanese Tokusatsu heroes like Super Sentai.

The end credits theme tune is performed by Scottish band Bis.

Overview

History

Originally the Whoopass Girls (with the intention of having a gag where the "ass" part of the name would always sound as a bleep censor), the Powerpuff Girls were created by CalArts student Craig McCracken in 1992 in his short film The Whoopass Girls in A Sticky Situation. The short was selected for Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation in 1994; McCracken submitted it to Cartoon Network while working on Dexter's Laboratory.[1] As Cartoon Network couldn't keep the offending name, the girls were renamed the Powerpuff Girls. Their first appearance on Cartoon Network was the short The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumkins as part of World Premiere Toons.

Current status

As of March 2006, The Powerpuff Girls continues to play on Cartoon Network as part of the Cartoon Cartoon show. Episodes also still air in Britain in the Cartoon Cartoons hour on the channel, as well as in half-hour compilations on the UK-only Cartoon Network TOO, and new stories featuring the Girls are printed regularly in Cartoon Network Block Party.

An anime adaptation of this series, Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z, began airing in Japan on July 1, 2006. As of this writing, Cartoon Network has no plans to release the anime in the United States.

Opening sequence

Opening narration reveals that the girls were made by Professor Utonium out of sugar, spice and everything nice plus the accidental addition of 'Chemical X'. The opening of the program pays homage to the animated beginning of 1960s Batman live-action television series, as both shows feature a pan across a gallery of villains, with the animated heroes running toward the viewer while striking the villains, who are tossed away in slow motion. The show also shares the grandiose narration style of the Batman series.

Characters

The Powerpuff Girls

They live in the fictional city of Townsville (not to be confused with Townsville in Queensland, Australia). The girls are drawn with physical traits that make them "super-cute". They have large eyes, and, although they are able to hear, smell, and hold, their bodies are drawn without noses, ears, fingers, or toes. The girls are very aware of that, and it is shown that they cannot use their fingers, and instead, their fingerless hands can pick things up at will.

They also have many superpowers like those possessed by Superman, including:

  • Super-strength
  • Flight
  • Super-speed
  • X-ray vision
  • Ability to project a variety of energy blasts
  • Limited invulnerability

In some cases, they utilize special team maneuvers to take down their foes. These Include:

  • Ferocious Fiery Feline (the girls combine to create a cat of pure fire)
  • A triple attack from side to side and front
  • Creating after-image doubles (who can also fight)
  • Morphing into a ball to save people or strike them out
  • A twister with devastating after-effects

All of girls' names start with the letter "B" and have a double consonant within their name.

File:Bombon.JPG
Blossom
  • Blossom (voiced by Cathy Cavadini): Has long red hair, pink eyes, and dressed in pink. The ending theme refers to her as "commander and the leader", and she is the most mature, level-headed and composed member of the group, holding the group together, although she can also be fussy, overbearing and too analytical. At times, she can become incredibly self-righteous and arrogant as well, though these moments are few and far between. One episode also showed a darker side to Blossom, when she resorted to stealing. Her special superpower is Ice Breath as revealed in the episode "Ice Sore", though in the same episode she has been known to breathe fire (so has Bubbles). Blossom is also studying Conversational Chinese, as seen in the episodes The Bare Facts, and Cover Up.
File:Burbuja.JPG
Bubbles
  • Bubbles (Voiced by Tara Strong in the series and Kath Soucie in the What-a-Cartoon!): Has blonde hair in pigtails, blue eyes, and dressed in blue. The ending theme refers to her as "the joy and the laughter", meaning that she acts as the baby of the group (despite being the same age) and is defined by innocence, playfulness and gentle demeanour. She does, however, have a tendency to be naive, submissive and overemotional, leading to her often being (unfairly) regarded, by friends and foes alike, as the group's weak link. However, she can become very independent and aggressive when pushed. Her special superpower is that she can speak many languages, including Spanish (speaking) and Japanese (both reading and speaking), and communicate with animals, such as cats and most notably squirrels (as revealed in the episode "Fuzzy Logic" and again in "Stray Bullet"). She also has the Sonic Scream (although later other girls seem to be able to use it too).
File:Bellota.JPG
Buttercup
  • Buttercup (voiced by E.G. Daily): Has short black hair, green eyes, and dressed in green. Referred to in the ending theme as "the toughest fighter", she is the group's tomboy. Sometimes her aggression gets the better of her, making her reckless, stubborn and too aggressive. She can be said to possess a mean, vindictive streak not shared by her sisters. She also showed a selfish side in the episode "Moral Decay," to which she knocks out everyone's teeth for money. In the episode "Nuthin' Special", her special superpower is the ability to roll her tongue (Blossom and Bubbles cannot do this, and nor can anyone else in Townsville. The narrator claims he can, but we cannot see him, and we cannot be sure if Miss Bellum can — the Mayor claims she can't).

