The Powerpuff Girls

The Powerpuff Girls
File:Ppg intertitle.jpg The Powerpuff Girls intertitle
Genre	Animated television series
Created by	Craig McCracken
Voices of	Cathy Cavadini Tara Strong E.G. Daily Tom Kane Tom Kenny Roger L. Jackson Jennifer Hale Jennifer Martin Jim Cummings Jeff Bennett Kath Soucie
Narrated by	Tom Kenny
Theme music composer	James L. Venable
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	78 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes (usually 15 minutes per episode)
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network
Release	November 18, 1998 – March 25, 2005
Related
Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z

The Powerpuff Girls is an Emmy-winning American animated television series which premiered in 1998 about three little girls in kindergarten who have superpowers. Created by animator Craig McCracken, the program was produced by Hanna-Barbera until 2001 when Cartoon Network Studios took over production for Cartoon Network. The series is a spoof on American superheroes as well as Japanese Tokusatsu heroes like Super Sentai. As is typical in McCracken's work, the show also makes heavy use of references to older pop culture, particularly the famous English musical group The Beatles.

The animation director is Genndy Tartakovsky, of Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack fame, who also directed many of the show's episodes himself.

Overview

The Powerpuff Girls revolves around the adventures of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, three cute little girls with super powers. The plot of a typical episode is some humorous variation of standard superhero and/or tokusatsu fare, with the girls using their powers to defend their town from various villains, such as bank robbers, mad scientists, aliens, or giant monsters. In addition, the girls also have to deal with normal issues young children face, such as bed wetting or dependence on a security blanket. The series is one in a long line of cartoons that derives a great deal of humor from pop culture references and parody. There is often a particular emphasis on cultural phenomenons and art styles from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. For instance, the characters' dialogue often contain allusions to various classic rock and pop songs from these eras; there was even an entire episode whose dialogue consisted almost solely of lyrics from Beatles songs, while the episode's plot was a loose retelling of the Beatles career (featuring the show's villains in roles alluding to the original band members).

The show has a highly stylized, minimalistic visual look, reminiscent of 1950s and 60s pop art. Movie critic Bob Longino of the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution praised the style in his review of The Powerpuff Girls Movie by saying that "the intricate drawings emanate 1950s futuristic pizazz like a David Hockney scenescape", and that The Powerpuff Girls is "one of the few American creations that is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art".

The show has been hailed for showing young girls as active and capable heroines. However, it has also come under criticism for its rather excessive violence (including images of characters gushing blood from their mouths when hit), and for what have been perceived as morally questionable actions on part of the main characters, such as sometimes using more brutal force than necessary.

History

Craig McCracken, a student of California Institute of the Arts, created The Whoopass Girls in 1992 in his short film The Whoopass Girls in A Sticky Situation. Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation selected the short in 1994; McCracken submitted it to Hanna-Barbera's innovative What A Cartoon! shorts program (eventually to be produced for Cartoon Network as "The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumkins" as part of World Premiere Toons) while working on Dexter's Laboratory. As the word "whoopass" was deemed inappropriate for younger audiences, the word was replaced by "powerpuff."

File:The Powerpuff Girls logo.png

The logo since the introduction of The Powerpuff Girls Movie. Used on issued related products. This logo is not used for the intertitle.

The Powerpuff Girls TV debut in 1998 was the highest rated premiere in Cartoon Network's history. For several seasons, the series consistently scored the highest rating each week for the network across a wide range of demographics -- from young children to adults. In October 2000, Cartoon Network credited the Powerpuff Girls for its Friday night prime time ratings win among cable networks. By 2001, merchandising based on The Powerpuff Girls encompassed everything from T-shirts, toys and video games to lunchboxes and dishware. There was also a CD entitled Heroes and Villains, featuring original songs about the Powerpuff Girls characters by a number of artists, including the New Wave group Devo. Concerning the Powerpuff Girls 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 the rave scene or in record shops. But I had no idea that it would take off to this extent."

In April 2005, plans for an anime version, Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z were announced and the series premiered in Japan the following year. The series deviates highly from its American predecessor in terms of style, storyline, and characterization. Cartoon Network in the US currently has no plans to air this show.

