The Powerpuff Girls (2008 film)

“	The three heroes are back. Better and more powerful than ever.	„
	~ Tagline of the film

The Powerpuff Girls
Directed by	Craig McCracken
Screenplay by	Lauren Faust
Written by	Charlie Bean Lauren Faust Craig McCracken Paul Rudish Amy Keating Rogers Don Shank
Based on	The Powerpuff Girls by Craig McCracken
Produced by	Chris Savino Donna Castricone
Starring	Cathy Cavadini Tara Strong E. G. Daily Roger L. Jackson Tom Kane Tom Kenny Jennifer Hale
Music	James L. Venable
Production companies	Cartoon Network Studios Warner Bros. Animation
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	27, 2008 (2008-06-27) (Grauman's Chinese Theatre)  4, 2008 (2008-07-04) (United States)
Running time	78 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$436.8 million

The Powerpuff Girls is a 2008 American animated action superhero film directed by Craig McCracken and is based on the 1998 Cartoon Network animated television series of the same name. The film is produced by showrunner Chris Savino (who produced the original show from 2003 until 2005) and Donna Castricone, and is based on a screenplay by Lauren Faust and a story by Charlie Bean, Lauren Faust, Craig McCracken, Paul Rudish, Amy Keating Rogers and Don Shank. The film is an essential remake of the original 2002 film, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, which was released on July 3, 2002 to become a box office bomb, though was mixed-positively received by critics. The film reprises the cast of the original film, being Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong, E. G. Daily, Roger L. Jackson, Tom Kane, Tom Kenny, and Jennifer Hale.

As a 2008 reboot to the original 2002 film, The Powerpuff Girls was produced by Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. Animation. It was premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre on June 27, 2008 and was released theatrically in the United States on July 4 by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received mostly positive reviews, with critics praising its cast, voice acting (particularly Cavadini, Strong and Daily), animation, soundtrack, humor, tones, and its reliability on its source material. It was also a critical box office success, grossing $436.8 million against its $15 million production budget, with critics claiming it as a significant improvement over its predecessor.

Synopsis

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Plot

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Voice cast

Main article: List of The Powerpuff Girls characters

• Cathy Cavadini as Blossom
• Tara Strong as Bubbles
• E. G. Daily as Buttercup
• Roger L. Jackson as Mojo Jojo
• Tom Kane as Professor Utonium and Talking Dog
• Tom Kenny as the Mayor of Townsville, Narrator, Mitch Mitchelson, Snake, and Lil' Arturo
• Jennifer Hale as Ms. Sandy Keane
• Jennifer Martin as Ms. Sarah Bellum
• Jeff Bennett as Ace, Big Billy, and Grubber
• Grey DeLisle and Phil LaMarr as additional character voices
• Frank Welker as various evil primates
• Kevin Michael Richardson as Rocko Socko and Ojo Tango
• Rob Paulsen as Hotta Watta and Killa Drilla

Production

In 2005, the original 1998 series came to an end. However, in March 2006, showrunner Craig McCracken had started development on a storyboard for a film based on the series. The production on the film soon began in June, with showrunner Chris Savino signing to produce the film. Show writers Charlie Bean and Paul Rudish wrote scripts for the film, with Lauren Faust producing a screenplay for the film.

The casting for the film went underway in August 2006, with Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong and E. G. Daily reprising their roles as the three titular characters. Roger L. Jackson reprises his role as the antagonist of the film, Mojo Jojo, with Tom Kane reprising his role as Professor Utonium and Talking Dog. Tom Kenny also reprises his roles as the Mayor of Townsville, the Narrator, Mitch Mitchelson, Snake, and Lil' Arturo. Jennifer Hale reprised her role as Ms. Sandy Keane, Jennifer Martin as Ms. Sarah Bellum, Jeff Bennett as Ace, Big Billy and Grubber, and Grey DeLisle and Phil LaMarr as additional character voices. Frank Welker voiced various evil primates in the film, and features Kevin Michael Richardson as Rocko Socko and Ojo Tango, and Rob Paulsen as Hotta Watta and Killa Drilla. The voice lines were recorded at the Abbey Road Studios in London, England.

The film's animation was produced at Warner Bros. Animation, and was produced through Rough Draft Studios' division Rough Draft Korea. Additional digital animation and imagery, along with VFX was produced at Mercury Filmworks, with additional animation produced at Munich Animation Film. All work done overseas was later shipped to Los Angeles, California, where the team compiled every shot of the film and compressed it digitally at Cartoon Network Studios. The film, like the original 2002 film, keeps the staple look of the television series with minimal changes, with characters such as the Girls and the Professor having a mostly geometric look. Backgrounds for the film were directly similar to the original 2002 film, and were similar to the Nickelodeon film Hey Arnold!: The Movie, released in 2002.

Music

James L. Venable, who worked on the television series and the 2002 film, composed the film's score, blending traditional orchestration with electronica.

Promotion and release

In January 2008, the film was promoted on Warner Bros. Pictures' website and Cartoon Network's website. The trailer of the film was shown in advertisements on live television for commercial breaks on Cartoon Network. The film was sponsored by fast food chains, including McDonald's and Burger King.

The Powerpuff Girls premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre on June 27, 2008 and was theatrically released on July 4, 2008 by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was later theatrically released in other territories on July 11. In the United States, the film was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for "non-stop frenetic animated action", "mild humor" and "brief language". The film made its television broadcasting debut on Cartoon Network on May 29, 2009.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 194 critic reviews were positive, with an average rating of 7.3 out of 10. Its critical consensus reads "Much like the original, it's essentially a three-part episode. But, with its impressive improvements, The Powerpuff Girls is even more fun and humorous for a whole family to enjoy." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on its A+ to F scale.

Box office

The Powerpuff Girls was theatrically released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on July 4, 2008, and in other territories on July 11. The film grossed $189.3 million in the United States and Canada and $247.5 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $436.8 million against a production budget of $15 million.