On March 25th, 2005, The Powerpuff Girls series ended its original run on Cartoon Network. This series finale happened at the request of Craig McCracken, the series’ creator and director, and Chris Savino, a writer-turned-director when McCracken went to work on Foster’s Home in 2002. Upon learning this, I felt it was selfish of them to choose not to continue to a seventh season. In reality, this is probably a blessing in disguise. So many shows wear out their stay with extending seasons until they become obsolete, a fate I am glad didn’t happen to the Girls.
Yes, there was a super-meh anime and a new reboot series made since 2005. But the three little girls who graced my television in 1998 are the best representation of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. In my mind, probably the only correct representation (I mean, who doesn’t ask Tara Strong to be Bubbles?)
It’s not as if this new show is a bad one by any means. While McCracken disputed never giving a blessing to the network for the reboot, it doesn’t necessarily make it bad. And not inviting the original voice actors onto the project could be viewed as a means to start new voice acting careers—except for their keeping of Tom Kenny (the Mayor, the Narrator) and Tom Kane (Professor Utonium). Maybe it’s male favoritism. Maybe it’s the VO-Actors-Named-Tom-Get-To-Keep-Their-Jobs club. Who’s to say?
(I also must add Jennifer Hale is still on the show, continuing to voice Miss Keane but not Princess. So there, score one of two).
The thing about a reboot of a series is that they only tend to happen when the series worked in the first place. The reboot of The Powerpuff Girls was an attempt to capitalize on the love that boys and girls alike had for it, bringing some of that millennial-driven wealth into Cartoon Network’s present. While it’s working to an extent, it’s not quite holding up to its ancestor (as if twelve years ago is that much time).
I have a communion with The Powerpuff Girls, one that makes me think of it immediately when naming favorite cartoons, influential shows, shows that helped make me who I am, all that mushy stuff. I thought that maybe I feel protective of the show over its reboot because I have these rose-colored glasses on in my memories. But even watching it in the present, I can’t help but feel my heart warming all over again.
I get teary eyed just thinking about it! Ugh!
Seeing a group of girls be so in control while learning along the way was like the perfect formula for good childhood programming. Seeing the Powerpuff Girls fight in a world where the audience saw both how they were respected by Townsville natives but undermined by the unsuspecting brought a realistic balance to the show. I saw how women should be treated and how they are often looked down upon, too. I saw what happened to the characters that thought less of the girls because of their gender, their size, their appearance, their whatever. I learned how any personality can be the hero of the story, regardless of some other person’s inability to comprehend how that’s possible.
This gif set is from one of my favorite episodes, where the girls beat the grown men in all the stupid competitions they feel they need to have to prove their masculinity. I especially loved Bubbles being the one who did the “manly” chores, being considered the sweetest of the group. I first identified with Bubbles because of that “girlie” trait, along with her blonde hair. Today I still do, plus I mow the lawn.
The Professor’s single dad experience is refreshing too because he always was good at letting his daughters be. Parenting took place, of course, but he never told the girls that they couldn’t be who they are, whether it meant being tough, bossy, or sensitive.
While there are many reasons for my love, I wanted to focus on this main point: the gender roles of The Powerpuff Girls were ones that every child could benefit from learning about. It is great that there is a new show that allows for today’s children to get a taste of why the show is so awesome. While it may not have the same sparkle to it as the original, or even the same voice cast, I’m glad to know that Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are available to continue to remind kids, especially little girls, that they can kick ass and be whoever they wish. We need to remember that we all can save the world, in our own way, before bedtime. If that means taking lessons from my favorite cartoon superheroes, then so be it.
