Okay, it’s time for me to talk. I know, right? My stupid ass just got BACK from a trip and the first thing I do is go and TALK more? What a dweebo.
But there is something I would like to discuss from an animation perspective. And that is, essentially, what the Powerpuff Girls reboot lacks visually. And one of the major complaints people have had, aside from the writing, HAS been regarding the numerous animation mistakes that the show has. Like the reboot or not, it has been noted for having several extremely sloppy errors per episode that would have been considered unacceptable even in a beginner’s class.
But I don’t want to focus on the reboot or the way it chooses to animate things. Rather, I’d like to focus on the original show and how it choose to animate things. I opened up this with a clip from the Powerpuff Girls movie made in 2002. Now I know what you’re thinking, its unfair to compare television animation to movie animation, but we’ll get to the television animation in a bit. Let’s take a look at this clip for a minute first.
First thing you’ll notice is that compared to modern animation, or even other cartoons of that age outside of Tartavosky and McCracken cartoons, the animation is surprisingly minimal when you really inspect it. There’s a lot of repeating loops, frames where only a single part of the character moves, freeze frames, and even shots where the character limbs aren’t even moving. Now its easy to consider this lazy until you really look at how the animation utilizes it. Picture a slingshot, pulling back as far as it can, until it finally fires in a sudden snap. That is how a lot of the animation in this is. It takes advantage of those freeze frames and minimal animations by using them as the SNAP of the slingshot, having the other more vibrant and extreme actions of the animation act as the pullback–thus, said freeze frames and minimal actions allow the scene to have more weight. They make the scene feel important.
For example, when Jojo pushes Professor Utonium so he hits the Chemical X, the animation jolts to a stop. Everything focuses on that one frame of Utonium and Jojo, hovering by the broken Chemical X with Utonium staring at it in shock. Add to this the music escalating and the animation quickly shifting back and forth between Utonium stirring and Jojo running before this frame happens. Once all put together, this puts so much emphasis on that one moment that it conveys its message to the viewer: something important and major just happened. Even if you don’t know the show at ALL, you know that some serious shit is about to go down because of what just happened. It is big. There is no denying it. And the animators honestly did not have to do much to achieve it. It is made up of two loops (Jojo running and Utonium stirring), a short motion, and a single frame of animation. But because of the way the animators FRAMED it, this minimal way of approaching the scene made it have a massive amount of weight and buildup.
Which leads to the second thing you might notice: colors. Something I’ve always noticed and admired about McCracken and Tartavosky’s work is that they both have a great grasp on color and how to use it. Let’s backtrack to the scene with Jojo and Utonium breaking the Chemical X. The entirety of the opening, while very aggressive in its mannerisms, keeps to the standard color scheme of the characters and backgrounds–UNTIL that freeze frame of Jojo and Utonium.
Immediately on that frame, the color scheme shifts to a red palette. And as simple as it seems to use red to indicate danger, the use of this color change puts even MORE emphasis on how very important that scene is supposed to be. You feel more weight in this scene in this red tone than you would in the standard palette, because red is a color that indicates danger. Stop signs are red for a reason–it is a color that can incite rage and fear. If this was being viewed by someone who was not familiar with the property of the Powerpuffs, they would be on the edge of their seat wondering what horrifying creation this man had made. Interestingly enough, this is also the first scene we see Jojo with red eyes–an subtle indicator of what’s to come and that this lab monkey may be more than meets the eye.
And consider: this was all carefully constructed with motion and colors. A person standing to the side saying “We might want to worry about that guy, he might be a problem later” is not needed. We as viewers can gather that all from the animation and subtle queues given throughout a piece entirely fueled by its intense soundtrack…until it comes to a jarring stop, visuals disappearing and music stopping to emphasize the laughter of little girls. Well, what does THAT mean? The un-introduced viewer will not know. But the intensity presented in the scene will prompt them to continue on instead of leaving the theater or falling asleep.
“Yes, but this is all the movie. Movies have bigger budgets. What about the show?”
You have a point. So I’m gonna look at one of the earlier episodes of the show regarding this. Specifically, the classic introduction to one of the classic Powerpuff villains (despite not showing up much), Sedusa…or Ima Goodlady, if you will. Specifically, I’d like to focus on the use of colors–both black and red. One of the first scenes is when Ima, or Sedusa if you will, slams the door on the girls when they’re going to sleep (contrasting an early scene, but that’s more writing related so we won’t discuss that). The viewer is greeted with complete darkness, which one could easily argue is not too difficult to animate. However it ends up looking VERY good, because the dark screen is contrasted with the flashing ring from their phone. The darkness is given a reason to exist, and is utilized.
