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"You said to give everyone a little time to understand our specialness. Well, now it's time for everyone to understand, especially Mojo!"
Blossom

The Powerpuff Girls Movie, released on July 3, 2002, serves as an origin story for the titular girls, showing not just how they got their powers but how they came into their own as crime fighters. To date, it is the only theatrically-releasednote  feature film to be spun off from a show produced in-house by Cartoon Network Studios; its poor performance at the box office essentially killed the company's plans to make feature films based on any of its other properties.

The first few minutes show things going as they do in the opening sequence—using sugar, spice, everything nice, and an accidental dose of Chemical X, Professor Utonium brings his daughters into the world, as well as unknowingly imbuing his primate assistant Jojo with enhanced intelligence. After a disastrous game of tag wrecks their home, the City of Townsville, Utonium is carted off to prison, leaving the girls to wander the streets. Jojo finds the girls, takes them under his wing, and has them help build his base as well as a secret machine, having convinced them he only wants to help make the Townsville a better place. Naturally, disaster ensues and the girls have to find a way to make things right.


The Powerpuff Girls Movie provides examples of:

  • 0% Approval Rating: Mojo's plan for world domination unravels because of this trope. It's not because he is a Bad Boss to his primate army, it's that he made them all equally intelligent and power-hungry like himself, and none of them wants to be a subordinate to Mojo Jojo.
  • Adaptation Expansion: Of the series episode "Mr. Mojo's Rising", which covered the origins of the Powerpuff Girls and Mojo Jojo in a flashback sequence. The movie completely fleshes out the events as they unfolded, and goes into the rest of the story to show how the girls became accepted as heroes and Mojo became their sworn enemy.
  • Added Alliterative Appeal: Ojo Tango's plan to conquer Townsville is to "unleash the offensive omnipotence of the oppressive Orangutank!"
  • Animation Bump: Sort of. The character animation sticks to the limited stylized look of the show but there are some leveled-up production values to make it look like a big screen adaptation like more background animation, camera panning shots, and more detail in the backgrounds .
  • All of the Other Reindeer: The girls and Mojo Jojo were this, until the end when the girls save the town from Mojo. Unlike the girls, who didn't know they were causing havoc while playing in the city and eventually showed remorse for making things worse and redeemed themselves, Mojo earned his hatedom as he lied and manipulated the girls about his true intentions and tried to take over the city and the world by force.
  • Arc Welding: The film reveals that Mojo was the very first villain the Girls fought after their creation and his mutation, and that Antidote X, a throwaway MacGuffin in this series, was created to defeat Mo'Mojo.
  • Arc Words: "Make [the town] a better place."
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: As Jojo (soon to be renamed Mojo Jojo) says it's time to leave the zoo, Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles respectively complain that they haven’t yet seen the gazelles or the crocodiles or the unicorns.
  • Art Evolution: The movie's animation is much more fluid than the show, due to the switch to digital ink. Note that the girls' eye and dress colors are darker, Ms. Keane has larger eyes and less prominent lips, and Mojo Jojo's ears are now pointy instead of round, and he appears more muscular and scruffy. In the early scenes where the Professor creates the girls, Jojo looks nothing like he did in the flashback of "Mr. Mojo's Rising". The switch to digital animation also enables the film to use CGI for a number of more complex effects.
  • Artistic License – Education: In Real Life, the Kindergarten students would not have class in a building that had been so badly damaged that walls and portions of the ceiling and floor are missing, not to mention the sanitary aspects of having no water, electricity or access to food.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Mojo Jojo loads himself up on Chemical X at the film's climax.
  • Badass Boast: Mojo makes a good one after taking over Townsville.
    Mojo Jojo: I rock! I rock so hard! For I, Mojo Jojo, have succeeded in my first, greatest, and most brilliant plan ever! And I, Mojo Jojo, shall be King of the Planet of the Apes!
  • Badass Cape: Mojo Jojo as usual. It's even billowing menacingly when he's inside his lair, no wind required.
  • Between My Legs: Discussed by Craig McCracken in the commentary.
  • Big "NO!":
    • When the girls realize that Mojo has been lying to them all along and they've inadvertently helped him take over Townsville, resulting in the townspeople hating them even more, they beg the Professor to believe that this isn't what they wanted. When even HE expresses doubt in them, they fly straight up through the sky and into outer space in despair, shouting this as they go.
    • They do it again in more triumphant circumstances when Mojo gives the girls his best We Can Rule Together speech and they burst from his hand with a surge of power, shouting this reaction.
    • Mojo also reacts like this after being overwhelmed by all the superpowered monkeys and apes he created challenging his authority. As they each declare they'll be the one to take over Townsville, he finally explodes in anger with this as the start of an epic Villainous Breakdown.
    • Finally, the majority of the Townsville citizens do this to stop the girls from taking the antidote X to get rid of their powers. Afterwards they all express their gratitude to the girls for saving them.
