The Powerpuff Girls started off as the Whoopass Girls in a 1992 cartoon short called “Whoopass Stew!” by animator Craig McCracken. It ran on the Cartoon Network from 1998-2005. Ringo Starr is no stranger to cartoons himself. He starred with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison in the sixties Beatle Cartoons as well as Yellow Submarine and Harry Nilsson’s The Point. The Powerpuff Girls had an episode called “Meet the Beat-Alls” with thousands of in-jokes and references. Here Ringo plays Fibonacci Sequins, “Townsville’s most famous flamboyant mathematician,” one of Townsville, USA’s most notable notables, along with famous opera singer Wendy Bags and the rare Calcutta stink badger who was stopping in town briefly. Sequins invented the Fibonacci sequence and, a man after my arithmetically-challenged heart, declares “math is a mystery.” The three Townsville titans are taken by a giant robot and the girls are called in to save the town. Bubbles is thrown into the world’s largest pillow, but recovered to join her sisters in freezing, breaking and burning the robot without harming the hostages. Of course they do. Easy as cupcakes. What do you think they are, kindergarteners? Mojo Jojo, of course, is behind it. He threatens to destroy Townsville and everyone laughs because they’ve heard this before. Say it isn’t so. Even the characters are altered. Buttercup cries at Blossom’s Vince Lombardi moment, rallying the girls to Threedom. Buttercup doesn’t cry. She is the spice of the Powerpuff Girls. She’s a little bitter. She doesn’t like broccolinis because it’s for weenies. Seeing Buttercup cry may not be as traumatic as seeing James Cagney cry in Angels With Dirty Faces, but it is still a jolt. Almost as much as seeing Bubbles stay home to play while her sisters save the town without her. Okay, so they only had to get down a pickle jar for the Mayor, but still, she wasn’t there. And the Mayor had to forego his daily vinegary confection. The Soul Hayride was a flashback to the “Boogie Frights” episode but I didn’t once feel like I should get down and shruti. Even less so after the episode altered Powerpuff canon. Professor Utonium became The Professor because of a time-traveling Mojo Jojo, not as a newcomer to Townsville wanting to shake his money maker (and the Professor is a Monkey Maker as well). I would have liked to have seen Steven Hawking crump, though. The Professor resisted getting the Powerpuff Girls the Dance Revolution video game, but is helpless in the face of a power tantrum, which can cause as much damage as anything that might come out of Monster Island. Den of Geek Rating: 2.5 Out of 5 Stars Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
