The Powerpuff Girls Movie
The Powerpuff Girls Movie is a 2002 American animated superhero comedy based on the TV series The Powerpuff Girls. Directed by series creator Craig McCracken, the film tells the origin of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. After Professor Utonium spills a bottle of Chemical X into their sugar-and-spice mixture, three superpowered sisters are created. The girls quickly grow to love each other as a family, but their first big adventures lead to trouble in the city of Townsville.
On their first day of school, a game of tag with their new powers causes lots of destruction downtown. The Professor asks them not to use their powers in public, and the townspeople soon ostracize the girls. The Professor is jailed, and the sisters try to get home on foot. They’re rescued by Jojo, a chimpanzee who was once the Professor’s lab assistant and who has gained intelligence after the Chemical X accident. Jojo tricks the girls into helping him build a machine that uses Chemical X to turn primates into mutants, and he later renames himself Mojo Jojo to take credit for the girls’ alleged misdeeds.
Mojo Jojo’s plan destroys Townsville, and the Professor is released from jail in time to see the consequences. The girls, feeling responsible, exile themselves to an asteroid. Mojo Jojo leads an army of mutants to conquer the planet, while the banished sisters decide to return to save the city. After Buttercup stops a giant mutant ape, Blossom convinces her sisters to fight back with their powers. Mojo Jojo is defeated, grows huge after overdosing on Chemical X, and is shrunk back to his normal size by an antidote the Professor brings. Townsville’s people apologize, and the Mayor asks the girls to resume their crime-fighting duties. With the Professor’s blessing, the Powerpuff Girls become the city’s beloved heroes, “The Powerpuff Girls.”
Production notes: The film, Cartoon Network Studios’ first theatrical release, kept the TV series’ look while telling a bigger story. McCracken and co-writers crafted a hybrid of action and character focus. The animation was primarily done by Rough Draft Korea, with additional work by Mercury Filmworks and others; final assembly was in Los Angeles. The score was composed by James L. Venable, blending orchestration with electronic influences. The movie was designed to appeal to both kids and older fans, not just a young audience, and it avoided large musical numbers in favor of letting the story drive the pace. Promotion included contests, toys, and tie-ins, with a limited marketing push compared to other 2002 animated releases. It opened in theaters on July 3, 2002, alongside a Dexter’s Laboratory short.
Reception and box office: The Powerpuff Girls Movie received generally positive reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes score around 64% and a Metacritic score in the mid-60s. Audiences gave it a B grade on CinemaScore. Critics praised the animation, energy, and the blend of action with heart, while some criticized violence for a family film and noted pacing or storytelling issues. The film cost about $11 million to make and earned around $16.4 million worldwide, with roughly $11.4 million domestic. Analysts attributed the underwhelming box office to timing, competition from other family films, and the show’s gendered expectations at the time.
Home media and legacy: The movie was released on VHS and DVD on November 5, 2002. The 1.85:1 theatrical format was presented on home video in 4:3 pan-and-scan; regional releases varied on extras and widescreen presentation. It later aired on Cartoon Network and, for a time, appeared on streaming services. Critics and fans sometimes note its place as a high-profile TV-to-film adaptation, with discussions about its tone and target audience. Over time, it has appeared on various rankings and retrospectives, including appearances on lists about superhero films and female-led media projects.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:13 (CET).