Characters

Main article: List of characters in The Powerpuff Girls

Setting

The Show mainly takes place in fictional the City of Townsville, USA. Townsville is depicted as a major American city, with an impressive cityscape consisting of several major skyscrapers. The physical location of Townsville has never been determined, but the city does have a Financial District, Museum, City Hall, Police station, Fire Department, Seaport, Retirement home, a Times Square themed district, Suburbs, Observation tower, Schools, Nuclear Power Plant, and a Volcano in the middle of a large Park.

Cities like Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, London and Tokyo have been shown throughout the series.

Opening and ending themes and sequences

James L. Venable composed the opening theme of the series and Scottish band Bis performed the ending theme song, as played during the credits. Tom Kenny narrated the introduction, and also acted as narrator through the series era. Veteran announcer Ernie Anderson (more well known as "The Voice of ABC" in the 1970's and 80's) was the narrator of the pilot episode and would have likely continued to narrate. However, Anderson passed away in 1997, before the show became a series.

The opening narration reads as follows: "Sugar, spice, and everything nice. These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girl. But Professor Utonium accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction: Chemical X! Thus the Powerpuff girls were born! Using their ultra super powers, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup have dedicated their lives to fighting crime and the forces of evil!"

As the narration reveals, Professor Utonium created the girls out of sugar, spice, and everything nice, a reference to the nursery rhyme "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", plus the accidental addition of Chemical X. The opening of the series pays homage to the animated beginning of 1960s live-action television series, Batman, 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.

In the Japanese dub version, the first Opening Song, It's Up To You was performed by the brilliant green, while the second Opening Song, Cream Puff Shuffle, performed by P.P.S(Power Puff Soul).

Episodes

Main article: List of The Powerpuff Girls episodes

78 episodes (one of which was never shown in the U.S.A.) spanning six seasons and one self-titled movie have been made. There was also an episode that was in production entitled "Deja View" that was never finished.

There have also been shorts entitled "Powerpuff Girls, Dream in Style" that were released in Aug. 2004, around when Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends aired. It followed the girls with a new look, and in their teenage years, fighting crime in style, with such things as make up, shoes, clothes, etc.

TV Movie

In an interview with The Big Spoon on March 20, 2008, Tara Strong announced that a "Powerpuff Girls" TV movie is in the works.[4] Nothing is known about the plot of the movie or its air date yet.

Awards

The show has been nominated for an Emmy five times in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 & 2005 for "Outstanding Achievement in Animation". In 1999 the show actually won the Emmy. In 2000 & 2005 the show also won Emmys, but both in juried for non-nominated selections.

The show has also been nominated for an Annie award nine times, winning it twice.

DVD releases

Episode highlights

#	Title	Listed episodes	DVD Release
			Region 1	Region 2	Region 4	Cover Art
	Down N' Dirty		November 7, 2000		February 11, 2003
	The Mane Event		April 3, 2001		February 11, 2003
	Meet the Beat Alls		December 4, 2001 (Reissue)
	Powerpuff Bluff		November 7, 2000		September 7, 2001

Television specials

#	Title	Listed episodes	DVD Release
			Region 1	Region 2	Region 4	Cover Art
	'Twas The Fight Before Christmas	"'Twas The Fight Before Christmas"	October 07, 2003

Seasonal release

The entire first season of the show was released in America on a 2-disc set on June 19, 2007. Bonus features include the original pilot pitch and never before seen footage. Was released in Australia April 16, 2007.

#	Title	Listed episodes	DVD Release
			Region 1	Region 2	Region 4	Cover Art
	The Powerpuff Girls: Complete Season 1	24	June 19, 2007		April 16, 2007