In the episode "Twisted Sister", there was a fourth Powerpuff Girl named Bunny (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh), who had brown hair in a ponytail, purple eyes, and dressed in purple. When the three original girls couldn't handle all their crime-fighting activities any more, they decided to create a new Powerpuff Girl themselves, but she didn't turn out exactly as planned. Instead of following the recipe for a perfect little girl properly, the girls instead used imitation items of all the recipes: articifial sweetener instead of sugar, twigs and leaves instead of spice, and everything the girls enjoyed as "everything nice". Bunny appears to be mentally disabled, and is also rather deformed. She was also extremely naive; she thought that having a gun made a person a criminal, and when she confronted two cops taking in a couple of crooks and brandishing guns, she threw the cops into jail, and started to release criminals, thinking they were good. When all the criminals in town attacked the girls, Bunny redeemed herself and beat every criminal soundly. She was an unstable composition and exploded during the same episode she was created, leaving behind a piece of her outfit. She could be considered the Bizarro of the group, as both are not villains, just those who mean well and mess up as a result. Like the Powerpuff Girls, her name starts with the letter "B" and has a double consonant in the middle (nn).

Supporting characters

Supporting characters include:

File:Profesor Utonium.JPG
Professor Utonium
  • Professor Utonium (voiced by Tom Kane): A scientist who creates the Powerpuff Girls. The Professor is very "square" and old-fashioned, and he is unlucky in love (which perhaps explains why he created the girls through science, rather than by marriage). He is fiercely protective of the girls, sometimes to a fault. He is a very affectionate and supportive father whose pep talks often bring the girls around when they are discouraged.
File:Sra Keane.JPG
Ms Keane
  • Ms. Keane (voiced by Kath Soucie in the "What-A-Cartoon" episodes and by Jennifer Hale in the series): Kindergarten-Teacher of Pokey Oaks. Her first name has never been mentioned. She is patient, understanding and very protective of her students, making her a well-liked, motherly figure. Her name is a tribute to Margaret Keane, an artist whose paintings feature children with huge eyes. She may also represent a nod to cartoonist Bil Keane, creator of The Family Circus, as she closely resembles that cartoon's character Mommy (Thel), with dark hair and flip hairdo. In several episodes, her innate motherly instincts come into play when she is teaching her surrogate children in class, particularly when weaker kids (like Elmer Sglue in "Paste Makes Waste") get picked on and bullied by the other children. She even fell in love with the Professor and went on a date with him.
File:El Alcalde de Saltadilla.JPG
The Mayor
  • Mayor of Townsville (voiced by Tom Kenny): An empty-headed mayor who is referred throughout only as "Mayor". He is very fond of pickles, and his little hat. He is almost infantile in his stupidity, and without the Powerpuff Girls, Townsville would have been destroyed long ago. The Mayor is married (to a woman who is shown in pictures looking a lot like he does), although apparently their marriage is a troubled one and he rarely mentions her. In the episode "Powerpuff Bluff", he is willing to trade his wife in exchange for a "priceless, very rare, one-of-a-kind" porcelain poodle; though this could be a way for him to show his love for her. In the episode, Pee Pee G's, he shows Bubbles that he wears a diaper underneath his pants.

    The original short featured a different Mayor, who had a voice like that of Paul Lynde.[citation needed]

File:Sra. Sara Bellum.JPG
Ms. Bellum
  • Ms. Sara Bellum (voiced by Jennifer Martin): Mayor's very competent assistant, a statuesque redhead. She handles things the Mayor cannot, which is practically everything. She has never revealed her face onscreen. Whenever she appears, an object would either block her face or the camera would "cut off" everything above her neck. Whenever she is the center of attention (as when Blossom took over her body or when she fought Sedusa) her hair often covers her face. Other onscreen characters often claim that she is very beautiful, with the exception of the abrasive Talking Dog. She is named after the cerebellum, probably in reference to her job as the "brains" of the mayor's operation.
  • Narrator (voiced by Tom Kenny): The series' enthusiastic but unseen narrator, known for opening nearly every episode with "The city of Townsville!" and ending them with "So once again, the day is saved, thanks to...The Powerpuff Girls!" (except in a few episodes where someone else or another form of the girls gets credit). He will often comment on the proceedings of the episode, and frequently breaks the fourth wall. He is never seen at any point in the series. He also seems to be the only connection between the audience and the girls, as he can "talk" to both. His name is also apparently "Narrator".
  • The Talking Dog (Voiced by Tom Kane): He mostly appears as a background character, but always has something to say. In the episode "Shut the Pup Up", he was taken in by the Girls when he became the sole witness to a mystery crime. When he stays with the girls he is shown to be blunt, abrasive and insulting.
  • Mitchel "Mitch" Mitchelson: The bully at Pokey Oaks Kindergarten. Usually talks in a gruff voice; he torments the kids in the class in a few episodes, though he is not a major threat. His laugh is almost the same as Popeye. Buttercup has a crush on him the same way she has a crush on the bad boy Ace.

