Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins

"Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins" is the first episode of What a Cartoon!, and the first of two pilots within that anthology series (the other being "Crime 101"), which led to The Powerpuff Girls being commissioned as a fully realized series in 1998. It aired on February 20, 1995 on Cartoon Network. It was written and directed by the creator, Craig McCracken.

When the Powerpuff Girls dismiss Fuzzy Lumpkins's meat jam at a jam contest, he takes revenge on the whole town by turning the citizens into meat.

Characters

 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Narrator (voice only)
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Ernie Anderson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Mayor
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Jim Cummings
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Blossom Utonium
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Catherine Cavadini
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Bubbles Utonium
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Kath Soucie
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Buttercup Utonium
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| E.G. Daily
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Fuzzy Lumpkins
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Jim Cummings
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Ms. Keane
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Kath Soucie
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Bologna Brothers
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| All-Beef Patty
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Salami Swami
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Talking dog
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Paul Mercier
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Dad
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Paul Mercier
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| All-Beef Patty
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Salami Swami
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Talking dog
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Paul Mercier
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Dad
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Paul Mercier
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Paul Mercier
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Dad
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Paul Mercier
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Paul Mercier

Organizations

 * Powerpuff Girls

Locations

 * Earth
 * United States
 * Townsville
 * Townsville Mall
 * Pokey Oaks Kindgarten

Objects

 * Meat Gun

Vehicles

 * None

Development
The Powerpuff Girls began life as the Whoopass Girls, created by Craig McCracken in 1992 while at CalArts college. The first short for Whoopass Stew/The Whoopass Girls was "A Sticky Situation", which was sent to Cartoon Network, while he worked at Hanna-Barbera. McCracken was in the middle of making three other shorts of Whoopass Girls, when Cartoon Network bought the idea, but rejected the name in favor of The Powerpuff Girls to suit its target audience. Those three shorts were dropped when the more aggressive concept was also dropped. "Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins" and "Crime 101" continued to refine the violence until the series came out in full in 1998.

Music
The score was composed by Pete Houser, while the What a Cartoon! theme song was performed by Gary Lionelli.

Release
Dates are in order of release:


 * United States: February 20, 1995 at 7pm on Cartoon Network "What a Cartoon!: The Powerpuff Girls: Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins (TV)". The Paley Center for Media.

Behind the scenes

 * The episode title is a play on "Meet Fuzzy Lumpkins." You're welcome.
 * When the pilots led to a full fledged series, the Mayor was redesigned completely, and Jim Cummings who voiced him, was replaced with Tom Kenny, who also replaced Ernie Anderson as the Narrator.
 * Kath Soucie, the voices of Bubbles and Ms. Keane, would eventually be replaced by Tara Strong and Jennifer Hale, respectively.
 * Ms. Kean is only called "Teacher."

Errors

 * It's unexplained how Bubbles's hair was turned back to normal, but the Mayor couldn't be.

Everlasting influence

 * Salami Swami was later used as a full-fledged villain in "Slave the Day".
 * The Townsville Mall is reused/recycled, but renamed the Powerpuff Mall, in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "Rabbot."