Here they come just in time
March 2, 2015 9:15 PM Subscribe
In 1992, three little cartoon girls that had previously only been sketches were turned into a short animated film called Whoopass Stew! by Craig McCracken. It was picked up for a series by Cartoon Network in 1993, but the short didn't get much attention. The Powerpuff Girls series eventually debuted in 1998, and ran until 2005. And they're coming back in 2016.
(One hopes the new series will be both better planned and received than the sexy comic book cover.)
Previously.
(One hopes the new series will be both better planned and received than the sexy comic book cover.)
Previously.
And they're coming back in 2016.
Sort of. It's worth noting that series creator Craig McCracken left Cartoon Network some time ago, and I gather it was a rather bitter split. He's not involved with the reboot at all.
McCracken created The Powerpuff Girls and Fosters' Home for Imaginary Friends and his buddy Genndy Tartakovsky created Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack, and both of those guys are now totally done with Cartoon Network after their shows earned everybody a few zillion bucks. I have no insider knowledge about what went down there, but to an outsider it sure looks like that network cooked a couple of golden geese.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 9:34 PM on March 2, 2015 [26 favorites]
Sort of. It's worth noting that series creator Craig McCracken left Cartoon Network some time ago, and I gather it was a rather bitter split. He's not involved with the reboot at all.
McCracken created The Powerpuff Girls and Fosters' Home for Imaginary Friends and his buddy Genndy Tartakovsky created Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack, and both of those guys are now totally done with Cartoon Network after their shows earned everybody a few zillion bucks. I have no insider knowledge about what went down there, but to an outsider it sure looks like that network cooked a couple of golden geese.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 9:34 PM on March 2, 2015 [26 favorites]
I'm now experiencing vague , hazy memories of seeing the Powerpuff Girls movie at the cinema with my old rave friends. ...hooboy...
posted by The Legit Republic of Blanketsburg at 9:47 PM on March 2, 2015
posted by The Legit Republic of Blanketsburg at 9:47 PM on March 2, 2015
I did not like the new look in the 2014 special but I suppose with more episodes I could get used to it! Bubbles is my hero.
posted by girlhacker at 9:54 PM on March 2, 2015
posted by girlhacker at 9:54 PM on March 2, 2015
Powerpuff Girls without Craig McCracken? Also without any of the original voice actors? If there's a potential saving grace, it's that they've recruited some folks from Adventure Time.
Meanwhile, Disney is rebooting Duck Tales (no word who's involved in making tha happen, but aren't Craig McCracken and Lauren Faust doing 'Wander Over Yonder' for the mouseworks?), and Netflix has picked up the already announced revivals of Inspector Gadget (coming at the end of March) and Danger Mouse (coming next year).
Everything old is new again. (So where's my reboot of "Reboot"?!?)
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:10 PM on March 2, 2015 [7 favorites]
Meanwhile, Disney is rebooting Duck Tales (no word who's involved in making tha happen, but aren't Craig McCracken and Lauren Faust doing 'Wander Over Yonder' for the mouseworks?), and Netflix has picked up the already announced revivals of Inspector Gadget (coming at the end of March) and Danger Mouse (coming next year).
Everything old is new again. (So where's my reboot of "Reboot"?!?)
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:10 PM on March 2, 2015 [7 favorites]
If Craig's not involved, I'm dubious.
Weirdest thing that's ever happened to me driving was when I was going from Salem VA to Chattanooga TN, scanning stations on the radio, and hearing a radio show on UT-Knoxville's college radio that played nothing but songs inspired by PPG for like, an hour.
posted by infinitewindow at 10:11 PM on March 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
Weirdest thing that's ever happened to me driving was when I was going from Salem VA to Chattanooga TN, scanning stations on the radio, and hearing a radio show on UT-Knoxville's college radio that played nothing but songs inspired by PPG for like, an hour.
posted by infinitewindow at 10:11 PM on March 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
Was it from this Powerpuff Girls tribute album "Heroes and Villains"? There are some truly great songs on there.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:14 PM on March 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:14 PM on March 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
Old cartoon characters don't die. They just get reinterpreted for a new generation by a new set of people employed by the corporation that owns them.
oneswellfoop > Meanwhile, Disney is rebooting Duck Tales
...which owed a huge debt to Carl Barks' "Scrooge McDuck" comics, right down to adapting several stories directly from his work.