Minor alies

  • The Steamypuff Girls: The past/western versions of the Powerpuff Girls appear only in the episode "West In Pieces", who have huge steamers on their backs that also represent their "powers." They need coal to keep running.
  • Captain Righteous and Lefty: they only appeared in the episode "Fallen Arches". Before the Powerpuffs were on the scene they were protectors of Townsville, but now they are retired and living at the Pokey Folks retirement home in Townsville. Captain Righteous is a parody of Captain Marvel and he is similar to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in SpongeBob SquarePants as they live in a retirement home. Lefty is a parody of superheroes' sidekicks, most notably Robin.
  • Bullet the Squirrel: A small squirrel who possesses much of the same powers as the Powerpuff Girls in the episode "Stray Bullet". The Powerpuffs first meet Bullet when they find him injured on the ground and take him home. During the night, Bubbles feeds the squirrel a few drops of Chemical X in hopes that it will help him heal faster, which soon leads to Bullet developing his powers. Bullet spends some time with the girls as a pet and ally, but eventually returns to the wild out of homesickness. Bullet currently resides in the forests outside Townsville, where he protects the animal community, but he returns to help the Powerpuff Girls from time to time. Like the Powerpuff Girls, its name start with the letter "B" and has a double letter(ll)

Enemies

Major recurring villains

File:Mojo jojo.jpg
Mojo JoJo
  • Mojo Jojo (voiced by Roger L. Jackson): A mad scientist chimp with vast intelligence, notable for his cod-Japanese accent and his overly convoluted manner of speaking. He has been known to go completely berserk and rage like a ravenous chimp. It is revealed in the episode "Mr.Mojo's Rising", and again in The Powerpuff Girls Movie, that Mojo Jojo had been Professor Utonium's pet (called Jojo) before Professor Utonium created the Powerpuff Girls — and it was he who caused Chemical-X to be spilled into the mixture that produced the Powerpuff Girls. He is the Powerpuff Girls' most frequent villain. Mojo Jojo also seems to look similar to Piccolo from the anime Dragon Ball Z.
File:Peludito.JPG
Fuzzy Lumpkins
  • Fuzzy Lumpkins (voiced by Jim Cummings): A large, husky, furry pink hillbilly monster who loves his hunting gun (or "boomstick") and his banjo (nicknamed "Joe"), and who will shoot anything he finds "on his property." He is well-known for his insane anger and immense physical strength. It is unknown what species Fuzzy actually is, though in the episode "Shotgun Wedding" the Professor speculates that he is the missing link between humans and apes. The same episode shows a tribe of "Fuzzies" who look much like him. In the first season episode "Impeach Fuzz" we see Fuzzy's three nephews, the same age as the Girls, named Furry, Fluffy, and Hairy.

    In the original short, he has a ray gun that turns things into meat (and chicken, in the case of one of Bubbles' pigtails). The Girls use his ray gun against him, and he is turned into a hamburger patty (which was then cooked by the mayor).

