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theanimationcafe2016-06-24 10:03 pm
nature_heart) wrote in theanimationcafe2016-06-24 10:03 pm
Entry tags:
Soap Box: Powerpuff Girls 2016
You know, I did sit on launching this blog for a while. I was going to make a post about one of my favorite animated films...but I just needed that push or edge to do that.
I needed something to really, REALLY, talk about extensively. Which was why I made this blog in the first place. Plurk isn't a good place to get up on your pedestal and go on thoroughly with points of interest. Not always.
So, without further ado, something I just really needed to talk about.
Something I really wanted to tear my teeth into.
And it's not made from sugar, spice, and everything nice.
Look, if you asked me a good solid fifteen or so years ago, I would be able to tell you my favorite cartoon.
Digimon.
This was second place.
No, not this pile of dog turd, the original 90's run of the Powerpuff Girls. I would get ramped up at the title song, all raring to get the show going. I had merch, oh yeah. I was an avid Bubbles fan too. I had the doll that had the glow in the dark eyes. I was also Bubbles one Halloween. I doodled the girls regularly.
It was a property that I looked at very fondly. A genuine superhero show starring three different and strong females? I'm sold. I was actually watching the original show on Netflix recently, it still really holds up. Genuine laughs, genuine action, genuine characters any kid could look up to. Not JUST the Powerpuff Girls, more on this later...
Alas, not all good things last. I grew out of PPG in my early adolescence, and really in just sheer focus on other things. The show kind of spiraled and the movie didn't do so well (but I LOVED it if you asked me). When asked to make another season, Craig McCracken (all hail the Cracken), declined...saying the show had its run, it was finished. It was successful, and it was time to move on.
So in society's notion of rebooting when ideas are scarce, on the home of such shows such as Regular Show, We Bare Bears, and STEVEN FUCKING UNIVERSE, we bring something back that objectively should not have been.
I'm personally a bit...iffy on reboots. Sure, if someone had a new idea and DIDN'T JUST WANT TO CASH IN ON A NOSTALGIA MARKET AND SELL TOYS TO NEWCOMERS (coughcough), fine. But, say, ask me if I wanted my favorite show of all times (guess what) if I wanted it brought back. I would say "eh, not really". I wouldn't feel as skeptical if the original creators were on it, but I'm a genuine believer of leaving things alone. It's good as it is. Not everything needs a reboot. Things have a feeling of conclusion, a satisfactory ending, why bring it BACK?
Money.
And I'll tell what.
They really tried to carry this pot of gold all the way to the bank.
Where did it all go wrong?
They don't bring back the voice actresses, they weren't ASKED to. Promos came out and people were really feeling something off about the whole thing. Even more than before.
And then it happened.
Where has humanity not sunk to. Who are we. Who were we to think--
Let's just...sink this in. Because it takes a lot more than...twerking six year olds to grind my gears (it does though). I have watched enough to really find the entire thing skeevy.
It took a lot more than "Painbow", the fated episode of a million HIP LINGO references to really feel the burn of the tiny ten year old me who watched this show pretty religiously. It took the removal of Miss Bellum to do that. So let's just tackle this first.
I'm actually there with you, Mayor.
Miss Bellum was probably my favorite character next to Bubbles. She was beautiful, sure. But she was smart, THE SMARTEST. She ran the town, she was the antithesis of sexist females on TV. She was the literal embodiment of a strong female, do not judge the bod no matter how hot it actually is. Her brain power was key, Miss Sara Bellum. Come the fuck on.
APPARENTLY, the show thought her sexist and removed her.
Yes.
The show wanted to tell a "message". So it thought that Miss Bellum was something NOT in that message, inappropriate. Shallow. Trying to play it sensitive safe for a crowd that probably went to Tumblr defining misogyny before turning on their TV to find something offensive. Miss Keen's boobs are also gone.
You know...ladies have boobs right? They aren't sexual in themselves. We have them. Boobs. It's biology. Any kid would look at any human and see a boob.
That's offensive and in the same episode, "Bye Bye Bellum", you have a sexist female villain into FASHION!!!11 So now instead of someone smart to balances out The Mayor's stupidity, we just have him to carry the show from that perspective. I'll tell you, every scene with the Mayor in this made me cringe. It's not pleasant to have someone incompetent on screen on a regular basis. It's second hand embarrassment.
