TVSquad

The first season of The Powerpuff Girls comes out on DVD June 19. The series, created by Craig McCracken (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), debuted on the Cartoon Network in the late '90s, first as occasional shorts on such showcases as What A Cartoon and then later developing into an actual series.

On the surface, Powerpuff Girls appeared to be little more than a cute action cartoon for the Hello Kitty set, but McCracken has a knack for throwing in plenty of pop culture references for the adults, and, frankly, it's just cool to see a cartoon starring three tough little girls who aren't damsels in distress. The basic shapes and vibrant colors mixed with the simple lessons learned in each episode, then combined with action sequences borrowed heavily from Japanese animation, resulted in a series that resembled a preschool show taken over by caffeine-addled weirdos, which is the highest compliment I can think of.