  • Blame Game: While on the asteroid, Buttercup and Blossom begin to blame each other for being hated by everyone. Buttercup calls Blossom out for trusting Mojo, while Blossom tells Buttercup she started their game of tag which led to the whole mess.
  • Blowing a Raspberry: During the tag game, Blossom appears unexpectedly out of the Subway West tunnel in front of Bubbles, whom the latter attempts to screech to distance away from the former. only to be close to her. Blossom then taps her on the hand, fly off slowly and backwards and proceeds to blow a raspberry at her misfortune whilst Buttercup watches.
  • Body Horror: The Chemical X transforms the monkeys into superpowered mutants, making their brains grow out of their skulls.
  • Book Ends: The movie begins with the narrator lamenting the state of Townsville pre-Powerpuff Girls, showing a bank heist in progress, the police lamenting at a doughnut shop, and a grocery store, where the Professor is beaten up by the Gangreen Gang. At the end of the movie, the same three places are shown in reverse order, this time showing how much Townsville has changed for the better thanks to the girls, all over the narrator giving the familiar opening and closing lines of the show.
  • Brains Evil, Brawn Good: Invoked with the Powerpuff Girls' relation to Mojo Jojo. Inverted with the Professor and the secondary antagonists Fuzzy Lumpkins and the Gangreen Gang.
  • Break the Cutie: The Girls suffer this twice. The first time is where they walk home in depression and finding out about the people hating on them for the destruction they caused and the second time is where they find out they were manipulated by Mojo to help him rather than help them make the town a better place by making Mojo's army of rampaging monkeys cause havoc and destruction of Townsville, and what's really depressing is that even their own father doubts them causing them to release a Big "NO!" and plan to live in space on a rock for the rest of their lives for what they've done.
  • Break Them by Talking: Mojo Jojo pulls this and a multitude of related tropes, including "Not So Different" Remark, Don't Make Me Destroy You, and We Can Rule Together.
    Mojo Jojo: Can't you see? None of them will ever understand you as I can. For we are kindred spirits whose powers spring from the same source
    Mojo Jojo: And we shall rule! All we have to do is work together. Girls, join me.
  • Brought Down to Normal: After dosing himself a second time, Mojo acquired a broad array of super powers that consistently overshadow the Powerpuff Girls' powers, until the Antidote X removes them. However, he still retains his super-intelligence and oversized brain, making him an Empowered Badass Normal who holds his own against the Girls using his plans and gadgets.
  • Call-Forward:
    • Note the reason the Girls are born is that Jojo pushed the Professor, smashing his spoon into a bottle of Chemical X and spilling it into the concoction, which was brought up in "Mr. Mojo's Rising".
    • At the end of the movie, the Professor allows the Girls to continue their crime-fighting as long as it's before their bedtime, which references the famous tagline "Saving the world before bedtime."
  • Character Catchphrase: Mo'Mojo finally says his after the Girls tip him over on the highest building of Townsville, causing him to fall off.
    Mojo Jojo: CURSES!!!
  • Characterisation Click Moment: Buttercup was initially just as sweet and peppy as her sisters. When Professor Utonium chose her name, he bluntly told her it was to fit a theme instead of based on any individual traits like with Blossom and Bubbles. Upon realizing just how little her own father thinks of her, Buttercup immediately adopted her signature scowl and Badass Armfold.
  • Comic-Book Adaptation: Had one as most movie adaptations do, made by the staff who was working on the DC Comic at the time.
  • Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: The source material isn't a comic book, but the movie is about superheroes. They are only called The Powerpuff Girls once at the end, where the narrator comes up with the name on the spot during his first So Once Again, the Day Is Saved speech.
  • Crapsack World: Townsville, pre-Powerpuff Girls. Crime is pretty much rampant and uncontrolled.
  • Create Your Own Villain: The film establishes that the Powerpuff Girls actually helped Mojo construct his base of operations. Before that he was living in alleyways and only had enough resources to build a single component.
  • Creator Cameo: The people in the building shown after Mo'Mojo rips his claws through it are caricatures of the movie's staff.
  • Credits Gag: "No apes, monkeys, or talking dogs were harmed in the production of this motion picture."
  • Cue the Falling Object: The girls play a game of tag that ends up destroying much of Townsville. After they stop playing and realize what they have done, the camera pulls back to show the skyline in ruins, with the top of one Space Needle-like tower breaking off and falling over.
  • Cue the Rain: When the girls think they've been abandoned by the Professor and are walking home, crying, a rainstorm kicks up. And then they have the misfortune to run into the Gangreen Gang (this was before they knew how to really use their powers).
  • Curse Cut Short: As Hotta Watta is outlining his plan to flood Townsville with boiling water from a dam, Mojo Jojo interrupts him before he can say "damn".
    Hotta Watta: For I don't give a—
    Mojo Jojo: Watch your mouth!