I just...I could go on but...let's continue. I really can't talk about the individual episodes themselves or I will literally be here for a year.
Modern vernacular so tryhard to the MODERN DAY crowd to make any new age tween blush. Because that's relatable, right?? Why try to tell witty, timeless, humor when you could just have smart phones and memes, right?
You know the strength to having modern things in your show? It exists if you know how to write it. Inserting them in itself just dates your show. Mentions of pop culture can place the show, but it all amounts to the writing around it. The fact that PPG2016 depends on modern slang in itself for its humor instantly dates it. In a year, no one will find this relevant. Nothing ever is built if you just have Bubbles come up and state she has a Mojo Meme Generator on her phone.
I don't have to mention a show that has a placed time period WITHOUT dating it because of smart writing, do I?
They try so hard to make it trendy and have their characters BE "trendy" that it causes nothing but headaches and flanderization.
Oh speaking of which.
The characters are all awful. The villains are lackluster or never around. The new villains a manly man who likes things MANLY and not GIRLY and is TRADITIONAL MANLY WHO HATES THE GIRLS FOR BEING GIRLS AND-
-Look let's just talk about the girls for now.
They are all horrible. The creators stated specifically that they wanted to create a cast of girls more developed and layered than in the previous show. They wanted to make them "relatable". Instead, they are all so flanderized that they go around to one dimensional again. So let's do an exercise. I'll explain the girls' personalities to you. As I do, I'll post a character that is of the same or similar page. But, they are written far better and smarter. And well, actually relatable. Basically, I'll give you a fucking better character.
Blossom: A neat freak, obsessive, so much into cleanliness and perfection that she loses her cool when things go awry. Confident, almost too confident.
Bubbles (sigh): A hyperactive sweet girl with a darker edge than she shows. Loves animals, and cute things.
Buttercup: Aggressive, too aggressive. Practically asshole level. But generally has an edge to the dark layers, and really isn't all that bad.
...You get the point. I gave very basic descriptions, but that's basically all I could gather watching it. For a show that tries to have morals and development, nothing actually happens. It's almost a parody of moral shows but it takes itself that much SERIOUSLY. It doesn't know how to write already established characters, which would also perfectly replace them as they were already developed and fine the way they were. So instead, it all amounts to meme humor, morals that don't stick, and lame fight scenes with no real stakes or actually good animation.
Quality digital animation.
Whyyyyyyyyyy is it sooooo slooooooooowwwwwwww.
BURN IT.
I could talk more about the controversial episode of "Horn Sweet Horn". I could talk about basically everything more. But I think I've just about wasted my limit at the moment. I'm off the floor.
This show is fucking trash.
Theme song is good though.
I needed something to really, REALLY, talk about extensively. Which was why I made this blog in the first place. Plurk isn't a good place to get up on your pedestal and go on thoroughly with points of interest. Not always.
So, without further ado, something I just really needed to talk about.
Something I really wanted to tear my teeth into.
And it's not made from sugar, spice, and everything nice.
Look, if you asked me a good solid fifteen or so years ago, I would be able to tell you my favorite cartoon.
Digimon.
This was second place.
No, not this pile of dog turd, the original 90's run of the Powerpuff Girls. I would get ramped up at the title song, all raring to get the show going. I had merch, oh yeah. I was an avid Bubbles fan too. I had the doll that had the glow in the dark eyes. I was also Bubbles one Halloween. I doodled the girls regularly.
It was a property that I looked at very fondly. A genuine superhero show starring three different and strong females? I'm sold. I was actually watching the original show on Netflix recently, it still really holds up. Genuine laughs, genuine action, genuine characters any kid could look up to. Not JUST the Powerpuff Girls, more on this later...
Alas, not all good things last. I grew out of PPG in my early adolescence, and really in just sheer focus on other things. The show kind of spiraled and the movie didn't do so well (but I LOVED it if you asked me). When asked to make another season, Craig McCracken (all hail the Cracken), declined...saying the show had its run, it was finished. It was successful, and it was time to move on.
So in society's notion of rebooting when ideas are scarce, on the home of such shows such as Regular Show, We Bare Bears, and STEVEN FUCKING UNIVERSE, we bring something back that objectively should not have been.
