The Powerpuff Girls have 4 installments outside normal episodes including three specials and one theatrical film. To finish off this ranking marathon, here is my little ranking of these four. Because that would be kind of an anti-climactic ending, I also included a list of what is currently my top 10 and bottom episodes of the series.
4: The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!: It seems this special got a pretty good response, maybe the best of all four of these and I have to be honest I find that odd as I found few things good about it. I liked the pace of this special which was lightning quick, the way I liked it, and I found the idea that Mojo actually did want to save the world and was a temporarily good ruler who made the world a Utopia a potentially really interesting idea. However outside of those few good points, this special was nonsensical with plot and character points that didn't make sense and jokes that are some of the most juvenile in the series history. The plot point about the key to the word is stated in the special itself to be a dumb plot point, and sure I can stretch my disbelief for the premise, and if that was the only thing that didn't make sense, I'd be fine with it. But the characters are also off. I didn't like it that Blossom's ideal of a perfect world was a matriarchal oligarchy, and Buttercup's was a literally 1984-styled military dictatorship. The only thing I really liked in the plot/character front was Mojo's character arc, and even that is inconsistent as numerous points in the original series showed that Mojo does not think he's a misunderstood good guy, he takes violent pride in being the baddest bad guy in the entire world and would never want to save the day. Truthfully what this reminds me of, and I mean this without exaggeration, are the fan animations made back in the earlier days of the internet. It's technically better animation-wise, but in terms of content it's basically what I would expect.
3: Dance Pantsed: In contrast, Dance Pantsed was met with a harsh response, and I think is maybe a bit better than it was received. That's not to say I think it's amazing perse. The jokes are still often not really meant for adults and children alike, and are more targeted just for children, the plot/characterization are very weird, and Bubbles using ice breath, while it's not a huge error in the grand scheme, is pretty egregious in just how bizarrely a simple mistake it is to make. With that said I got a lot more out of this special. I think some of the jokes, particularly the stuff that's subtly absurdist, things you only realize the problem with if you actually put a thought into it like Buttercup working on a car in their bedroom or the Professor getting basically a 'nam Flashback from dancing, are pretty funny. The art style is obviously the thing everyone counts, and is very different. What I liked about Dance Pantsed is that it felt it had a vision and an ambition for the PPG, much more than Rule did, Rule feeling like a bad translation of the original, Pantsed wanted to do something entirely different and it was a strange take, but it had some of its own charm. It also had a really fast pace which I also appreciate.
2: Twas The Fight Before Christmas: The thing you always hear people complain about with this special is the premise, Princess switches the naughty and nice list and Santa doesn't notice. My complaint is related but a little different, I think people would be a lot more accepting of the premise if it was placed at the start of the special. As it stands this special is halfway in before the girls even start to fix Princess' Christmas Crime. If the special started with Princess switching the lists pre-emptively, acting smug that she would be on the nice list which the girls wouldn't understand, and then when they find out about the coal having Blossom suspect Princess because she was weirdly confident leading to them confronting Princess and than chase to the North Pole. I think a lot of people would accept that element a lot more because of the suspension of disbelief covering the premise of an episode. As it stands while this special does take a while to get going, the fight/chase scene in this special is one of the best, maybe THE best in the entire series and I adore it. It has a lot of the charm of original PPG that the two latter produced specials don't really have. Overall I like it pretty well though I would object to the notion that Santa has a permeant list, just conceptually.
1: The Powerpuff Girls Movie: I really enjoy the PPG Movie. It is a really good distillation of what makes the Powerpuff Girls a good general franchise. Much like Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice, it is a combination of Pathos, Action, and Cuteness imbued with the secret ingredient of the classic superhero aesthetic. I greatly appreciate the film for being a fast-paced mixture of everyone one might want in an animated superhero movie for children; drama and wholesome cuteness, fast-paced action and slowly moody emotional bits. I also greatly appreciate it's shorter runtime at 70 minutes, telling to its efficiency. There are so many good scenes in the film, and while at times it can be maybe a bit excessive in its sadness, I think for the most part it's a very well-balanced film that is an excellent love letter for the PPG.
My Worst Ten Episodes
10: Shut the Pup Up
9: Down N Dirty
8: Roughing It Up
7: Prime Mates
6: Girls Gone Mild
5: Shotgun Wedding
4: Pee Pee Gs
3: Paste Makes Waste
2: Toast of the Town
1: Sun Scream
This list can vary somewhat based on how I'm feeling, but the number one I'm fairly confident with. Generally speaking I don't like episodes with gross elements, which are mean-spirited or are slower-moving. Gross Elements can appear in at least episode every season, though the latter two elements are mostly seasons 5 and 6 which is why I agree they are the weakest two.
My Top Ten Episodes
10: Supper Villain
9: The Powerpuff Girls' Best Rainy Day Adventure
8: Speed Demon
7: Knock It Off
6: Three Girls and a Monster
5: Mime for a Change
4: Twisted Sister
3: Equal Fights
2: All Chalked Up
1: Super Zeroes
Similar to last list, this list is prone to fluctuation with my mood, but I'm pretty confident in my favorite one. I think these episodes broadly make the best usage of the central appeal of the series; three cute little girls being powerful superheroines, as well as the strengths that come from that; fast paced action, fast paced comedy, cute elements, fun superhero elements, and wholesomeness.
I hope you have enjoyed this impromptu analysis of the Powerpuff Girls and I look forward to seeing the reboot.
Excellent blog Imp, and a great way to wrap up the PPG coverage reviewing the same little bonus things that they made to help wrap up the series near its end. This was a very fun blog series that I really enjoyed, both in remembering how awesome a lot of the great episodes of this show were, or even laughing at some of its more out there or lack luster episodes. It's fine cause this is a show I grew up with and can embrace flaws and all like an old friend. Fitting to that, wow the PPG Bonus material really varies in quality a lot. I ofcourse adore the Powerpuff Girls movie, its one of the only Cartoon films I saw in theathers, along with the first Spongebob Movie, and Loved it as a great and themeatic origin story for the girls that payed tribute to much of what the show offered. I also have very fond memories of the Fight Before Christmas, yeah things like how unattentive Santa is bothered me in Hindsight but at the time I didnt even noticed and just loved how cool it was that the PPG met Santa and how he can give Superpowers as a gift Rule and Dance Pantsed however i don't have near as much love for as I was a lot older when they came out. I actually remeber thinking Dance Pantsed was alright though and heard good things about it, it was a little silly and the fact Bubbles uses Ice Breath multiple times is very distracting but I had fun. Rule on the other hand is just kinda not good, and I don;t know what they were smoking when they made it :P Overall lovely work Imp and I'm looking forward to your next lil project like this
ReplyDeleteHard agree on Powerpuff Girls Rulez. I remember it being an incredibly fast paced and silly special, though not really amazing or anything. I assume they just wanted to make the special a fun tenth anniversary celebration of the series so they didn’t worry too much about plot. Dance Pantsed I don’t even think I watched, but it sounds interesting at least. I remember loving the Twas the Fight Before Christmas special a lot, especially the chase scene. The thing with Santa’s list didn’t really bother me at all personally. The PPG movie did a great job of feeling like a cinematic version of the tv series while still being pretty funny and having great action. Your rankings for best and worst episodes doesn’t surprise me too much, though interesting how a season 1 episode managed to make third place on your worst list. It’s hard to choose a personal favorite episode, but Equal Fights, Mime for a Change, and Speed Demon all stick out to me in the series as memorable experiences. So overall, fun little blog series! A nice trip down memory lane, and interesting to see your personal perspective on all these episodes.
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