Powerpuff Girls Wiki
Advertisement

"Meet the Beat-Alls" is the 24th and final episode of season 3 of The Powerpuff Girls, and the 74th episode overall.

Plot[]

Mojo Jojo, Princess Morbucks, Fuzzy Lumpkins, and HIM join forces to create the supervillain group called "The Beat-Alls". This episode has many references to the real life rock band The Beatles.

Synopsis[]

PPGs from Meet the Beatalls

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

Townsville's top four super villains have had it with getting crushed by The Powerpuff Girls, so they head to their house with different weapons (Mojo Jojo with a giant robot; Princess with her technological equipment and stacks of cash; Fuzzy carrying a huge rock; and HIM using demonic superpowers). Their argument disturbs the girls, who fly out to warn them to keep it down. But the four villains notice them and Mojo, HIM and Princess all act at once, zapping the Girls with their blaster rays, before the Girls could even react. The force of the combined blast pushes the Girls down to the ground, screaming in agony. Fuzzy watches their torment for a while unsure of what to do next. Then he looks up at his rock and throws it on top of them. To their astonishment, the villains realize that they have finally beaten the Girls. They resolve to work together, reasoning that this is the key to their success and create a team called The Beat-Alls.

The Powerpuff Girls subsequently try to stop them from robbing a bank but are immediately no match for the Beat-Alls' group tactics: Mojo Jojo zaps them with his laser-gun; HIM spits a burning acid on them; Princess Morbucks electrocutes the Girls with her own laser-gun. As the Girls scream in agony, Fuzzy Lumpkins throws a heavy rock on top of them, defeating the Girls once again.

It is then whenever the girls show up to stop them, they are immediately outmatched every time; the team of villains defeats The Powerpuff Girls repeatedly until at last, the girls stop attempting to save the day, leaving The Beat-Alls free to continue their rampage. Back at The Powerpuff Girls' home, the Professor observes the girls despondency and offers some words of encouragement, suggesting that they break up the villainous supergroup. While robbing another bank, Mojo Jojo sees a ladder, which he climbs to find a magnifying glass through which he can read a tiny note reading "This Is A Stick Up." At first enraged, he then sees the writer—a white-clad chimp named Moko Jono—and falls in love. But the other Beat-Alls become angered when Mojo Jojo is constantly accompanied by Moko and begins wearing white clothes and participating in her odd "performance crimes."

Mojo and Moko's irritating antics soon lead to the breakup of the Beat-Alls. Without Mojo, the remaining Beat-Alls attempt to continue terrorizing Townsville; the Mayor calls the Girls. In a last desperate attempt to stop the Powerpuff Girls, the remaining three Beat-Alls attack them. HIM zaps the Girls with his acidic spits while Princess tortures them with her electric lasers. At first, the combined effects of the acidic spit and electric shocks knock the Girls down; but they soon recover and proceed to bring down the Beat-Alls who are no match for the Girls. The Beat-Alls are finally defeated once and for all.

Walking in another part of town, Mojo and Moko see signs reading "Beat-Alls Are Over."

The girls arrive to apprehend Mojo, and with the help of a zookeeper friend, they reveal the shocking truth about Moko: she is really a performing chimp named Michelle (Mee-Shell) from the Townsville Zoo, who had been recruited to help stop the Beat-Alls. The devastated Mojo is sent off to jail once again.

"Well, I don't really want to stop the show, but I thought you might like to know," says the narrator, "that once again, the day is saved, thanks to the Powerpuff Girls!"

Characters[]


List of The Beatles references[]