File:Elppgp.jpg
Him
  • Him (Voiced by Tom Kane): A mysterious, super powerful, red-skinned, and effeminate devil creature with crab-like hands. It's implied that he may be Satan, but he is so evil that his real name "can never be said." similiar to Voldemort from Harry Potter. He is the ultimate embodiment of pure evil. He often disguises himself or creates psychological events or catastrophes which he uses as an attempt to cause the Powerpuff Girls to break mentally. When forced to fight, he is a force to be reckoned with, as he heralds doom in every direction (as seen in the episode "Speed Demon"). He has shown numerous satanic forms, most of which are revealed in hell or apocalyptic situations or realms. His voice and character were inspired by the Chief of the Blue Meanies in Yellow Submarine. Him is undoubtedly the most powerful villain of all, as others villains envy him and it was Him who, in an alternate future without the Powerpuff Girls, controlled Townsville (again, in the episode "Speed Demon"). The scene in the episode "Tough Love" that depicts Him hovering above Townsville sowing the seeds of hatred in the minds of the citizens is probably a parody or a tribute to the scene in FW Murnau's 1926 adaptation of Faust which depicts Mephistopheles hovering above the sleeping town sowing the seeds of plague.
File:La Banda Gangrena.JPG
The Gangreen Gang to left to right Ace, Li'l Arturo, Big Billy, Grubber and Snake
  • The Gangreen Gang: A gang of hoodlums that are green-skinned and unhealthy looking (as if suffering from gangrene). They have the personality of juvenile delinquents and have been known to form a good strategem or two.
    • Ace (voiced by Jeff Bennett): The Gang's leader, Ace is a mean-spirited, bullying, opportunistic rogue. Being the Gang's smartest member, he is the instigator of most of their antisocial activities, and he does possess a certain charismatic charm that allows him to sweet-talk people who ought to know better, including Buttercup in the episode "Buttercrush".
    • Snake (voiced by Tom Kenny): As his name suggests, Snake is a slippery character, with a forked tongue and hissing voice. He seems to be the Gang's second-in-command, but mostly this simply means that Snake acts as a snivelling yes-man to Ace, who will usually punch Snake in the face if he speaks out of turn.
    • Grubber (voiced by Jeff Bennett): Grubber is the Gang's most physically grotesque member, with untidy hair, grubby clothes and protruding eyes. He also appears to be mostly mute, communicating instead through raspy sounds. He does, however, occasionally demonstrate unexpected talents, such as playing the violin, speaking eloquently or performing perfect impersonations.
    • Big Billy (voiced by Jeff Bennett): A hulking colossus who acts as the Gang's muscle. His intelligence level is extremely low, which makes him a useful lackey at some points and less so at others. Though he does at times display a childlike innocence, he mostly just does the bidding of his more savvy and vindictive friends. In an episode called "School House Rocked", he is revealed to be a Cyclops. His name is a takeoff on Big Bill, a nickname applied to American President William Howard Taft.
    • Li'l Arturo (voiced by Tom Kenny and by Carlos Alazraqui in two episodes[episode needed]): A malevolent, little midget with a Hispanic accent, Li'l Arturo seems to take the most amusement from the Gang's activities. His diminutive stature is both an advantage and disadvantage, as he can fit into small spaces, but is often thrown, by friends and foes alike.
File:RRB oldlook.jpg
The Rowdyruff Boys in their first look
  • The Rowdyruff Boys: Evil male counterparts of the Powerpuff Girls created by Mojo Jojo from snips, snails and a puppy dog tails (based on the Nursery rhyme entitled "What are Little Boys Made of?" ) in a prison toilet. They have bully-like personalities and are very violent. Although the Girls destroyed them in their first appearance (the episode "Rowdy Ruff Boys"), the Boys were later resurrected by Him in the episode "The Boys Are Back in Town". Each boy can be seen as an evil variation on their female counterpart;
    • Brick, Blossom's equivalent, is the abrasive, bullying leader.
    • Boomer, Bubbles's equivalent, is a loudmouthed dimwit.
    • Butch, Buttercup's equivalent, is a hyper-aggressive borderline psychotic.
File:La Banda Ameba.JPG
The Amoeba Boys
  • The Amoeba Boys (voiced by Chuck McCann): The pack of amoebae who first appeared in the World Premiere Toons "Crime 101" (where the Girls teach them to do proper crimes), the Amoeba Boys (leader Bossman, lanky Skinny Slim, and dimnuitive Tiny aka Jr.), with their gangster-ish affectations, are aspiring criminals who would love nothing more than to be regarded as serious villains, but whose brains are too primitive to devise a crime above the level of littering or jaywalking; indeed, they considered stealing a discarded orange to be their greatest crime ever (in the episode "Divide and Conquer"). They are generally harmless, but their actions have on several occasions endangered both the Girls and the town purely by accident.
File:Sedusappg.jpg
Sedusa
  • Sedusa (voiced by Jennifer Hale): A mistress of disguise who uses her feminine wiles to influence people to do her bidding. When her identity is revealed, she often fights with her whip-like hair which she can control. In one episode, she had the ability to whip off globs of uber-sticky hair gel adhering people to walls. Her name is a combination of seduce, which she does quite often, and Medusa. Her appearance was based on The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, especially the original version before Margaret Hamilton's version.
File:PrincessMorebucks.jpg
Princess Morbucks
  • Princess Morbucks (voiced by Jennifer Hale): Princess is a spoiled, insecure little rich girl, whose unseen "daddy" allows her to finance various evil plots to destroy the Powerpuff Girls. Her hatred of the Girls stems from her rebuffed attempt to become one of them. Her name is a play on Daddy Warbucks from Annie.

