The Powerpuff Girls (2002)

Director:

Craig McCracken

Writers:

Craig McCracken (television series "The Powerpuff Girls")
Charlie Bean (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

3 July 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Sugar, spice and everything nice...these were the ingredients to create the perfect...crime-fighting little girls?

Plot:

The movie shows the origin of the Powerpuff Girls before the cartoon series. It explains why they were born and why they dedicated their lives to fighting crime and the forces of evil.

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Monkey | Powerpuff Girls | Villain | Sister

Cast

Cathy Cavadini	...	Blossom (voice) (as Catherine Cavadini)
Tara Strong	...	Bubbles (voice)
Elizabeth Daily	...	Buttercup (voice) (as E.G. Daily)
Roger Jackson	...	Mojo Jojo (voice)
Tom Kane	...	Professor Utonium (voice)
Tom Kenny	...	Mayor / Narrator / Ka-Ching Ka-Ching (voice)
Jennifer Hale	...	Ms. Keane (voice)
Jennifer Martin	...	Sara Bellum (voice)
Jeff Bennett	...	Ace / Big Billy / Grubber / Baboon Kaboom / Go-Go Patrol / Hacha Chacha (voice) (as Jeff Glen Bennett)
Grey DeLisle	...	Linda / Woman at Zoo (voice)
Phil LaMarr	...	I.P. Host / Local Anchor (voice)
Rob Paulsen	...	Hota Wata / Killa Drilla / Blah-Blah Blah-Blah / the Doot Da Doot Da Doo Doos (voice)
Kevin Michael Richardson	...	Rocko Socho / Ojo Tango (voice)
Frank Welker	...	Whole Lotta Monkeys (voice)

Directed by
Craig McCracken

Writing credits
Craig McCracken		(television series "The Powerpuff Girls")
Charlie Bean		(writer) &
Lauren Faust		(writer) &
Craig McCracken		(writer) &
Paul Rudish		(writer) &
Don Shank		(writer)
Amy Rogers		story

Produced by
Donna Castricone	....	producer
Michael Lazzo	....	co-executive producer (as Mike Lazzo)
Craig McCracken	....	executive producer
Brian A. Miller	....	executive producer
Mark Norman	....	co-executive producer
Jennifer Pelphrey	....	supervising producer
Linda Simensky	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
Christopher Neal Nelson
James L. Venable

Film Editing by
Rob Desales

Art Direction by
Mike Moon

Production Management
Ryan Robertson	....	production manager
Chrisie Rosenthal	....	production manager

Art Department
Chris Battle	....	property designer
Charlie Bean	....	storyboard artist
Lauren Faust	....	storyboard artist
Craig McCracken	....	storyboard artist
Chris Roszak	....	lead background painter
Paul Rudish	....	storyboard artist
Don Shank	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Timothy Borquez	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Timothy J. Borquez)
Roy Braverman	....	sound editor
Roy Braverman	....	sound effects editor
Eric Freeman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Morten Folmer Nielsen	....	adr editor
Morten Folmer Nielsen	....	adr recordist
Daisuke Sawa	....	sound editor
Joel Valentine	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
Michel Gagné	....	special effects animator
Gary Sole	....	special effects animator

Visual Effects by
John Dillon	....	effects supervisor
Andy Jolliff	....	senior technical director
Kent McCormick	....	visual effects supervisor: Mercury Filmworks
Rick Moser	....	technical director
Kevin M. O'Neil	....	effects animator
Kristina Pace	....	compositor
Andrea Romero	....	digital producer
Kenneth Sullivan	....	lighting artist
Matt Rasmussen	....	CGI artist (uncredited)

Animation Department
Steve Avila	....	background layout
Chris Battle	....	character designer
Chris Battle	....	layout artist
Andy Bialk	....	character designer
Wim Bien	....	animator
Ted Blackman	....	background layout
Edgar Carlos	....	background layout
Carrie Cheney	....	character layout artist (as Carrie Buell)
Paul A. Davies	....	animator
Dave Dunnet	....	background layout
Lauren Faust	....	character designer
Frederick J. Gardner III	....	layout artist
Shakeh Haghnazarian	....	character designer
Cathlin Hidalgo	....	character layouts
Christopher Holt	....	background layout
Craig Kellman	....	character designer
Bob Kline	....	background layout (as Robert Kline)
Dave Kupczyk	....	animator
Dave Kupczyk	....	character layouts
Bob Logan	....	character designer
Matthew Maners	....	animator
Craig McCracken	....	character designer
Kenny McGill	....	background layout (as Kenneth McGill)
John Navarez	....	background layout
Lou Police	....	background layout (as Louis M. Police)
Dexter Smith	....	character designer
Paul Stec	....	background layout
Genndy Tartakovsky	....	animation director
Justin Thompson	....	background layout (as Justin K. Thomson)
Ryan Jeremy Woodward	....	animator
Carey Yost	....	character designer
Bill Perkins	....	layout supervisor: overseas (uncredited)

Music Department
Dell Hake	....	conductor
Matt McKenna	....	musician
Gretchen O'Neal	....	music production coordinator
Joe Privitelli	....	music editor
Steven L. Smith	....	music preparation

