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Narrative
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"It is impossible!"
"No, but real close!" Quite possibly the best thing to ever come out of the Disney Channel since the 90s. The premise is, at first glance, an interesting cross of Alias and Buffy -- head high school cheerleader plus awkward male friend and naked mole rat stop global supervillains. The series has a post modern take on many aspects of both Action Series and High School dramedy. Kim Possible herself (VA: Christy Carlson Romano), a competent, self-assured alpha female with real flaws and unreal capabilities. Shocking red hair to waist length is a detriment to neither stealth nor acrobatics. Picked up Kung Fu and Le Parkour as a side effect of cheerleading. She can do anything. Best friend and goofy sidekick Ron Stoppable (VA: Will Friedle). Shows varying levels of competence through the series' run. Afraid of most things, but monkeys especially so. Serves the same role as the kid sidekick in classic comics, and as an avatar for the male portion of the audience who dreams (or dreamt) of having a young lady such as Kim for a girlfriend. Rufus (VA: Nancy Cartwright), is Ron's pet naked mole rat. He's a bald rodent that lives in Ron's pocket, consumes his attention and often thinks for him. Wade Load (VA: Tahj Mowry) is the ten-year-old tech support, webmaster, and Mission Control for Kim's shoestring spy operation. He's like a young B.A. Baracus with agrophobia and a severe weight problem. He was never seen in person until the last regular episode of season 3, (and in an averted future, where he's Michael Clark Duncan). After that, he apparently discovered girls and has been seen in person much more often. The Rogues Gallery really sells the series. The Kim-verse has a lack of really serious bad guys; each of them is goofy in his or her own unique way. Doctor Drakken (VA: John Di Maggio, aka "Bender" from Futurama) is an incompetent Mad Scientist type. He's blue, for an undisclosed reason. He mostly gives up on inventing his own devices, instead using his only real strength (see below) to steal other people's stuff. Shego (VA: Nicole Sullivan, most famous from Mad TV), Drakken's green-hued sidekick. A former superheroine with comet-induced flaming fists-o-fury. World's most competent thief. Stays with Drakken, most of the time, even though the two are often at odds. Conquered the world in a timeline that was then subsequently expunged. Bulletproof latex bodysuit -- too hot for kids' TV. (Almost.) Duff Killigan (VA: Brian George, who does a darn fine Scots Gaelic accent for an Israeli native) is the world's deadliest golfer. He has a kilt, a plaid blimp, and an endless supply of exploding golf balls. He very seldom carries an episode alone. Lord Monkey Fist (VA: Tom Kane) is a British lord (Monty Fiske) who uses ancient mystical monkey powers in his world domination schemes. His obsession with the ancient monkey power has extended to genetically re-engineering himself into a monkey/human hybrid, courtesy of DN Amy. Is really more Ron's nemesis than Kim's. Master of Monkey Kung Fu, which is Chinese, yet dresses like a Ninja, which is Japanese. The Señors Senior: Señor Senior, Sr. (VA: Ricardo Montalban, later replaced by Earl Boen) and Señor Senior, Jr. (VA: Nestor Carbonell). A family of eccentric billionaires that turned to villainy as a hobby, on Ron's offhand suggestion. Senior overemphasises villain clichés as real technique (resulting in frequent Lampshade Hanging from the others), while Junior (the living embodiment of Why Dont Ya Just Shoot Him) just seemingly doesn't care about anyone but himself. DNAmy (VA: Melissa McCarthy) is a mad geneticist, obsessed with creating live versions of the Wuzzles-like Cuddle Buddy plushes she collects. Tends towards flirtation with whichever male character is closest, culminating in her long and one-sided pursuit of Monkey Fist. Minor villains include Jersey-based mullet-having mechanic Motor Ed (a Lemmy Kilmeister clone and Drakken's cousin), bargain bad-guy Frugal Lucre, female Johnny Knoxville equivalent Adrena Lynn, oft-referenced but rarely seen Germanic mad scientist Professor Dementor, Lake Wannaweep-mutated fishman Gill, and Corrupt Corporate Executive Jack Hench -- owner of Hench Co, providing fine henchmen and henchman accessories to villains the world over. A big hit for veteran creators and executive producers Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle, for whom this is their first original creation for Disney. They had previously worked on Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command and several other series, and in their early careers wrote for The Real Ghostbusters. They also penned the Disney live-action movie Sky High and the upcoming Kung-Fu Kids. The series was produced by Chris Bailey (Season 1) and Steve Loter (Season 2 on), with character designs by Steven Silver. All these talented folks previously worked on the short-lived Clerks The Animated Series. Loter was previously in charge of The Legend Of Tarzan, and has worked on American Dragon Jake Long. Silver has designed characters for a broad cross-section of popular modern series, and is counted as a major art influence on the predominant webcomic Penny Arcade. The show was originally taken out of production after 65 episodes, for reasons which are subject to debate (although it's been generally accepted that Disney policy discourages shows from going past 65). Capped off by the truncated Disney Channel Original Movie So the Drama, in which Kim and Ron move beyond Just Friends, it was Un Canceled for an additional 22 episodes following a massive campaign to continue production by the show's fans - that, or a German syndication deal requiring more episodes. It re-premiered in February of 2007, and ended with the second Grand Finale in early September of that year. (Incidentally, the sudden and unexpected renewal came just months after Iger replaced Eisner as Disney CEO. Perhaps Iger didn't like the "rule of 65"? Then again, That's So Raven got an extension to 78 under Eisner in 2004.) The series ended again after season four, and with all the producers packing up and moving over to Nickelodeon, another renewal is pretty much a lost cause. Besides, the central cast graduate in the last episode, so Kim's no longer a High School cheerleading teen hero. She'd have to be a twenty-something collegiate hero. And who would want that? And that's the sitch. This show provides examples of:
 , which comes with information and transcripts of most episodes, as well as an active forum.
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