The girls frequently combat a wide assortment of giant monsters, all of which seem to visit Earth solely for the purpose of demolishing Townsville. In the episode "Super Zeroes", a giant monster explains to the girls that going to Townsville and encountering the Powerpuff Girls is a symbol of honor on Monster Isle, whose very name is a reference to Monster Island in the Godzilla series. Ironically, in the episode "Three Girls and a Monster" they fought a giant monster that had powers and body structure very similar to Godzilla. It is the only monster they can beat with diplomacy, as demonstrated by Bubbles when she nicely asks the monster to leave — and he complies. This monster is literally invulnerable to any attack they throw at it.

Guest enemies

One-time villain appearances include:

  • Femme Fatale (voiced by Grey DeLisle): A petty criminal who hates men, especially on dollar bills and coins. She prefers to steal Susan B. Anthony coins. However, she has no idea who Susan B. Anthony really is; she uses the feminist issue merely as a tool for furthering her own ends. She also seemed to like the Girls, thinking that the city belittled their talents, and had told them that female superheroes aren't nearly as appreciated as male superheroes. Appears in the episode "Equal Fights."
  • The Cat (Voiced by Mark Hamill): In the episode "Cat Man Do", the girls defeat a villain who carries a white longhair cat (a parody of Ernst Stavro Blofeld). Being little girls, they keep the cat. It is revealed that the cat had hypnotized his master into doing his evil deeds, and later does the same to Professor Utonium . He is left stuck in a tree after the girls rescue the Professor and defeat the cat.
  • Abracadaver: Once a successful stage illusionist named Al Lusion, Abracadaver is a zombie magician who tried to wreak revenge on Townsville after dying in an Iron Maiden. He hypnotized Blossom, making her believe that she was a reincarnation of the little girl that led him to his death. He tries to throw Blossom in the same Iron Maiden, but he is instead thrown back in the Iron Maiden by Blossom's trick. Appears in the episode "Abracadaver".
  • Roach Coach (voiced by Roger L. Jackson): A disgusting old man who commands an army of roaches that the Powerpuff Girls hate so much. Is actually a cockroach himself, commandeering a robotic body. Appears in the episode "Insect Inside".
  • The Broccoloids: Alien invaders who resemble broccoli.They sought to control Townsville through mind control spores in vegetables. The Powerpuff Girls, along with the children of Townsville, defeated the Broccoloids by eating them up. Appear in the episode "Beat Your Greens".
  • The Dooks of Doom: A trio of troublemaking biker characters who speaks in complete jibberish. Appear in the episode "Girls Gone Mild".
  • Major Man (voiced by Jeff Bennett): An archetypical superhero who came to Townsville trying to take the Girls' place as town heroes. However, it was discovered he was nothing but a big fraud — he set up his own crimes, and the Girls made him leave Townsville. Appears in the episode "Major Competition".
  • The Boogie Man (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson): A legendary monster who tried to block out the sun with a giant disco ball so all the monsters could party on Earth forever. He rides in a white limo that changes into a spaceship when he chases the Powerpuff Girls into space. Bubbles destroys the ball with her laser vision, and Blossom and Buttercup send Boogie Mans ship spinning out of control. Appears in the episode "Boogie Frights".
  • The Giant Fishballoon: A giant fish monster representing Godzilla. Appears together with a small blowfish friend in the episode "Uh Oh Dynamo".
  • Mr. Mime: Not to be confused with Mr. Mime, of Pokémon. Formerly a happy-go-lucky clown named Rainbow until a truck of bleach hit him, transforming him into an evil mime bent on making the world silent and without color. He returned to normal and good again at the end of the episode but is beaten up by the girls and thrown in jail anyway. Appears in the episode "Mime For a Change" and return as the good old Rainbow the Clown in the episode "Birthday Bash". Since then he is been seen as a background character.
  • Lou Gubrious: Villain from the episode "Frownsville"; Inventor of the "Miseray", his name is a homophone of the word "lugubrious", which means mournful.
  • The Ministry of Pain: A trio of evildoers from the old days who were beaten by Captain Righteous and his sidekick Lefty. The incident left them in intensive care. Appear in the episode "Fallen Arches".
    • Mastermind: the leader
    • Counterpart: the muscleman
    • Cohort: the short but deadly man
  • The Smiths: The Girls' apparently dull and ordinary but covertly bitter and evil next-door neighbors. First they appear in the episode Supper Villain. Average Harold was so incensed by the perfection of the Professor and the Girls that he became an inept super-villain hoping to defeat them. When his wife, Marianne, invited the Girls and Utonium over for dinner, Harold took the opportunity to try to destroy them, but all he really did was cause a ruckus and ruin the meal. Upon his release from jail in the episode Just Desserts, Harold's family joined him as a team of equally inept super-villains (albeit with better costumes), as Marianne's payback for their ruined dinner. They were sent to jail in Just Desserts for ruining The Powerpuff Girls' Home. When the Smiths' house becomes vacant, the Snyder family (which includes a girl named Robin) from Super Friends moves into that house.
