The Powerpuff Girls Movie
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 Before there was My Little Pony: The Movie, there was this film.
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The Powerpuff Girls Movie is a 2002 American animated superhero film based on the Cartoon Network animated television series The Powerpuff Girls (1998). The film was produced by Cartoon Network, distributed by Warner Bros., and directed and co-written by series creator Craig McCracken, and opened in cinemas in the United States on July 3, 2002. The film is a prequel to the television series, telling the story of how the Powerpuff Girls were created and how they came to be the defenders of Townsville. In theaters, a Dexter's Laboratory short entitled "Chicken Scratch" was shown prior to the film, which later aired as part of that series' fourth season.
Plot
Based on the hit animated television series, this feature film adaptation tells the story of how Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup — three exuberant young girls — obtain their unique powers, become superheroes, and join forces to foil mutant monkey Mojo Jojo's plan to take over the world.
Why This Movie Is Able to Save The World Before Bedtime
- The idea of a movie about the retelling of the Powerpuff Girls' origin story was fairly interesting and is handled perfectly, for the most part, expanding on the few words surrounding the girls' origins said during the show's opening.
- Very good and talented voice acting, getting one of the original cast.
- The animation from Rough Draft Studios, Mercury Filmworks, VirtualMagic Animation and Savage Frog! is very detailed and tops that of the show, making it look like it was made in the mid-2000s.
- Amazing soundtrack composed by James L. Venable.
- The scene where the Powerpuff Girls were all alone in an asteroid field is very depressing.
- The final climactic battle in the city of Townsville is well-done and epic, especially the final part of the battle with a King Kong reference.
- Some of the movie characters are quite likable.
- Manages to teach kids some good lessons and amuse the grown-ups without overdosing on pop-culture references, and it did pretty well.
- The film parodies superhero films, as the girls get told of their destructive behavior and collateral damage.
- The News Flash logo was a parody of the Sesame Street News Flash sketch with Kermit the Frog, which is a nice touch.
- This is the first time the series went in high-definition widescreen.
Bad Qualities
- The Powerpuff Girls used to be troublemakers in the first half of the film where they unintentionally caused destruction of Townsville when they were tagging, although this could be understandable since they are inexperianced as heroes when they were created.
- While the animation is good, the character designs do not translate perfectly into a theatrical movie, as some of the characters like Professor Utonium look like cardboard cutouts in some shots.
- At times, the film feels more like a television special than a theatrical movie, though that's likely because of the pacing and runtime is only 73 minutes, which it should be longer than that.
- The movie was released on the same day as Men in Black II. And because of that, it became a huge box office failure, which resulted in Cartoon Network never making a theatrical movie again.
- Much of the humor is rather weak.
- Many of the villains like The Amoeba Boys, HIM, Sedusa and Princess Morbucks are Absent.
Trivia
- The DVD US release is 4:3 but had bonus features included, while the UK release is in HD widescreen but missing the bonus features.
Reception
The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 103 reviews, with an average rating of 6.14/10. The site's critics' consensus read: "It plays like an extended episode, but The Powerpuff Girls Movie is still lots of fun". On Metacritic, the film had a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Despite the favorable reviews from critics, it was widely acclaimed by the fans of the TV series. However, the film was unable to get much of its money back, and it was considered a box office failure despite the positive reviews.
Videos
External links
The Powerpuff Girls Movie at the Internet Movie Database
The Powerpuff Girls Movie on Rotten Tomatoes
Comments
- Good media
- Good films
- 2000s films
- 2000s media
- Animated films
- Based on television
- Action films
- Superhero films
- Comedy films
- Coming of age films
- Cartoon Network films
- Positively received box-office bombs
- Warner Bros. films
- American films
- Prequels
- Science fiction films
- Thriller films
- Family films
- Blockbusters
- Box office bombs that received positive feedback
- Classics
- PG-rated films
- Based on cartoons
- Traditionally-animated films
- Animal films
- Rough Draft Studios