The Powerpuff Girls' Failed Revivals 

Hey! Since music credits are back on-screen again, these comments are going to be like little commentary corners/a place where I can clarify myself even though the majority of people won't see this. - I was inspired to do a Powerpuff Girls video after using clips of it for like 5 seconds in the Best & Worst of 2021 countdown. I already have plans to cover the Movie elsewhere, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, so I decided to buckle down and research for a video that I was going to do when the live-action CW reboot "Powerpuff" came out. Buuuut, The CW is on its deathbed, there hasn't been news on "Powerpuff" in over six months, and a new Kid Cosmic Season with PPG references is on its way, so I thought this would be a fun project to complete! I have very convoluted ways of deciding when to tackle video topics. - I made a slick teaser for this video on Twitter! I thought it would be a fun way to promote it as opposed to simply tweeting out the thumbnail: twitter.com/itsnicktendo/status/1488618237331976200 - I apologize in advance for the search results joke in the Dream in Style segment. This actually happened to me and I feel obligated to let everyone know about it because I couldn't get it to happen again. A few people on Twitter claimed that I faked the search and no? Why would I do that??? twitter.com/itsnicktendo/status/1478855107785723912 -Fun Fact: Pre-NICKtendo, I reviewed "Dance Pantsed" on the RU-vid Channel that I had WAY back in 2014 when this special was new. I didn't back up any of those videos and they are thankfully lost now! I'm glad that I finally got a chance to cover this again, 'cause like I said, it helped introduce me to one of my favorite cartoons. - I didn't get to mention it because Shadow took over this segment, but those first six Issues of the 2013 IDW Comic? One of my favorite Powerpuff Girls stories ever. If they ever do another animated reboot, they should try to do a thematically deep story arc like that. Also let me know if you want me to cover Super Secret Crisis War! I read it as it was released and uh, I have some thoughts. -Most of my notes for the leaked CW pilot script boiled down to "this line is poorly written", which is why I tried to keep that segment brief. Maybe the actual show will come out and it will be really exciting, really funny, and really respectful of the source material. Y'know, if it comes out. Bottom line, I didn't see a point in critiquing this like a final product. -"The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!" is so great. I know it's not technically a "failed revival", since it was always meant to be a one shot, but I love it too much to not include it. It's rightfully listed as the last episode of the series on HBO Max, so go check it out there! I wish Cartoon Network let more creators return to their old projects, cause this, Ben 10, and Adventure Time remain the exception to the rule. And that about wraps up this commentary corner! I'm NICKtendo, and thank you for watching, or at least I hope you watched the video if you made it this far!

I think the problem is that these executives don't understand what made the Powerpuff Girls so great they tried to make it more girly and mature

I do agree with Craig's take that the dream in style series didn't really send a good message, though I'm personally a big fan of the character designs and the overall style, so Kudos to Lynne Naylor.

I might be in the minority, but I really like the artstyle for Dance Pants. Would actually like an original cartoon with that style in the future.

Craig should've restricted *ANYONE* from ever touching one of his creations again, an don't wanna think what there gonna do to Foster's.

The fact that Dick in the episode "Knock It Off" ended up becoming the perfect representation of how these Hollywood/Studio executives saw the Powerpuff Girls franchise.

Craig McCracken just wanted the show to end and move onto new things, but Cartoon Network is wanting to milk the PPGs for every penny they're worth. At least Craig got a new Netflix cartoon now.

Apparently every studio does exactly the opposite of what Craig intended. He wanted the show to appeal to boys and girls, while showing the contrast of feminine heroes fighting villains in violent ways. It was also very ahead of its time for corporate gender marketing, where the show wasnt strictly feminine or masculine on either end of the stereotypes but a blend based on a joke.

It's truly saddening that society as we know it actively avoids the fact that television peaked with Mojo Jojo covering Tears for Fears back in 2009

In Latin America, there was an entire month celebrating the 10th anniversary of the series, and they celebrated by making bumpers of all the other cartoons at the time trying to sneak in the Powerpuff Girls house during a party. Unfortunately, all those bumpers became lost media.