> So where's my reboot of "Reboot"?!?
Well, here's a story from 2014 about a Reboot reboot.
posted by egypturnash at 10:32 PM on March 2, 2015
oneswellfoop > Meanwhile, Disney is rebooting Duck Tales
...which owed a huge debt to Carl Barks' "Scrooge McDuck" comics, right down to adapting several stories directly from his work.
> So where's my reboot of "Reboot"?!?
Well, here's a story from 2014 about a Reboot reboot.
posted by egypturnash at 10:32 PM on March 2, 2015
McCracken created The Powerpuff Girls and Fosters' Home for Imaginary Friends and his buddy Genndy Tartakovsky created Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack, and both of those guys are now totally done with Cartoon Network after their shows earned everybody a few zillion bucks. I have no insider knowledge about what went down there, but to an outsider it sure looks like that network cooked a couple of golden geese.
They pretty much did with Tartakovsky - the games they played with Sym-Biotic Titan were the last straw for him. Which was just one of the really boneheaded decisions of that period in CN.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:37 PM on March 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
They pretty much did with Tartakovsky - the games they played with Sym-Biotic Titan were the last straw for him. Which was just one of the really boneheaded decisions of that period in CN.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:37 PM on March 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
Everyone knows Buttercup was the most badass.
According to people familiar with the situation.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:18 PM on March 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
According to people familiar with the situation.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:18 PM on March 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
Powerpuff Girls Zed!
It was awful, genuinely terrible! The girls are nearly unrecognizable physically and the characterization was dreadful.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:40 PM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
It was awful, genuinely terrible! The girls are nearly unrecognizable physically and the characterization was dreadful.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:40 PM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Well...I'm pretty skeptical of the reboot but I just wanted to say TEAM BUTTERCUP
and so
posted by Doleful Creature at 11:46 PM on March 2, 2015
and so
posted by Doleful Creature at 11:46 PM on March 2, 2015
The first time I remember seeing the Power Puff Girls is during a special they did with Space Ghost, auditioning new cartoons. The same show also included an early Dexter's Lab short.
As for the girls, everyone knows BUBBLES IS HARDCORE NOW.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:50 PM on March 2, 2015 [9 favorites]
As for the girls, everyone knows BUBBLES IS HARDCORE NOW.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:50 PM on March 2, 2015 [9 favorites]
speaking of the Duck Tales reboot, did you know that for the past 32 years, the same man has been voicing Scrooge McDuck? And that he's now 95 years old and still working in that role? And that that man was also Wilbur from Mr. Ed?
posted by namewithoutwords at 1:11 AM on March 3, 2015 [13 favorites]
posted by namewithoutwords at 1:11 AM on March 3, 2015 [13 favorites]
…and that his Wikipedia photo, of him as an adult, is from the NINETEEN FUCKING FORTIES?
posted by DoctorFedora at 1:13 AM on March 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 1:13 AM on March 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
don't ever tell Bubbles she's not hardcore
posted by chrominance at 1:53 AM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by chrominance at 1:53 AM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Powerpuff Girls was one of those shows that felt like it was somehow created specifically for me. I'm not holding my breath for the reboot, but the original series will never be unawesome.
Every time my mom came in the room while I was watching PPG, she'd say "You know, that scowly one looks a lot like you." Which is a huge compliment, of course.
And yeah, the Heroes and Villains album was fantastic.
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:45 AM on March 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
Every time my mom came in the room while I was watching PPG, she'd say "You know, that scowly one looks a lot like you." Which is a huge compliment, of course.
And yeah, the Heroes and Villains album was fantastic.
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:45 AM on March 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
The first time I remember seeing the Power Puff Girls is during a special they did with Space Ghost, auditioning new cartoons. The same show also included an early Dexter's Lab short.
Awesome, I came here to ask if anyone else remembered this as well. I thought maybe my memory was a little washy about it.
