The Powerpuff Girls Movie

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The Powerpuff Girls Movie

The Powerpuff Girls Movie DVD cover
Directed by Craig McCracken
Produced by Donna Castricone
Written by Craig McCracken
Lauren Faust
Don Shank
Amy Rogers
Starring Cathy Cavadini
Tara Strong
E.G. Daily
Roger L. Jackson
Tom Kenny
Jennifer Hale
Jennifer Martin
Tom Kane
Jeff Bennett
Grey DeLisle
Phil LaMarr
Rob Paulsen
Kevin Michael Richardson
Frank Welker
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s) July 3, 2002
Running time 73 minutes
Country United States
Language English
IMDb profile

The Powerpuff Girls Movie (also known as The Powerpuff Girls and The Powerpuff Girls: The Movie) is animated feature-length film based on the Cartoon Network animated television series The Powerpuff Girls. Produced by Cartoon Network for Warner Bros. Studios, the film debuted in the U.S. on July 3, 2002. It was more or less a prelude of the television series, telling the story of how the Powerpuff Girls were created and how they came to be the defenders of Townsville, USA.

Contents

[edit] Voice actors and their characters

[edit] Production notes

During production, The Hollywood Reporter reported that voice actresses Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong and E.G. Daily had gone on strike, protesting that they weren't being paid enough to star in a feature. The studio publicly mulled replacing them with new actresses, but eventually a deal was reached and the trio returned to voice the Powerpuff Girls again.

[edit] Rating

This film was rated PG by the MPAA for non-stop frantic animated action.

[edit] Design

The film featured substantially revised designs for many of the TV show's characters, with a much more angular look. Many of these changes were incorporated in the future seasons of the show, such as the Professor's new eyes.

[edit] Reception

Reviews of the film were generally positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently has a "Certified Fresh" rating of 64% from selected critics with an average reviewer score of 6.2/10 and an even better rating of 70% from top critics on the site also certifying the film as "Fresh" with an average reviewer score of 6.2/10. On Metacritic, the film currently has a rating of 65 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Bob Longino of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution gave the movie perhaps the highest praise of all, saying "The intricate drawings emanate 1950s futuristic pizazz like a David Hockney scenescape. The inspired script is both sinfully cynical and aw-shucks sweet". He also called it "one of the few American creations that is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art". However, it was also reviewed negatively by some for its violence, which many felt was too extreme and highly inappropriate for a family-oriented film.[1]

Despite the critical success, however, the film flopped at the box office due to poor marketing and publicity, and the fact that the show lost much of its popularity. It was released straight-to-VHS and DVD in some countries. Shortly after its poor commercial performance, a Samurai Jack movie that had been in development was cancelled. The Powerpuff Girls Movie grossed only $11 million against the same amount of its budget. It ended together with foreign box office with $16 million, making it a box office bomb.

[edit] Plotline

Townsville is ruled by criminals and villains. We're soon introduced to Professor Utonium who returns to his home where he attempts to create the perfect child using sugar, spice and everything nice. But his experiment goes wrong when his mischievous chimpanzee, Jojo, collides with the Professor who accidentally spills Chemical X into the mixture causing a massive explosion. Though the professor has some distance between him and the chemical reaction Jojo in his less then brilliant form stands near to look more closely at the specimen and gets the explosion head on which, throws him out of a window.

After the explosion, Professor Utonium regains consciousness and finds himself at three tiny girls who introduce themselves as his creations. Utonium proceed to name them Blossom (for being polite and the first to speak to him), Bubbles (for giggling as he named Blossom and seeming cute and bubbley), and Buttercup (because it also starts with a B, though much to her displeasure). Professor Utonium discovers that his daughters have superpowers, including super speed and flight when he rushes out to get them presents and comes back nearly tripping down the stairs but with Blossom catching him and Bubbles and Buttercup catching the presents.