  • Dark Reprise: Subtly. As Mojo finally sees his ultimate plan coming together, a sinister rendition of the theme song can be heard.
  • Darker and Edgier: Compared to the series. Word of God states that this was done deliberately as they were encouraged by Cartoon Network to make a movie for "25 year old guys," so they toned down the comical side and made it more serious and action-packed.
  • Darkest Hour: The climax. The monkey minions are destroying Townsville, the Powerpuff Girls are Heroic BSoD-ing on a distant asteroid in space, and Mojo Jojo is on the cusp of triumph. Things start to turn around when the girls hear the Professor yell their names and rocket back to Earth to save him...
  • Department of Redundancy Department: Mojo Jojo doesn't speak in his usual redundantly repetitive fashion for most of the movie, but when his plans go awry he snaps and starts repetitively repeating himself as usual.
  • Despair Event Horizon:
    • At the beginning, Townsville is in such a wretched state with crime and lawlessness running rampant that the narrator describes the populace as having crossed this line long ago.
      Narrator: Its citizens have lost all hope. They are utterly helpless and in desperate need of a true hero...but who? Is there no one who can help this forsaken town and make it a better place?
    • The girls themselves almost cross this line after they accidentally help Mojo Jojo execute his evil plan and set a bunch of super-intelligent primates loose on Townsville who have every intention of taking it over, and when they beg the Professor to believe they didn't mean to do it, he sadly says, "I don't know who to believe...I thought you were good." They fly into space and exile themselves on a distant asteroid, intending to stay there for the rest of their lives...that is, until they realize the Professor is still in danger, which pulls them back from the brink and drives them to return.
  • Decon-Recon Switch: At first, the movie shows the realistic consequences of young children having superpowers, as the girls' roughhousing leads to collateral damage which causes the townsfolk to fear and hate them. However, the girls eventually realize they can use their powers for good purposes and they become accepted as heroes.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Mojo's plan was to make every ape and monkey at the Townsville Zoo as super-intelligent as he is and use them as his army to take over Townsville, and then the world. But once he announces his plan to rule as King of the planet of the apes, all of the super-intelligent simians promptly turn on him an announce that they will take over the world instead. For some reason it never occurred to Mojo that his army of super-intelligent primates would be smart enough to challenge his authority.
  • Disaster-Dodging Dog: A dog keeps wandering into harm's way during the big battle at the end, and the girls have to keep rescuing it. It is later revealed to be the talking dog from the show, as he is among the citizens who thank the girls at the end.
  • Distressed Dude: While the Professor regularly played this role in the series, it definitely gets turned up to 11 for the movie. Hearing their father in distress is what brings the girls back from their self-exile in the first place, and Mojo plays dirty by abducting him to use as a hostage/Human Shield as well at a critical moment. The girls end up saving him three different times over the course of the movie - Blossom alone saves him twice from falling, and all three girls save him once from having something fall on him.
  • Donut Mess with a Cop: One of the first scenes in the movie showcases a group of cops reunited in a donut coffee, not moving from there at the same time that a bank robbery is happening.
  • Dramatic Irony: A lot of the tension in the film comes from the fact that the audience (if they've seen the show or have any knowledge of the characters beforehand) already knows that Jojo will become the villain Mojo Jojo at some point and should definitely not be trusted - which makes it stressful to watch the girls do just that, helping him without hesitation and remaining blissfully unaware of the danger on the horizon. The irony is heavily underlined by the scene where they reassure the Professor that things are going to get better... only to immediately show Mojo Jojo putting the last pieces of his evil plan into place and laughing maniacally.
  • Dramatic Thunder: Used when the trapped Powerpuff Girls confronted the Gangreen Gang for the first time and when Jojo saved the girls from the gang.
  • Dung Fu: Invoked with Baboon Kaboom, whose "Baboon Bot" sports a rear-mounted launcher that produces giant grenades into its hand when it reaches back, which Baboon Kaboom then flings at his targets, clearly invoking the image of a monkey throwing feces at people. He even calls them his "Baboon Butt Bombs", with Mojo's disdainful reaction making it clear what he's invoking.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: After the girls defeat Mojo, they are finally accepted by the townspeople and are able to fight crime and save the day.
  • Enemy Mine: Mojo saves the Girls from the Gangreen Gang, and teams up with them in order to create his lair.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: Mojo when he puts Chemical X in his brain to become a giant mutant, and fights the Powerpuff Girls harder than ever before.
  • Epic Tracking Shot: One particular scene in the movie which zooms out through the window of Mojo's observatory, all across the city, and ending through the girls' bedroom window where they are sleeping and not noticing a thing.
  • Epileptic Flashing Lights: During the scene where Mojo Jojo summons his monkey minions while laughing maniacally after the girls accidentally aided him in his plan, the lights within his base have rapid seizure-inducing flashes, as part of the dramatic effect.
