Posted in: Cartoon Network, Preview, TV | Tagged: craig mccracken, powerpuff, powerpuff girls, ppg

The Powerpuff Girls Project Still In Development, Not In Production

The Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken clarified the project is still in development and not in production, explaining the difference.

With it being July 2024, we've now reached the two-year mark since the news hit that Craig McCracken (the amazing Kid Cosmic) was developing a return for The Powerpuff Girls for Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe (HBSE). The animated series would see viewers revisit the world of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup as they face off against a variety of villains, including familiar foes and new threats. With the project in development since that time, McCracken has been doing his best to explain that it's tough – pretty much impossible – to offer details on it while it's still in development and to make sure fans have realistic expectations when it comes to how things are going.

"Technically, there isn't a PPG reboot series 'in the works," McCracken wrote back in May of this year in response to an individual commenting that a reboot is in the works – which there isn't. "We are simply in development on possibly making 'something' PPG related in [the] future." That very topic arose again today when an individual noted that McCracken "announced a reboot" two years ago on this very date and hoped that an update would be coming soon. "There was no 'reboot' announced. It was announced I was developing something new with PPG, which is still true. Tip for animation fans, a 'development' greenlight and 'production' greenlight are entirely different things," McCracken responded.

When asked to clarify the difference between "in development" and "in production," McCracken offered one of the best explanations yet. "DEVELOPMENT is, 'hey, we should make a thing, wouldn't it be cool if we made it like this?' PRODUCTION is, 'hey we finally got the money to actually make the cool thing we've be dreaming of making!" he wrote. Interestingly enough, it was that very topic that DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn addressed on social media on Wednesday. Here's a look at McCracken's tweets/x's from earlier today:

That means it could be a continuation series… it could be a new series… it's still just too early to tell:

McCracken: Why The CW's "The Powerpuff Girls" Series Didn't Work

It was a long, strange trip for Diablo Cody (Juno) and Heather V. Regnier's (Sleepy Hollow) pilot for Powerpuff, their modern sequel series take on the beloved animated series "The Powerpuff Girls." Chloe Bennet (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Dove Cameron (Liv and Maddie), and Yana Perrault (Jagged Little Pill) were tapped to play Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup in a modern, live-action take that found the pint-sized Powerpuff superteam now disillusioned twenty-somethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime-fighting but finding themselves needing to reunite to save the day one more time. Based on the animated series, the project also starred Donald Faison (Scrubs), Nicholas Podany (Hart of Dixie), Robyn Lively (Light As A Feather), and Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants). First announced in 2020, the project would be reworked, the pilot retooled, and casting shifted – with the project officially declared as being no longer in development at The CW back in May 2023.

Speaking with the Los Angeles Times six months later in honor of the animated series' 25th anniversary, McCracken shared his belief that The CW's series attempt failed because it was taking away what made the series so special in the first place. "I had one meeting with them, and I told them, 'When you turn them into adults, they're no longer the 'Powerpuff Girls' because if they're adults, that's just three super girls who don't have to deal with being kids.' That's a completely different show," McCracken explained. Stemming from Warner Bros. Television,  the pilot was executive-produced by Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and David Madden, with Erika Kennair producing and Maggie Kiley directing and executive-producing the pilot.

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