"Beat Your Greens" is the seventh episode of Season 2 of The Powerpuff Girls, and the 31st episode overall. It first aired on Cartoon Network in the United States on September 10, 1999.
Synopsis[]
The Powerpuff Girls at first refuse to eat vegetables, but when Broccoli Aliens from space invade Townsville, it is up to them - and all the children of Townsville - to take a bite out of crime.
Plot[]
The episode begins with a strange spaceship hovering over Earth. Inside are broccoli-like sapient beings called the Broccoloids who plan on complete world domination and expansion of their empire. With the stage set, a pea pod-like device called a "sporepedo" is launched towards Earth, landing in the fields of nearby Farmsville.
Meanwhile, the girls and all the other kids in Townsville are eating dinner, but they are all served broccoli and refuse to eat it. As Professor Utonium shows the girls how to eat broccoli, he and every parent in town become knocked to the ground. Soon after, distress calls from the other kids bombard the girls; the most common story among them is that their parents ate some of the broccoli that they themselves would not eat, only to enter a vegetative state as their eyes glowed green.
Realizing the widespread nature of a food poisoning attack, the girls head to the Farmsville Harvest Fields not far from the city to find out what caused the attack. There, they find the "sporepedo", which Blossom confirms was loaded with spores that allow for remote hypnosis ("hypno-transmithesis") upon ingestion. The girls, noticing the spread of these spores throughout the fields, conclude that the spores infected the broccoli and the adults were victims of an alien hypnosis attack. Just as they are discovering it, the Broccoloids land on Earth ready to invade, but are surprised that the girls, among others, were not hypnotized.
As they advance with their own firepower, the girls first try to fight them by beating them up. Being plant-based lifeforms, the Broccoloids can regenerate damaged body parts. Recalling the Professor's advice, Blossom tries to eat the Broccoloids and succeeds, realizing that they can be beaten by being eaten, and inspires her sisters to do the same as they eat through many of the hostile Broccoloids; their leader finds this behavior to be barbaric. The Broccoloid emperor warns the girls that what they faced was only the beginning as his forces invade the city.
The girls make a quick retreat back to Townsville and seeks for the children's help. Blossom explains the only way to protect the city was to fight back the Broccoloids by eating them. Despite that, Jimmy from the football team tells the other kids not to believe the Powerpuff Girls, saying that it is a trick to get them to eat vegetables. This infuriates Buttercup, as she reprimands Jimmy for his doubt and cowardliness, and especially for his selfish refusal to eat vegetables. Soon after, feeling ashamed and guilty, Jimmy decides to help the Powerpuff Girls to protect the city and save their parents. Understanding what they are facing, the girls manage to convince all the kids and everyone prepares for the war against the Broccoloids.
As Broccoloid forces descend on the city, the kids and the girls attack with any weapon that they can use against them, including dousing the enemies with cheese, peppering them, and even subjecting them to hungry rabbits and goats when the kids cannot eat any more of them. The kids end up surrounding the Broccoloid emperor as each of the Powerpuff Girls takes a large chomp out of him to finish him off and squash his staff (the "hypno-transmithesizer"). The kids reunite with their parents who awaken from their hypnosis, victorious against the Broccoloids.
The next day, the Professor and the girls go grocery shopping. The girls end up in the produce aisle along with other kids as they eat any veggie that they can find. After that nightmare with edible warriors, none of the children wish to leave anything to chance.
The Narrator credits not only the Powerpuff Girls saving the day, but the "hungry little tykes of Townsville" too.
Characters[]
- The Powerpuff Girls
- Broccoloids (debut)
- Professor Utonium
- Elmer Sglue (cameo)
- The Kids
- Citizens of Townsville
Trivia[]
- Moral: Eating healthy foods, such as vegetables, could make you a healthier person. Even foods that have unappetizing look, feel, or taste can have key benefits with their consumption.
- This episode was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program along with "Down 'n' Dirty".
- This episode is the second to have a character die in the show, which are the Broccoloids. The first were the Rowdyruff Boys in the synonymous episode of the same name, the third was Bunny in "Twisted Sister", and the last was Dick in "Knock It Off".
- This is series creator Craig McCracken's second favorite episode.
- This episode is included on the "Down 'n' Dirty" DVD and "Birthday Bash" VHS.
- During the "The Day is Saved" narration, when the girls appear, there are no stars falling down at all. Also, when the background is chomped to reveal some children behind the girls, it appears that the cell of the girls in their normal poses was placed on a blue background, and then the blue background was chroma-keyed off to reveal the hearts background with the children from the episode behind the girls.
References to other media[]
- In one dad's attempts to feed his kid broccoli, he makes reference to the climax of the film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Coincidentally, Boogie Frights makes a reference to the same film within its climax.
- The swollen kid who has eaten "forty-seven stalks" mutters "The horror... the horror." This line is the last spoken by Marlon Brando's character "Colonel Kurtz" in the war-drama Apocalypse Now. Blossom responds with "Sit out, soldier. You've seen enough action."
- A kid wearing an NWO T-shirt appears in one shot, a possible reference to the World Championship Wrestling stable New World Order; at the time, WCW was owned by Ted Turner (who also created Cartoon Network), but became defunct in 2001.
- A man who resembles Dexter’s Dad makes a non-speaking cameo appearance at the beginning of the episode.
Dexter's dad
- The rebellion of Townsville's youth against the invading alien forces may be a reference to the war movie Red Dawn, in which a group of Colorado teens becomes forced to fight an invasion of Soviet troops who have taken many of their friends and all of the parents/adults captive.
- Football Jimmy's mom has a similar appearance to Velma Dinkley from the Scooby Doo series.
Errors[]
- When Buttercup says "What?", Blossom's mouth is seen moving instead.
- There is a scene where Bubbles opens the rabbit cage with four white rabbits in it to eat one of the Broccoloids who pins one of the football players to the ground. In real life, broccoli is bad to feed lagomorphs due to its higher sugar and calcium content.
Production Notes[]
- Although this episode and "Down 'n' Dirty" were produced after "Dream Scheme" and "You Snooze, You Lose", they aired first.
- This episode was finished in April of 1999.[1]