As a kid, The Powerpuff Girls was one of my favourite shows, and anyone who thought it was "oNlY fOr GiRlS" could be darned. Because it never felt that it was just targeted towards girls or boys specifically, it would just so happen that the epic, crime-fighting heroes were girls (and the show had blood in it so it was cool for mid-to-late 2000's). As sad and dissapointing, yet still enjoyable, as the reboot was, I'm glad it did happen. Because of it I would always have an excuse to look back at the earlier seasons in the original and get my fix of nostalgia. Plus, the reboot allowed us to get a short LEGO Dimensions line, which was one of my childhood dreams. Looking at these failed attempts to bring it back makes me want to cry into a pillow, especially the one used to PROMOTE CLOTHING. It essentially just spat on the original take and what it was all about. And turned them into stylised, shopping-obsessed BRATZ dolls. Though on another note, I am tempted to watch the anime adaptation (despite not being a big anime-watcher). I'm just scared for the future of the series, especially if the live-action one does come to happen. It'll never be the same. Personally, it'd take a more comical approach with characters not very different from the way they are in the original show (I'm thinking with Young Sheldon/modern sitcom vibes) to make it an enjoyable live-action adaptation for me. But hey, I'm sure there are many people who'd like the idea we're hearing of in the meantime.

This video deserves to exist just to highlight the origin of the ‘Bismarck is the capital of north dakota’ meme at 9:33

Honestly what I would've liked in a revival(or sequel) is Have it be fully animated with the Powerpuff Girls as teenagers(without lipsticks) dealing with daily struggles while battling enemies old and new. I mean the CW Adult Powerpuff show? They might as well be called The Powerpuff Women by this point.

Yes, let's turn kindergarten girls into "Garden Tools". That's totally not creepy as hell.

God, that CW show sounded like it couldn't possibly be real by how bad it all sounded. It's actually laughable.

And now there’s another Powerpuff Girls revival in the works at Hanna Barbera Studios Europe (the same studio who is making The Amazing World of Gumball movie) with Craig McCracken involved. Hopefully it’s good!

When I saw this in my Sub box, I thought it was ShadowStreak at first. Great to see he shows up in this video. Nice job, guys!

Honestly, I think that the best way to do an adult take on the Powerpuff Girls would be to show the cast dealing with adult situations while staying in character and not being a generic adult cartoon. Imagine if the Rowdyruff Boys tried alcohol that they stole only to hate it and try and destroy the city of Townsville’s supply of alcohol. Mojo Jojo destroying mailboxes across the city so that people couldn’t pay taxes and thus get arrested for tax evasion only to find out that people are doing their taxes online. The girls thinking that one of their villains (Possibly HIM) is out to touch them in a way that made them uncomfortable.

You know, I don't know how I should feel about how everyone just seem to forgot Powerpuff Girl Z exists. For what it is worth, I really enjoy this spin-off, different style, story and setting but same premise. Granted it never got air on western TV and it is pretty hard to find ways to watch it so I guess it make sense as to it seems to be the red headed step-child of the series. Still, I hope someone someday would still take a look into this series...

The idea of aging up the Powerpuff Girls can work, but only if the writers actually care about the story and characters, and not try to make another Teen Titans Go.

Personally I think that Dance Pantsed special is pretty good. It’s not boring, jokes might be good, action is nice, style is superb, especially moving sequences. Sure, it has flows, like Bubbles’ Ice Breath, or girls being brats and destroying supermarket, but overall it was fine, much better and more fun to watch than many 5 and 6 season episodes. If the 2016 reboot was like this, it would have been much much better.

About 'Dream in Style', I love the idea of the Powerpuff Girls pursuing fashion, as someone who loves fashion, although I think the message of this campaign would've been good if the girls treated fashion as more of a venture or hobby instead of as a way to avoid crime-fighting. I absolutely agreed with Craig, as my eyes widened when I saw the girls ignore the emergency hotline. The fighting scene made me giggle, and I was happy to see a return of the broccoli aliens from "Beat Your Greens". In regard to the Powerpuff Girls as teenagers, I've always enjoyed this idea because similarly to "All Grown Up" from Nickelodeon, I loved seeing the main characters growing up. The lipstick was also a nice touch. I also thought the rejected comic cover was pretty cool, and again, I'm sure they were designed to be age-progressed and not kindergarteners with adult bodies.

Network that aired Buffy the vampire slayer: “we just don’t know how to do a snappy female fronted action series with heavy comic book influence :(“

Man, that episode with "Dick" was ahead of time as if it was actually a warning about rebooting a show just for money.

the dream in style and dance pants art styles are so good it is unreal. there's definitely some weird things to both of them (i can't argue that the girls look a bit off in dance pants) but they at least *look and feel* like a lot of effort was put into them.

