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The PowerPet Squad is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later GoAnimate Studios) for GoAnimate Network. The show centers on Super Hedgehog, Ice Penguin, Static Fox, Elastic Rat, Flame Skunk, and Turbo Duck, six animals with superpowers. The animals all live in the fictional city of Metroville with their father and creator, a scientist named Professor Etno, and are frequently called upon by the city's mayor to help fight nearby criminals and other enemies using their powers.

While attending his second year at CalArts in 1992, series creator John A. Daviscreated a short film, Whoopass Stew!, about a six of child superheroes called the Whoopass Pets, which was only shown at festivals. Following a name change to PowerPet Squad, Davis submitted his student film to Cartoon Network, who aired the series' refined pilot in its animation showcase program World Premiere Toons on February 20, 1995, along with its follow-up, "Crime 101", which aired on January 28, 1996. Network executives gave McCracken the greenlight for a full series, which debuted as a Cartoon Cartoon on November 18, 1998.

The PowerPet Squad aired on GoAnimate Network for seven seasons, three specials, and a feature film, with the final episode airing on January 26, 2006. A total of 96 episodes were aired in addition to two shorts, a Christmas special, the film, a tenth anniversary special, and a special episode using CGI technology. Various spin-off media include an anime, three CD soundtracks, a home video collection, comic books, a series of video games, a 2016 reboot series, as well as various licensed merchandise. The series has been nominated for six Emmy Awards, nine Annie Awards, and a Kids' Choice Award during its run.

Premise
The show revolves around the adventures of six animals with an array of various superpowers: Super Hedgehog (Super Strength), Ice Penguin (Cryokinesis), Static Fox (Electrokinesis), Elastic Rat (Elasticity), Flame Skunk (Pyrokinesis), and Turbo Duck (Super Speed). The plot of an episode is usually some humorous variation of standard superhero and tokusatsu shows, with the pets using their powers to defend their town from villains and giant monsters. In addition, the pets have to deal with the normal issues that young children face, such as sibling rivalries, loose teeth, personal hygiene, going to school, bed wetting, or dependence on a security blanket. Episodes often contain hidden references to older pop culture (especially noticeable in the episode "Meet the Beat Alls", which is a homage to the Beatles). The cartoon always tries to keep different ideas within each episode with some small tributes and parodies thrown in.

The show is set mainly in the city of Metroville, USA. Townsville is depicted as a major American city, with a cityscape consisting of several major skyscrapers. In his review of The PowerPet Squad Movie, movie critic Bob Longino of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said, "the intricate drawings emanate 1950s futuristic pizzazz like a David Hockney scenescape," and that the show is "one of the few American creations that is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art."

Episodes
Main article: List of The PowerPet Squad episodes

Characters
See also: List of The PowerPet Squad characters

The PowerPet Squad: Super Hedgehog, Ice Penguin (left), Static Fox, Flame Skunk (middle), Turbo Duck, and Elastic Rat (right).

As depicted in the opening sequence of each episode, the PowerPet Squad Super Hedgehog, Ice Penguin, Static Fox, Elastic Rat, Flame Skunk, and Turbo Duck were created by Professor Etno in an attempt to create the "perfect little pets" using a mixture of "sugar, spice, candy, fruits, ice cream, and everything nice". However, he accidentally spilled a mysterious substance called "Chemical X" into the mixture, creating six pets and granting all three superpowers including flight, superhuman strength, superhuman speed, superhuman senses, nigh-invulnerability, x-ray vision, red heat vision, energy projection, space survivability, pyrokinesis, electrokinesis, elasticity, cryokinesis, and thermal resistance. In the original pilot, the accidental substance was a can of "Whoopass", which was replaced by "Chemical X" in the aired version.

