CARTOON NETWORK
The Powerpuff Girls pay a visit to Santa to figure out why they are on the naughty list this year.
Girl power!
f you're looking for warm and fuzzy this season, you might find it in Townsville. The Powerpuff Girls -- Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles -- star in the holiday special "Twas the Fight Before Christmas," where the girls must make a mad dash to prevent the demise of Christmas. The tale is told in rhymes, along the lines of the storybook "Twas the Night Before Christmas."
Sugar, spice and everything nice (and a dash of Chemical X) are the ingredients Professor Utonium used to create the Powerpuff Girls, so it's a mystery when they end up on Santa's naughty list. While most children are nestled all snug in their beds, the three miniature superheroes must save Christmas due to the mishaps of Townsville's naughtiest girl, Princess Morbucks.
"Twas the Fight Before Christmas"Featuring the Powerpuff Girls
Premieres 7 p.m. today on Cartoon Network (also available on home video)
Princess might be the only one who appears on the "naughty" list, but she is determined to get exactly what she wants. After taking her private jet to the North Pole, the spoiled brat uses "Mission Impossible" tactics to switch Santa's lists, making her the only "nice" child in the world. And, Princess gets her holiday wish ... to become a Powerpuff Girl.
Bubbles is flabbergasted when she finds a bare Christmas tree and coal-filled stockings. In a roundabout explanation to her sisters, she tells them that she used her X-ray vision and found that all of the children in the neighborhood had received nothing but coal.
Before the girls race off to the North Pole to take on Princess Morbucks, the girls decorate their tree and house, bake cookies and even build a snowman. I chuckled when the professor noted that he couldn't get the tree lights to work, despite the fact that he created three tiny superheroes with an abundance of girl power.
When they get to the North Pole, the fight begins! Princess uses her new superpowers to make sure that the girls are unable to tell Santa of her wrongdoings. (She makes for a classic Grinch -- looking forward with glee to the sad faces of children around the world as they awake to a dismal morning with no gifts or holiday cheer.)
An eccentric Santa Claus adds humor to the tale. After a horribly long night of delivering coal, Santa sulks by the fire. Once he learns of Morbucks' antics, his attitude kicks in. His reaction to her badgering and name-calling is an amusing moment in the story.
The animation for this Christmas special is nothing special, on the same level of the television series, so those hoping for better than usual might be disappointed. With the exception of the fight scene with Princess, there is very little else, in spite of what the title suggests. The rest of the show proves to be a cheerful, "save-the-day"-style tale.
The Cartoon Network is also having a four-day marathon with Christmas programming Dec. 22 to 25. Features include "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Smurfs Christmas Special," "Yogi's First Christmas," "The Night B4 Christmas" and "Flintstone Christmas."
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