Dove Cameron details how the upcoming live-action Powerpuff Girls pilot is being reworked. The CW announced an overhaul of the series in May, describing it as “too campy,” and a miss for the network. However, the network chose to give writer and Executive Producer, Diablo Cody, another shot to root the script in reality.
Cameron is set to star in Powerpuff Girls as Bubbles, alongside Chloe Bennett and Yana Perrault as Blossom and Buttercup, respectively. The live-action reboot was announced in August of 2020, and the show’s synopsis described the main characters as disillusioned twenty-somethings, resentful about losing their childhood to crime fighting. Yet, when the script for the pilot was leaked last month, many excited fans were horrified at the overly edgy references to sex, drugs, and cheating that felt out of character for the childhood cartoons. The script also directly hit at Craig McCracken’s original series, describing it as whitewashed propaganda made without the consent of the three main characters.
Cameron set the record straight when speaking with ET about the script changes being made in the reworked pilot. Cameron described the complicated nature of modernizing the project, making it clear that the overhaul was not a response to the leaked script. Her full quote on the changes can be read here:
It's a really big piece of IP, and it's tonally very specific. Like getting it right, making everybody happy, and also making sure that it translates. It's so specific," she said. "To modernize it and to make it fit like, a bunch of different things that don't normally go together, it's just kind of like a puzzle piece. So we're removing some elements and we're replacing others. I think the script is going to get another whack, and it's just going to be a slightly different approach but everything else is going to stay the same.
Cameron also highlighted a silver lining of the reworked pilot in that she and her co-stars have rarely ever gotten the second chance to approach a role for the first time. The actress and singer’s positive outlook is reminiscent and fitting of Bubble’s cheerful disposition, suggesting that despite the problems with the script, the casting of Powerpuff Girls has no issues.
For now, fans will have to wait a bit longer to see what the updated pilot will have in store as discussions continue to occur at The CW. Hopefully, writers will be able to figure out a way to modernize the show without having Blossom walk in on Buttercup having sex, or Buttercup describing her signature costume as “complulsory heterosexuality.” There is definitely a way to make the Powerpuff Girls more progressive than the childhood show was, without completely dishonoring the show’s original creator and success. Fans of the original series are sure to appreciate seeing the growth of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup while honoring the characters that viewers grew up loving.
Source: ET Online