5/10 A Jar Of Candy With An Even Mix of Good and Bad Pieces
30 years ago, a young CalArts student Craig McCracken drew a simple drawing of 3 girls with big head, large eyes and stubby arms and legs as a birthday card design for his brother. These 3 would become the basis for one of Cartoon Network's first show. I'd call it one of the network's best, but that'd be far from the truth having rewatched the entire series on HBOMax. Don't get me wrong, when the show is good, it is indeed a smart, funny and action packed show that more than delivers on its concept. At the same time though, it also has some truly awful episodes that make the entirety of Teamo Supremo look like Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The premise of the show is rather simply: 3 kindergartners with large eyes and stubby limbs beat the tar out of villains and monsters in the city of Townsville. Each episode is normally follows the patteren of having the Narrator introduce the show with a shot of Townsville before cutting to the girls fighting the villain of the week. This formula could've gotten repetative and tiring, yet the writers and storyboard artists manage to find clever ways to shake it up. These include having the opening line "The city of Townsville" spoken by someone other than the Narrator, the Narrator not being present at all or the girls being in school rather than in the city fighting evil. The humor of the show is usually slapstick, clever word play and visual gags that generally get a good laugh out of me. What really sells a typical episode is the action, which is always fast paced, has genuine stakes and great camaraderie between the girls. That said though, episodes tend to succumb to bad writing and unfunny humor that makes the runtime of each episode feel wasted. Episodes such as Los Dos Mojos, Monkey See, Doggy Two, Super Zeroes and Him Diddle Diddle have their plots based on one joke that goes on for way too long. Rather than ammend this issue as the series progressed, they doubled down on these overly drawn out jokes in Seasons 5 & 6 with episodes like Toast of the Town, Save Mojo, Pee Pee G's, Mo' Linguish and That's Not My Baby. One of the most infamous episodes from the show is Sun Scream which is 11 minutes of the girls being in agony as they have sun burn. I recognize comedy is subjective and the writers must've thought these episodes were really funny (otherwise they wouldn't have made it passed the conception stage), but to me these episodes are prime examples of what NOT to do when telling a story. Another problem I personally have with the show as a whole is the amount of missed opportunities the writers had to make the show better such as making Mitch Mitchelson the focus of Mojo Jonesin instead of 4 random kids or making Bubbles' impaired vision permanent in Bubblevision instead of returning to the status quo. At the very least the girls should've grown up with each passing season because having the characters not age a day after 6 years just make me think Townsville is in some sort of purgatory that just loops over and over.
Moving on to the characters, each one is memorable in their own way. The main triplets themselves all have distinct personalities and act just like real little girls if they had powers. Starting with Blossom, she's the smartest of her sisters and comes up with strategic plans to defeat the baddies. She can be bossy at times, but she means well and cares for her sisters. Buttercup is the toughest and temperamental of the trio who is more than willing to give a beating to baddies who deserve it. She acts tough and often butts heads with her sisters, but she does love them deep down and grows as a better person as the show continues. Then there's Bubbles, the sweetest and most childlike of the girls. On a typical day she's the first to want to show compassion and cares about everyone deeply. But when she gets mad or pushed to her breaking point at best she cries and at worst she gets vicious. The 3 of them together make a great team and act just like sisters. The play, they fight, they laugh, they cry and at the end of the day they love each other.
Their father, Professor Utonium is...not a great parent. I mean, he's not even close to the worst father in a cartoon, but he should've been better. Yes there are episodes such as Boogie Frights and Knock It Off where he acts like a genuinely caring parent. But in episodes like Uh, Oh Dynamo, PowerProf, Daylight Savings and The Mane Event where he's just a nuisance. I also hate how the Professor acts childish in the final 2 seasons because it really devalues his character. In my humble opinion, the Professor needed to be to the girls what Greg Universe was to Steven: a fun, caring and helpful parent that is the one person above everyone else that deserves to be saved.
Another not so great character is Ms. Keane who has more episodes showing her as a bad teacher then as a good one. Yeah she rightfully scolds Buttercup in Paste Makes Waste, but in Schoolhouse Rocked she scolded the girls for rightfully trying to stop the Gang Green Gang from hurting the other students. In Daylight Savings, she demanded the girls be put on a curfew even though she knows how helpless Townsville is without them (more on that later). In Keen on Keane, she neglects to do her job because she and the Professor start dating (side note: they're better off as friends). She's not the worst teacher, but these episodes don't do her any favors.
The Mayor of Townsville is a complete moron who can be funny sometimes, but other times I roll my eyes and wonder how he got elected in the first place. Ms. Sara Bellum is clearly smarter than him in every way and yet she's not the mayor of Townsville because potatoes. It may seem like he cares deeply about his city, but episodes like Monstra-City, Toast of the Town, Live & Let Dynamo and Night Mayor make me thing otherwise.
