The Powerpuff Girls

Did You Know?

• A Powerpuff-sponsored car raced in the Daytona 500 in February 2000.
• From August 21 to October 1, 2000, Subway promoted the series with four toys in their kids' meals.

Premise

The Powerpuff Girls individually represent body, mind and spirit and adopt the characteristics of the oldest, middle and youngest child. Blossom is the red-haired commander and leader, known for her intelligence and responsibility. Bubbles is an innocent blonde who is the most sensitive and emotional, often crying and speaking in a high-pitched voice. Buttercup is a black-haired tomboy noted for her fighting abilities. The girls attend Pokey Oaks Kindergarten with their teacher Ms. Keane. The Mayor of Townsville calls them on the Powerpuff hotline for emergencies, and his dependable secretary Sara Bellum is never shown with her face visible. The show's rogues gallery includes Mojo Jojo, an evil chimpanzee with a mutated brain created when Chemical X spilled on Professor Utonium's assistant; Fuzzy Lumpkins, a pink hillbilly monster; the Amoeba Boys, dimwitted single-celled gangsters; Him, a demon who plays mind games; Princess Morbucks, the spoiled daughter of the richest man in Townsville; and the Rowdyruff Boys, evil counterparts made by Mojo from snips, snails, a puppy dog tail, and radioactive toilet water. The series is set mainly in Townsville, USA, depicted as a major American city with skyscrapers.

Production

In 1991, Craig McCracken drew three young girls—a blonde, a redhead, and a brunette—while at the California Institute of the Arts. For a superhero short film, he gave them superpowers, replacing a Mexican wrestler character named El Fuego. He created four short films for a series called Whoopass Stew!, but only one, A Sticky Situation, was completed. It was shown at Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation in 1994. McCracken then worked as art director for 2 Stupid Dogs at Hanna-Barbera. In 1993, he pitched Whoopass Stew! to Hanna-Barbera president Fred Seibert. Cartoon Network executives forbade the word ass, so two friends separately suggested Powerpuff, and the title changed from The Whoopass Girls to The Powerpuff Girls. The can of Whoopass was replaced with Chemical X. Seibert negotiated a series pickup, but it first became part of the World Premiere Toons shorts program. Storyboards, models, backgrounds, layouts, timing, and sheets were mostly done at Hanna-Barbera, with animation provided from overseas.

Reception

The Powerpuff Girls became the highest-rated premiere of a Cartoon Network animated series at the time. It consistently scored the highest weekly rating for an original series across demographics from young children to adults, surprising creator McCracken. In August 1999, it received a 6.9 Nielsen rating in the 6-to-11 age group and totaled 987,000 children in that group, becoming Cartoon Network's highest rating in that demographic. By October 1999, average audience was 1.5 to 1.8 million children. In 2000, it was the network's highest-rated original series, with over one million viewers during the third season, including two-thirds children and one-third adults, and a 120 percent increase in viewers aged 12 to 17. The website gained four million views per month. On September 8, 2000, an episode garnered a 3.4 Nielsen rating and 2.2 million households, becoming Cartoon Network's highest-rated program at the time. Reviews noted its pop-culture acumen, sense of fun, adult humor, and playful satire. Some criticism mentioned violent undertones.

Franchise

A film, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, was released on July 3, 2002, by Warner Bros. Pictures. A prequel to the series, it shows how the girls were created and how Mojo Jojo became a supervillain. It received a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and criticism for violence, grossing $16 million worldwide on an $11 million budget. A Japanese anime series, Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z, premiered in Japan in 2006 with 52 half-hour episodes, deviating from the original in genre and animation style; McCracken had little involvement. On August 24, 2020, a live-action series was announced for The CW, depicting the girls as disillusioned twentysomethings. Written by Heather Regnier and Diablo Cody, it was produced by Warner Bros. Television Studios. A pilot was ordered on February 9, 2021, with Maggie Kiley directing. Tom Kenny reprised his role as Narrator. On May 24, 2021, The CW announced the pilot would be reworked off-cycle, and the script was largely rewritten due to negative reviews. Bennet dropped out on August 11, 2021, due to scheduling conflicts.