    • Harold (voiced by Jeff Bennett): An average suburban factory worker, whose ineffectual and timid exterior hides a secret passion for evil.
    • Marianne (voiced by Kath Soucie): Harold's very tanned wife, whose excessive perkiness barely disguises a vicious, shrewish side.
    • Julie (voiced by Kath Soucie): A simple-minded little girl whose life revolves around playing jacks.
    • Bud (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh): A sullen, green-haired, angsty teen with braces, who hates evrything, especially his boring dad.
  • Mask Scara: A crazy woman who wears purple spandex and far too much make-up with grayish frazzled hair and uses make-up based weapons. Formerly known as fashion mogul Madame M whose cosmetics empire made a fortune in makeup sales, until it began to lose business and went bankrupt. Her name is a pun on "mascara" and the Portuguese word for mask. Appears in the episode "A Made Up Story".
  • Bernie Bernstein: A criminal posing as a film director who tries to fool everyone in Townsville that he is filming a movie starring the Powerpuff Girls, so he can steal money from the Bank while shooting a robbery scene. Appears in the episode "Film Flam".
  • Donnie: A criminal posing as Bernie's assistant director. Bears a cartoon resemblance to one of the show's animators, Don Shank, who provides the voice for 'Donnie'. Appears in the episode "Film Flam" with Bernie.
  • Dick Hardly: Professor Utonium's former roommate in high school, and always takes advantage of Utonium and comes up with get-rich-quick schemes. He tricked the Powerpuff Girls into giving him Chemical X, and created the Powerpuff Girlz Xtreme, commercialized, mass-produced versions of the Powerpuff Girls. He accidentally drank Chemical X, turning into a monster, and was destroyed. Coincidentally, his name can be taken as a rather explicit innuendo if reversed (or most likely a parody of Dirk Gently, Douglas Adam's character from Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency). He bares a slight resemblance to Dexter's father from Dexter's Laboratory, this is not surprising as he is voiced by Jeff Bennett. Appears in the episode "Knock It Off".
  • Lenny Baxter: A Powerpuff Girls memorabillia collector who looks and acts like a stereotypical otaku. He can accomplish what other supervillains cannot do — catching and sealing the Powerpuff Girls off in boxes. Appears in the episode "Collect Her".
  • Officer Mike Brikowski: A fat, lazy police officer who, when fired, blames the Girls because they were "taking away the work of good cops". Ends up arrested and jailed. Loves and can't get enough doughnuts. Appears in the episode "Cop Out".
  • The Salami Swami: An Indian villain with turban who rides on a magic carpet and use his magic flute to control salamis, snake charmer style. Was mentioned in the pilot episode "Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins", and appears in the episode "Slave the Day" in a very minor role — getting beaten up by Big Billy.
  • Robber Dude: An inept and somewhat lucky jewel thief who accidentally hid a priceless diamond in a box of Lucky Captain Rabbit King Nuggets, the girls' favorite cereal. Once he recovered the diamond, the girls sent him to jail. Appears in the episode "Jewel of the Aisle".
  • Steve the Monster: He is actually the PPG's friend and helped them rid of Major Man. Appears in the episodes "Super Zeroes" and "Major Competition".
  • K.A.R.R. (voiced by Tom Kenny): A car with artificial intelligence and loads of hi-tech functions, probably a tribute to Knight Rider, where another K.I.T.T.-like car named K.A.R.R. appears twice. Appears in the episode "Coupe D'Etat".
  • Powerpuff Bluffs (Prisoners 253, 002 and 017): Three criminals that disguised themselves as the Powerpuff Girls to escape from prison. They first tried to rob the bank and a jewelry store and take the mayor and Ms. Bellum captive, but all 3 crimes were prevented by the Powerpuff Girls, so they used the Powerpuff Girls disguises to commit crimes without anyone realizing who they really are. They commit various crimes, and everyone in Townsville actually believes they are the Powerpuff Girls, but Ms. Bellum managed to recognize them, because these guys called her "Sweet Cheeks". Jeff Bennett voices the Powerpuff Bluffs. Appear in the episode "Powerpuff Bluff".
  • The Gnome (voiced by Jess Harnell, though the part was allegedly intended for Jack Black): An unnamed gnome who is sent by the elder spirits of the Earth to answer the Powerpuff Girls' wish for peace, in exchange for their powers. However, he then turns the entire city of Townsville into his followers, taking away their freedom. He is defeated by the Powerpuff Girls, who got their powers back since the Gnome went back on his deal by allowing his own evil into the world. Appears in the musical episode "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey".
  • The Sandman: The sandman, tired of never being able to sleep, puts the entire world to an eternal, deep and peaceful sleep so he can get some well-deserved rest himself. He fills a machine he created to do just that. When the Powerpuff Girls are affected by his sleeping spell, they learn they can control what happens in the dream world. They do this to go into the sandman's dreams to give him such a horrible nightmare that he swears to never sleep again. All of the characters' lines in this episode were in rhyme form. The sandman resembles a short purple man in a nightgown and nightcap, with a beard and yellow, tired eyes.
  • Furthermore, a group of unsuccessful bank robbers is often seen suffering the consequences of their deeds.

