The Powerpuff Girls
By Joly Herman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Sugar, spice, and mayhem add up to a frenetic and fun world.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.
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The Powerpuff Girls
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What's the Story?
Blossom (voiced by Cathy Cavadini), Bubbles (Tara Strong), and Buttercup (Elizabeth Daily) were brought into the world quite by accident when klutzy Professor Utonium (Tom Kane) spilled a bottle of Chemical X into a formula that was intended to make "little girls." After the accident, sugar and spice and everything nice morphed into three fighting dynamos called THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, whose goal is to "save the world before bedtime."
Is It Any Good?
Sure, they're cute, and the animation is nicely stylized, but this is still your standard superhero setup. Some might say that The Powerpuff Girls is meant to empower little girls -- to give them their own action heroes -- while others might see the frenetic fighting as over-the-top and not a great influence. Checking in with your younger kids about how they feel after watching a scary or brutal episode might be a way to gauge whether this show is appropriate for them. But tweens and teens will get a kick out of the bubbly, butt-kicking trio and their adventures.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the show's violence. Why do all the girls' problems need to be solved via mayhem and destruction? Is it the villains' fault, or could the girls resolve their conflicts in other ways? Do you think viewers are meant to take the violence seriously, or is it all "good cartoon fun"? Can the littlest viewers understand the distinction?
TV Details
- Premiere date: November 18, 1998
- Cast: Cathy Cavadini, Elizabeth Daily, Tara Strong
- Network: Cartoon Network
- Genre: Kids' Animation
- Topics: Superheroes, Adventures, Friendship
- TV rating: TV-Y7
- Last updated: December 22, 2022
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