  • "Eureka!" Moment: In the climax, initially the girls just focus on trying to save the people and get them out of harm's way. Buttercup becomes frustrated when a dog keep nearly getting crushed that she eventually just punches one of the monkeys attacking it. She starts to apologize till the girls realize where they can put their powers to use.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Mojo finds several of his minions' ideas of villainy to be crass and off-putting. He is blatantly unimpressed with Baboon Kaboom's symbolic Dung Fu weapon, disdainfully remarking "Oh, that's classy" when he sees it. He's likewise grossed out by the Doot Da Doot Da Doo Doo's plan to fly around and rain spit down on the population to make them submit, grimacing and going "ew!"
  • Evil Genius: Mojo Jojo, even more than in the series.
  • Evil Old Folks: Pappy Wappy, who is an elderly monkey exposed to Chemical X and is seen weakly attempting to slap a human senior citizen.
  • Evil Overlooker: Mojo Jojo is shown looking menacingly over the girls in the poster above as well as the theatrical release poster.
  • Evil Versus Evil: Shortly after Mojo Jojo conquers Townsville with his army of apes exposed to Chemical X, all of them start betraying Mojo and trying to take over Townsville themselves. While they don't exactly fight each other, all of them clearly want to destroy or conquer Townsville and none of them are willing to have anyone other than themselves do the job.
  • The Exile: A self-inflicted one. After realizing that they helped Mojo Jojo to create his army of superpowered primates, seeing them destroying the town, and realizing that even their father doesn't think they're innocent, the Girls flee to a distant asteroid in space, planning to live there for the rest of their lives. They don't stay there long.
  • Expressive Hair: Bubbles's pigtails droop due to sadness a few times.
  • Extremely Protective Daughter: The Powerpuff Girls (especially Blossom) in regards to Professor Utonium.
  • Extremely Short Timespan: The movie is set over six days, almost a whole week.
  • Face Palm: Mitch does this when Bubbles thinks she's been "infected" from a game of tag.
  • False Reassurance: Mojo tries to do this to the girls, but Bubbles causes him to pause and tell a bald-faced lie in order to keep reassuring them. Not that he sees it that way...
    Bubbles: This isn't making the town a better place!
    Mojo: Yes, it is — for me!
  • Foregone Conclusion: Due to its nature as a prequel, you know the Girls become the heroes of Townsville, and that Mojo's plan fails.
  • Foreshadowing: During the opening scene as the Professor is buying ingredients for his latest project to create the perfect little girl.
    Narrator: Fear not, fair viewers. For there is a man, a man of science. A forward thinking man who looks back. Back to a sweeter time, when there was a spice to life and everything was nice!
    • Blossom saving the Professor from falling off the stairs in the beginning of the film serves as a hint to all three Utonium girls eventually becoming recognized as Townsville's heroines.
  • Format-Specific Joke: According to the DVD commentary, when the Professor first creates the girls and stares right up at the screen, this was supposed to make the audience see his face the way the tiny girls did — huge and staring at them. Consequently, the effect is lost when watching the film on anything other than a movie theater's giant screen.
  • Freak Out: How the girls realize they can effectively use their powers as, initially, they were just trying to save the townspeople. However, Buttercup gets so frustrated when a dog she keeps saving winds up in another perilous situation that she mindlessly just attacks the assaulter. Blossom and Bubbles then realize they can do it, too.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: In the long shot into the Mayor's office of the girls flying around Townsville during their game of tag Bubbles skywrites her name in cursive using her contrail.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: Jojo was originally a chimpanzee that Professor Utonium kept in his lab for some reason. When he caused a ruckus that lead to him getting blasted by Chemcial X, Jojo gained super-intelligence and snuck away to begin his villainy. After successfully conning the Powerpuff Girls into helping him develop his base and acquiring more Chemical X, Jojo then mutates a whole zoo's worth of monkeys and apes before using the last of the chemical to turn himself into a King Kong Copy. Considering Fuzzy Lumpkins, the Gangreen Gang and the Amoeba Boys never got very far while HIM and Princess Morbucks already had the resources they needed, it's safe to say Mojo Jojo has earned his status as the Powerpuff Girls' greatest foe.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Mojo planned to make all other monkeys in Townsville as smart as him. It worked so well that they turned on him and each developed their own means of taking over the world.
  • Hammerspace: When turning against Mojo Jojo, the members of his ape army pull out costumes — taken from Mojo Jojo's own wardrobe, no less — and high-tech weaponry from absolutely nowhere.
  • Heroic BSoD: An absolutely brutal one at the climax. After realizing the damage they did to the town by helping Mojo and being rejected by their father, the girls leave Earth and settle on an asteroid in self-imposed exile. Bubbles is sobbing her eyes out, Buttercup is enraged that she and her sisters were tricked by Mojo, and Blossom is torn between being angry at Buttercup for starting the mess (by pushing Bubbles into the school during the game of tag) and just plain broken by the sheer destruction they've indirectly caused, the rejection they've faced, and the fact that trying to fix their mistakes only made things worse. They're only snapped out of it when they hear the Professor call for help.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: Zig-zagged. Before becoming heroes, their game of tag renders Townsville asunder ("Bug-eyed Girls Destroy Townsville" reads the headline of the Townsville Times). Even when they attempt to behave or do something good, they are seen as pariahs.
