Despite Barack and Michelle Obama trying to politicize Austin’s South by Southwest music and entrepreneurship festival, the most catalytic presentation was the triumphant return of the Powerpuff Girls.
It was all pink, green, and blue cotton candy when the technorati rolled into Austin’s Long Center Terrace in celebration of three very special ladies: Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.
As the daily inspiration for tens of millions of Gen Ys and Gen Zs from 1998 through 2005, the Powerpuff Girls premiered “Horn Sweet Horn” as their first new episode in over a decade.
With the party featuring Macy’s Parade-worthy balloons flying overhead, arena-size speakers bumping Miley Cyrus, and the sun setting over the Colorado River, thousands of hipsters streamed into the park to lay out thousands of blankets and to crack glow sticks.
The Cartoon Network released a series of shorts on YouTube demonstrating how Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are drawn, and introducing fans to the new voice actresses for the show including Amanda Leighton (Blossom), Kristen Li (Bubbles), and Natalie Palamides (Buttercup).
In a teaser for the series, YouTube now features the Powerpuff Girls confronting a new villain named Manboy, who has vowed to turn the city of Townsville into the city of Mansville — a place where men are men and boys are men.
The young ladies try to reason with Manboy, who is dressed as a lumberjack, and has giant wood robot as his enforcer. The conversation goes nowhere until Manboy crosses the line by referring to Buttercup as “princess.”
The shocked green heroine responds, “Princess? Did you just call me princess?” With steam coming out of Buttercup’s ears, she uses karate to destroy Manboy’s robot and then tosses his worthless carcass out of the town. Having triumphed, Buttercup looks back over her shoulder and screams, “Don’t call me princess!”
As the Verge reported during the lit event, “every other party at SXSW had nothing on The Powerpuff Girls’ bash.” They described ‘Horn Sweet Horn’ as a “good, funny, and contains a Dolly Parton reference.”
The Powerpuff Girls are scheduled to launch a new series beginning April 4 on the Cartoon Network.