Characters of the 90's: The Powerpuff Girls

After I wrote Clarissa’s post, I immediately thought of a bunch of other 90’s characters -real and fictional- that were very deserving of their own post. Our next set of characters was an obvious choice, the illustrious Powerpuff Girls. 

The Powerpuff Girls debuted on Cartoon Network in 1998, and the show ran until 2004. To me, this frame of time represents the heyday of Cartoon Network. After we were just about to grow out of watching Rugrats and other childrens’ programs on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network came along with a slew of shows that were directed at kids aged 7-10, but could still be appreciated by preadolescents and teenagers as well. The Powerpuff Girls was one such show.

Sugar….Spice….and everything nice…

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You know how those opening credits went. How could you possibly ever forget it? It was drilled into your head at the beginning of every episode, so that as soon as you heard the first syllable, your mouth automatically followed suit. The 90’s were a time of sing-songy opening theme songs (ex. the Pokemon theme, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme, the Friends theme..), which really attached the viewer to the program. 

Let’s focus on the girls now, shall we? 

 

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This show really got me at a time when I was really really into things being magical and cute, so I was immediately hooked. Kindergartners with superpowers? Aww.

One thing immediately noticable about the girls is that they are stereotypes of how little girls act. We have the uppity, intellectual leader who thinks she’s daddy’s favorite (Blossom), the overly sensitive one that cries every episode (Bubbles), and the aggressive one who wants to beat everyone up (Buttercup). 

….oh my god…that reminds me of an eerily similar connection to 2000’s pop culture.. 

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I just scared myself. Moving on.

The fact that the girls are stereotypes isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They all had checks and balances on each other. That’s why it was essential that they always stayed in a team. Whenever Buttercup would go off to fight on her own (as she was prone to doing) she would never win because she was missing her two counterparts. And when Blossom thought she was too good for everyone, she would try to do her own thing, that failed for the same reason. And Bubbles….well actually Bubbles would never go off on her own.

That’s why it was hard to choose a favorite Powerpuff Girl. They were awesome as a group, but individually? Blossom was a leader, but she was also a snob, Bubbles was cute and sensitive but she was a wimp, and Buttercup was strong but she was mean. Again, checks and balances.

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I always thought the names on the show were pretty clever. You had Sara Bellum, the Mayor’s sexified secretary who made more educated decisions than he did, you had Mojo Jojo, a maniacal little monkey, The Gangrene Gane who were gross and sickly, Sedusa, who was a seductress that used her hair to attack people. And then there was Him.

……..

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The humor of the show was actually pretty deep for the age group that it was aimed at. As a kid watching the show, I didn’t think it was laugh-out-loud funny (most of the humorous references went over my head), but seeing it when I’m older, I find there’s a lot more absurdist humor. As an “adult” viewing the show, it’s not so much centered around the girls anymore. The girls don’t have a lot of depth to them. Rather, it’s about the ridiculousness of the society that the girls live in.

The Powerpuff Girls show executes wit and satire surprisingly well, and it is all presented nicely in the form of a cutesy kid’s show. Thank you, Craig McCracken.

(PS: Did you ever watch the episode that spoofed the Beatles? You don’t remember?! Well then, ENJOY!) 

The characters of the '90s: Clarissa Darling

I was a little bemused when the Vh1 aired the mini-series I Love The 90’s in 2004. My friends and I watched I love the 80s and 70’s (and all of their sequels) religiously. When I Love The 70’s ended, I was eagerly anticipating I Love the 60’s (which has still not been made) and instead Vh1 gave us I Love the 90’s. 

Even though I was 14, I felt that the series had come much too soon, that the 90’s were indistinguishable from the current decade. Now that we’re completely separated from the 1990’s by the progressive 2000’s, I’ve embraced the decade of my birth as a simpler time with superior children’s programming. I was a child back then, but (probably starting around 1994) I became influenced by the very same mediums that influence me now. Books, TV, movies, and music. 

The first ‘90’s style icon that comes to mind is the precocious Clarissa Darling of Clarissa Explains It All.

(The most recognizable Clarissa graphic on Tumblr. The pie chart is actually depicting what motivates Americans.)

Clarissa’s frequent use of graphics drew me in as a kid. They occasionally popped up in other Nickelodeon programs, but they were mostly the trademark of this show. As charismatic as Clarissa was, she did tend to go on and on in her monologues and the graphics usually helped illustrate whatever she was talking about.

And of course, Clarissa’s vibrant wardrobe:

Every kid in the 90’s dressed like this, but to a far lesser degree. There were kids in headbands, kids in ripped jeans, kids with weird graphic tees, kids that wore crazy jewelry everyday, but no one combined all of the elements into a true Clarissa-approved ensamble. She wore every single thing that was cool in the '90s AT THE SAME TIME. And she looked ridiculous, but she looked awesome.

With the resurgence of '90’s fashion,  liberty prints, overalls, Doc Martins, even scrunchies (and other things that you probably banished from your closet the minute you hit puberty) are now highly coveted “vintage” items on Etsy and Ebay. (Side note: I can now sympathize with my parents at the feeling of things younger than me being called “vintage”. When they actually aren’t.)

But if you’re smart and you’re longing for the days of yore, you’ll go for the cheaper alternative and find authentic '90’s treasures in your local thrift shop, where Clarissa’s closet lives on. 

That’s it for now. Expect more '90s characters in the near future.

(All images are screenshots from the show, Clarissa Explains it All, but I got them from the sites Pull Teeth, The Neave, and Ferg Face.)