The Powerpuff Girls Originally Had A Very Different, Not At All Kid-Friendly Name
Sugar, spice, and everything nice is the base recipe for the Powerpuff Girls, but one ingredient used to be something ... not so nice. Creator Craig McCracken originally brought the crime-fighting cartoons to life in an original short film titled "Whoopass Stew!" or "The Whoopass Girls in: A Sticky Situation." The short included the same characters and elements that audiences later saw in the hit Cartoon Network series "The Powerpuff Girls." McCracken completed "Whoopass Stew!" while still attending CalArts in 1992.
At the onset of "Whoopass Stew!," Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup explode into existence when a can of whoopass accidentally makes its way into a scientific mixture of sugar, spice, and all forms of niceness. The title "Whoopass Girls" had to be changed once Cartoon Network got involved due to its young audience, and the can of whoopass was swapped out for the mysterious Chemical X.
From Whoopass to Powerpuff
According to a 1998 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, Craig McCracken credited his friends with thinking up the name "Powerpuff." Beyond the title, "A Sticky Situation" features several characters that make appearances in the eventual Cartoon Network series. In the three-minute short, the Whoopass Girls fight early renditions of villains the Amoeba Boys and the Gangreen Gang. On his way to basic cable stardom, Professor Utonium underwent a redesign from a bald, short, fat, older man into a younger, handsome father figure for the girls.
"You're used to seeing big, strong muscle guys fly around and beat up monsters, but not cute little girls," McCracken said in an interview with the LA Times. "That contrast excited me. I started developing it from that point." The original version of the series aired on Cartoon Network for six seasons, creating a fanbase McCracken only ever dreamed about: "The dream of any cartoonist is to create a character that resonates with people and has global popularity... I've been very fortunate that the girls reached that level of success."