This is utilized again twice more in the show: when they sneak back home, and when they finally catch Sedusa. It involves an almost film-noir esque setup with the accuser sitting in complete darkness and turning on a lamp when they catch the accusee, all shaded in a red palette against a solid black (along with a later scene including light blue). You get almost an art deco-ish feel from the layout, but more importantly, the weight of the scene is back. The viewer feel like something big and threatening is going to happen when the girls are caught by Ima, and similarly the viewer feels like something big and revealing is going to happen when Sedusa is caught by the girls. It builds up expectation of the following scene, thus leading the animation to assist the writing in its execution.
One can tell that the people working in creating the episode genuinely knew not only about animation, but art as a whole. You feel the strength of the choices they made in movement, but you also feel the strength in the choices they made in color theory. Some of it is undeniably minimalist but the final result is that despite having perhaps not a stunning budget to work with at first, they did in fact manage to make something that looks very nice despite that. They had the knowledge to create something that had impact even without a massive amount of money not via cutting corners, but via directing the animation in a more experimental way that allowed more of the budget to go towards specific parts of the animation while still making the prior scenes look good.
Ultimately what I am trying to say is that budget is not an excuse. Both the movie and one of the earliest episodes for the original look great, even when Mommy Fearest probably didn’t have the same budget as the whole movie. People have made masterpieces on minimal budgets, hell, people make masterpieces on zero budget. It is a result of how much the creator and the team actually care, not how much money went into it. And in thus, budget should most definitely not be an excuse for this:
if the creators and team members truly believe and want others to believe that they care about the quality of their product. And to make this clear I mean this not just about the Powerpuff Girl reboot but about ALL cartoons regardless of when they were made, who they were made by, and the audience they are targeting.
Yes, all cartoons have problems. Yes, the original had errors. But you can feel a heart, soul, and effort that went into making the animation for the original that more often than not makes up for those errors. I don’t feel that in the 2016 animation. I more get the feel that it was rushed out, as quickly as they could with no thought whatsoever in an effort to make themselves look good and to put some cash in Cartoon Network’s pocket. And that’s just sad.
And not a moment later, when the villain, Sedusa, defeats the girls and has them captured, Ms. Bellum takes her down single-handedly and saved the girls. Before and after that episode, she has had so many shining moments where it’s clear that she can stand on her own and she provides the brains behind the Mayor’s tenure in office, and he himself acknowledges this in this episode.
And another thing this episode shines in is the fact that they show a
man who acknowledges his weaknesses and knows when he needs help as
well. And that yes, strong men also cry.
Girls need characters like Miss Bellum, who sends the message that they have more influence and power than they ever knew. They need to know that their place in the world isn’t dependent on a man’s control or what position they occupy in life.
Bubbles: “That’s not a unicorn, that’s a plain old pony”
Buttercup: *knocks his horn off*
“It’s not a unicorn it’s just… Sad"
I can’t believe this is in the fucking script
“No way, ponies have shorter legs.
It’s a colt.”
“What’s a colt?”
“A baby horse.”
“Then what’s a filly?”
“Uh a horse with attitude?”
they fucking just brought up gender
blatantly
and tried to cleverly cover it up
But essentially they just had Blossom say “That’s a dude!”
So this is basically the same thing as ripping off a transperson’s pants and telling them they aren’t that gender
how do they show the reaction
okay not bad, I mean it’s still awful that they’re showing something like this when being outed is a triggering traumatic experience-
aaaaand they made him get over the top angry and ridiculous over this
“WELL EXCUSE ME, I MAY NOT HAVE A HORN
BUT I DO HAVE A HEART
AND IN THAT HEART I KNOW I’M A BEAUTIFUL UNICORN”
okay so great way to depict the concept of being trans. y’know. By making it look like an over the top joke and like he’s just crazy and angry and being whiny and dramatic.
“Woah, drama bomb.”
HOLY
FUCKING SHIT
DID SHE REALLY JUST SAY THAT?!?!
By the way did I forget to mention they’re basically saying being trans is like claiming you’re a mythological creature?
C:
“WE’ll get the professor to turn you in to a unicorn, and then I can be friends with a REAL LIVE UNICORN!”
okay so
she’s only supportive of his identity because it’d be cool to be besties with a unicorn
imagine if I had a friend who was like “OH it’d be cool if I had a guy friend, get an operation so I can have a guy friend!”
y’know
basically denying I’m a guy unless I have a penis
Or in this case, fucking horn.
ew she’s even fantasizing about it and imposing her ideal of what a unicorn should be on him
so now we need a scene transfer
let’s see, what’s a perfectly appropriate scene to cut away to in an episode that was specified as a trans issues metaphor?
a pickle museum
that’s right folks
we’re talking about a transunicorn getting a horn transplant, and the best way to do a scene transfer is a joke about a museum containing pickles
y’know
cuz phallic jokes
classy.
“Professor! He needs this!”
