Powerpuff (lost CW live-action pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; 2021)

Promo picture for the pilot

Status: Lost

The Powerpuff Girls is an animated action comedy franchise created by Craig McCracken that initially ran on Cartoon Network for 6 seasons between 1998 and 2005. The series follows the adventures of Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, three doe-eyed kindergartners with world-shattering superpowers that arose accidentally when Professor Utonium, during an attempt to create the perfect little girl, spilled a jar of Chemical-X into the 'sugar and spice and everything nice'. The newly-christened Powerpuff Girls become the guardians of their home Townsville, defending it from an assortment of exotic (and very adult) villains.

A poorly-received animated reboot of the show aired from 2016 to 2019, and another - this time with McCracken's involvement - is said to be in development.^[1] On August 24th, 2020, it was announced that a new live-action sequel series, simply entitled "Powerpuff"^[2] was set to air on the CW.^[3]

Premise

Set in the early 2020s, the show re-imagined the iconic characters for the young adult demographic. Accordingly, the tiny Powerpuff trio were dramatically aged up into "disillusioned twentysomethings" who were banished from Townsville shortly after the original series ended - apparently at the behest of anti-violence protesters appalled when Blossom actually killed primary antagonist Mojo Jojo - and are only now returning, having grown to resent losing their childhoods to crime fighting. The show would trade in action-adventure for 'slice-of-life' plots, packed with modern pop-culture references, that explored the girls' troubled relationships with their hometown, the Professor and each other.

Availability

The pilot was filmed in April 2021 but was hastily withdrawn and reworked after negative test screenings.^[4] Two full screenplays of the pilot (from January 18th and February 9th, 2021) were leaked online a month after filming concluded and were likewise met with immense backlash.

On May 18th, 2023, the show was officially cancelled after two years of redevelopment and the departure of star Chloe Bennet (Blossom).^[5] ^[6] The pilot has never been officially released, and likely never will thanks to its theoretical core audiences' strongly negative reception to the concept.^[7] However, the pilot has been rumoured to be circulating online in private collecting groups.