The Powerpuff Girls Movie

The Powerpuff Girls Movie is a 2002 American animated superhero film based on the Cartoon Network animated television series of the same name. The film was directed by series creator Craig McCracken, and was released in theaters on July 3, 2002, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is a prequel to the series that tells the origin story of how the Powerpuff Girls were created, and how they came to be the defenders of Townsville and their role in the origins of their nemesis Mojo Jojo.

The film received mixed reviews from critics, and earned $11.4 million at the domestic box office on its $11 million budget. It fared better overseas, with a total worldwide gross of $16.4 million. The film made its television debut on Cartoon Network on May 23, 2003.

Plot
Professor Utonium creates a mixture of sugar, spice, and everything nice in hope of producing the "perfect little girl" to improve Townsville, a city plagued by crime and injustice. He is shoved by his laboratory assistant, the destructive chimpanzee Jojo, causing him to accidentally break and spill a flask of Chemical X into the concoction, which explodes in Jojo's face. The experiment is successful, producing three little girls whom the Professor names Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. He also discovers that the girls have gained superpowers from the added Chemical X. Despite the girls' recklessness with their powers, they all immediately grow to love each other as a family.

During their first day of school, the girls learn about the game tag and begin to play among themselves, which quickly grows destructive once they use their powers. The girls take their game downtown, accidentally causing massive damage to the city until the Professor calms them down. The next day, the girls are treated as outcasts by the citizens of Townsville as a result of the destruction they have caused, and the Professor is arrested for creating the girls. Realizing that using their powers again will only anger the townspeople more, the girls try to make their way home from school on foot. They become lost in an alleyway and are ambushed by the Gangreen Gang, only to be rescued by Jojo, whose brain has been mutated by the Chemical X explosion, giving him superintelligence.

Planning control of the city, Jojo gains the girls' sympathy by saying he is also hated for his powers. Jojo convinces the girls to help him build a laboratory and machine powered by Chemical X, which he claims will earn them the affections of the city. Jojo rewards the girls with a trip to the local zoo, where he secretly implants small transportation devices on all the primates there. That night, Jojo transports the primates into his lab and uses his new machine to inject them with Chemical X, turning them into evil mutant primates like himself. The next morning, after the Professor is released from prison, the girls show him all the "good" they have done, only to discover the city under attack by the primates. Jojo, renaming himself Mojo Jojo, publicly announces the girls as his assistants, which further damages their reputation and even turns the distraught Professor against them. Dejected, the girls exile themselves to an asteroid in outer space.

Mojo Jojo announces his intention to rule the planet, but becomes frustrated when his minions begin concocting their own plans to terrorize the people of Townsville. Overhearing the turmoil from space, the girls return to Earth and rescue the citizens, realizing they can use their powers to fight the primates. With his army defeated, Mojo injects himself with Chemical X and grows into a giant monster, overpowering the girls after an intense battle. Rejecting Mojo's offer of alliance against the people who have shunned them, the girls push him off a decrepit skyscraper as soon as the Professor arrives with an antidote for Chemical X to help the girls. Mojo lands on the Antidote X, which shrinks him down to his original size, battered and defeated.

The girls consider using the Antidote X to erase their powers, thinking they would be accepted as normal girls. The people of Townsville protest, apologizing for misjudging the girls and thanking them for their heroic deeds. At the insistence of the Mayor, the girls agree to use their powers to defend Townsville with the Professor's permission, becoming the city's beloved crime-fighting superhero team who are dubbed "the Powerpuff Girls".

Cast

 * Main article: List of The Powerpuff Girls characters


 * Cathy Cavadini as Blossom, the intelligent and dutiful leader of the Powerpuff Girls
 * Tara Strong as Bubbles, the sweet and cheerful member of the Powerpuff Girls
 * E.G. Daily as Buttercup, the tough and brash member of the Powerpuff Girls
 * Roger L. Jackson as Mojo Jojo, a chimpanzee mutated by Chemical X who becomes the Powerpuff Girls' archenemy
 * Tom Kane as Professor Utonium, the Powerpuff Girls' creator and surrogate father; and the Talking Dog
 * Tom Kenny as the Mayor of Townsville; the Narrator; Mitch Mitchelson, the Powerpuff Girls' classmate; and Gangreen Gang members Snake and Lil' Arturo
 * Jennifer Hale as Ms. Keane, the Powerpuff Girls' school teacher
 * Jennifer Martin as Ms. Sarah Bellum, the Mayor's secretary
 * Jeff Bennett as Gangreen Gang members Ace, Big Billy, and Grubber
 * Grey DeLisle and Phil LaMarr as additional character voices
 * Rob Paulsen, Kevin Michael Richardson, and Frank Welker as various evil primates (credited as "Whole Lotta Monkeys")