  • Human Shield: When Mojo sees that the girls are learning the full potential of their power fighting the Chemical X-empowered primate army, he takes Professor Utonium with him back to his lair and uses the threat of snapping his neck to hold off the girls long enough to infuse himself with even more Chemical X.
  • Iconic Attribute Adoption Moment: The girls spend most of the movie as well meaning though destructive children owing to their young age not letting them fully grasp how destructive and dangerous their powers are. After accidentally tearing the city apart they wind up rejected by the citizens and manipulated by Mojo into helping him with a plan to Take Over the World, leading even Professor Utonium to lose faith in them and the girls going into a Heroic BSoD that takes them to an asteroid in space. They return when Mojo threatens the Professor and try to help as many people as possible without causing any undue damage. They're not able to do much against the ape army Mojo's created until Buttercup loses her temper and punches one of the mutated primates, leading Blossom to realize they can use their powers to stop the army and Mojo's plans. The ensuing battle becomes the girls' first fight and first time saving the city, and the very final moments of the film have the Narrator doing his iconic So Once Again, the Day Is Saved speech which is where the girls are referred to for the first time as The Powerpuff Girls.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Several of Mojo Jojo's mutant primates use truly strange weapons. Cha-Ching Cha-Ching uses cymbals that create destructive sonic blasts when clapped. Blah-Blah Blah-Blah uses a seemingly ordinary bowl and hand mixer on a push-cart to create a mobile waterspout of tomato sauce/soup he calls the "Tormato". The Doot Da Doot Da Doo-Doos just fly around spitting on people.
  • Innocently Insensitive: Professor Utonium's lack of interest in Buttercup is implied to have left the girl with a bit of a complex as she went from wide-eyed and chipper to grouchy upon finding out her name didn't have any special meaning like Blossom's or Bubbles'.
  • Innocent Means Naïve: The girls run into this trope when they build his "help-the-town-and-make-it-a-better place machine".
  • Ironic Echo: When the girls meet Mojo for the very first time, he says that he's a monster, to which Blossom replies that he's not a monster, because "Monsters are evil"; in the final battle, they tell him that he is evil, and is a monster.
  • "King Kong" Climb: At the climax of the final battle, Mo'Mojo climbs the tallest building in Townsville with the girls in one hand. The girls eventually free themselves and act as the planes which bring him down.
  • Knight of Cerebus: This time, Mojo Jojo is a more serious villain with only a few humorous moments. He even has a Dark and Troubled Past that includes being discriminated to insanity. He has also succeeded in awakening the ape apocalypse, nearly destroying humanity, and gotten much closer to killing the Powerpuff Girls than anyone else, and the only reason why he didn't succeed was that he got pushed from a tower, landing on a stack of Antidote X that removed his powers.
  • Large Ham:
    • Baboon Kaboom speaks loudly and dramatically when he appears.
    • Mojo is also this as usual.
  • Law of Disproportionate Response: The Mayor publicly condemns the girls and the Professor only after the girls accidentally destroyed his favorite pickle stand.
  • Mad Bomber: One of Mojo's chemically enhanced monkeys, Baboon Kaboom. He piloted a Humongous Mecha who produced tossable "Butt Bombs".
  • Madness Mantra: The mayor says "oh boy" over and over again when he sees the destruction the girls are causing. Subverted in that he was actually excited about buying his beloved pickle.
  • Maniac Monkeys: Beside Mojo Jojo, there's a whole army of mutated primates that assist him in taking over Townsville.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Mojo Jojo for manipulating the girls into helping him take over Townsville.
  • Meaningful Name: Several of the mutated primates have names that are obviously referencing character traits:
    • Rocko Socko is a hulking Killer Gorilla who is The Brute of Mojo's primate army, with his plan boiling down to physically smashing up Townsville with his metallic Power Fists.
    • Baboon Kaboom is a baboon turned Mad Bomber, whose plan is to run around in a Giant Robot lobbing bombs everywhere.
    • Hotta Watta is a Japanese mountain macaque, a species famous for its love of beating the cold winters by bathing in mountain hot springs. He's introduced bathing in the Townsville water reservoir, and his plan is to heat it to a boil and then flood the city with its scalding hot water.
    • Cha-Ching Cha-Ching is based on the famous Cymbal-Banging Monkey, and his name is based on a common onomatopoeia for the sound cymbols made.
    • Hacha Chacha is a proboscis monkey who is also clearly a caricature of the late Jimmy Durante (who was famous for having a Gag Nose, just like a proboscis monkey). Durante's Catchphrase was "Ha-cha-cha-cha".
