Meet the new Powerpuff Girls, as designed by Kevin Dart!
Yep, the amazing trio of bubbly superheroes from the late 90s Cartoon Network show are returning, and they’ll even feature their original voices as Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong, and E.G. Daily return. The show is not under the supervision of original creator Craig McCracken, so the story is not all roses. Who knows if the same joyfully cute, violent, and lightly satirical tone will result from director Dave Smith’s new iteration, but casting Ringo Starr as what seems to be a new villain is a good start. The fourth Beatle will also provide the song, “I Want To Be A Powerpuff Girl.”
The new show will feature art design from Kevin Dart, whose work you’ve likely run across before. Specializing in a modern pop take on classic Bond poster illustration (my pop art vernacular don’t run deep, I’m afraid), his take on Townsville, USA and its inhabitants will likely be a joy to behold.
This is only a one-time special at present, and will be animated digitally. I’ll remind you that both South Park and Archer and pretty much every modern animated show in existence are technically a CG productions, so who knows what that actually means aesthetically.
Cartoon Network really was a playground of amazing animation back in the Dexter’s Lab days, as the absurd, slapstick humor of classic cartoon merged with the more adult, subversive sensibilities of creators raised on that kind of stuff. This is definitely one cultural area where I’ll confidently and happily say my generation’s shit was and remains WAY WAY BETTER than your generation’s shit.
Here’s hoping Smith and co. do the girls justice.
Source | Bleeding Cool
3 comments
I loved that shit growing up, and looking back we were pretty spoiled. You know, one of the most terrifying shows from that era was Cow and Chicken, especially when you realize it’s only one guy doing most of the voices. I also think Courage the Cowardly Dog doesn’t get enough credit for being an incredible cartoon. I’d rather see stuff like that instead of all of the terrible live action crap they keep putting on Adult Swim.
When you look at classic warners cartoons (bugs and daffy) you have to recognize they were pretty weird and subversive for the time, but their starting point was a much less permissive atmosphere. I look back on some the 90s CN stuff and think it’s not nearly as clever as first thought, but it did manage to make it OK to create a slew of shows with really shitty animation, under the guise of “cool” “loose” and “stylized.” A trend that is going strong today. Not a fan.
Agreed, Quint. PPG and Dexter were both pretty good, but they unleashed a trend in design that in my opinion really hurt the US animation industry. It gave Cartoon Network a unique style, but when countless shows ape that look it stops being unique.
Comments are shown as archived from the original site; new comments are closed.