Only NICKtendo can save my crippling boredom and get me inspired to write and make stuff, even after college classes, keep it up champ

Coming back to this after Craig announced he was back with CN reboot PPG & Foster’s. I’m cautiously optimistic

As a former Powerpuff Girls superfan just now revisiting the series, this video was just one punch in the face after another, and I loved it. How were Ringo Starr, Tears for Fears, and DEVO all involved in one of my favorite cartoons?!

Thanks for asking me to be a part of this Nick! You did a great job covering all of these different iterations!

It should stay a cartoon. Trying to make it into a irl show is horrible. Like what they did to Winx Club.

Miraculous Ladybug kind of reminds me of Powerpuff Girls Z, with both shows having the heroes go through a Sailor Moon transformation whenever they need fight crime and save the city, and having innocent bystanders be possessed by an outside force (Black Z-Rays, Hawk Moth's akumas).

that pulled cover just made me think that the Powerpuff Girls underwent a yassification process

If they cannot get Craig, Lauren, nor Genndy, they should just go with something completely different, like Z, instead of failing to emulate the original, like 2016.

"while it was still good". Obviously McCracken was unaware what Savino has done to the show in the last two seasons.

A problem with these revivals is that these people just don’t know how to balance out dark storylines with light hearted storylines

I always had an idea for PPG reboot, which was basicly Jellystone! but with Cartoon Cartoon characters.

Great vid Nick! I need to check out more of those comics, they look great!

2:42 Those broccoli alien designs scared the hell out of me as a kid!

I've got two of the comic books from when I was in a comic shop in Boston, as a little kid. I had no idea they were a short collector's thing, but for a while now I've been looking for the rest of them anytime I go to a comic shop! I guess I probably won't be seeing them there anytime soon, so thank you for all the detailed information in this video! Ppg were one of my introductions to cartoons, and they hold a very special place in my heart :)

man the Powerpuff Girls was way ahead of its time, used to watch it all the time on VHS! underrated opinion, but Dance Pants' artstyle is actually a really unique take on their designs, I really like the aesthetic of it! so glad that the 2020/2021 "reboot" movie didn't happen, ever since the script got leaked, things went downhill QUICK! 😂 such a pain to read thru all of that... to be honest, it was fun to laugh at it while high tho LOL! and the fact that they were considering making Mojo Jojo a human and have a crush on Blossom!?! 💀 the movie was already doomed to fail... also you had me wheezing at 12:00! "yes that's _actually_ his name" 🤣 your humor and editing is on point! 👌

Oh God I really hope they reconsider of canceling the upcoming dumpster fire that is CW Powerpuff Girls live action show it's going to make the 2016 Powerpuff Girls look like a masterpiece.

I really hope that CW live action reboot never gets the chance to see the light of day.

You know, instead of a live-action CW series, I wish that the folks at Cartoon Network and Craig McCracken himself to join forces with Warner Animation Group, the people who made The LEGO Movie and Space Jam: A New Legacy to create a full-length, stylish CG-animated Powerpuff Girls movie to set up some kind of Cinematic Universe.

As a CN fan I always liked power puff girls not because the fact that many consider it a girl show but it's neither a boy or a girl show it focuses on your typical day to day with Townsville being attacked by monsters then have the power puff girls deal with it but on the other hand having their own problems that people deal with in their life.

IDW cartoon network series and non-superheroes comics in generally are always underrated. Comic book readers are niche enough, which makes the smaller comic titles even more niche.

Omg I had that folder on your desk in 4th grade! I got it and a bunch of other Cartoon Network merch after writing a petition to get the station in my area! 2 months later and we got it!!!!

My sisters had a PPG Dream and Style coloring book when I was very little (I was like 3 or so), and I have no idea why but it's been a memory in my head for like nearly 20 years Also, the Dance Pantsed artstyle is great

If any of you are actually interested in what the PPG in highschool would be like-- check out "More than Human" by Sbj. Easily the best fanfic on the subject-- also people have made a ton of fan art for it.

Sometimes dead is better.

I remember around 2010 I read a fan comic called Powerpuff Girls D and it took place in cartoon network city where all the other classic and even some of the new cartoon network characters lived. They even had Dexter from Dexter's Lab as a classmate and they would team up with other characters like Coop from Megas XLR, Dexter, Samurai Jack and a bunch of other characters. Basically if FusionFall was a comic.

Dance pantsed did at least have the spirit, voice actors, and even some ideas from the actual power puff girls and I do enjoy it better than the 2016 reboot

Great video, Nick! I consider the 1998 Powerpuff Girls series to be Cartoon Network's best original series. The first 4 seasons and the movie were awesome! The PPG comics, from IDW, sound very cool. I hope to read them, someday.