I'm personally a bit...iffy on reboots. Sure, if someone had a new idea and DIDN'T JUST WANT TO CASH IN ON A NOSTALGIA MARKET AND SELL TOYS TO NEWCOMERS (coughcough), fine. But, say, ask me if I wanted my favorite show of all times (guess what) if I wanted it brought back. I would say "eh, not really". I wouldn't feel as skeptical if the original creators were on it, but I'm a genuine believer of leaving things alone. It's good as it is. Not everything needs a reboot. Things have a feeling of conclusion, a satisfactory ending, why bring it BACK?
Money.
And I'll tell what.
They really tried to carry this pot of gold all the way to the bank.
Where did it all go wrong?
They don't bring back the voice actresses, they weren't ASKED to. Promos came out and people were really feeling something off about the whole thing. Even more than before.
And then it happened.
Where has humanity not sunk to. Who are we. Who were we to think--
Let's just...sink this in. Because it takes a lot more than...twerking six year olds to grind my gears (it does though). I have watched enough to really find the entire thing skeevy.
It took a lot more than "Painbow", the fated episode of a million HIP LINGO references to really feel the burn of the tiny ten year old me who watched this show pretty religiously. It took the removal of Miss Bellum to do that. So let's just tackle this first.
I'm actually there with you, Mayor.
Miss Bellum was probably my favorite character next to Bubbles. She was beautiful, sure. But she was smart, THE SMARTEST. She ran the town, she was the antithesis of sexist females on TV. She was the literal embodiment of a strong female, do not judge the bod no matter how hot it actually is. Her brain power was key, Miss Sara Bellum. Come the fuck on.
APPARENTLY, the show thought her sexist and removed her.
Yes.
The show wanted to tell a "message". So it thought that Miss Bellum was something NOT in that message, inappropriate. Shallow. Trying to play it sensitive safe for a crowd that probably went to Tumblr defining misogyny before turning on their TV to find something offensive. Miss Keen's boobs are also gone.
You know...ladies have boobs right? They aren't sexual in themselves. We have them. Boobs. It's biology. Any kid would look at any human and see a boob.
That's offensive and in the same episode, "Bye Bye Bellum", you have a sexist female villain into FASHION!!!11 So now instead of someone smart to balances out The Mayor's stupidity, we just have him to carry the show from that perspective. I'll tell you, every scene with the Mayor in this made me cringe. It's not pleasant to have someone incompetent on screen on a regular basis. It's second hand embarrassment.
I just...I could go on but...let's continue. I really can't talk about the individual episodes themselves or I will literally be here for a year.
Modern vernacular so tryhard to the MODERN DAY crowd to make any new age tween blush. Because that's relatable, right?? Why try to tell witty, timeless, humor when you could just have smart phones and memes, right?
You know the strength to having modern things in your show? It exists if you know how to write it. Inserting them in itself just dates your show. Mentions of pop culture can place the show, but it all amounts to the writing around it. The fact that PPG2016 depends on modern slang in itself for its humor instantly dates it. In a year, no one will find this relevant. Nothing ever is built if you just have Bubbles come up and state she has a Mojo Meme Generator on her phone.
I don't have to mention a show that has a placed time period WITHOUT dating it because of smart writing, do I?
They try so hard to make it trendy and have their characters BE "trendy" that it causes nothing but headaches and flanderization.
Oh speaking of which.
The characters are all awful. The villains are lackluster or never around. The new villains a manly man who likes things MANLY and not GIRLY and is TRADITIONAL MANLY WHO HATES THE GIRLS FOR BEING GIRLS AND-
-Look let's just talk about the girls for now.
They are all horrible. The creators stated specifically that they wanted to create a cast of girls more developed and layered than in the previous show. They wanted to make them "relatable". Instead, they are all so flanderized that they go around to one dimensional again. So let's do an exercise. I'll explain the girls' personalities to you. As I do, I'll post a character that is of the same or similar page. But, they are written far better and smarter. And well, actually relatable. Basically, I'll give you a fucking better character.
Blossom: A neat freak, obsessive, so much into cleanliness and perfection that she loses her cool when things go awry. Confident, almost too confident.
