The Powerpuff Girls are Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles. Three superhero girls who fight crime by night, but also have to deal with normal kid problems like wetting the bed and losing teeth. Aw man, being an adorable superhero is sooo hard!

There were, literally, a thousand things that made the cartoon The Powerpuff Girls so great. I loved how it looked, with its super-flat animation and the references to ’70s action films in the opening credits. I loved the theme song, written by the Scottish band Bis, that was so fantastically twee! Even Christian Bale loves it, watch him SING IT at :40 in this video, aka the best thing you’ll ever watch in your life.

Also: the villains were insane! The girls battled a slew of creative characters from the crablike devil creature Him to Fuzzy Lumpkins, a fuzzy pink hillbilly monster that turns people into meat. And how could anyone forget Mojo Jojo, the girls’ arch nemesis?

The show is riddled with pop-culture references and humor. I love this scene, where the girls correct the historical accuracy of Mojo Jojo’s Napolean bedtime story. In the episode “Something’s A Ms,” the girls are questioned about a kidnapping in a scene that mimics The Big Lebowski, and in the episode “Meat the Beat-alls” the girls make non-stop references to music by the Beatles. In fact, there is an ENTIRE WEBSITE dedicated to cataloging the pop-culture references on The Powerpuff Girls, which include dozens more like Spinal Tap, My Neighbor Totoro, and Nanook of the North. Wow.

I’ve always been really attracted to girl groups who fight crime. It started with The Powerpuff Girls, then Totally Spies!, and then I went straight to Tarantino’s Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. It’s empowering to see strong women fighting against society, and I think The Powerpuff Girls instilled that in me at a young age. Think about all of the male superheros there are for boys to idolize. The Powerpuff Girls are also superheros! Cute superheros! With a kickass theme song! I’m really glad that I had this cartoon as a little girl, because it’s literally the best thing ever.

BUT, I have to ask…who was your favorite Powerpuff Girl? I used to act out The Powerpuff Girls with my cousins Emily and Pauline, who always played Buttercup and Bubbles, and I was Blossom. Buttercup was the tomboy tough girl, Blossom the brainy and logical one, and Bubbles was uber-girly and cute. I would say I am the most like Blossom, because I always manage to be the voice of reason in any group I’m hanging out with. Who are you? ♦