Sugar, Spice, And Everything Nice: ‘The Powerpuff Girls: The Complete Series’ Reviewed

Fighting crime is a lot to ask of kindergartners, even ones with superpowers, but such is the premise of The Powerpuff Girls. Created by Craig McCracken (who worked on Dexter’s Laboratory prior to Powerpuff Girls and would go on to create Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends), the series (which debuted in 1998) ran for six seasons on Cartoon Network. There also was a Powerpuff Girls Movie in the middle of its run, right before Season 5 in 2002, but that’s not included in this box set. What is included in this 10th Anniversary collection (which is really a re-release because it came out in 2024 when the series was 26, not 10) is all 78 episodes. There’s also a Christmas special and some other bonus features, including the student film where McCracken originally envisioned the sisters as the Whoopass Girls before the name had to be changed.

Let’s start with the case for this 12-disc box set, though. I’ve gotten on my soapbox before about these large plastic cases where there are two discs overlapped and two more discs directly behind those. Then there’s the impossible center button, which isn’t really a button, so pressing down to release the disc doesn’t really work. It’s clearly Warner Brothers’ go-to case right now for complete series sets. The West Wing had it, too. The difference is that The West Wing was Blu-ray, so, while far from ideal, the discs were stronger. With the Powerpuff Girls DVDs, I had two of them crack slightly near the center ring while taking them out. Did they play? Yes, this time they did but I didn’t put them back in the case for fear of the cracks getting worse, and it’s upsetting. Here you have new discs and they’re already damaged because of how difficult the case is, and I’m a millennial who grew up with The Powerpuff Girls and am re-watching the series for nostalgia reasons. The show’s target audience is kids. Do you think they’re going to be that vigilant? I am someone who’s extremely careful with discs because I know how much cracks can make me obsessive, and it still happened. With kids’ shows, especially the whole idea is being able to re-watch these episodes over and over again and not need to replace them, and that’s not going to happen with these dysfunctional cases. Rant over.

Each episode of The Powerpuff Girls is about 22 minutes long. For the first three seasons, most of the episodes are split into two stories. Season four sees a lot more single storyline episodes, before returning to split episodes in season 5.

There seems to be some confusion around the episode order, starting with whether “Insect Inside/Powerpuff Bluff” or “Monkey See, Doggie Do/Mommy Fearest” is the first episode. The disc has “Insect” first, but Wikipedia says “Monkey” and for the most part “Monkey” is the better introduction. For one thing, it means the show gets to begin with its breakout villain, Mojo Jojo (Roger L. Jackson). The only thing that doesn’t work about “Monkey” being the first episode is that, since it hasn’t been established yet that we never see Ms. Bellum’s face, the joke about her being transformed into a dog like everyone else fails to land (Ms.Bellum is voiced by Jennifer Martin).

The Powerpuff Girls never really had a tapering off point. McCracken stepped away after season four, but season five still has the incredible unaired sung-through musical episode “See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey” (if you’re a rock opera fan, make this episode a priority) while season six sees the Powerpuff Girls become the Steamypuff Girls in a Western-themed episode called “West in Pieces.”

Interestingly, the only origin story we get for Blossom (Cathy Cavadini), Buttercup (E. G. Daily), and Bubbles (Tara Strong) is the opening titles. There’s not a whole episode devoted to their creation (it does sound like the movie acts as a prequel).

I don’t remember the Gangreen Gang (Jeff Bennett and Tom Kenny) featuring in so many episodes, whereas I could’ve sworn Sedusa (Jennifer Hale) appeared more (the truth is she’s just so memorable in her few episodes that the idea that she wasn’t a regular is unfathomable). Season two introduces spoiled would-be Powerpuff Girl, Princess Morbucks (Jennifer Hale again). Morbucks also features in the Christmas special “Twas the Fight Before Christmas,” though those expecting A Christmas Carol-like plot, with Princess filling in for Scrooge, will be disappointed.

As previously mentioned, season four sees the series switch to single storyline episodes, and this is made the most of by the creative team. In “All Chalked Up,” for example, the threat gets to be more difficult to take out because there’s only one storyline (granted, this episode also involves Him, arguably the Powerpuff Girls’ most formidable villain, so that helps).

Starting with “Keane on Keane/Not So Awesome Blossom” (which this set has as being part of season four but which Wikipedia lists as being the season five premiere), the interiors of the Powerpuff Girls’ home change dramatically. On the show, this comes out of nowhere, but it sounds like this was done to reflect how their home looks in The Powerpuff Girls Movie (which, again, isn’t in this set).

Other bonus features include a short documentary, two in-character commentaries, and the music video for The Apples in Stereo’s “Signal in the Sky” (the song also plays in the episode “Superfriends” where the Powerpuff Girls get a new neighbor).

There’s a reason The Powerpuff Girls still have a major fanbase. They have that Chemical X factor and, and if it weren’t for the crappy case, this set would be an easy recommendation.

The Powerpuff Girls: The Complete Series is available on DVD from Warner Brothers and to purchase from Movie Zyng.