Miscellaneous

  • Elmer Sglue: A classmate of the Girls who is constantly made fun of for eating paste. His name is a play on Elmer's Glue, a famous brand of adhesive for schools. Upon eating a radioactive fly in the episode "Paste Makes Waste", Elmer turns into a giant paste-monster, who is only calmed down when Buttercup apologizes for being mean to him. Later in the series Elmer is seen as a background character in non-glue monster form.
  • Twiggy: The class's pet hamster. Was mutated in the episode "Gettin' Twiggy With It", and almost ate Mitch (who was in charge of caring for Twiggy, but mistreated the hamster instead). Was supposedly restored its normal state afterwards.
  • Mr. Green: A substitute teacher for Ms. Keane in the episode "Substitute Creature", with green skin similar to the Gangreen Gang. Is at first mistaken for an evil monster by the Powerpuff Girls.
  • Powerpuff Girlz Xtreme: Commercialized and mass-produced versions of the Powerpuff Girls, created in the episode "Knock It Off" by Professor Dick, who marketed these girls internationally to fight off local crime. Originally they resemble the Powerpuff Girls, but later on Professor Dick reduced their ingredients and created deformed versions. They turned against him after seeing Professor Utonium showing love for the Powerpuff Girls, something Professor Dick never showed them.
  • The "Run Of The Mill" Girls: Versions of the girls if they were created without the use of Chemical X named Bertha, Bernice and, Betty (once again following the "B" naming running gag). While they have the tradmark eyes of the PPG, they also have noses, fingers and flat feet. Without Chemical X, they have no superpowers. These girls are nothing more than a dream of the Professor in the episode "Oops, I did it again".
  • The Powerpuff DYNAMO: (DYnamic NAnotectronic MOnobot) is the robot designed and created by Professor Utonium to help the girls save little Tokyo Townsville from the evil Giant Fishbaloon (a giant blowfish monster) in the episode "Uh Oh Dynamo", after the girls were beaten having failed to do any damage to the monster itself, but because the girls did more damage to the city than normal, The Mayor ordered the girls to never use her again. However, the subsequent sequel, "Live And Let Dynamo", is centered around her destruction of the city, in which ironically, this time the Mayor was the culprit piloting her (it is worth noting that this time, The Mayor and the girls cause far more damage to the city than Dynamo's battle with the giant fishbaloon initially did). She is adopted from Ultraman and some Super Sentai/Power Rangers elements.

Only appears in PPG comicbook

  • The Micropuff Girls: A trio of miniature look-alikes of the Girls who have only appeared occasionally in the comic book. They continually distract the girls by either criticizing what they're doing or encouraging them to show off.
  • The Powerpunk Girls: Alternate, evil versions of the Girls named Berserk, Brat, and Brute (which of course follows the "B" naming scheme for the Girls). Unlike the girls, they cause nothing but destruction. They are the daughters of Oppressor Plutonium, the alternate evil version of Professor Utonium. Seen in the 50th issue of the Powerpuff Girls comic.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Powerpuff Girls episodes
  • 80 episodes in six seasons, and one self-titled movie have been made. No more episodes have been planned.
  • There is an hour-long Christmas episode, Powerpuff Girls: Twas the Fight Before Christmas, where Princess Morbucks switches Santa Claus' naughty and nice lists, until Princess Morbucks becomes officially listed on the Permanent Naughty List. In this episode, Princess Morbucks gets her wish to become a Powerpuff Girl, but she eventually loses her powers when Santa discovers her crime of switching lists and he takes her powers away, so that Princess will never return to terrorize Townsville with the other villains.