  • The bank that the Beat Alls rob is called National Trust, a reference to Happiness is a Warm Gun.
  • The Beatles themselves appear twice in their different animated forms. Both the Dennis Marks' (from the 1960s cartoon series) and George Dunning's designs (from Yellow Submarine) appear in this episode. Their second appearance is in the scene where Mojo and Moko Yono are screaming to annoy people. When Mojo Jojo screams the words: "Their pain is our pleasure!", the last people shown, unable to bear the screams, are Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney.
  • The proposition by HIM to name the group "The Silver Beetles" is a reference to one of The Beatles original name, The Silver Beatles.
  • The Beat-Alls are referred to as the Bad Four, a corruption of the nickname "The Fab Four."
  • The Beat-Alls are in a wanted poster similar to the cover album from the 1964 film A Hard Days Night.
  • The Beat-Alls look at the girls defeated like the cover album of Please Please Me.
  • The Beat-Alls walk down a zebra crossing in a parody of the Abbey Road album cover.
  • The title card references the With the Beatles album cover.
  • Mojo Jojo's comment "Will the people in the cheap seats, please leave. And the rest of you, hand over your jewelry!" is a reference to a comment made by John Lennon during the band's Royal Variety Performance: "Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry."
  • Fuzzy Lumpkins is referred to as "the shy one", a nickname given to George Harrison in the band's early days (with Lennon being "the smart one", McCartney being "the cute one", and Ringo being "the funny one").
  • A running gag in the episode is that Fuzzy Lumpkins "provides the rock" and marks the group as "a rock band", referring to the Beatles' main genre of rock.
  • At one point, the narration refers to the crime waves as "the brutish invasion." This is a joke on the British Invasion, a sudden spike in the international popularity of British rock music that occurred in the mid-1960s with The Beatles being one of the first on the scene.
  • The music playing when the Beat-Alls are on stage sounds similar to song "A Day in the Life". 
  • Jojo's first love, Moko Jono, is a reference to John Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono.
    • Moko Jono's introduction is a reference to Lennon's meeting of Yoko, which was at an exhibition of her artwork Ceiling Painting. The artwork is a ladder where, when one climbs to the top, they can see a tiny word printed behind glass, which a magnifying glass reveals to be the word "YES."
    • Moko Jono's screaming is a reference to several albums, performances, and recordings where Yoko screams in a similar way. (Yoko was actually a capable singer, but much of her art involved deliberately abrasive material.) Additionally, the group's irritation at her is similar to the generally poor reaction the rest of the group had to Yoko at the time, since it had previously been policy to not involve their spouses or girlfriends in the creative process.
    • Moko Jono's first "annoyance crime" where the Beat-Alls all sit in the same bed in public is a reference to the "bed-in" peace protests that Lennon and Yoko conducted.
    • Mojo Jojo and Moko Jono at one point switch to wearing all-white outfits, something that Lennon and Yoko often did. Them stealing white objects is likely a reference to the ninth Beatles album, The Beatles, which is often nicknamed "The White Album" for its pure-white cover and was the first album Yoko Ono had creative involvement in
    • Incidentally, Yoko Ono was blamed by many fans for the break-up of The Beatles despite having only being a minor contribution to it, while Moko Jono was indeed responsible for the Beat-Alls splitting up, since she was really working undercover with the Powerpuff Girls.
  • In the scene where the Chief of Police is speaking, his name is "Sgt. Pepper" which is a reference to the Beatles song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Coincidentally, the character also bears a striking resemblance to Old Fred from the Beatles film Yellow Submarine
  • The reporter Stuart Best bears similarities to the character Eric Idle portrays in the 1978 film The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, a reporter narrating a similar documentary about The Rutles, also a Beatles parody.
  • The scene with the remaining three Beat-Alls causing havoc from a rooftop references The Beatles during their rooftop concert on January 30, 1969.
  • Michelle, Moko's real name, is inspired by the homonymous song.
  • When Mojo first sees Moko, "Strawberry Fields Forever" can be heard in the background.
  • In one scene, HIM states "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition". This is from the Beatles song "Get Back", he also referenced that song by stating "Let's Get Back to where we once belonged".
  • The final chord during 'The End' title card is similar to the final chord in the song "A Day in the Life".
  • Multiple songs are referenced throughout the episode.

Home Videos Released[]

Trivia[]

  • This episode premiered in some countries before the United States.[1]
    • This episode premiered in Australia on August 25, 2000.
    • This episode premiered in Canada on September 30, 2000.
    • This episode premiered in the United Kingdom on October 8, 2000.
  • Unlike the episode "Telephonies" where HIM led the group of villains, Mojo Jojo was the nominal leader of the Beat-Alls.
  • This episode is the last one to use the large-sized girls in their normal poses from the June 1999 version of the 1998-2001 animated episode outro.
  • This is the third time Mojo Jojo, HIM, and Fuzzy Lumpkins appear in the same episode and work together.
  • The act of Princess going on a crime spree with three felons as a team is later referenced in "'Twas the Fight Before Christmas".
  • The Beat-Alls are one of two groups that have defeated the girls in direct combat, the other being the Rowdyruff Boys.
  • This is one of Craig McCracken's ten favorite episodes.
    • McCracken is a fan of The Beatles, which led to the creation of this episode.
  • This episode (along with "Moral Decay") was the first broadcast on Cartoon Network after their rebrand to the "City" era on June 14, 2004.[2]
  • This is considered one of the best episodes of the original series, due to The Beatles references.
    • Also, the premiere of this episode scored a 2.4 rating and was seen in 1,762,000 households.
  • This episode, along with "Powerprof." and "Moral Decay", aired on the 37th anniversary of The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
  • An unplanned rerun of this episode (excluding "Moral Decay") aired on November 30, 2001, possibly as a tribute to George Harrison, who died the day before, on the 29th.
  • In one scene, HIM has fingers instead of pincers.
  • This is the only episode where HIM goes to jail, which is odd, since he has superpowers and can easily vanish like in previous episodes.

Production Notes[]

  • Although this episode premiered in the United States on February 9, 2001, it was actually produced in 2000 according to the credits.
    • This episode was finished in May of 2000.[3]

References[]


Advertisement