Craig McCracken Returns to Cartoon Network with ‘Powerpuff Girls’ and ‘Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends’ Reboots
Craig McCracken has his next work set up, and it’s on very familiar ground. It was announced that he will be helming reboots of both of his Cartoon Network series, The Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. But it’s not just that McCracken is back at Cartoon Network, no, this work is being done at Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe. This means yes, he’s working under the Hanna-Barbera name again. Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe received its current name in April 2021 to honor the original renowned studio, having been Cartoon Network Studios Europe prior. The announcement of these reboots comes after McCracken posted a selfie in front of Cartoon Network Studios in April 2022, and confirms what exactly he was there to do.
Yes, there was a previous Powerpuff Girls reboot that premiered in 2016, which recast Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup and was not very well received, and ran much quieter after its 2017 “Power of Four” 44-minute special which introduced that continuity’s fourth sister, Bliss. This series did not have McCracken’s involvement, as at the time of that reboot’s announcement, he was still at Disney, as his series Wander Over Yonder was still in production. It would finish its run a couple of months after the first Powerpuff Girls reboot premiered. This new reboot will be a new continuation of the original 1998-2005 series, as the first reboot loosely was. Maybe they can coexist, like I headcanon the Reeve Superman movie timelines to as their own Earths. As with any new iteration of a superhero series, the rogue's gallery is set to be a mix of old and new faces. And if you watch Kid Cosmic on Netflix, it’s probably a safe bet that McCracken was itching to get back to this world, as in the second season finale the show begins featuring the Planet Protection Group, and Agents Pink, Blue, and Green voiced by Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong and E.G. Daily, giving us the proper Powerpuff taste we didn’t think we’d get again. And no, I don’t think that live-action version developing at The CW will actually get back off the ground. Less said, the better.
RELATED:
And then, there’s the surprise Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends reboot announced with it. Not only is it a clean reboot, but it’s made for the preschool demographic with a new cast of imaginary friends. Before I realized it said it’d be a new cast of imaginary friends, I was excited, thinking about how Bloo was the first role I knew Keith Ferguson for, which makes sense as it seems it was his first starring role. His footing in the industry now is about on par with the rest of the show’s cast. I was ready to compare it to the Muppet Babies reboot, which can still very much be used as a precedent for a reboot that retargets to a younger demographic, maintains the spirit, and doesn’t talk down. Honestly, the way it’s described, I’m not expecting anyone to be unaffected. I’m already sure Mac and Bloo won’t be part of it. The language used doesn’t lend to it. Madame Foster can have a complete redesign, we don’t even know. Mr. Herriman, should he still exist in this version, would have to be recast anyway due to Tom Kane’s retirement from voice acting brought on by a November 2020 stroke. This also affects Professor Utonium and HIM on Powerpuff Girls. This also gives them a way to give a Latino-infused character a Latino voice actor and not have to directly recast Eduardo. As does having a new human kid, so they don’t have to recast Sean Marquette, who easily aged out of the role in the last 15 years, New kid, new voice, probably voices, as the studio who made and is making The Amazing World of Gumball is accustomed to. It also made me realize how many of the supporting imaginary friends were not only ageless but adult-passing in demeanor. It will be interesting to see how the show shapes.
Let’s not forget that the network, the studios already have multi-show creator Genndy Tartakovsky back for Primal and Unicorn Warriors Eternal. If this is just the start of Cartoon Network’s 30th-anniversary announcements, whatever else is coming is going to be great.
READ NEXT:
Source(s): Deadline