As a young kid, PPG was my favorite show. In fact, it was the first fandom I ever joined. So, I have a really personal connection with it. I remember after school, I would turn on the TV and watch reruns on Boomerang (before it just began to show Tom and Jerry 24/7). When I watched PPG 2015, I hated it with all my heart. I found it not that good and I couldn't get into it. I oddly never watched the 2009 special in full, so I have no comment about it. I watched PPGZ episodes on YT and I liked it as a kid (probably because it was very hyper). The 2014 special was also okay when I watched it back then. I read the entire CW pilot script in full, it's very unfaithful to the original. I felt like I was reading fanfiction instead of a real pilot. It's the CW so I expect the worse of this reboot.

I love your video so much Nickteno keep up the good work man

I freaking loved PPGZ.

I remember I was always excited to see the Powerpuff Girls on TV (the older series). It was a blast!

I actually owned the Hastings variant cover of the first issue pictured at 8:05, its really neat to se it in a Nicktendo video

The CW adaptation honestly makes the 2016 reboot look like the Mona Lisa

In my opinion, there was nothing wrong with the cover at 7:34-7:40. Besides, it would have been a variant cover: if people didn't like it, they could've just gotten the regular cover.

I remember that the 10th anniversary special didn't air on the UK Cartoon Network, so I watched it on youtube. It was a sped up and in low quality. With how dense the special was, it being sped up made it feel like a fever dream.

as per the thumbnail, I'd have loved a revival of PPG of that sort with all three of them fighting a giant BBC.

ngl, the Power Puff Girls Rule!!! was what introduced me to the song "everybody wants to rule the world" so whenever I hear it anywhere I keep remembering that scene. I didn't even remember where I saw that so thanks for reminding me about it!

I love the new vid mr NICK

Loved this

Keep it up on your work and this video and channel

If fanworks were allowed when discussing this topic, I think Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi would have worth covering.

Up until now, I though that Dream In Style was just a fever dream.

I had no idea the 10th anniversary special existed until now. I got to say, for Flash animation it actually looks pretty good. I'll have to check it out.

o7 thank you for this!

If we just got more one off specials every 2 years I don't think anyone would be disappointed. It would almost be a huge event to look forward to, maybe they could've done this a little more and maybe brought Craig on board to make it better rather than that whole reboot. That would've been better imo.

Apparently you cannot replicate your past success no matter how hard you try.

I love this video

I remember seeing the live-action Powerpuff Girls trailer on RU-vid someday it looks like a fan project

Time for PPG: No Way Home

Aquatic Time from Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity as background music? Great taste!

Thanks you for your video and channel

I know I’m probably not the first person to make this take, but the main premise CW PPG is just so fundamentally flawed. On paper, I don’t hate the idea of the Powerpuff Girls retiring from the super hero gig and trying to live regular lives as young adult twenty-somethings. I mean, if I had superpowers and used them to fight a plethora of dangerous criminals, including a demon who one time brainwashed my loved ones into hating me, forcing me to beat the crap out of them to snap them out of it, all while I’m still in *kindergarten*… yeeeaah I’d maybe Wanna take a gap year or two and take a break from the whole hero thing, too. The retired superhero thing is not a groundbreaking premise for a super hero show or movie by any means (Spider-Man 2 and the Incredibles did something similar), but I feel like, if handled well, you could get a lot of compelling drama out of it. However, the idea that most of the girls hang ups about being heroes stemed from Professor Utonium exploiting the girls’s fame as heroes for his own gain just feels so out of character. Yes, I understand it’s a different continuity and they’re allowed to take some creative liberties with the portrayal of the characters, but I feel like in any reboot or reimagining, you still have to stay true to the core of the characters while doing your own thing, and the CWs vision for Professor Utonium goes against everything the character in the original show stood for. The original Professor Utonium always cared about the girls as his daughters first and for most, not as heroes or a get rich quick scheme. They even make a point of this in that one episode where Utonium’s old college friend comes over, sees the girls and tries to convince Utonium he could make money from their cuteness and such, but Utonium refuses since he genuinely loves the girls and would never want to exploit them like that. And there are plenty more examples of Utonium genuinely caring about the girls and not using them or their powers for his own benefit. So the CW version feels like a complete 180 that not only feels way too jarring, but a complete insult to the original Utonium.