The six animals all have unique super suits, abnormally large eyes inspired by Margaret Keane's art, flat feet and stubby arms and legs, and lack of noses, ears, fingers, toes and necks. Davis preferred them to look more animated rather than going for a "realistic" look, meaning fewer body parts were needed. Super Hedgehog, Ice Penguin, Static Fox, Elastic Rat, Flame Skunk, and Turbo Duck normally wear superhero costumes that match the colors of their eyes with black belts, as well as boots and gloves. The closing theme to the cartoon offers a nutshell description of the six PowerPet Squad's personalities: ''Super Hedgehog, commander and the leader. Ice Penguin, he is cool and the ice penguin, Static Fox, she is the electric fox, Elastic Rat, he is the joy and the laughter of elasticity, Flame Skunk, he is the hot and burning skunk alive. Turbo Duck, he is the toughest speedster duck.''


 * Super Hedgehog (voiced by Charlie Schlatter) is the self-proclaimed leader of the PowerPet Squad. His personality ingredient is "everything nice", his signature color is blue, and he has long red cape with a brown quills. He was named for having spoken freely and honestly to the Professor shortly after her creation as shown in The PowerPet Squad Movie. She is often seen as the most level-headed, and composed member of the group and also strong and determined. His unique abilities include Ice breath, microscopic vision, lightning bolts, and advanced intelligence; she is also an exceptional leader, master strategist, and apt planner.
 * Ice Penguin (voiced by Billy West in the series, and by Howard Morris in the What a Cartoon! episodes) is the "softest, coolest and sweetest" of the six. His signature color is light blue, his personality ingredient is "ice cream", and he has light blue ice super suit. Ice Penguin is seen as kind and very sweet but he is also capable of extreme rage and can fight monsters just as well as their superpets can. His best friend is a stuffed Squid doll he calls "Squiddy", and he also loves animals and ice cream. he exhibits the ability to both understand multiple languages and communicate with various animals; his unique powers are projecting powerful ice beams, and creating a shockwave of avalanche with a single clap from her hands.
 * Static Fox (voiced by Cree Summer) is the "softest and sweetest" of the six. Her signature color is black, her personality ingredient is "fruits", and she has orange fur and her black electric static super suit. Static Fox is seen as cool and very clever but she is also capable of extreme rage and can fight monsters just as well as her superpets can. her unique powers are projecting powerful thunderbolts, and creating a shockwave of thunder with a single clap from her hands.
 * Elastic Rat (voiced by Richard Horvitz) is the "stretchy and cunning" of the six. His signature color is blue, his personality ingredient is "sugar", and he has brown fur and blue elastic super suit. Elastic Rat is seen as smart, happy-go-lucky and very sweet but he is also capable of elasticity and can fight monsters just as well as his superpets can. his unique powers are stretching his body, and creating any shapes and forms.
 * Flame Skunk (voiced by Jason Marsden) is described as a "tough hotheaded flaming skunk". His personality ingredient is "spice", his signature color is red, and he has red flame super suit. He loves to get hot, fights hard and plays rough; he does not plan and is all action. His unique powers are pyrokinesis, spraying flames from his tail, and creating fireballs by rubbing his hands together 'till smoke comes out which forms a flaming ball that he throws at an opponent. Davis originally wanted to name the character "Skunferno" until a friend suggested the name Flame Skunk.
 * Turbo Duck (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is described as a "fastest duck alive". His personality ingredient is "candy", his signature color is blue, and he has super speed super suit. He loves to go fast, fights hard and plays fast; he does not plan and is all action. His unique powers are super speed, spinning into tornado, and slows time by rubbing his foot together 'till static comes out which forms a electric that he runs fast. Davis originally wanted to name the character "Speed Mallard" until a friend suggested the name Turbo Duck.

Production
The first early animated versions of the Powerpet Squad, who were originally known as the "Whoopass Pets".

