Helter Shelter

Helter Shelter
Season 3, Episode 10A
Episode name pun on: The song Helter Skelter by The Beatles
Airdate:	April 3, 2001 (VHS/DVD) October 12, 2001 (Television)
Credits
Director:	John McIntyre Craig McCracken
Story:	Don Shank
Writer(s):	Cindy Morrow
See also
episode transcript	image gallery
Episodes
Previous "Ploys R' Us"	Next "Power Lunch"
Rating

Helter Shelter is an episode of The Powerpuff Girls season 3. It was released direct-to-video on April 3, 2001 and aired on television six months later, on October 12, 2001.

Synopsis

Bubbles’ love for animals goes too far. After Professor Utonium finds animals everywhere in the house, he tells the girls that they must stop bringing animals home, but Bubbles happens to bring a baby whale to the girls' room anyway.

Plot

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, as they appear in this episode.

As the Girls are in space, saving the day by fixing a satellite, Professor Utonium can be heard yelling for Bubbles. The Professor shows Bubbles a pair of torn shoes. Blossom and Buttercup have then seen eavesdropping but swiftly looks away and the Professor tells the two girls that they need to hear the discussion as well. At home, Professor shows Bubbles that her pet mice, Mr. and Ms. Squeakers has been living in his old shoes. Soon, Professor tells Bubbles, alongside Buttercup and Blossom, that they must stop bringing animals home. Bubbles replies that she only brought home two mice. Professor gives her an even stare and calmly opens the closet door, allowing a horde of animals to rush out. Professor then tells a sad Bubbles that animals need to be free and that she must let them go. Later, as the Girls are done patrolling Townsville, Bubbles can be seen locking the door accessing their room.

As she does, Blossom and Buttercup suspiciously ask what animal she brought home this time, only to find out that Bubbles brought home a baby whale! Bubbles tells them that the whale is not an animal, but rather a mammal (see "Trivia" section). Bubbles then tells them that as she was patrolling the beach, she found him washed up on the beach and sad, so she decided to bring him home. Buttercup tells Bubbles that if the Professor sees the whale, the girls will be in trouble ("When the Professor gets home, he's gonna have a cow!"). Blossom is about to scold Bubbles, they learn that Professor is on his way home! The Girls try, but to no avail, find a proper hiding spot. The whale starts drying out. They then decide to turn the Professor's lab into a water habitat by freezing the lab with Blossom's ice breath (Buttercup kicks Blossom in the stomach to do this) and melting it with Buttercup's heat ray. Now, the Professor arrives and he has brought a pair of new sneakers. Feeling that he spends too much time in the Lab, Utonium has decided to get a new hobby - jogging.

But, as the Professor gets ready to practice his new found interest, he is intrigued by the shoes ability to light up every time he moves. He decides to enter the lab and study them. Buttercup tries to remind him about the exercise he was going to attend, so he decides to run there instead. The Girls fail to distract him as he enters the lab to discover both the whale and that his lab is entirely filled with water. The Professor once again tells Bubbles that even though she deeply loves animals and wants to keep them, if she really loves them, she must set them free to return to their families. As Bubbles goes to the beach, the Professor tells Buttercup and Blossom to get a bucket and remove the water from the laboratory. Bubbles returns the whale to the beach and he finds his family. This greatly saddens Bubbles, knowing that she might never see him again. Then a thought enters her mind (which was aspiring upon the Professor's words that if Bubbles loves animals, she must set them free) and she instantly cheers up.

At home, Buttercup and Blossom ask if Bubbles will be punished, or if they are gonna get punished, but the Professor says that no one's gonna get punished, and reassures them that everyone makes mistakes. He also states that Bubbles has learned her lesson. But then, a newsflash says that something is going on at the Townsville Zoo. The Professor and the Girls go outside to find out what's going on, only to find that Bubbles has set all the zoo animals free.

Characters

Major Roles

• The Powerpuff Girls
  • Bubbles
  • Blossom
  • Buttercup
• Professor Utonium
• Whale

Quotes

• Bubbles: I was checking out the coast like you told me to when all of a sudden I heard this faint cry coming from the shore. So I went to investigate, and there was this baby whale washed up on the beach. I felt so bad ’cause he looked all sad. And then I thought, “I’ll bring him home!” Then I thought, “No, ’cause Professor said, ‘Animals don’t like being locked up in closets.’” Then I thought, “He’ll never fit in a closet!” So here we are!

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• Professor Utonium: If you really love them, you must set them free, so they can return to their family that loves them.
• Bubbles: Don't worry, Professor, I will ... save ... you?
• Professor Utonium: Like you wanted to save the whale?
• Bubbles: Yes.

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• Buttercup: When the Professor gets home, he's gonna have a cow!
• Bubbles: NO! A baby whale!
• Blossom: Whale, cow, what's the difference? The Professor said no more animals!

Trivia

• This is one of the few episodes to have no crime fighting.
• Bubbles has the most lines in this episode.
• Running gag: The Professor yelling "Bubbles!"
  • When Professor Utonium yells "Bubbles!" His scream is similar to Dave Seville's scream when he yells "Alvin!", from the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" series. This may be coincidental.
• It is revealed by the Professor that Bubbles is an animal hoarder in this episode.
• Buttercup calls the whale "little guy" despite its size.
• This episode was produced after the episode "Ploys R' Us" finished production.
• This is one of the few episodes where Bubbles is the main character.
• This is the third episode where the girls are in space. One of which is "Uh-Oh Dynamo".
• It is rumored that the cell of the smaller-sized girls in normal poses was reportedly done in a hurry when the cell of the normal large-sized girls in normal poses was assumed to be missing.
• During "The day is saved" narration when the Powerpuff Girls appear, they are zoomed out further than usual. It then fades into a picture of a more innocent Bubbles.
• In the near end of the episode, Professor Utomium, Blossom, and Buttercup are watching Looney Tunes (Because of the Road Runner's "meep meep").
• Moral: if you love something, you must set it free.
• The plot of episode was incorporated for the book Fishy Business.
• The 2016 reboot episode Cheep Thrills has a similar plot.
• Bubbles incorrectly says "He's not an animal, he's a mammal" when describing the whale.
  • This means that the Professor, Blossom and Buttercup's assumption of Bubbles (being an animal hoarder) is true since mammals (including humans) are part of the animal kingdom.

Cultural References

• The title "Helter Shelter" is a reference to the Beatles song titled "Helter Skelter."
• When Bubbles goes to the zoo, Dexter is seen in the background.
• Professor Utonium's shoes lighting up while stepping is a reference to the Light Gear CrossRunner shoes from LA Gear.

Goofs

• When Bubbles introduces a baby whale, at first it appears in left window (perspective from outside), but in the second shot, appears in a middle window.
• When Blossom moves the whale from the kitchen to the garage, the shot of her carrying the whale across the room, shows Buttercup instead of Blossom.

Production Notes

• Although this episode premiered in 2001, it was produced in 2000 according to the credits.