I'd be re-missing myself if I didn't talk about the girl's rogues gallery. Starting with the most (in)famous, Mojo Jojo is an intelligent chimp who relishes in being dastardly. He also has a unique way of talking in which he overly explains what he means which didn't get on my nerves until Mo'Linguish in Season 6 when everyone else started talking like him. HIM is the living embodiment of all things evil and he just loves being sinister and devilish. He typical speaks in a calm high octave masculine voice but when he's serious it becomes more monstrous and loud. Princess Morbucks is a spoiled brat but unlike Gem Stone, she's not taken seriously by the girls until she takes control of the story. Plus she get's rightfully punished at the end of her respected episodes. The Amoeba Boys could've easily been forgettable villains, but their incompetence and accidental evil deeds do make them entertaining and fun villains. Fuzzy Lumpkins is a pink hillbilly who gets very personal about his property. Another one of the missed opportunities of the show is how his red rage form is only used twice in the whole show. That would made him a much more formidable foe than just a pink hillbilly. The Gang Green Gang are a group of green skinned teenagers that like picking on other people because it's fun. They all have unique personalities but one thing they all have in common is they're not to be trusted. Sedusa is a promiscuous lady who uses her good looks and her living hair to get what she wants. Thing is though, she only has 3 major appearances in the show, but that's forgivable as they all have her be a great villain. Most of the one off villains are hit or miss, though I do like Femme Fatale who's basically a man hating Karen and I wish the Boogie Man had comeback for revenge. My personal favorite villains of the show though are the Rowdyruff Boys. They are every bit as nasty as the girls are sweet and they couldn't have it any other way. They put up a good fight with the girls every chance they get and act just like the girls would but as boys: rude, rough, gross and inconsiderate of other people. They are the perfect opposites of the girls and the only downside is that they weren't in more episodes.
Then there are the citizens of Townsville, who are without a doubt one of the worst examples of the mindless sheep trope that I hate so much. There are very few instances (not episodes, instances) where they actually act like really people with their own opinions and beliefs. More often than not they're either siding against the girls for some stupid reason or they're completely helpless without them. Too Pooped To Puff is one of the worst episodes about the citizens and it just shows that if the girls didn't save their ungrateful lazy butts, they'd be annihilated because they're too stupid to fight for themselves. Girls Gone Mild is a prime example of how useless the police are in this city as for almost 5 minutes straight a guy steals a car and when the cops get there, they let him go Scott free. In Major Competition, they all turn on the girls and side with this macho superhero who just showed up almost instantly. The worst part about the citizens of Townsville is that the average family outside the Utonium household are one dimensional jerks who only care about their own happiness. I'm not just making that up, that was basically confirmed in the episode Supper Villain where Harold Smith is a pathetic father, Marieanne Smith is a short tempered mother, Bud is an angsty son and Julie is a dimwitted daughter. This alone makes me want to stay as far away from Townsville as possible because a city that's mostly comprised of bad people might as well be a jail.
What also brings the show down is when the characters act out of character for the sake of forced conflict. Blossom, who's supposed to be the smartest and most responsible of the 3 girls, steals a golf bag in A Very Special Blossom, laughs at Bubbles' glasses in Bubblevision after the events of The Mane Event, and lies to the Professors face in Ploys R Us. Bubbles, who's supposed to be the sweetest of the trio is uncharacteristically nasty in Curses, Los Dos Mojos (getting bonked on the head is NOT an excuse), and The Mane Event. Buttercup is usually butting heads with her sisters, but I did NOT need that to be the focus of Three Girls and a Monster.
Other side characters that are worth a mention include Mitch Mitchelson, a sneaky little twerp who relishes in causing trouble, Robin who moved next door to the girls and became their new friend (though I wish she appeared in more episodes), Bunny who the girls made in Twisted Sister and who at the end of the episode had a good heart, and the Narrator, who is a funny character that makes clever commentary during the show.
Visually the show still looks incredible even for the time it was made. The character designs all look distinct from one another with mostly sharp noses, varying body times and different hair and clothes. The girls meanwhile maintain their look from Craig's original birthday card albeit with slight differences. The backgrounds are also very well detailed and the city feels like it's populated by a lot of people. The animation got a slight upgrade when it switched from cels to digital and the colors and designs pop much more in the later season.
What truly brings the show as a whole to life is the amazing voice acting on display. Cathy Cavandini, E. G. Daily and Tara Strong were perfectly cast as the main triplets. Each one makes the girls sound very distinct from one another and they have great chemistry with one another. Tom Kane does a good job voicing the Professor and makes him sound like a smart and caring father figure. Tom Kenny shines as both the Narrator and Mayor, Jennifer Hale makes Princess and Ms. Keane sound very distinct from each other and Roger L. Jackson was just perfect as Mojo. Other actors like Jim Cummings, Jeff Bennett and Dee Bradly Baker all make memorable impressions throughout the whole show.
Overall The Powerpuff Girls is a mixed bag of a show with some really good and really bad episodes. At its best it has some great writing, intense action scenes, lovable characters, amazing voice acting and really strong humor. At worst though, it also has terribly written episodes where characters act out of character, the citizens of Townsville are mindless sheep and it’s painfully unfunny. I say at least the first season is the best of the series but each season has at least 1 truly great episode. I recommend giving it a watch for yourself but you’d be forgiven for not wanting to sit through Seasons 5 & 6.
No comments:
Post a Comment