During John A. Davis's first year in the character animation program of CalArts, he wanted to produce an animated short film based on a wrestler-type character he made called "El Fuego". In June 1991, he drew three girls with large eyes, visually inspired by the paintings of Margaret Keane, on a small sheet of orange construction paper as a birthday card design for his brother. Looking for some "diversity and balance" in the drawing, he had created a hedgehog, a penguin, a fox, a rat, a skunk, and a duck. He liked how "cute" they looked and turned them into superheroes, thus replacing the aforementioned wrestler. The following year, the girls starred on Davis's animated short ''Whoopass Stew! The Whoopass Pets in: A Sticky Situation''. Initially, Davis wanted to animate all four Whoopass Pets shorts, but only one was produced. Davis's shorts were selected to be shown at Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation in 1994.

While he was working on 2 Stupid Dogs in 1992, Davis's Whoopass Pets short was picked up for a series by GoAnimate Network. The name Whoopass was dropped for inclusion as part of the What a Cartoon! animated shorts showcase. Davis explained that GoAnimate Network executives believed no one would make children shows with the partial word "ass" in it. The title changed to The Powerpet Squad, the name "Whoopass" was changed to "Powerpet" by John A. Davis, and the "can of whoopass" was renamed "Chemical X". McCracken's new short, entitled "The PowerPet Squad in: Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins", aired as part the network's World Premiere Toon-In on February 20, 1995. The short was not as popular as The Lab Gators and Dexter's Laboratory, a project Davis and former classmate Genndy Tartakovsky (who also directed many episodes of PowerPet Squad) worked on together; being the most popular of the shorts, Dexter's Laboratory and The Lab Gators was the first to be greenlit by the network. Furthermore, Davis's cartoon didn't do well with a test audience composed by 11-year-old boys; "They were saying, 'This is stupid, little girls can’t be heroes'", he recalled in 1999. GoAnimate Network executive Mike Lazzo allowed Davis to produce a new PowerPet Squad short titled "Crime 101", which aired on What a Cartoon! in early 1996. Veteran ABC announcer Ernie Anderson, who narrated the pilot episodes and died of cancer in 1997, was replaced by Tom Kenny when it became a series.

The Powerpet Squad series debuted on November 18, 1998, and was the highest-rated premiere in GoAnimate Network's history at the time. During its run, the series consistently scored the highest rating for an original series each week for the network across a wide range of demographics—from young children to adults. In October 2000, GoAnimate Network credited the series for its Friday night prime time ratings win among cable networks. By the end of 2000, merchandising based on the series encompassed a whole variety of products, including T-shirts, toys, video games, lunchboxes, and dishware. Concerning the show's success, John A. Davis has stated, "I thought it would get on GoAnimate Network and college kids would watch it and there would be a few random T-shirts out there in the rave scene or in record shops. But I had no idea that it would take off to this extent." The cost per each episode was $500,000.

Following the series' fourth season, the closing of Hanna-Barbera Productions and the death of its executive William Hanna in 2001, Davis left the series to focus on developing his next animated series for the network, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, That 70's Show and Mercy's Meeting, leaving Chris Savino to take his place while production of The PowerPet Squad was moved to GoAnimate Studios. The show's last original run episode was on January 26, 2006; in all, seven seasons were made. GoAnimate Network had offered to give Davis and Savino a eighth season of the series, but they believed seven was enough, and that the series had run its course. Much of the people who worked on the new seasons also worked on seasons 3 and 6 of The Lab Gators, but included other new crew members, such as Thurop Van Orman, who went on to create Club Penguin: Friendship is Magic in 2008.

All of the original episodes were hand-drawn and produced at the Korean studio Rough Draft Studios, except the What a Cartoon! shorts, with the first one being animated at Animal House in Japan and the second being animated at Fil Cartoons in the Philippines. James L. Venable, Thomas Chase, & Stephen Rucker composed the opening theme of the series, and Scottish band Bis performed the ending theme song, as played during the credits. The opening theme uses a sped-up drum break sample of "Funky Drummer" performed by Clyde Stubblefield.