“I NEED THIS”
…… so yeah his feelings on this matter don’t actually matter to bubbles apparently, she just wants him to be a unicorn for her sake.
Because that’s how being trans works
right?
people are actually imposing what THEY want you to be, you’re not actually trans, you’re just trying to be something someone else wants you to be C:
(except I’m pretty sure the actual trans issue would be if everyone kept insisting he was a pony over and over and over)
So the professor got done explaining that this procedure isn’t fully tested yet and is risky.
“Well it’s up to you Donny, is this something you want to try?”
“As long as my BFF Bubbles says it’s a good idea, I am DOWN!”
Oh
so
now he’s only doing this because Bubbles wants him to
not because he actually really badly/passionately wants to be a unicorn???
Also, trans operations are risky and still under research, so this is actually a super serious decision.
Professor: This is your body and it’s a serious
choice!
Thoroughly weigh your options as you read through this document in all its entirety.”
Okay there is no excuse now. This is 100% a trans issue episode, when they use terminology like “it’s your body and it’s a serious choice”
And this is how they treat it.
“EH, I SKIMMED IT!”
Note how it says “FOREVER” in big red letters?
Indicating to our lovely children that this is a permanent change, and such a serious, risky procedure :C
So now we see what direction this episode is really going
They’re basically giving the moral that “changing your body is risky and bad and comes with lots of bad side effects”
Don’t believe me?
let’s continue down the transphobic trainwreck!
So yeah guess what
it didn’t work
this is how they’re depicting transitioning by the way
by making it look FUCKING HORRIFYING
So yeah, transkids? Good luck feeling confident in your important decision about your body. I’m sure this will make you feel confident that it’s the right thing to do if it makes you happy. C:
So now that he’s gotten his operation with bad side effects, he’s reduced to being a freakshow
and his conditions get worse
he’s fucking crying, he’s horrified
he turns in to an even bigger monster because the side effects are THAT bad
oh wow so
they cut back to the pickle museum
and shatter a pickle statue
okay let me explain why this is so fucked up
The mayor is explaining if this pickle statue breaks, bad luck will occur. And it gets shattered.
Now in context of this episode, why this was either on purpose or just a really shitty choice: we once again have someone saying ‘if you break thing (that happens to be a phallic object joke btw) then bad stuff will happen’
it’s the same thing they’re saying this episode
if you try to change your body
bad things will happen
he smashed his pickle, so despair will follow (see where I’m going with this? you don’t make jokes about smashing pickles in a trans issues episode, it’s in really poor taste)
Bubbles comes in and tells him he has to calm down
“LOOK AT ME, I’M A FREAK, WE ARE NO LONGER BFFS!”
yes because being bffs is way more important than his feelings, Bubbles (you selfish little shit)
holy shit they wont stop with the fucking pickle thing
Buttercup and Blossom join
Buttercup: Woah, he’s a freak.
Bubbles: He is not a freak, he is my friend!
REALLY?! THAT’S WHY HE’S NOT A FREAK?! BECAUSE HE’S YOUR FRIEND? WHO BY THE WAY YOU ONLY WANTED TO BE FRIENDS WITH IF HE WAS A UNICORN?!?!!
“Donny this is all my fault, I put
you in danger just because I wanted to be friends with a unicorn”
oh good at least she admits it but that doesn’t exactly fix the problem now does it? Nor does it remotely tackle transissues,
what the hell is it trying to say here
“friends of transpeople shouldn’t pressure them to change themselves”??????
i’m pretty sure that’s not the major issue transpeople are dealing with
I’ll expand on this once I’m through all this garbage and have a final say in how this episode could have been handled because this is such shit writing and such a shitty message for confused trans kids.
“DEEP DOWN IN YOUR HEART OF HEARTS, YOU ARE A REAL LIVE UNICORN!”
“NO, IN MY HEART I KNOW I’M A MONSTER!”
Uh, guys
I know you’re trying to make this a good message and all
but you’re really REALLY not
“i just wanted to be friends with a unicorn”
so what does she do
continue to insist he’s a unicorn
and this upsets him
yeah you had that coming, Bubbles
ugh this is something I’ll expand on as a final say, this is just too messed up
SO IN AN AMAZING TWIST, UNICORNS APPEAR!
“Wait which ones are stallions?”
… WOW.
just
wow
throw in a joke about gender binaries in a trans issues episode
s’great
that’s just
real great
“I blamed you but I didn’t think of
the consequences either. I sooo wanted to be a unicorn
too…”
“But you ARE a unicorn!”
so being trans is just ‘wanting it’ I guess, and wanting to change comes with HORRIBLE consequences.
Oh by the way
turns out
he actually IS a unicorn
“I had to wait until you went on an intense journey of adolescent discovery.”
so there’s no trans issues here at all I guess
because he was a unicorn the whoooole time
no really
he was actually a unicorn the whole time, no magical transformation in to a unicorn or anything
he just had a horn under his hair and he never looked
I’m not making that up, that’s what happens.
