Telephonies

Telephonies
General Information
Original broadcast	December 23, 1998
Details
Season	1
Episode	11
Pun	"Telephone" and "phonies" Might also be a pun on "Teletubbies"
Credits
Storyboarded by	Clayton Morrow
Directed by	Genndy Tartakovsky Craig McCracken
Episode Guide
Previous episode	Abracadaver
Next episode	Tough Love
Links
Gallery
Transcript
Errors

"Telephonies" is the eleventh episode of The Powerpuff Girls Season 1.

It first aired on Cartoon Network in the United States on December 23, 1998.

Plot

The Gangreen Gang invade the office of the Mayor of Townsville and begin making prank calls to the Powerpuff Girls, sending them on a wild goose chase as they suspect that Fuzzy Lumpkins, Mojo Jojo, and Him are committing crimes. But when the three villains investigate further, the Gangreen Gang soon find themselves at the end of the villains' wrath.

Synopsis

One morning, the Gangreen Gang, with their juvenile activities, decide to pull some crank calls on random citizens of Townsville. They prank call the Narrator, thus interrupting the usual introduction. After Lil Arturo tricks the Professor into thinking he has won ten million dollars and keeps him on the line indefinitely, and Big Billy botches up a bad joke about his name, an inspired Ace hatches a scheme - to get the Mayor to leave City Hall, leaving the Powerpuff Hotline unguarded. With Grubber's help impersonating Ms. Bellum, the crew manages to sneak in while the Mayor has been tricked into overseeing the supposed grand opening of a local mall.

They then call the girls, first saying that Mojo Jojo is hatching an evil scheme. After the girls crash in through his roof and give him a quick beating, they find Mojo confused - he was simply taking a nap after reading the newspaper. Confused and embarrassed, they head back home. Then the phone rings a second time, exclaiming that Fuzzy Lumpkins has "gone plum crazy". But again, after another quick beating, they find Fuzzy to be innocent - he had been taking a bath. Still a bit confused, and a tad upset as they think that the Mayor is pulling their legs, the girls sheepishly leave an enraged Fuzzy and race home again. Soon, the hotline rings again. Still cranking the girls for laughs, the Gangreen Gang convince them, despite Blossom's initial suspicion, that Him is up to something evil as well.

Him in his exercise clothes.

Rushing over to Him's living space, they find that Him is simply exercising along with a television program. The girls are cautious and question Him about what is going on. Him, not appearing annoyed, assures them that he does not know anything and politely brushes the girls off; he even goes on to explain that he takes pride in staying in shape.

As the girls leave, however, Him angrily calls fellow villain Mojo, who is already speaking to Fuzzy about their recent interactions with the girls; Fuzzy is quite sore at the girls for harassing him during his bath in the nude. Mojo connects Him to the conversation, and they all agree they should complain. Mojo mentions that despite the three of them being villains, they are still citizens of Townsville nonetheless. With that, Him dials City Hall, where the phone rings. Meanwhile, the Gangreen Gang have all fallen asleep, after having trashed the place and having copious amounts of pizza. Billy, who is awakened by the chiming of the phone, answers it, and he mistakenly tells Him that it was he and the Gangreen Gang who had been making crank calls to the girls all day, through the Powerpuff Hotline, after tricking the Mayor to leave his office.

Mojo, Fuzzy and Him confront the Gangreen Gang in the Mayor's office.

Understanding the situation before them, Mojo, Him, and Fuzzy all immediately rush over to Townsville Hall and enter the office with a loud crash, causing the gang to frantically awaken. They give the scared gang a senseless (but justified) beating for their crank calls. The Mayor then returns and finds them fighting in his office, then calls the Powerpuff Girls who had just retired for the night; but they do not listen to him, thinking that it was just another joke. The Mayor calls again, but Buttercup melts the hotline with her eye lasers. The episode ends with the trio saying goodnight to the Professor, who is still on hold on another phone, still thinking he won ten million dollars.

Mojo, Fuzzy and Him save the day.

The Narrator ends the episode with the closing line, but due to the events that took place, credits the saving of the day to Mojo, Fuzzy and Him (much to his own surprise).