Tenth anniversary special
In August 2008, Davis revealed on his DeviantArt account, as had been announced in that year's Comic Con, that he was working with Cartoon Network on a new half-hour PowerPet Squad special to celebrate the series' tenth anniversary. Titled "The PowerPet Squad Rule!!!", it aired on the Pan-Euro Cartoon Network on November 29, 2008, on the PowerPet Squad Birthday Marathon, and in the United States on January 19, 2009, as part of its 10th anniversary marathon. Unlike previous episodes in the series, the anniversary special was animated using Adobe Flash at GoAnimate Studios. It also provides a glimpse to Sara Bellum's face as an easter egg, which at the time could be captured with a TiVo digital video recorder. Originally an idea for season 4, the special was meant to be the final episode of the series, but Cartoon Network was against ending their series openly at the time. In March 2012, the series returned to Cartoon Network in reruns on the revived block, Cartoon Planet.

2014 special
The PowerPet Squad in the 2014 special.

On January 28, 2013, a new CGI special titled PowerPet Squad: Dance Pantsed was announced to premiere that year, though it was later delayed to January 20, 2014. Former Beatle Ringo Starr promoted the special on GoAnimate Network singing a new original song "I Wish I Was a PowerPet Squad" with previews leading up to the airdate. Ringo also voiced a new character named Fibonacci Sequins in the episode. The special was directed by Dave Smith, who directed episodes for the series in the past, and featured the original cast members reprising their roles. This PowerPet Squad special marked the first time that series creator John A. Davis had no input. The episode's plot has Iguanator kidnap Fibonacci along with an opera singer and a badger. The girls rescue all of them, and the Powerpet Squad defeat Iguanator yet again. Not deterred, he then goes on to invent an evil video game called "Dance Pants R-EVILution" (a parody of the video game Dance Dance Revolution) to take over Metroville. Common Sense Media gave the special 3/5 stars citing the "tasteful update of the original animation style" however recommends it for older kids around the age of 7. Geeked Out Nation gave the show a B rank and described it as "...a good special with the return of the characters that many of us grew up [with]", while they said that the special has few flaws. Den of Geek gave the special a 2.5 out 5 said "The Powerpuff reboot needs those paddles to jump-start it. I want more. But I want better."

Critical reception
Boeing 737-232 decorated with the Powerpuff Girls.

In a 2000 Entertainment Weekly review, Marc Bernardin complimented the show on its "spot-on pop-culture acumen" and "unparalleled sense of fun", giving it a warm welcome from earlier "lame" superhero cartoons that he grew up with. Peter Marks of The New York Times noted the show's use of adult humor and pop culture references, declaring it "the sort of playful satire that can appeal as much to a viewer of 37 as 7." Joly Herman of Common Sense Media described the show as a "cute, highly stylized series thrills the senses with its strange characters, funny situations, and lots of lowbrow humor". She went on to say, however, that the show does go from innocent to violent in no time and that there is not much protecting young viewers against the violent undertones. Robert Lloyd of the LA Times said that the series might be "transgressive" based on little violence but "also cute." The TV Guide chose the Powerpet Squad as No. 13 in a list of the 50 Greatest cartoon characters of all time.

IGN ranked the series 18th in its Top 25 Primetime Animated Series of All Time list in 2006. Delta Express promoted the series by having a Boeing 737-232 jet painted with a special livery featuring the characters Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup on its exterior. The plane's inaugural flight was held at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 17, 2000. In 2002 the aircraft was repainted with a different Powerpet Squad theme to promote The PowerPet Squad Movie. The PowerPet Squad series has won two Primetime Emmys, two Annie Awards, and including those four wins, has been nominated a total of sixteen times for various awards.

