The Corner Penthouse

Warner Brothers recently released the The Powerpuff Girls (1998): The Complete Series DVD. Read on to find out more about it...

[ SYNOPSIS ]

In the city of Townsville, the frustrated Professor Utonium (Tom Kane) is gathering all the ingredients to make a perfect little girl (sugar, spice, and everything nice). But when his lab assistant, a monkey named Jojo (Roger Jackson), causes the accidental addition of Chemical X to the mix, the Professor ends up with not one but 3 perfect, powerful little girls. It soon becomes obvious that Blossom (Cathy Cavadini), Bubbles (Tara Strong), and Buttercup (Elizabeth Daily) are not normal girls, they have superpowers and have not yet learned to control. The girls are treated like outcasts because they have inadvertently wrecked Townsville in a superpowered game of tag. To win the hearts of the people of Townsville, the girls are tricked into making a deal with Jojo who plans to take over Townsville. As the girls foil this threat and defeat an army of superpowered monkeys, the Powerpuff Girls learn that with great power comes great responsibility.

[ EPISODES ]

The 12-disc set includes all 78 episodes of the 1998-2004 six-season Cartoon Network series. The image below, which is a scan of the two-sided fold-out liner booklet, lists the entire disc breakdown.


[ SPECIFICATIONS ]

The show is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio in proper 4:3 fullscreen DVD format. The show is Not Rated. Audio languages include English. Subtitle languages include English SDH.

[ SPECIAL FEATURES ]

All of the special features below can be found on the respective DVD discs.

• DISC 2 (S1,D2): The Powerpuff Patrol - Live-action version used for promotion.
• DISC 2 (S1,D2): The Whoopass Girls - Craig's Commentary - Audio commentary by Craig McCracken on the Pencil & Color version.
• DISC 4 (S2,D2): Staylongers - Various cartoon celebrities stuck on a Survivor-type island.
• DISC 4 (S2,D2): Anger Management - Powerpuff Girls interstitial.
• DISC 4 (S2,D2): Slumbering with the Enemy - Mojo Commentary - Audio commentary by Mojo Jojo.
• DISC 4 (S2,D2): Something's a Miss - Mayor Commentary - Audio commentary by The Mayor.
• DISC 4 (S2,D2): Mojo Jojo's Evil Bio - Getting to know Mojo Jojo.
• DISC 4 (S2,D2): Mayor's Welcome - The Mayor introduces the town of Townsville.
• DISC 4 (S2,D2): Show & Tell - Blossom - Blossom introduces herself to her kindergarten class.
• DISC 4 (S2,D2): Show & Tell - Buttercup - Buttercup introduces herself with a bent toward pummeling bad guys.
• DISC 4 (S2,D2): Show & Tell - Bubbles - Bubbles talks about sugar, and spice, and everything nice.
• DISC 6 (S3,D2): Shonen Knife - "Buttercup (I'm a Super Girl)" - Music video.
• DISC 6 (S3,D2): The Apples in Stereo - "Signal in the Sky (Let's Go)" Music video.
• DISC 6 (S3,D2): Reflections - A commercial spot for Cartoon Network.
• DISC 8 (S4,D2): Morning in the Life - A live-action spoof of what it would be like to live in Townsville.
• DISC 8 (S4,D2): Blooper Mayor - Fake bloopers.
• DISC 8 (S4,D2): 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas - A 2003 Christmas special.
• DISC 10 (S5,D2): Hospitalville - The Mayor becomes Mayor of Hospitalville in this commercial.
• DISC 10 (S5,D2): Future Spaceman Town - The Mayor becomes Mayor of Future Spaceman Town.
• DISC 10 (S5,D2): Transylvania City - The Mayor becomes the Mayor of Transylvania City.
• DISC 10 (S5,D2): Mitch Rocks #3 - Mitch tells us which words "rock" and which are "lame".
• DISC 12 (S6,D2): Good Car Day - The Professor struggles with car trouble.
• DISC 12 (S6,D2): Laundry Day - Various Cartoon Network characters do their laundry.
• DISC 12 (S6,D2): The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!! - A 10th anniversary special.
• DISC 12 (S6,D2): The Powerpuff Girls: Who, What, Where, How, Why... Who Cares? - Interviews with the crew.

[ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ]

No digital copy code voucher is included. However, the thick, clear 12-disc DVD case fits inside a side-loading slipbox, with the liner booklet floating around inside (no literature clips). Sadly, Warners chose to use one of the crappy cases where the inside part that holds the discs isn't attached to the outside, and the discs are hard to get out because the clasps that hold them in place have zero give to them. Looks like I'll have to buy a replacement 12-disc case online and hope it will fit in the slipcase.


[ NOTES ]

The Powerpuff Girls (1998): The Complete Series is available on DVD. It is a repackaging of the "10th Anniversary" Complete Series DVD set from 2009, only with the original 6 dual-sided discs re-authored as 12 single-sided discs. This is confirmed by the main menus which say "Side A" or "Side B" on them (and have a 2009 copyright date), even though each disc only has one side now. This is a HUGE improvement over the dual-sided discs. Now, if only a better case was used, this would have been a perfect set.

The only thing missing from this set is The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002), which only got a crappy 1.33:1 Fullscreen DVD release (alt url) 20 years ago and nothing else. Yeah, not even an anamorphic widescreen DVD to preserve the film's original theatrical aspect ratio. I really hope a Blu-ray shows up in the Warner Archive release schedule soon. If it does, perhaps Warners can also add the 2015-ish animated pitch pilot (mentioned by EG Daily in a 2015 interview), and the two unaired Powerpuff live-action pilots from 2000 & 2022 starring Dove Cameron, Chloe Bennet, and Yana Perrault. I heard that they suck, but it would still be nice to see them and have them preserved.

NOTE: The set might be unavailable for purchase on Amazon as of this writing, likely due to a misprint (a thick black diagonal line) on the cover of the slipcase, as reported by several Amazon reviewers. As I got my copy direct from Warner, it does not have this error. I'm sure that corrected copies will be available to buy from Amazon really soon.

This item has been provided by Warner Brothers for review on this site.