The following morning, Utonium takes his girls to school and comes back to pick them up at noon. But the girls learn of the game tag and take it into overdrive when they start using their super speed to flee from one another. The girls fly about madly destroying various structures, with Utonium chasing them in his car all the while the girls seem oblivious to the havoc they're causing in the city until they collide with the mayor who was about to eat a pickle. Utonium eventually bundles the girls back to their house, telling them they should not use their superpowers in public for their own safety. The three understand, but they have no idea what consequences there will be for their reckless actions.

The following day, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup are treated as outcasts while Utonium is ambushed by the mayor and his guards and taken to prison for creating the girls. The girls wait for their father after school until, after he does not arrive, they are convinced that he hates them as well and they sadly try to find their way home on foot.

On the way, they see on nearby a television horrible remarks from citizens of the city, including the mayor who shrieks about them being "Pickle Destroyers." Eventually the girls are caught in a heavy rainstorm. Having no way into their house, the girls try to take shelter in some boxes in an alley, but the Gangreen Gang attack them. The girls are saved by none other than Jojo, now an intelligent monkey who hides in fear. The girls are moved by his speech on how people resent him.

The girls offer their help and Jojo accepts the offer. Together, the four build a new building on top of a volcano in the middle of the city that has a giant machine in its center. As a "reward" for their help, Jojo sneaks the girls into the local zoo, taking of the monkeys in the zoo.

The girls manage to get into their home and Utonium is thrown in through the front door and complains of arrest, lawsuits and other such difficulties. During the course of the night, Jojo activates teleporting devices he attached to the monkeys through his camera at the zoo and teleports them to his lair (the volcano in the middle of the city), where he uses Chemical X to mutate them into intelligent apes like himself.

The next day, the girls believe that the public will accept them, and travel with Utonium towards City Hall. Then, Jojo (now calling himself Mojo Jojo) attacks with his monkey army. Mojo Jojo announces that Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup helped him with his plan. The girls try to convince Utonium that they were tricked, but he is heartbroken beyond conviction. Dejected, the girls blast off into space.

Mojo Jojo announces that the primates will rule the world in the human race's place. The monkeys, however, all having been rendered evil geniuses by the chemical X, all wish to be the future ruler of the monkey race. Mojo Jojo loses control over his army as it collapses into infighting. Frustrated, Mojo Jojo decides to kill Professor Utonium.

Up in space, the girls are on an asteroid traveling away from Earth, resigning themselves to isolation. However when they hear the screams coming from Townsville and particularly Utonium's yell, the girls fly back to Earth where they have to save all the people. They eventually realize that they can use their powers to fight all of the monkeys, each with a gimmick more bizarre than the other, to save the professor and the town.

Eventually they take the fight to Mojo Jojo who pump more Chemical X into himself and grows to the size of a giant. In the fight that follows, Mojo Jojo catches the girls in his humongous hand as he scales a skyscraper (an obvious reference to King Kong). He tries to make the girls join him, but they break free from his grasp and push him off the skyscraper. Utonium appears with an antidote for Chemical X that will shrink Mojo Jojo back to normal size. Mojo is about to fall directly on the Professor, but the girls push him out of the way, making him drop the antidote which shatters on the road. Mojo crash-lands on the antidote and shrinks back to normal before being arrested.

The girls decide to destroy their powers with the remainder of the antidote so the town will like them as ordinary girls, but the townsfolk protest. The Mayor apologizes on behalf of the whole of the city over their misunderstandings and asks the girls to become their local superheroes. The girls happily accept the job. The movie ends with the girls as the city's official superheroes and Townsville now a much better place. Plus, the narrator gives them their official name: the Powerpuff Girls.