I loved PPG and the Beat-Alls episode is my favorite.
posted by gucci mane at 6:48 AM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Awesome, I came here to ask if anyone else remembered this as well. I thought maybe my memory was a little washy about it.
I loved PPG and the Beat-Alls episode is my favorite.
posted by gucci mane at 6:48 AM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Speaking of Tartakovsky, I wonder what ever happened to the rumored Samurai Jack movie?
posted by JaredSeth at 7:20 AM on March 3, 2015
posted by JaredSeth at 7:20 AM on March 3, 2015
RIP, individually-toed Buttercup socks that I bought in 1999 and wore on every airplane trip once we had to start taking off our shoes. Fingers crossed that the reboot can touch the original.
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:58 AM on March 3, 2015
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:58 AM on March 3, 2015
If you haven't , go listen to heroes and villains right now!! Frank black , shonen knife, apples in stereo ... So much goodness.
Also as the short title suggests , he wanted to call them "the whoopass girls" but I think CN balked ...
posted by freecellwizard at 8:32 AM on March 3, 2015
Also as the short title suggests , he wanted to call them "the whoopass girls" but I think CN balked ...
posted by freecellwizard at 8:32 AM on March 3, 2015
My now-grown-up kid was born in 1996. I don't think she can remember a time when she wasn't Bubbles.
posted by pernoctalian at 9:14 AM on March 3, 2015
posted by pernoctalian at 9:14 AM on March 3, 2015
The story I heard about Craig leaving CN is that he bailed (despite being the head of the animation department or something similarly High Ranking) because of that idiot executive who came into CN and declared that Anything Can Be A Cartoon and started doing a bunch of live action garbage no one remembers because it was all pretty much uniformly terrible.
Eventually that dude got fired and they started making actual cartoons again, but by that time, they'd scared off most/all of the old guard to Disney.
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 10:21 AM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Eventually that dude got fired and they started making actual cartoons again, but by that time, they'd scared off most/all of the old guard to Disney.
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 10:21 AM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
If we are playing "Which Powerpuff Girl is Best" then the answer is obviously Buttercup.
If we are playing "Which Powerpuff Girl Villain is Worst" then the answer is obviously HIM.
(Aside: Shonen Knife was, like, the BEST THING about the 90s, weren't they?)
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:12 AM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
If we are playing "Which Powerpuff Girl Villain is Worst" then the answer is obviously HIM.
(Aside: Shonen Knife was, like, the BEST THING about the 90s, weren't they?)
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:12 AM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
If we are playing "Which Powerpuff Girl Villain is Worst" then the answer is obviously HIM.
What? How can you say that? What are you talking about? What is the meaning of this? How can you deny or dispute the incredible genius of the incredibly intelligent former lab money now prospective tyrant and ruler of the world that is known to you as MOOOJO-JOJO??
posted by JHarris at 12:37 PM on March 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
What? How can you say that? What are you talking about? What is the meaning of this? How can you deny or dispute the incredible genius of the incredibly intelligent former lab money now prospective tyrant and ruler of the world that is known to you as MOOOJO-JOJO??
posted by JHarris at 12:37 PM on March 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
Well, to be fair, HIM DID send them back in time to a nightmare hellscape where they never existed.
Mojo Jojo's my favorite, but I think HIM is the WORST.
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 12:43 PM on March 3, 2015
Mojo Jojo's my favorite, but I think HIM is the WORST.
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 12:43 PM on March 3, 2015
I'm a little saddened to see PPG rebooted, not because I don't want to see more of it—who doesn't?—but because it's kind of the precise opposite of the amazing experiment that allowed it to be created in the first place. The Powerpuff Girls in Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins was the first short broadcast on the What a Cartoon! show, which was basically a CN-sponsored creator space for artists to try out new ideas. To see it run through the "hey remember x let's do it again" mill is a bit disheartening.
posted by darksasami at 4:11 PM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by darksasami at 4:11 PM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
...which owed a huge debt to Carl Barks' "Scrooge McDuck" comics, right down to adapting several stories directly from his work.