Bubbles (sigh): A hyperactive sweet girl with a darker edge than she shows. Loves animals, and cute things.
Buttercup: Aggressive, too aggressive. Practically asshole level. But generally has an edge to the dark layers, and really isn't all that bad.
...You get the point. I gave very basic descriptions, but that's basically all I could gather watching it. For a show that tries to have morals and development, nothing actually happens. It's almost a parody of moral shows but it takes itself that much SERIOUSLY. It doesn't know how to write already established characters, which would also perfectly replace them as they were already developed and fine the way they were. So instead, it all amounts to meme humor, morals that don't stick, and lame fight scenes with no real stakes or actually good animation.
Quality digital animation.
Whyyyyyyyyyy is it sooooo slooooooooowwwwwwww.
BURN IT.
I could talk more about the controversial episode of "Horn Sweet Horn". I could talk about basically everything more. But I think I've just about wasted my limit at the moment. I'm off the floor.
This show is fucking trash.
Theme song is good though.
no subject
They get rid of Miss Bellum because she's "sexist." They get rid of Miss Keen's boobs, probably because having mammaries automatically makes it sexual and misogynistic. Somehow. Yet they're perfectly okay with twerking six year olds. That's disgusting. THAT is what made me lose my patience with this show.
no subject
I personally find it worse because nothing at all grabs me to watch it any further. It all amounts to either being "nothing special" or "actually really bad". The out of show publicity and controversy doesn't help it.
Miss Bellum and the episode surrounding her departure for instance is what actually got me angry. Watching "Bye Bye Bellum" was a chore, even if it gave me the incentive to actually talk about it.
Because you pointed it out, having an hourglass figured woman is sexist. But having twerking children is A-OK.
no subject
I'm not sure I get your point about the voice actors though. Like is it a positive or negative thing they weren't tapped, because honestly, I don't feel like it's a bad thing to give some new talents a chance on old characters. Especially after the complete fit Tara Strong threw about it.
no subject
Mhm, you're right. I could've elaborated it a bit more back there so I'll be happy to say it here.
I'm...mostly neutral, leaning on negative. It's one of those things in which I've seen a lot of people be okay with the voices themselves or feel they don't work with no ill meaning to the actresses. I'm on the "okay" terms of voices, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. The whole drama behind it was what did throw me off the most. As much as I feel Tara Strong threw a colossal fit, I feel like she was still in the right (mostly, like 65% to 35% right to wrong) to get a bit upset when she wasn't offered or so much TOLD of the job when a LOT of the background characters voices did come back. It never sat right with me, even though I feel like Tara Strong could obviously get jobs elsewhere and vice versa.
no subject
She's certainly in her right to feel like she was cheated at a chance at the role, but honestly, I have exactly zero patience for that kind of diva-ism from someone who is consistently in work. Considering the way this show is turning out, I feel more sorry for Kristen Li, who did get the role. She only has two credits to her name, and while I think she's turning in a perfectly fine performance, she's also getting a big bowl of shlock to work with.
no subject
If I were to truly place blame, is that if the creators actually held some fucking class at all...none of this would end up this way. But almost every choice they made in production was questionable to me. Everyone involved deserves a lot better.
no subject
But when it did put something on the table then oh boy, did it really put something on the table. In the least appealing way possible. The fact that the twerking scene is probably one of the better animated scenes in the reboot is just telling how this show is going to be remembered over time, and that's not even going through the entirety of Painbow or the infamous Horn Sweet Horn episode.
Though it's something relatively minor in comparison, the artistic decision to drop the original show's UPA cartoons-inspired style never sits well with me. All especially the show generally feels like a cheap rendering of Clarence's style. It's trying so hard to be something else in not just storytelling wise, but visually wise too.
no subject
No kid is going to get the Hangover, it's like they really want to grab the nostalgia crowd who are of profit making ages. But they do it so forced that it comes off as demeaning and unflattering, tryhard.
It's not written smartly. In it's entirety.
You made an insanely good point about the animation. The original PPG was bold in its colors and lines to work well with the crazy action and dynamic scenes. This show is too soft, like it's trying to mimic Adventure Time...but with less effort and smooth movements with digital animation. And it really doesn't work because I feel the girl are a lot more freakish in comparison to the average looking humans. They don't fit in with the style.