    • Blah-Blah Blah-Blah's name symbolises his stuttering and his Motor Mouth (even by Mojo Jojo standards) tendencies.
    • The final set of named primates come too fast to make out their names clearly, but include Killa Drilla (attacks with a drill), Bonzo Bango (runs around headbutting people), Rolla Ova (an incredibly obese orangutan who rolls over people like a living boulder), Cruncha Muncha (a pygmy marmoset who attacks by biting people), Whacko Smacko (smacks people in the face) and Pappy Whappy (an elderly version of Whacko Smacko).
  • Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: The titular girls cause destruction in Townsville while playing tag (thanks to Mitch instigating them) because they do not know their own strength and leave a path of chaos in their wake. The end result is they're Hated by All, besides the professor... until they unintentionally aid Big Bad Mojo Jojo in his Evil Plan, which is also a case of this, and then the professor also berates them for their unintentional destruction as well.
  • My God, What Have I Done?:
    • Mitch has this look when the girls soar off in their tag game, leaving rampant destruction in their wake.
    • The girls have this reaction upon watching various news reports about the destruction they caused with their game of tag on a store while trying to find their way home.
    • The Professor suffers from this when the girls (unknowingly) helped Mojo Jojo create an army of intelligent apes. He doesn't even know anymore if the girls he created are perfect little girls at all. He wanted to help the city, but he indirectly made things even worse.
    • When Buttercup punches out Rocko Socko in a fit of rage in order to save the Talking Dog for the umpteenth time, she initially thinks she's killed him and is horrified, stammering to Blossom and Bubbles that she didn't mean to.
  • Naughty Is Good: Inverted. When the girls try to make the world a better place by allying themselves with Mojo Jojo, they wind up causing more damage. Played straight at the end when the Mayor allows the girls to dish out whatever punishment they want on petty crooks.
  • Never My Fault: In a deleted scene (available in the novelization), Mojo jumps through a lot of mental hoops to blame his superpowered primate army getting out of control on the Professor, reasoning that if he'd never created the girls, they would have never been able to help Mojo complete his evil plan and the monkeys wouldn't have turned against him. (Never mind that Mojo was actually responsible for the girls being born as well...as the TV series shows, he won't find out about that until later.)
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mojo wouldn't have been able to set his plan in motion without help from the girls. Heck the fact that he even has his volcano lair is because of them.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
    • ...Of course, as established in the show already, even when he was just Jojo, his chaotic destruction of the Professor's lab (as shown in the opening credits) is what ultimately created the girls in the first place.
    • Also, stopping his evil plan allows the girls to redeem their reputation with the people of Townsville and find their niche using their powers to fight evil.
  • Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Mojo Jojo manipulates the girls, and mutates all apes and monkeys to fight against the humans for discriminating his race. It sounds well-intentioned, at least for all the primates, but it soon becomes clear that he really just wants absolute power over everyone in the world, including his mutated simian army, and flies into a rage when they disobey him and make each of their own plans for world domination.
  • Nothing Can Stop Us Now!: Blossom makes the mistake of saying this line (a rare non-villain example of the trope) as the girls charge Mojo Jojo. He immediately proves her wrong by threatening to hurt the Professor, which brings all three girls to a screeching halt.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • During the tag scene, the Professor has this look the whole way.
    • Mojo Jojo has a series of increasingly incredulous reactions to his ape army turning against him, leading to a full-blown Villainous Breakdown.
    • After Bubbles and Buttercup save Blossom from a needle attack by Mo'Mojo by putting a bus in front of her, the attack stops and Bubbles nervously asks, "Do you think he's finished?" before they hear Mo'Mojo say, "No..." and get an Oh, Crap! expression, just as Mo'Mojo adds, "BUT YOU ARE!"
  • The Oner: The Epic Tracking Shot as explained above.
  • One-Winged Angel: Mojo Jojo doses himself with Chemical X a second time to turn into a King Kong-sized monster ape with strength that rivals the girls.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: During his climactic speech to the Powerpuff Girls trying to convince them that They Can Rule Together, Mojo Jojo speaks normally and concisely as opposed to his usual Motor Mouth rambling.
    Mojo Jojo: Can't you see? None of them will ever understand you as I can. For we are kindred spirits whose powers spring from the same source.
  • Origins Episode: Expands upon an episode of the series ("Mr. Mojo's Rising") by going into further detail about the circumstances that made Mojo Jojo the archenemy of the Powerpuff Girls. Conversely, it explains how the girls came to be recognized as the heroes of Townsville, and it was quite rocky.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: Mojo's master plan revolves around this.
  • Police Are Useless: Zig-zagged. While one of the reasons crime was so rampant in Tonwsville was due to the police being always at the donut shop, as well as not being strong to deal with Mojo Jojo and the monkeys at the climax, they act surprisingly competent when they arrest Utonium for creating the girls and damaging the city with his daughters' tag game.