References in other media

• One of the Space Ghost: Coast to Coast specials known as the "World Premiere Toon-in" featured the pilot episode after it one viewers choice as most wanted to be aired What a Cartoon
• In the beginning of the book Cell by Stephen King the protagonist, Clay, notices that a pair of girls have hairstyles resembling the Powerpuff Girls.
• In the Homestar Runner flash cartoons, one of the opening themes Strong Bad suggested for his show in an email uses the background from the opening of The Powerpuff Girls.
• In the Johnny Bravo episode "Johnny Makeover", Don Knotts, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and Blue Falcon, discuss making over the Powerpuff Girls.
• In the episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, "My Fair Mandy", Mandy's smile causes a vortex to an alternate reality where Billy, Grim, and Mandy all appear as the Powerpuff Girls in the same bed. The Professor tells them Mojo Jojo(who in the end credits of that episode appears as Irwin) has sneaked into a movie theater and they fly off in frustration.
• In The Grim Adventures of the Kids Next Door, Billy requests assistance of the Powerpuff girls to help him remove his Dad's Lucky Pants but actually ends up calling the Kids Next Door, much to his disappointment.
• In The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Juniper Lee claims there are over three hundred episodes of the show.
• A young character watches the Powerpuff Girls upside-down while channel surfing in the film Unbreakable (2000).
• In one of the episodes of The X Presidents, the Presidents fight and beat up the Powerpuff girls.
• A scene in the film Blade II (2002) depicts Blade's assistant, Scud, watching an episode of The Powerpuff Girls, and they are shown various other times during the movie.
• In episode 14 of the anime Excel Saga, Blossom is seen flying out of a time bomb as it is being disarmed.
• At the end of volume 2, chapter 5 of the Yume Tsukai manga they talk about how Rinko could be turned into a Powerpuff Girl.
• In one episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation, when asked what her favorite superhero is by a cute boy, Manny asks if Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls is suitable enough.
• In King of Queens, Deacon's son Kirby dressed up as Blossom for Halloween.
• There are many references to the show in Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The mall which the Aqua Teens attend is called the "Powerpuff Mall," the episode Universal Remonster features tee shirts with a Powerpuff-like character on them, and in Aquateen Hunger Force movie, Meatwad's parachute has pictures of the girls on them, predominantly Bubbles.
• There also are many references to the show in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Although it's not always obvious because it is concealed by her green hoodie, the character Frankie Foster wears a t-shirt with the Powerpuff Girls in silhouette. In the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends pilot "House of Bloo's", Wilt shows Mac and Bloo an "unimaginary friend", made by kids who have no imagination and who just copy what they see on TV. One of them is Mojo Jojo. Also, at the epilogue of this episode, Bloo is seen channel-surfing, and finally sits back, pleased, while the opening theme of the Powerpuff Girls is heard. In the episode "Land of the Flea", there was a flea that was the mayor of Eduardo's fur that looked and acted much the Mayor, and was even voiced by the same voice actor. And in the episode "Say it isn't Sew", Bloo, while perusing a number of different air fresheners at a fabrics store, comes across one that's actually the head of Blossom.
• In Samurai Jack Episode II, the talking dogs are uncovering ancient architecture and in the background in a frame you can see the 'Spike the Talking Dog' billboard.
• In Super Robot Wars Judgement, three female characters (Festenia Muse, Melua Melna Meia and Katia Grineal) bear a resemblance to the Powerpuff Girls.
• In one episode of Gilmore Girls, Lorelai mentions writing a note on Powerpuff Girls stationery, saying "Who does he think is setting him up, Hello Kitty?"
• In Scooby-Doo (film) 2002, Scrappy Doo says that he is "as cute as a Powerpuff Girl."
• In an episode of My Wife & Kids, Cady asks Franklin who her favorite Powerpuff Girl is, but he gives names like, Spiky, Dancy etc.
• MADtv has parodied the show as 'The Powerslut Girls', with Paris Hilton, Tara Reid and Brittany Murphy in place of the girls.
• In the Robot Chicken episode "Celebrity Rocket", there is a sketch with Professor Utonium telling the Powerpuff Girls they exist "all thanks to stem cell research."
• In Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z episode 51, when Powerpuff Girls Z traveled to another time line/dimension, they came into the dimension of the American Powerpuff Girls who were seen flying across the screen to fight the Giant Fish Balloon Monster.

See also

• The Powerpuff Girls Movie, a feature-length film
• Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z, an anime spin-off

External links

• Official site
• The Powerpuff Girls at the Big Cartoon DataBase