Look they even fix the pickle museum
And then they have a happy ending and fly away AND GOD WHAT TRASH
I’ll reblog one more post with a final say because this episode was a mess and there was actually one VERY simple solution to it
Episode Review
Where the fuck do I even begin?
So the overall lesson in this episode really didn’t come off as accepting or tolerant of trans issues in the slightest.
They outed their ‘trans’ character at the start, didn’t address how wrong that was
the overall lesson here is not to change your body because bad things will happen and you’ll be a monster
I want to say this right now:
I am trans. And it’s people telling me that I’m NOT a boy, that I SHOULDN’T want t change that makes me feel like a monster.
It makes me feel like a freak.
CN decided to make a trans character a villain for trying to change ‘who they are’.
I’m going to keep this short and simple because the fix to this abomination IS simple:
This episode would have been PERFECT if he became a monster because everyone kept insisting he was a pony over and over and over and over
his anger could grow from no one letting him be what he feels
and in the end, bubbles insisting to him that he IS a unicorn, and that she was wrong for not treating him like one from the start
and everyone accepting him as a unicorn
Imagine this ending:
Everyone believing in him and accepting him as a unicorn is what turns him in to a unicorn
But most of all, the most important thing, is that he has to believe in himself.
He might not have been a unicorn in body but he was a unicorn at heart and that’s what mattered most, and as long as he was true to his heart and everyone else could accept him for what he feels on the inside.
Bam, unicorn. The problem is solved, he no longer feels like he has to be a monster or a freak, he doesn’t feel trapped in his own body and misunderstood and mislabelled.
You see.
How fucking HARD was that to fix?!
Instead, we got this. This thing that tells us trans people are whiny, dramatic, angry, and that it’s risky/dangerous to try and change your body. That they should just accept their own bodies and it’ll all be okay.
Proof that this is a trans issues episode since people keep saying I’m overanalyzing:
“In addition to shattering old tropes and kick-punching dated ideas, the new “Powerpuff Girls” will also address issues of gender and identity. One upcoming episode in particular touches on ideas of gender identity – a topic open to conversation even in animated shows, thanks to programs such as “Steven Universe,” which explores gender fluidity and rejects established gender norms.
“We did an episode where there’s a unicorn. Basically when it starts out, he’s a pony, but he wants to be a unicorn,” Jennings explained. “He has to go through a transformation to become a unicorn and so it’s a whole [episode that asks], ‘What are you on the inside? What are you on the outside? How do you identify yourself? How do people see you?’ There’s a lot of subtext in that.”
Ms. Bellum will not be returning to the PPG reboot @bugeyedfreaks
Um, NO. My worst fears are confirmed.
This is a terrible choice! Miss Bellum was smart and capable and amazing and sexy but able to do her job despite her amazing looks. Her outer appearance didn’t matter. Her BRAINS are what mattered. What, smart women don’t fit your narrative, Nick? She wasn’t some airhead who was just there to be good looking. Why didn’t they just show her face and make her the new Mayor or something? Show that she was able to move up in the world? Have the Mayor still be in the show but retired or something? How would that not be empowering to girls?
And oh my god, the way they wrote her in that clip is what they actually think of her, as just some sultry secretary trope. I want to throw up.
I really hate this reboot. They cut out a great female character that they could have made even better, they diss all but one of the veteran female voice actresses, and turn the girls into vapid tweens. This is not the Powerpuff way and this isn’t being feminist. What a bunch of morons.
‘never rose above being assistant to the mayor’???
SHE WAS THE ONE KEEPING TOWNSVILLE TOGETHER.
You really think the man who couldn’t get a damn pickle jar open could run a city constantly under threat from a neighbouring monster island and a cast of colourful villains? No, we all know who the real power was behind the throne.
She was a strong, kind woman (who also happened to be good looking BUT WE CAN’T HAVE GOOD LOOKING WOMEN ON A COMEDY ANIMATED TV SHOW THAT SETS A BAD EXAMPLE HMMM) that the girls looked to as an authority figure for the CITY. Sure they took orders from the Mayor and there was also Miss Keen, but Miss Bellum was a badass.
She gave the girls confidence and advice as a mature woman. But she also taught them humility and patience. She had to work under a useless boss but did it with respect and dedication.
SHE TOOK ON SEDUSA BARE HANDED, WITH NO SUPER POWERS, WHILE WEARING FISHNETS AND KNEE HIGH BOOTS, AND KICKED HER ARSE.
This new series. It’s a MESS.
Justice for Miss Bellum
Praise be to this reblog. OTL
Seems like the writers views on Miss Bellum are just as shallow on judging her by her appearance, not what she was truly capable of.