  • Poke the Poodle: The super-monkeys' plans include destroying the city with a tomato tornado, causing havoc with giant robots, and...throwing banana peels everywhere to make people slip on them.
  • Power Nullifier: Antidote X, which returns Mojo Jojo to his original form.
  • The Powerpuff Girls Can Breathe in Space: And communicate verbally as well.
  • Really Was Born Yesterday: The movie takes place during the first days of life of the Powerpuff Girls, with the movie plot being them having to learn how to control and use their powerful but dangerous abilities for good.
  • Rearrange the Song: BIS performed a punk rendition of their theme for the show.
  • Redemption Quest: The Powerpuff Girls have to save the day after Mojo Jojo tricked them into helping with his evil scheme.
  • Retcon: The Mayor from the timeframe of the show is shown also being the Mayor when the girls were created. The totally different Mayor from the What A Cartoon short "Meet Fuzzy Lumpkins" is nowhere to be seen. Unless they're meant to be the same character, in which case it's one hell of a case of Backported Development.
    • In the show, Mojo Jojo revealing his backstory as The Professor's lab assistant and being responsible for the girls creation is surprising for all parties. In this film, Mojo Jojo not only seems aware he played a hand in creating the girls, but he manipulates them into helping with his first attempt to takeover Townsville.
  • Roaring Rampage of Rescue: The girls embark on an epic one to find and save the Professor (as well as all the other townspeople), beating the crap out of every single superpowered monkey and ape they come across. Unfortunately, Mojo realizes what's happening early on, escapes with the Professor in tow, and quickly gets one step ahead of them...
  • Scenery Gorn: Townsville is utterly devastated.
  • Self-Imposed Exile: The girls exile themselves to a distant asteroid in space upon finding out they were duped into helping Mojo take over the city and made everyone hate them even more.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: The Narrator performs the usual opening and closing but is otherwise completely absent from the film.
  • Shout-Out:
    • The shot of the Professor walking through the supermarket with a frozen goods section to his left as the Narrator says "For there is a man, a man of science" is designed to resemble a similar shot in The Big Lebowski, where the narrator of that film, referring to the Dude, says "Sometimes there's a man...I won't say a hero, cuz what's a hero? But sometimes there's a man."
    • The News Flash logo is based on the one from the old Sesame Street "News Flash" segments.
      • Also, look really closely during that scene at one of the tiny monitors behind the news anchor— Master Shake, Frylock and Meatwad are visible on the screen (presumably the PPG crew paying them back, as ATHF reused footage of the mall from the "Meet Fuzzy Lumpkins" pilot as the Townsville Mall).
    • The two eyewitnesses that appear on TV after the Girls' disastrous town-wide game of Tag are blatant nods to Van Halen. The blond eyewitness manages to work in references to the following songs/albums, in this order: "Panama," "Atomic Punk," Fair Warning, "Eruption," "Light Up the Sky," "Jamie's Cryin'."
    • The monkeys with linked arms resemble the playing pieces from the game Barrel of Monkeys. And there's a barrel.
    • Mojo Jojo calls himself the king of the Planet of the Apes, and when Buttercup is freeing the trapped Talking Dog in Rocko Socko's metal grasp, she screams "GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM, YOU DARNED DIRTY APE!"
    • The team of flying spider monkeys called "The Doot Da Doot Da Doo Doos" is a reference to the Leitmotif of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, who herself had an army of flying monkeys.
    • Hacha Chacha as a whole, from his voice to his name to his big nose, is a clear reference to Jimmy Durante.
    • When Mojo Jojo becomes a giant, he climbs the highest building in Townsville in a manner reminiscent of King Kong.
    • There is an ad for Gorillaz Live in a newspaper.
  • Shown Their Work: Mojo Jojo's army of monkeys and apes goes far beyond the usual types seen in cartoons, and it would take doing research on primate taxonomy to identify many of the species.
  • Shut Up, Hannibal!: The girls' epic speech after Mojo tries forcing them to join him. All the while they talk back to him, they kick his ass all over the place.
  • Skewed Priorities: The Mayor publicly condemns the girls. Not because of the damages they caused in Townsville due to playing tag, but during their game, they accidentally crashed his favorite pickle stand.
  • So Proud of You: The Professor's reaction after the girls make things right by defeating the monkeys and saving the town.
    The Professor: (hugs the girls) Oh, girls, I'm so sorry for doubting you. You are good, good, perfect little girls, and I love you!
    Girls: We love you too!
  • Space Is Noisy: When the girls sulk on an asteroid, they're able to bicker with each other.
  • Start of Darkness: As mentioned, the Girls aren't the only ones with an origin story.
  • Stock Footage: This animation has been reused twice.
    Mojo: Yes! YES! YES!
    Blossom: We did good?
    Mojo: You did VERY good. Very good indeed.
    Buttercup: Now what do we do?