I'm somewhat looking forward to the CW Powerpuff Girls series. Not because I think it'll be good (God no, it'll be awful), but because I love a good trashfire. Like with Ghostbusters 2016 or Santa Inc.; a product people hate while the people behind the product desperately try to defend themselves/attack people who criticize said product.

The OG PPG series always has been and probably always will be the best one of them all

HOLY SUPER CURSED FRAME. 2:57 D:

I just knew about IDW's existence when I heard Sonic comics would be made by them (tho I'm not into comics or manga for now, I'll someday start to read some), think it's kinda cool PPG also got comics from IDW, as both franchises were important to me as child

I remember seeing the initial promo for the 10th anniversary marathon back when it aired and being sad that I missed it because I was still in school. Also, Dance Pantsed doesn't look that bad in hindsight now that the two reboots decided to crash and burn.

Yoyoyo Nicky nicker tendo man back at it again with a video 🧐

Powerpuff girls z was dope and meaningful. I actually teared up

0:53 I know this is unrelated-but I really love the use of green,blue and pink and black as the background here.

Holy shit I literally haven't heard of The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!! until just now

I completely forgot that they goofed by having Bubbles use Ice Breath in Dance Pants.

ANY franchise can get a good reboot AS LONG AS IT'S IN THE RIGHT HANDS! The original series' last 2 seasons were bad because the writers and producers didn't seem to properly understand the show. Dance Pantsed has a decent art style, the characters look decent (except for Mojo Jojo, who looks a little scary) and maybe with a few more rewrites, it could've been something special! The 2016 Powerpuff Girls series wasn't just the worst cartoon of the 2010s (I consider TTG! to be the 2nd worst), it was one of the MOST DESPERATE cartoons I'd ever seen. Pandering to kids, referencing smartphones and memes (I even uploaded a pic to DeviantArt of OG Blossom beating up 2016 Blossom with the original hotline phone!) and being made more to sell toys than tell interesting stories. I hope I'm right in thinking the 2021 live action series will never see the light of day, if you remake an animated property in live action, chances are you're missing the point as to why the original was animated in the first place! If there really is another Powerpuff cartoon on the way, I will give it a chance, as I did the 2016 series. I can name a number of good reboots of older cartoons: Danger Mouse 2015, Thunderbirds 2015, Morph 2016, Ducktales 2017 and the new Paddington series! They work because the people at the helm know what makes the originals as well loved as they are! Danger Mouse 2015 and Ducktales 2017 even improve on what made the original 80s shows as good as they are, and the new Paddington series even has Paddington's movie VA reprising his role as the London-dwelling Peruvian bear! A new Powerpuff Girls series is something I could do, providing I give it the right quality assurance, get the girls' original VAs back onboard (one exception being Blossom's Brazillian VA, who died last year) and show how much I love the source material!

I was in high school when the original run of PPG first aired and it was a show my mother, my brother (admittedly he was 2), and myself quite enjoyed. My mother's favorite episode was in fact Bubblevicious just because the cute character wanted to be "HARD CORE" due to being always portrayed as the baby!

PPG 2016’s creator was under fire for adding a self-insert as Blossom’s crush.

I would love to see an [adult swim] PPG cartoon.

There is Webtoon comic called Powerpuff Girls Ascension and it's really good. There are Five Chapters and I'm hoping new chapters are being made soon

9:21 here is the rare sighting of the bratty lives off of daddy's money, Powerpuff girl wannabe aka princess morebucks being a nice person for once

The style they went for with the characters in Dance Pantsed may not be the best, but the locations look absolutely phenomenal.

I think it’s that the executives tried to make the Netflix decision and make it more mature in the live action.

I ❤️ this video and channel

CW PPG failed because having Blossom almost say fuck is the type of joke that would come from a shitty newgrounds fan animation in 2006

OMG WHY have we never heard of these nightmares before? I mean you would think with how vocal we are on the 2016 reboot , the live action TV series and how NO ONE talks about PPG Z except for people trying to get in to anime ... that some one some place would have made an internet video sooner then this calling out such horrible designs as "Not faithful" the best way to do a reboot of any thing is the TMNT or Batman method. Show us a clearly different time line unaffected by or in multiverse with the original. That or do like Star Trek and show us same story but far far apart from the original.

I was five in 2004, and I would have loved the teenager ppg from the beginning. For the people who was young back then, it could show that the PPG grew up just like we did

Not sure if the no neck Joe reference was in the footage all ready but if not I appreciate it