# Was The Powerpuff Girls EVER that great? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** cartoons-animation\ **Created:** [March 25, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069 "2025-03-25T02:43:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/41 "2025-04-01T01:33:58Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I’ve watched them now and they were awful. I mean, I see kids’ cartoons today (because I have kids) and by comparison they are so much better. The only way I can enjoy the old cartoons I watched is for nostalgia. I agree. My peak cartoon watching years was 1982-1986 with Transformers, GI Joe, (The Real) Ghost Busters, Thundercats, and Robotech being the shows I remember loving the most. Of that small list, the only ones that aged well at all was Ghost Busters and Robotech. I’m not saying they’re high art, but unlike GI Joe or Thundercats, I could watch an entire episode at least. > [@Atamasama](#): > > Typical action scene has lasers flying past everyone like a rave and everyone being calm about it and nobody ever getting hit unless there was a glancing blow for a particularly dramatic moment. Or a nearby explosion stuns someone briefly. Larry Hama is a comic book artist who wrote the GI Joe comic series published by Marvel and also the biographies that appeared on the back of every GI Joe figure produced by Mattel. Hama referred to the cartoon series as “morally bankrupt” for avoiding depicting the natural consequences of combat. Robotech was the only cartoon I remember where characters died and I still remember the deaths of Roy Fokker and Ben Dixon. But then Robotech was an adaptation of a Japanese animated series, so that’s why there were actual deaths in it. I’ve been of a mind that children’s shows should occasionally depict the negative side of violence. You start shooting or stabbing at people and eventually someone is going to end up seriously hurt or dead and won’t be coming back next week. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/42 "2025-04-01T03:49:09Z")
Children’s shows in my days were Bugs Bunny/Road Runner, Pink Panther, Hong Kong Fooey, Inch High Private Eye, Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Around the World in 80 Days, Wacky Racers and Hot Wheels. Only the latter was considered a commercial, and it did get pushback for it. But I didn’t care - I watched “Hot Wheels” because I liked Hot Wheels, not the other way around. What was PPG selling? ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/43 "2025-04-01T04:52:17Z")
My kids watched Duck Tails, Darkwing Duck, etc. I found those really entertaining. I liked PPG, and some other odds and ends kids cartoons. I hate the crap my grandkids watch(ed). Mickey Mouse Club House tops the list of just awful crap I just had to watch with them. I’m ok with educational shows, but not every second of every day needs to be dedicated to it. We could have used a little PPG, or Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers, or even less blatantly educational fare like Rupert. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/44 "2025-04-01T05:13:50Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > What was PPG selling? Nothing, so far as I know. Most of the Cartoon Network shows from the early years weren’t really created for the expressed purpose of selling merchandise to children they were created to entertain and bring in ad revenue of course. There were some PPG merchandise certainly, but I don’t remember a lot of Johnny Bravo or The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy toys being for sale. This isn’t always the case, one of their shows, Young Justice, was cancelled because the toy line wasn’t doing so well. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/45 "2025-04-01T05:22:22Z")
Yes, yes, and _that_ is what I’m getting at here. _How_ is the 2016 series so much worse? _How_ did it completely butcher the characters? I simply could not see it. At **all.** I thought Powerpuff Girls Z was a vastly more egregious departure (although I understood it was made by and for a much different culture so I wasn’t upset), and it’s been pretty well received everywhere I looked. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/46 "2025-04-01T06:26:22Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I’ve been of a mind that children’s shows should occasionally depict the negative side of violence. You start shooting or stabbing at people and eventually someone is going to end up seriously hurt or dead and won’t be coming back next week. Modern children’s shows in my experience tend to start off light, maybe cute or quirky or silly, and mostly episodic, but as the series goes on become more complex, nuanced, darker, and with long story arcs. In season one the main characters are struggling to master baking cookies and find the owners of missing puppies and in season three they are leading the battle against a seemingly unstoppable external invasive force or corruption from within. And it is pretty common for at least one multiple-appearance good guy to die and stay dead or at least for a prominent bad guy to do so (and NPC villagers and mooks to be slaughtered along the way). (And I mean US shows made for US kids, because Japanese kid’s shows have always been awash with blood.) One show in that general pattern is _Star vs the Forces of Evil_, which I had been occasionally considering for a rewatch for a while. After stumbling on [a chibified version on YouTube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NLKDm-PW18o) that I hadn’t heard of before, I just did a rewatch, and the series very much fits that pattern. Started off very silly, ended with wall-to-wall war and some really dark moments. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/47 "2025-04-01T06:37:46Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > This isn’t always the case, one of their shows, Young Justice, was cancelled because the toy line wasn’t doing so well. And that was actually a really good show. Luckily, after it was canceled on Cartoon Network, they made another season for the DC Universe streaming service. And then after that service was abandoned, they made another season when it was moved to HBO Max (so 4 seasons total). Technically the show hasn’t been canceled yet in its HBO Max incarnation (though the last episode aired 3 years ago), so a season 5 is _possible_, but I felt like they wrapped everything up pretty nicely at the end of season 4 and as much as I like the show, I think it’s fine to let it stop at 4 seasons. I worry that another season wouldn’t be able to do justice (heh) to the previous seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/48 "2025-04-01T07:23:53Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > This isn’t always the case, one of their shows, Young Justice, was cancelled because the toy line wasn’t doing so well. And because it was popular with girls, and “[girls don’t buy toys](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/young-justice/4060-17733/forums/dini-says-cartoon-network-doesn-t-want-girl-viewer-1521187/)”. > Dini – who made the live-action series Tower Prep at Cartoon Network – remarks, “Cartoon Network is very arbitrary about what they choose to run,” before noting that one major hurdle he keeps seeing these days in animation is a trend with superheroes where everything has to be aimed “younger” and “funnier” – and that the executives don’t value female viewers, because they don’t buy as many of the same toys that are aimed at boys connected to these series. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/49 "2025-04-01T13:49:39Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And because it was popular with girls, and “[girls don’t buy toys]. I was going to mention that but I wasn’t sure if it was actually true. In the 80s, He-Man proved surprisingly popular with girls which led to the production of the She-Ra television series and toy line. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/50 "2025-04-01T14:10:05Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I was either in my late 20s or early 30s when I finally came to terms with the truth that ever single beloved cartoon from my childhood was just a commercial. Once I accepted this truth I stopped caring what changes were made. I still regularly watch various Looney Tunes faves, which were definitely a cut above the typical Saturday Morning fare of my childhood (c. 1968-1974), precisely because they basically existed on a plane above the typical profit churn fare-something I definitely noticed back then note, as in I rarely watched anything else. I very quickly got bored with Scooby Doo and their relentlessly formulaic and repetitive plots, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/51 "2025-04-01T14:13:49Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I was going to mention that but I wasn’t sure if it was actually true. In the 80s, He-Man proved surprisingly popular with girls which led to the production of the She-Ra television series and toy line. Girls buy _different_ toys. 30-minute weekly toy commercials for girls involve distinctive marketable outfits and accessories like magic jewelry and magic wands. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/52 "2025-04-01T14:47:12Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > What was PPG selling? I originally brought up “toy commercials” but that was in the context of me wondering why anyone would bother getting mad over rebooted He-Man or GI Joe. I didn’t mean to say that PPG was a toy commercial, just that I understood people scratching their heads over “They ruined my childhood!” cartoon rage. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/53 "2025-04-01T22:08:25Z")
And My Little Pony, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/54 "2025-04-01T22:13:45Z")
I’m a dad of two girls. **GIRLS ABSOLUTELY BUY TOYS.** Come try to walk through the hallway outside my youngest daughter’s bedroom if you don’t believe me. Granted, most aren’t action figures, but she’s got every kind of doll you can imagine (Monster High, Barbie, Rainbow High, characters from the Disney _Zombies_ movies…). She also owns a reasonable number of action figures because she likes comic book movies and I got her into Ninja Turtles (Donatello is her favorite). She’s a cool kid and likes what she likes. She has a lot of Teen Titans stuff too. The idea that girls don’t want toys is hilarious. That sounds like a 1950s attitude. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/55 "2025-04-01T22:27:42Z")
I think the idea was that girls buy different toys than boys - so if you’ve got a show that appeals to boys and girls, and you want to fully monetize your audience, you need to make two distinct toy lines, each of which will only sell half as well as a toy line connected to a property that only has male or only has female fans. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/56 "2025-04-01T22:40:50Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > The idea that girls don’t want toys is hilarious. It wasn’t toys, it was the action figures the show was made to sell. They weren’t selling, show got cancelled. This doesn’t mean it’s girls fault, but since girls loved the show that’s now the prevailing narrative. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/57 "2025-04-01T22:41:58Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Granted, most aren’t action figures, but she’s got every kind of doll you can imagine (Monster High, Barbie, Rainbow High, characters from the Disney _Zombies_ movies…). > > She also owns a reasonable number of action figures… And often, the line between an “action figure” and a “doll” seems to just be whether girls are buying it. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/58 "2025-04-01T22:47:24Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > It wasn’t toys, it was the action figures the show was made to sell. They weren’t selling, show got cancelled. If those specific toys weren’t selling and the show was meant to promote them, in that case it makes sense to cancel it. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/59 "2025-04-01T22:50:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And often, the line between an “action figure” and a “doll” seems to just be whether girls are buying it. I mean, that is 100% the line. The term “action figure” was coined by Hasbro to sell the original GI Joe dolls and clothes to boys, which were literally just male Barbies. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069/60 "2025-04-01T23:04:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And often, the line between an “action figure” and a “doll” seems to just be whether girls are buying it. The line is drawn by whoever is marketing it. When Mattel started producing GI Joe in the 1960s, they made it very clear to everyone at the company that Joe was never to be referred to as a doll. It was an action figure. I didn’t start buying GI Joe until the 1980s when they introduced the 3.75 inch dolls action figures, and I certainly bought into the action figure propaganda. I remember seeing an advertisement for Cabbage Patch Dolls featuring a boy with one of their dolls. Scandalous! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-powerpuff-girls-ever-that-great/1016069.md?page=4)