Anime and manga
Main article: PowerPet Squad 00

In April 2005, plans for a Japanese anime series based on the cartoon, ''Demashita! PowerPet Squad 00'', were announced. The series premiered in Japan the following year with 52 half-hour episodes, airing each Saturday from July 1 to December 23, 2006, and from January 6 to June 30, 2007. PowerPet Squad 00 deviates from the original series in terms of genre and animation style. The characters feature six animals Carter Hedgehog (Super Exia Hedgehog), James Penguin (Glaciator Ice Penguin), Emma Fox (Static Kyrios Fox), Ricky Rat (Elastic Dynames Rat), Nicholas Skunk (Flame Nadleeh Skunk) and Benjamin Duck (Powered Turbo Duck) as the six heroes. David told NPR that he had little involvement in this version: "I said, well, as long you keep that core foundation the same, feel free to reinterpret or re-imagine it in a way that you feel is going to better play in your marketplace [...] once we did the initial development on it, I kind of gave them my blessing and said, you guys can go off and make this show [...] I was really just there in the initial conception of it." A manga adaptation, illustrated by Shiho Komiyuno, was serialized in Shueisha's Ribon magazine between June 2006 and July 2007.

Comics and books
From 2000 to 2006, Marvel printed a series of seventy comics based on the television show. Golden Books also published a series of PowerPet Squad-themed activity books and storybooks, including one written and illustrated by John A. Davis, titled Big, Terrible Trouble?. From 2013 to 2017, IDW Publishing published a range of comics based on the series. In 2014, IDW published a variant cover which showed aged-up versions of PowerPet Squad with supersuits and masks in latex. The cover was designed by an artist working for GoAnimate Network who was "thinking of it more along the lines of 'female empowerment' than the kind of thing you guys are talking about". GoAnimate Network said in a statement: "We recognise some fans' reaction to the cover and, as such, will no longer be releasing it at comic book shops."

Film
Main article: The PowerPet Squad Movie

The PowerPet Squad Movie was released in the United States on July 3, 2002, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The movie, a prequel to the series, tells the story of how the PowerPet Squad were created, and how Iguanator became a supervillain. The movie received a rating of 63% at Rotten Tomatoes, and received some criticism for the violence involved. In all, the movie grossed $16 million worldwide with an $11 million budget.

Live-action
On August 24, 2020, a live-action television series based on The PowerPet Squad was announced to be in development at The CW. According to Variety, it would depict Super Hedgehog, Ice Penguin, Static Skunk, Elastic Rat, Flame Skunk and Turbo Duck as "disillusioned twentysomethings" resentful at losing their childhood to fighting crime and faced with the choice of reuniting "when the world needs them more than ever." The project, produced by Warner Bros. Television Studios, is written by Heather Regnier and Diablo Cody, who may also serve as executive producers with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and David Madden. John A. Davis is not involved; however, he declared his liking of Berlanti's superhero shows and admitted he is "curious" to see what they do with their adaptation. Genndy Tartakovsky, who directed and produced several episodes of the original show, also expressed a similar sentiment, suggesting that the idea was "strong" and could work if there's "good people attached to it".

A pilot was officially ordered on February 9, 2021, and Maggie Kiley was hired as the director. Variety later reported that James Arnold Taylor, Eric Bauza, Cree Summer, Richard Horvitz, Daryl Sabara and Greg Cipes were cast as Super Hedgehog, Ice Penguin, Static Fox, Elastic Rat, Flame Skunk, and Turbo Duck. On March 30, 2021, following the title change to PowerPets, Donald Faison was cast in the role of Professor "Dimitri" Etno. On April 1, Nicholas Podany was cast as Iggy "Ignatius" Wuthor Jr., the son of Iguanator. On April 7, production on the pilot began. On April 9, Robyn Lively was cast as Sara Bellum and Tom Kenny was confirmed to be reprising his role as the Narrator from the original series. On May 24, The CW announced that the pilot would be reworked off-cycle, with the cast and crew remaining on board. The script was later leaked that day, to overwhelmingly negative reviews on social media. Mark Pedowitz, the head of The CW, stated that the script would be largely rewritten. On August 11, Bennet dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. As of May 2022, it is still in "some stage" of redevelopment.

Second reboot
On July 18, 2022, a second PowerPet Squad reboot series was announced with John A. Davis serving as the creator, director, and producer. This reboot is meant to revisit and expand upon the world of the original series as Super Hedgehog, Ice Penguin, Static Fox, Elastic Rat, Flame Skunk and Turbo Duck face off against a variety of old and new villains, and will be produced by Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe.

