The Powerpuff Girls blast back to the big screen in a new animated feature

Townsville just got a new emergency call: the Powerpuff Girls are heading back to the big screen. Yes, really. New movie. Animated. In theaters. After all the remakes, reboots, and one doomed live-action attempt, Warner Bros. is taking another swing at Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup where they started winning hearts in the first place.

So, what actually got announced?

Warner Bros. Animation confirmed at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival that a brand-new animated Powerpuff Girls feature is in development. If you’re counting years, this would be their first theatrical return since 2002’s The Powerpuff Girls Movie. No title, no date, no creative team announced yet — just the official green light that it ’s happening.

Quick refresher on why this matters

Craig McCracken’s The Powerpuff Girls launched on Cartoon Network in 1998 and quickly became one of the network’s signature shows. The hook was simple and perfect: three superpowered sisters created by Professor Utonium using sugar, spice, and Chemical X, blasting through villains (hello, Mojo Jojo) with a mix of superhero action and razor-sharp comedy. It was a defining piece of that late-90s/early-2000s CN run that a lot of us still quote without thinking about it.

The long (and sometimes bumpy) road back

• 1998–2005: The original series runs six seasons and cements the Girls as Cartoon Network icons.
• 2002: The first theatrical film, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, hits theaters.
• 2006: Japan spins the concept into Powerpuff Girls Z, an anime take with a fresh visual identity that found a pretty warm audience.
• 2016–2019: Cartoon Network launches a reboot series; reaction is split, and it wraps after three seasons.
• 2020s detour: A live-action TV adaptation gets developed and later canceled before it ever properly took off.
• Meanwhile: The brand keeps surfacing in video games across N64, GameCube, Game Boy, PlayStation, and Nintendo DS — a mixed bag, but they kept the characters in circulation for younger fans.

Why this new movie could be a big deal

The franchise has been stuck in that tough space between nostalgia and reinvention for years. Some versions clicked with different audiences, some didn’t, and nothing quite recaptured the original spark at scale. A theatrical animated film puts the focus back on what made the series work in the first place: bold visuals, tight comedy, and villains who are fun to watch get punched into the stratosphere.

What I’m watching for

Details are thin right now, but the big question is simple: can this team lock into the tone — not just the look — that made the Girls sing? If Warner Bros. keeps the energy and wit while updating the scope for theaters, this could be the cleanest reset they’ve had in years. And if not… well, Townsville has survived worse.

Your turn: are you in for a new big-screen Powerpuff adventure, or are you good with the classics?