POWERPUFF GIRLS - 'TWAS THE FIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

The city of Townsville is in serious trouble! Princess Morbucks has changed the 'naughty/nice' list so that she is the only good child and everyone else, including the Powerpuff Girls, will get a lump of coal in their stocking! Can the Powerpuff Girls beat the clock and set things right before every kid in the world wakes up with no presents under the tree?

But it doesn't stop there! The only thing on Princess' list is the only thing money can't buy: superpowers and a membership to the Powerpuff Girls! Can Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles beat a superpowered Princess and save Christmas? Well, I certainly hope so!

'Twas the Fight Before Christmas (2003) is a 44 mintue direct-to-DVD Chirstmas special and the only Christmas themed Powerpuff Girls episode. (It is 44 minutes so that it can be aired on television as an hour long program with commercials.) This special keeps the feel of the show exactly the same, unlike the movie that relied too much on computer effects. The animation is a very solid, yet simplistic (like all Hanna-Barbera shows) style that leaves plenty of room for good voice acting and storytelling. This is what makes me a fan of the show.

However, the story leaves something to be desired! You may find yourself looking at your watch several times if you are used to the ten minute episodes from the series. At several points it seems that they are stretching the story to meet their 44 minute quota. It really draws out the fights, chases and awkward pauses to the point where you really want the world to blow up so that you can get on with your life. Plus, every joke seemed very familiar, like they had watched a bunch of movies and took the random funny bits and stuck them here and there as they pleased.

The biggest problem I had will this show is that the message. We come to believe that the meaning of Christmas is the presents. Everyone eagerly awaits the morning so that they can open up the presents. Presents is what fuels Princess' rage and presents is the Girls' reward at the end. Presents presents presesnts. Gimme gimme gimee. There is no mention of family, sharing, togetherness and especially not the birth of Christ. This is as pro-consumer as you can get and I don't really think that kids need any more encouragement to want presesnts.

My favourite part of this show is their portrayal of Santa Claus. He is a grumpy old man in a wife beater and a really hairy stomach. But even this wasn't enough to save this not-so-special special.

If you buy the DVD you get treated to a bonus Dexter's Laboratory seven-minute short called Dexter vs. Santa Claws in which Dexter tries to prove to his sister, DeeDee, that Santa is, in fact, their parents trying to create an illusion of a mythical figure. It is a great short and worth the price of the DVD rather than the actual feature.