[edit] Cultural references

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • McCracken states in the DVD's audio commentary that the introduction of the Professor at the beginning of the movie is a tribute the introduction of the Dude in The Big Lebowski.
  • The recipe for the perfect little girls (sugar, spice and everything nice) is based on the nursery rhyme "What are Little Boys Made of?"
  • Among the toys Buttercup is given are a Nintendo GameCube, a Lara Croft doll, a Merf foam dart cannon (a reference to similar products made by the toy company Nerf,) and a Razor Scooter.
  • An object resembling a Mr. Potato Head can be seen in the girls' room.
  • The Professor's license plate is "PRFDADY" --- or, "Prof Daddy" --- possibly a reference to Puff Daddy.
  • The first girl "it" while playing tag resembles Trixie Tang of Fairly Odd Parents. Also seen in the background when the class is first seen
  • McCracken states in the DVD's audio commentary that the two character's whose van crashes while the girls are playing tag are the Halen brothers. This, along with one of the brothers referencing the songs Eruption, Panama and Jamie's Cryin', are a reference to the band Van Halen.
  • Frylock, of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, can be seen on one of the screens in the News Room during the TV montage.
  • The "News Flash" logo used at the end of the same sequence is a parody of the logo from Kermit the Frog's "Sesame Street News" segment on Sesame Street, a children's television show.
  • The show "Incorrect Politics" is based on Politically Incorrect, a political talk show.
  • The way the garbage can lid ricochets exactly right to knock out the Gangreen Gang and return right to Mojo Jojo's hand may be a reference to Xena: Warrior Princess, whose chakram would often do the same thing. This may also be a reference to Captain America, who would perform similar feats with his shield.
  • A sign post in the Zoo contains three signs --- Lions, Tigers and Bears, a reference to the Wizard of Oz.
  • The pose the girls strike on the asteroid just before returning is based on Three Wise Monkeys, commonly known by the phrase "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."
  • The name of Rocko Socko, one of the apes Mojo enhanced, is derived from Rockem Sockem Robots, a toy.
  • The Gogo Patrol was based on Barrel of Monkeys, a toy.
  • The Doot-Doodoot Doodoo-Doos are a reference to the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz; their name is sung to the tune of the theme of the Wicked Witch of the West.
  • Cha-ching Cha-chin is an oblique reference to the cymbal banging monkey, a toy.
  • Hacha Chacha is based on Jimmy Durante.
  • Blah-Blah Blah-Blah's faltering speech patterns may be based upon those of Jimmie Stewart.
  • The exchange of "Tor-mah-to," "Tor-may-to" between the Mayor and Mojo Jojo is a reference to the song "I say Tomato, you say tomato."
  • When trying to pry the dog free from the Rocko Socko's grasp, Buttercup says "Get your hands off him, you darn dirty ape," a reference to the original Planet of the Apes. In that movie, the line was spoken by Charlton Heston. Additionally, Mojo uses the phrase "Planet of the Apes" when he is declaring his victory before Townsville Hall.
  • The shot of Bubbles shooting her eye beams is a reference to Star Wars: A New Hope, when the X-wings were flying through the Death Star trench.
  • When Mo Mojo Jojo climbs the building, it is a reference to King Kong.
  • Mojo in his giant ape form also bears all three colors of the Powerpuff Girls. His shirt is blue (although a different shade from Bubbles), his skin is green, and his eyes are pink.
  • Hotah Watah was based on the Japanese Macaque.
  • During "Incorrect Politics", a spiky blue-haired punk walks in, referring to 2D (Gorillaz)
  • If you close up on the newspaper that Mojo Jojo reads you can see an advertisement on it for the animated band Gorillaz
  • The policemen in the donut shop is a reference to the song "Walk like an Egyptian" ("If you wanna find all the cops, they're hanging out in the donut shop.) The shop is also called "Donut thing," A play on the words "Do Nothing'.
  • When the mayor is staring through a window whilst the girls are chasing each other in the sky, you can just see Bubbles writing her name as she is flying.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nechak, P. "Violence overpowers 'Powerpuff Girls'." 2002.[1]

[edit] External links

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The Powerpuff Girls
Characters • Episodes
Related media
The Powerpuff Girls Movie • Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z