The Powerpuff Girls (2016 TV series)

The Powerpuff Girls
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Format	Animated
Genre	Superhero Action/Adventure
Developer	Nick Jennings Bob Boyle
Production Company(s)	Cartoon Network Studios
Distributor(s)	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Runtime	11 minutes
Country of origin	America
Language	English
Production
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 119
Longevity
Premiere April 4, 2016
Finale June 16, 2019
Status Cancelled

The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated action-comedy television series based on the television series of the same name created by Craig McCracken which ran from November 18, 1998 to March 25, 2005. Cartoon Network announced the series in June 2014; in 2015, they announced that the new series would feature new voice actors for the main characters. The series premiered on April 4, 2016 in the United States and April 25, 2016 in the United Kingdom.

On May 13, 2018, the series began its third season and ended in June 16, 2019.

No new announcements have been said since then, likely due to its abysmal ratings, leading to speculation on whether or not the show would be cancelled. Sometime in 2020, Kevvy afanas confirmed the staff and crew parted ways and moved on to other projects, indicating the show has ended and would not get a 4th Season.

On July 18, 2022, it was announced a new Powerpuff Girls reboot is currently in the works. Craig McCracken will be involved with it and the series will be produced by Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe.

Plot

The Powerpuff Girls, featuring Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, are three superheroes whose purpose is to reduce crime in between living a normal childhood.

Characters

Main Characters

• Blossom
• Bubbles
• Buttercup
• Bliss (Blisstina)

Allies

• Professor Utonium
• The Mayor of Townsville
• Ms. Bellum (Bye Bye Bellum only)
• Ms. Keane
• The Narrator (Season One only)

Old Villains

• Mojo Jojo
• HIM
• Fuzzy Lumpkins
• Princess Morbucks
• The Gangreen Gang
• The Amoeba Boys (Viral Spiral only)
• The Rowdyruff Boys (Total Eclipse Of The Kart only)

New Villains

• Packrat
• Manboy
• Bianca and Barbarus Bikini (replacing Sedusa)
• Silico
• Allegro
• Salamander (Salamander only)

Production

Cartoon Network announced on June 16, 2014, that they had revived The Powerpuff Girls in a new series, which was to be produced by Cartoon Network Studios. Rob Sorcher, chief content officer of the network, said that an "overwhelming demand" prompted the new series to be created. In their 2015 upfront on February 19, the network announced that Nick Jennings would be its executive producer. Bob Boyle, who previously created Disney XD's Yin Yang Yo! and Nick Jr’s Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! also produced the reboot. Meanwhile, Craig McCracken, original creator of The Powerpuff Girls, did not work on the 2016 series.

Amanda Leighton, Kristen Li, and Natalie Palamides were announced as the new voice actors of the main characters—Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup-replacing the original respective voice actors Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong, and Elizabeth Daily. Tom Kenny, the voice of Mayor and the narrator in the original series, will reprise his role, however. After the network revealed multiple promotional images from the new series in June 2015, writers from news sites described the visual look as similar to the original series, despite that The Powerpuff Girls special Dance Pantsed, broadcast in 2014, featured a different art style rendered in 3D. Meanwhile, Roger L. Jackson returned as Mojo Jojo, and Jennifer Hale returned as Ms. Keane, but not as Princess.

One of the original villains, HIM, was killed off from the show as of season two. The show’s villainess, Sedusa, never appeared in the reboot as a new character Bianca Bikini took her role as the main villainess.

The first clips for the series were shown in a Cartoon Network Australia and New Zealand promo video for 2016.

Broadcast and reception

The recasting of the main characters came to the sadness of Cavadini, Daily, and Strong—the latter of whom, on Twitter, called it "a stab in the heart". She had announced after the upfront in February that this was a "strictly creative" decision by the network, though in June of the same year said that the network had never contacted either her or Cavadini and Daily prior to the decision to recast. Kenny suggested that McCracken "does give it his blessing", but in May 2016 McCracken denied such claim on his Twitter, commenting that he had never given the new reboot his official blessing. McCracken also wished the network had stopped their plans for a reboot of the original Powerpuff Girls property, but that he acknowledges from a financial view why the new series was commissioned.

International premieres

The series premiered in Latin America and Brazil on April 4, 2016 and on Cartoon Network UK between 28 March and 16 April 2016. The first clips for the series were shown in a 2016 showreel for the network's Cartoon Network feed.

Bellum’s removal backlash

Female modifications were also made which included the character Ms. Bellum being written off the show. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Nick Jennings explained "We felt like Ms. Bellum wasn't quite indicative of the kind of messaging we wanted to be giving out at this time, so we sort of had her move on... And that was a good choice I think on our part". This change caused a negative response from critics and fans of the original show, who complained that the removal of Ms. Bellum's character (as well as villainess Sedusa being completely dropped from the show) negated the feminist message of the reboot.

Appearances in other projects

• Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup (the 2016 iterations) all made appearances as audiences at the Uncle Grandpie Awards in the Uncle Grandpa episode, Pizza Eve.
• Bubbles (the 2016 iteration) makes a cameo in the Jellystone! episode, Crisis on Infinite Mirths.

Trivia

• This was the last Cartoon Network series to premiere during the CHECK it era, right before switching to the Dimensional era.

Home Media

DVD volumes:

• Tiara Trouble (February 14th, 2017)
• The Last Donnycorn (August 15th, 2017)

Digital releases:

All three seasons are on iTunes and Amazon Prime

The series is available on Hulu, was released on HBO Max on May 27th, 2020, released on Max on May 23rd, 2023, and finally on Disney+ (as part of the Hulu merger) on December of that same year.

Gallery

HBO Max cover

Horizontal HBO Max cover

Season 1 DVD from Australia

Tiara Trouble DVD

The Last Donnycorn DVD

Bubbles Bulle toy

Buttercup Rebelle

Townsville Pack

Cover A of issue 1 of the comic book series by IDW Comics

Cover A of Issue 2 of the Comic Book series from IDW Comics

Issue 3 of the comic book series from IDW Comics

Weekly Panner 2018

Updated horizontal Max cover

Issue 2 of the comic book series from IDW Comics

Issue 5 of the comic book series from IDW Comics

Issue 6 of the comic book series from IDW Comics

Horizontal Hulu cover

Volume 3 Amazon Prime USA cover

Volume 4 Amazon Prime USA cover

Hero to Zero book

Volume 1 Amazon Prime UK cover

Volume 2 Amazon Prime UK cover

Blossom Belle doll

Buttercup Belle doll

Blossom Belle Action eyes figure

Issue 4 of the comic book series from IDW Comics

Cartoon Network app icon

Issue 1 of the comic book series from IDW Comics

Issue 4 of the comic book series from IDW Comics

Bubbles' cameo in Crisis on Infinite Mirths

Broadcast History

• Cartoon Network (first run; April 4, 2016-2019)
• Boomerang Brazil (reruns; October 20, 2018-2021)
• Boomerang (reruns; September 2016-2018)

References

Cartoon Network Studios Series

• 1990's
• 2000's
• 2010's
• 2020's
• 2030's

1996	What a Cartoon! • Dexter's Laboratory

2030

Cartoon Network Original Series

• 1990's
• 2000's
• 2010's
• 2020's
• 2030's

2030