I heard TaleSpin was rather faithfully adapted from some airplane-themed Jungle Book AU one-offs Rudyard Kipling wrote in his later years.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:08 PM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
I heard TaleSpin was rather faithfully adapted from some airplane-themed Jungle Book AU one-offs Rudyard Kipling wrote in his later years.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:08 PM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
When I was a widdle kid, Carl Barks was still doing some of the Disney comics and Alan Young was playing 2nd fiddle to Mister Ed, so when, at my old age of 30, I first heard about the "Duck Tales" show with Young as Uncle Scrooge, it was two great tastes that tasted great together. Young has continued to Scrooge it up everytime Disney has used that character since, as well as a lot of other voice work, most of it as an "angry Scotsman" character (including Haggis McHaggis on Ren & Stimpy), but then, he did spend most of his childhood in Scotland, so I wasn't surprised he got the dialect of the "true Scotsman" perfect. And he had already done some other cartoon voice acting, most notably as the robot 7-Zark-7 in "Battle of the Planets" (there's a LONG story behind that) and I'm sure he was happy to not be typecast as a robot.
But he's still doing it at the age of 95 (he was born a year before my father, who didn't make it past 90), and a further look at the IMDb credits for Duck Tales show that June Foray (the only still-alive still-working voice actor older than Alan at 97) worked the show, as Magica De Spell, Mrs. Featherby and Ma Beagle. It would be so cool if the new show had an 'old geezers reunion', but when I last saw her on a taped segment for the American Animation Awards, she seemed to have partly lost her regular speaking voice. Anyway, Alan Young is now added to MY very short list of celebrities I want to live to 100.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:36 PM on March 3, 2015 [5 favorites]
But he's still doing it at the age of 95 (he was born a year before my father, who didn't make it past 90), and a further look at the IMDb credits for Duck Tales show that June Foray (the only still-alive still-working voice actor older than Alan at 97) worked the show, as Magica De Spell, Mrs. Featherby and Ma Beagle. It would be so cool if the new show had an 'old geezers reunion', but when I last saw her on a taped segment for the American Animation Awards, she seemed to have partly lost her regular speaking voice. Anyway, Alan Young is now added to MY very short list of celebrities I want to live to 100.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:36 PM on March 3, 2015 [5 favorites]
Let us hope that they don't decide to make it "dark and edgy" the dark and edgy thing is getting a bit old.
posted by boilermonster at 12:08 AM on March 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by boilermonster at 12:08 AM on March 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
Let us hope that they don't decide to make it "dark and edgy"
(bass line begins)
Life is like a hurricane
I-in Duck-burg
Fatal laser aeroplanes
Do-ing mur-der
Life's getting harder
Who killed my father?
DuckTales
(whoo-oo)
Every night in blood they're writing
DuckTales
(whoo-oo)
Tales of grimdark revenge and bad luck tales
D-d-d-danger lurks inside you
Found a John Doe homicide, who?
What to do? Just hone your razor
DuckTales
(whoo-oo)
Kidnappings and amputations
DuckTales
(whoo-oo)
Sleazy tycoon reputations
DuckTales
(whoo-oo)
Who owns this town?
Who tells us all these DuckTales?
(whoo-oo)
posted by infinitewindow at 9:51 PM on March 4, 2015 [8 favorites]
(bass line begins)
Life is like a hurricane
I-in Duck-burg
Fatal laser aeroplanes
Do-ing mur-der
Life's getting harder
Who killed my father?
DuckTales
(whoo-oo)
Every night in blood they're writing
DuckTales
(whoo-oo)
Tales of grimdark revenge and bad luck tales
D-d-d-danger lurks inside you
Found a John Doe homicide, who?
What to do? Just hone your razor
DuckTales
(whoo-oo)
Kidnappings and amputations
DuckTales
(whoo-oo)
Sleazy tycoon reputations
DuckTales
(whoo-oo)
Who owns this town?
Who tells us all these DuckTales?
(whoo-oo)
posted by infinitewindow at 9:51 PM on March 4, 2015 [8 favorites]
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An aside, I remember seeing The Powerpuff Girls Movie in theaters with a friend. But that's it. I don't remember anything else about it, save a fun opening act or prologue.
Nothing more to add save that Samurai Jack was the bomb, yo.
posted by chainlinkspiral at 9:27 PM on March 2, 2015