Production
Following the show's massive success on television and merchandise sales went through the roof, Cartoon Network decided to green light a movie. An early draft of the movie would've been about the show's regular villains argue over who would rule Townsville. This was scrapped due to leaving little screen time for the girls, so they decided to tell the origin story. The main problem when developing the movie was that director/series creator Craig McCracken did not want the film to appeal exclusively to girls as the merchandise made it out to be, with jewelry and makeup kits being sold with the characters plastered over it, and wanted to go back to what the Powerpuff Girls were really meant to be, more like the original Whopass Stew short McCracken made in college. Cartoon Network held a contest where fans can submit their drawings that'll be featured in the film; the drawings in particular are a wanted poster and Bubbles' drawing for the Professor. McCracken met with the band Gorillaz and asked them to write a song for the movie. They were unable to due to scheduling conflicts. McCracken said that there was no real difference when directing a movie in comparison to a standard tv episode. He states: "When we make the TV show, we look at them as mini films. The show is really condensed, it always keeps moving and it's got an energy level to it because of the time limitation, so my first concern was, are we going to lose that pacing going into a long form? But as it turned out, the movie still moves at the same pace that the show does. It still has that distinctive feeling to it."

During production, McCracken was originally encouraged by Cartoon Network to make an edgier movie, even going as far as to get a possible PG-13 rating. According to McCracken, he recalled via Tumblr: "When we started the film I was encouraged by CN to make the movie for “25 year old guys.” So we upped the seriousness and action and down played the funny. By the time we finished there was a regime change at CN and the new heads of the Network were upset we didn’t make a poppy, colourful kids movie... This was when they first had the idea that they wanted to try producing animation for older audiences, Samurai Jack was a part of this thinking as well. We were sort of the guinea pigs for what would later evolve into Adult Swim."

The film's animation was provided by Rough Draft Korea, with additional animation done at Mercury Filmworks and Munich Animation Film.

Release
The Powerpuff Girls Movie was released in theatres on July 3, 2002. In theaters, a Dexter's Laboratory short titled "Chicken Scratch" was shown prior to the film, which later aired as part of the series' fourth season. The film was released on the same day as the highly anticipated Men in Black II.

Home media
The film was released on Region 1 VHS and DVD on November 5, 2002 in the US. The DVD included extras such as deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage and audio commentaries. Despite being filmed in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the DVD and VHS are in fullscreen only, much akin to that of the original series. The Region 2 DVD release presents the film in its original widescreen aspect ratio, but omits the audio commentary, the bonus features, and is also in the PAL format.

Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Based on 100 reviews, the film has received a 63% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with its consensus reading, "It plays like an extended episode, but The Powerpuff Girls Movie is still lots of fun". On Metacritic, the film achieved a rating of 65 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Bob Longino of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution praised the film, writing, "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." Nell Minow of Common Sense Media posted a review of The Powerpuff Girls Movie on CommonSenseMedia.org. The review describes that the movie "may be a treat for the fans of the show, but its non-stop excitement and sense of humor is going to win over just about anyone", and proceeded to give the movie four stars out of five. However, the film received some mild criticism for some of its violence, which many felt was too extreme for a family-oriented film, especially in the wake of the September 11th attacks of the previous year. Ebert & Roeper gave it "two thumbs down", saying that the movie was too violent.

Box office
The film earned $3.5 million in its opening weekend, finishing off in ninth place. The film ultimately grossed $16 million worldwide against its $11 million budget.

Legacy
Following the film's critical (at the time) and box office failure, Cartoon Network has since vowed to not venture into making more theatrical films based on their shows; plans on making a live-action Johnny Bravo movie starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and the continuously proposed Samurai Jack movie where abruptly scrapped. Films based on Cartoon Network shows have since been released onto television with movies like Ed, Edd, n Eddy's Big Picture Show and Steven Universe: The Movie as prominent examples.

Craig McCracken himself has come out with his own thoughts on the movie: "In hindsight, maybe I wish it was a little sillier, a little more lighter, a little more... not so heavy the whole time." In 2016, regarding the film's production, he has brought up on Tumblr that he avoids making theatrical films due to the experiences of making The Powerpuff Girls Movies.

Years later, the film has gained more of a cult following by fans of the show.

As of 2018, the only films based on Cartoon Network shows to get a theatrical release include limited releases of Regular Show: The Movie and the Samurai Jack Premiere Movie