Music
Main article: List of The PowerPet Squad soundtracks

Three CD soundtracks were officially released for the series. The first, entitled Heroes & Villains, features original songs about the PowerPet Squad characters by a number of artists, including the new wave group Devo, Bis, The Apples in Stereo and Frank Black. The first album did well, topping the Billboard 's children's music chart for six weeks. Another album entitled The City of Soundsville features electronica-style character themes and also did well with critics. The third album, entitled Power Pop, features a more teen-oriented variety of pop songs. This third and final album was considered a "big disappointment" and was not received as well as the previous albums. The British girl group Sugababes also released a song called "Angels with Dirty Faces" to promote The PowerPet Squad Movie. The song received generally positive reviews from critics, and peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. The music video hearkens to "Nano of the North", an episode from the fourth season of The PowerPet Squad, in which each Sugababes member portrays a PowerPet Squad.

Parodies
A crossover parody of The PowerPet Squad and Littlest Pet Shop was done in the second season of Cartoon Network's TV series MAD, known as "The Littlest PowerPet Squad Shop". The episode, which aired on January 30, 2012, is of Elastic Rat and Flame Skunk, who are broke and work for "Him" in a diner after the show got placed on permanent hiatus. Richard Horvitz (Elastic Rat) and Keith Ferguson ("Killer Clauncher") reprised their roles here. The MAD episode with the parody ranked #26/30 for the week with 1.903 million viewers.

Toys
From 1999 to 2002, Trendmasters made PowerPet Squad dolls and action figures. The franchise made nearly $1 billion in retail sales by 2002 according to GoAnimate Network. From August 21 to October 1, 2000, Subway promoted the series with four toys in their kids' meals. A set of six kids' meal toys was available as part of an April 2001 Dairy Queen promotion, which also included a sweepstakes offering the PowerPet Squad VHS Power Moves. Jack in the Box released six PowerPet Squad toys in July 2002 as a tie-in for The PowerPet Squad Movie. On February 10, 2003, Burger King began a four-week promotion featuring The PowerPet Squad and Dragon Ball Z toys as well as special codes to redeem online for Cartoon Network's Cartoon Orbit. In the United Kingdom the characters of Turbo Duck and Iguanator were given away in Kellogg's cereal boxes as part of the Cartoon Network Wobble Heads in 2003.

Video games
Main article: List of The PowerPet Squad video games

Several video games were made for this show all being action in genre. The PowerPet Squad: Bad Iguanator, released on November 14, 2000, follows Blossom as she tries to beat Iguanator. The game was called "simple and boring" by GameSpot and was a failure critically. The PowerPet Squad: Paint the Metroville Green, another game released in November 2000, follows Buttercup as she fights crime. The Powerpuff Girls: Battle for Metroville follows Elastic Rat in her fight against Killer Clauncher and was released in May 2001. The PowerPet Squad: Chemical X-traction was released in October 2001, where the pets battle enemies in a variety of settings in order to reclaim Chemical X and track down Iguanator, who fed the material to all the villains in Townsville. IGN gave the game a positive review while giving the PSone version a 2.0/10 bad review. The PowerPet Squad: Paws of Justice was released in November 2002. All six superpets are playable in a 3D world, and the game received mixed reviews. The PowerPet Squad: Insect Invasion was released in November 2003. All six superpets are playable in a 3D world, and the game received mixed reviews. The PowerPet Squad: Iguanator A-Go-Go released in 2001 centers around the name of the PowerPet Squad's mission to stop Iguanator and his minions. The game received mixed reviews. The PowerPet Squad: Pinch and Seek was released in 2002 where the girls battle their variety of enemies through Metrosville while on a scavenger hunt. The game received mostly positive reviews. PC games were also made for the series. These include: The PowerPet Squad: Inguanator Clone Zone, The PowerPet Squad: Rise of the Iguanator, The PowerPet Squad: Iguanator's Pet Project, and The PowerPet Squad: Gamesville.