  • The Starscream: After Mojo declares himself to be king of all apes (and monkeys), every Chemical X-infused primate in the city decide they want to be the king as well, donning their own Mojo outfit and helmet before showing their plans for world domination. It's actually successful... in that Mojo has no one left to enforce his rule over his army.
  • Storefront Television Display: While the girls are trying to walk home in the rain, they stop at a storefront with multiple TV screens showing news reports about the destruction they caused with their game of tag, walking away regretfull at their actions and missing a report of Utonium's arrest.
  • Storming the Castle: This happens at the climax when the girls realize that Mojo's kidnapped the Professor and escaped to his volcano-top lair. It's a pretty quick and easy storming for them, though. There's even a sequence of heavy, intimidating barricades locking into place to keep them out...which they break through in seconds because they're just that strong. And pissed off.
  • Super-Senses: It's demonstrated early on in the movie that the girls have (at least) super sight and super hearing. The latter comes into play in a big way later on when they're in space and can still hear all of the destruction, screaming, and general mayhem going on back in Townsville, despite their attempts to block it out. Eventually, hearing the Professor call out for them inspires their quick return to Earth.
  • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
    • The girls are born with basic intelligence, but are socially naive, especially when it comes to using their powers responsibly, which leads to them destroying the town in a game of tag. The rampant destruction leads everyone to ostracize the girls and it takes stopping Mojo Jojo (after having been tricked into helping his evil plan), to earn their acceptance and find their calling using their powers to fight evil.
      • The police arresting the Professor was not only justified, but realistic. Considering how he not only was the one who created the Powerpuff Girls, but the girls were minors and he is a grown man who probably could have taught the girls to only use their superpowers for emergencies only and not for playing childish games like tag.
    • Mojo Jojo's evil plan is to turn several monkeys and apes into super geniuses like him so they can take over Townsville, which nearly succeeds. But then Mojo makes the mistake of declaring he will be ruler, causing his army of equally super-intelligent primates to challenge his authority and fight for power.
  • Theme Naming: Nearly every primate that Mojo Jojo exposed to Chemical X has a name similar to his, consisting of a pair of two-syllable rhyming words.
  • Tragic Hero: the girls enter here mostly because of the bitterness of the citizens of townsville towards them for destroying the city when they were playing that the girls felt so bad and broken, however when they stopped Mojo Jojo and finally the city accepted them they felt so much better.
  • Troubled Fetal Position: All three of the girls go into this while exiled on the asteroid in outer space. Bubbles does this for the majority, Blossom goes into this in the first and last halves of the scene and Buttercup does this before Bubbles hears the crisis through earth.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Up until Mojo Jojo's monkey army rebels against him, he speaks in a very straightforward manner. Once it becomes apparent that the Chemical X-enhanced simians have their own plots for world domination, he flips out, and starts ranting in his trademark redundant speech-style;
    "NOOOOOOO! Stop! Cease! Desist! Do not continue with the ramblings, for my ramblings are the ramblings to be obeyed. For I am king, supreme leader, and all-around dictator. Don't you see? All you monkeys are my plan, so your plans are my plans because you are my plan and my plan was to make you! I plan to rule the planet! Not to have my plans plan to stop me! I am your creator! I am your king! I am Mojo Jojo! Obey ME!!"
  • Villainous Rescue: Although he's not a villain just yet, the girls first meet Mojo Jojo (known as Jojo then) when he saves them from the Gangreen Gang. It's just a way to gain their trust and goodwill for the sake of his evil plan, leading to a coldblooded betrayal later on.
  • Villain Song: Parodied. When Mojo's minions all start unveiling their own evil schemes, Hacha Cha Cha reveals his with a quick little ditty.
  • Volumetric Mouth: Bubbles is drawn with one as she says "I DON'T WANNA SLEEP ON A ROCK!"
  • We Can Rule Together: Mojo Jojo offer this to the girls, this being a prequel of course, the girls refused.
  • Wham Line: Parodied at the end. While the people of Townsville are expressing gratitude to the girls, a dog the girls rescued says "thank you". Any viewers who have seen the show before know that he's Talking Dog and thus always could talk, but anyone who hasn't will probably take it as a bit of a shock.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: It isn't explained what happened to the other monkeys and primates that Mojo Jojo exposed to Chemical X after the Powerpuff Girls beat them up. This is especially jarring considering that this movie is a prequel to the series explaining the origins of the girls and Mojo Jojo.
  • You Have to Believe Me!: The girls say this when they tell everyone that they were tricked into helping Mojo with his evil plans. Of course they don't believe him, and are further convinced the girls are evil. Not even the Professor believes them.

"And so, for the very first time, the day is saved, thanks to... the Powerpuff Girls!"

 
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Mega Mojo Jojo

Using his machine, Mojo Jojo injects himself with an extra dose of Chemical X, causing him to grow into a gigantic, monstrous primate.

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5 (11 votes)

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