Awards

The show has been nominated for an Emmy five times in a row in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 & 2005 for "Outstanding Achievement in Animation". In 1999 the show actully won an Emmy and in 2000 & 2005 the show won an Emmy but both in juried for non-nominated selections. [1]

Trivia

  • The episode "Cat Man Do" includes a white cat on the knees of a well-dressed criminal who supervises operations and pets the feline. That is a reference to Ernst Stavro Blofeld's famous pose in the James Bond movies, although in this case it's the cat that makes the orders. The title of the episode puns on Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.
  • In "Imaginary Fiend," when Blossom falls into a pile of clothes, she comes out dressed in a large red jacket, a round blue cap and yellow gloves, which make her look just like Eric Cartman and she utters the phrase "He got me you guys, seriously" in the style of Eric Cartman from South Park. However, this is the only reference to an adult cartoon made in the show in that season.
  • In "Collect Her," while trying to find who captured the Powerpuff Girls by naming off all the citizens of Townsville, the Mayor says "Genndy McCracken" as one of the names, a nod to the creator, Craig McCracken, and another cartoonist, Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Dexter's Laboratory.
  • In "Nano of the North", Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory appears. Also, a kid who looks like Dexter is shown attending Pokey Oaks kindergarten in "Powerpuff Bluff".
  • In "Ploys R'Us", where a sleepwalking Professor Utonium steals toys for the girls, one of the toys that Bubbles picks up is a Dexter toy.
  • In the original animated short, it was not chemical X that created the powerpuff girls, but "a can of whoop@$$".

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u83_jfqYgQ0

  • The episode "Meet the Beat-Alls" was purposely saturated with references to The Beatles, from an intro to their songs playing as background music to song titles slipping into dialogue. Another Beatles reference was in the episode "Mime for a Change" when Mr. Mime colors Townsville a depressing grey and how the girls used music to give the town back its color. This is similar to how in the animated film, Yellow Submarine, the Blue Meanies overtook Pepperland and how The Beatles thwarted their evil plan.
  • In the episode "Members Only", Major Glory, from Dexter's Laboratory, appears with Val Hallen, and other national superheroes, as the "Association of World Super Men". Despite the Powerpuff Girls passing the entrance tests, they reject the girls' membership for their organization, because they don't accept female members. However, later they are attacked by a supervillain, and end up having to call the girls for help.
  • In the episode "Boogie Frights", there are many references to late 70s disco & funk, and The Boogie Man is a facsimile of George Clinton's Dr. Funkenstein. The Explosion of the disco ball also has a marked simillarity to the destruction of the Death Star in Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope.
  • In the episode "Child Fearing", the Mayor has been seen playing what resembles the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and subsequently killing Navi, the often considered annoying guide to the game.
  • Mayor wears a watch with Jigglypuff from Pokémon in the background in the episode Super Zeroes
  • In the episode "Super Zeroes", the three Girls assume alternate identities which parody various comic book personalities after being inspired by comic books. Blossom takes on the guise of Liberty Belle, who is essentially Wonder Woman and the name could possibly be from, Liberty Belle in the DC comic, Boy Commandos (complete with the trademark lasso) and has a rocket car to drive to crimes in. Bubbles becomes Harmony Bunny, a bunny that is sort of a parody of Hello Kitty and similar characters from Japanese animation who gets around by riding a pogo stick and has a box full of stickers and other cute items. Buttercup embodies Mange, who receives her powers from the underworld and becomes a shadowy creature with glowing green eyes and wispy trails coming off her costume but refuses to fight crime during the day (due to the light), much like Spawn. Their inspirations in the episode are Freedom Gal, Bunny-Bunny, and Spore, respectively. All three personas backfire in the end and they resume their normal identities after the episode (following a talking-to by the monster they were supposed to be fighting).
  • An ad on Cartoon Network showed the Powerpuff Girls save Aquaman and Wonder Woman from Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom. Luthor incorrectly calls them "The Powderpuff Girls" which gets the girls angry. They proceed to bring down the Legion and save the heroes, who the girls refer to as "Old School". Wonder Woman says that the girls are developing into good super heroines to which Bubbles replies "Someday we will be as developed as you!", which prompts laughter from everyone in the room while an embarrassed Wonder Woman covers her breast with one of her hands.
  • In the episode "Jewel of the Aisel". The girls are watching a TV show called "Mech-Animals" which takes place on a Cybertron-like world. The "Mech-Animals" TV series is adopted from the Beast Wars Transformers TV series.
  • In the Christmas special, on the permanently naughty list the top one is Bill McCracken.
  • Interestingly, a robot in the Super Robot Wars series has a similar naming convention as DYNAMO: DaiZenGer (Dynamic 'Zeneral' Guardian - 'General' being somewhat cumbersome to pronounce).
  • The image of the girls' silhouettes zipping across the screen before the title card of the episode is a homage to the opening credits of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.

References

  1. ^ http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/ap/cmccracken.html

See also

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