Other crew
Brian Ainslie	....	senior technical director
Neacol Booth	....	assistant coordinator
Ray Felipe	....	script researcher
Chris Grun	....	production coordinator
Lajos Kamocsay	....	senior technical director
Dave Scarpitti	....	technical director
Collette Sunderman	....	voice director (as Collette Bennett Sunderman)
Dominic Tremblay	....	technical director
Ian Wasseluk	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures
• Cartoon Network

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Warner Sogefilms S.A. (2002) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• 7ATE9 Entertainment  DVD production
• Act One Script Clearance  script research
• Primal Screen  dvd extras
• Savage Frog!  computer animation (uncredited)
• Virtualmagic Animation Inc.  digital ink, paint, and compositing

Also Known As:

The Powerpuff Girls Movie (USA) (promotional title)
The Powerpuff Girls: The Movie (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for non-stop frenetic animated action.

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:U | Denmark:7 | South Korea:All | Canada:G (Alberta/Quebec) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | South Africa:PG | USA:PG (certificate #39077) | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G (cable rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Germany:6 | Norway:7 | Peru:PT | Philippines:G | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

When giant Mojo Jojo rips open the side of the building he's climbing with the Powerpuff Girls in tow, it shows the interior of the second floor of Cartoon Network studios with caricatures of the actual employees.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the "tag" game in the City of Townsville, the subway exit sign above where Blossom comes out reads "Subway West". When Bubbles brakes to a stop just before Blossom tags her, it changes to "West Subway". Then after Bubbles flies off (and just before the Professor drives up), it becomes "Subway West" again.

Quotes:

Professor Utonium: Girls! You've come...
Mojo Jojo: Quiet! I was afraid of this. They have returned and figured out what their powers can really do. Come. You will make a good power-proof vest.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Powerpuff Girls: Who, What, When, Where, Why... Who Cares? (2009) (V)

Soundtrack:

PowerPunk

Adorable. Clean. Empowering. Fun.

Amidst a year of big eye candy live action movies that will make a ton of money and lame teen comedies that everybody but me seems to find funny, a movie like The Powerpuff Girls isn't likely to stand out. However, this fresh little charmer should be given more than just a fair shot. Sour disappointments like Attack of the Clones and Undercover Brother pale in comparison in many themes and elements to this bouncy, giddy movie.

Last year was a very good year for computer generated animated movies. For me, though, only Shrek wowed me. Monsters, Inc. was a good if fluffy entry from Pixar. Ice Age was also amusing but left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth. And I don't even want to know about Final Fantasy. This year, it seems that low budget traditionally animated movie reign supreme. Two appear to be duds. Hey Arnold the Movie looks like very cheap, rank garbage. I'll reserve judgement on Spirit, but needless to say I won't be rushing out to see it until it's available for rent at a video store. Then along came Lilo and Stitch, and I was overjoyed. Never before have I felt so alive watching an animated movie. Now add this movie to the "good" pile. It's not Lilo and Stitch, but anybody who thinks that it's trying to be needs to have their brain re-wired.

Granted, you need to be a fan of the series to enjoy the movie. Or at the very least, you have to be open-minded and willing to check out what all the fuss is about. No doubt many critics will pick at the movie's "cheap animation". If you're looking for Disney style brilliance, watch another movie. The Powerpuff Girls has its own brand of style that I still find to be superior to flatly drawn, pandering animated movies like much of Don Bluth and fare like Ferngully. Unlike all of the other cartoons-turned-big-screen movies, The Powerpuff Girls is actually fun to look at. Many scenes are positively magical, some where the animation becomes more fluid than usual to suit the need, others that are a dizzying array of exciting camera angles and colors. In fact this movie is so hyperactive, you'll either go "WOW!" or "What?"

The scripting is a hundred times more well thought out than any of its "cartoon based movies" counterparts that came before, whether it's Transformers, Pokemon, or Winnie the Pooh with The Tigger Movie. The Powerpuff Girls is smooth and clean and never overstays its welcome. There are no cliches, no plot points that seem weird, no sudden changes in pacing and direction that plague many animated and live action movies. The characters are oddly endearing, and there are many moments of warmth and just feeling good. The relationship between the professor and the girls is strangely touching. Other moments are genuinely shocking, heartbreaking, and dramatic in a light kind of way. The climax is suitably ridiculous, with bad puns galore, but there is no shortage of excitement. There is also a running gag in this movie that is quite unexpected. Yet ultimately what makes this movie shine is what's buried beneath this cream puff movie, a message about accepting the gifts that make one special and unique as well as the importance of showing love to those that are shunned and deemed "freaks".

Fans of the series will notice that this movie is not as zany as most of the series' episodes or many of Disney's movies. Yet The Powerpuff Girls was a welcome surprise that I was initially wary of. It is a fresh, light-hearted, bouncy break from the mess that is 2002 and is quite the refreshing change from modern Disney. Go ahead and see Men in Black 2 if you want, but I, personally, would wait until Two Towers came out and skip everything else in favor of Lilo and Stitch and this movie. No, The Powerpuff Girls isn't going to floor you. But if Lilo and Stitch is this year's filet mignon, then The Powerpuff Girls is this year's peanut butter and jelly sandwich--simple, sometimes hard to swallow, but ultimately delicious.