Characters

• The Powerpuff Girls (Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup)
• The Gangreen Gang
  • Ace
  • Snake
  • Big Billy
  • Lil' Arturo
  • Grubber
• Mojo Jojo
• Fuzzy Lumpkins
• Him
• The Mayor of Townsville
• Sara Bellum (imitated)
• Professor Utonium
• Narrator
• Housewife
• Resturant owner

Objects

• Powerpuff Hotline

Locations

• Townsville
  • Mojo's Lair
  • Fuzzy's Cabin
  • City hall
• Utonium Residence

Quotes

Mojo Jojo: Alright, alright, Fuzzy, I heard you the first time... I know.[the line beeps] I kn... hold on, Fuzzy. There's someone on the other line. [Switches lines]

Him: [To Mojo Jojo on the phone; demonic voice] Mojo! It's me... [effeminate voice] Him.

Mojo Jojo: Yes, sir! What is it?

Him: [demonic] You won't believe what just happened.

Mojo Jojo: The Powerpuff Girls just broke in unexpected?

Him: WHAT?! How did you know?

Mojo Jojo: The same thing happened to me and Fuzzy Lumpkins. He's on the other line.

Him: Well, put him on!

[Mojo puts Fuzzy on the line]

Fuzzy Lumpkins: [shaking with fury] BUSHWHACKED IN MY BIRTHDAY SUIT!!

Him: This is an outrage!

Mojo Jojo: You are right. We're all citizens. Evil citizens, but citizens nonetheless.

Fuzzy Lumpkins: BIRTHDAY SUIT!! [Cries]

Him: We should complain!

Mojo Jojo: But to whom?

---

Big Billy: Hello?

Him: [demonic voice] I demand to speak with The Mayor.

Big Billy: He's not here right now. Can I take a massage?

Him: Do you know when he'll be back?

Big Billy: Uh... I don't know. See, Grubber tricked the Mayor into leaving so we could break in and use the Powerpuff hotline to make crank calls.

Him: Huh?! [effeminate voice] You don't say. Well, to whom might I be speaking?

Big Billy: Uh, this is Billy.

Him: Billy who?

Big Billy: Big Billy from the Gangreen Gang. Who is this? [Him hangs up the phone] Hello?

[A crash suddenly shakes the room, snapping the Gangreen Gang awake. Him, Mojo Jojo, and Fuzzy Lumpkins have come in, looking enraged]

Him: So, you guys like to make [demonic] crank calls.

[Him, Mojo and Fuzzy quickly beat up the Gangreen Gang]

Trivia

• Moral: Pranks can have severe consequences; with enough recklessness, those consequences can be brought onto the person who performed them.

• In this episode, Grubber can perfectly impersonate The Mayor and Ms. Bellum. However, in Buttercrush, he did a poor impersonation of Buttercup. It is possible that he either improved over time or can impersonate some voices better than others.
• This episode has a few rare peeks into the villains' lives, showing that they are not involved in criminal activities all the time. They seem to live fairly "normal" lives for the most part.
  • Mojo Jojo is sleeping after reading the newspaper while listening to music on a record player.
  • Fuzzy Lumpkins is taking a bath while playing the banjo.
  • Him is exercising with guidance from workout shows.
• This is the first of several episodes where the girls wrongfully beat up Mojo despite him being innocent. Other instances are in A Very Special Blossom, Child Fearing, and Moral Decay.
• At the beginning of the episode, when Big Billy messes up a crank call, Ace attempts to save it and end it quickly, stuttering out "Prince Albert---the fridge!" This is a reference to two commonly used crank calls: "Is your refrigerator running?" and "Do you have Prince Albert's head in a can?".
• This is the first episode where major villains interact with each other and also the first to have shown up to be against other villains.
  • In particular, it is the first episode where Mojo Jojo and HIM appear together. The way they interact in this episode strongly suggests that Mojo respects (and possibly even fears) HIM (addressing HIM as "Sir"). This is in sharp contrast with their interactions in later episodes such as "Custody Battle", wherein Mojo is not afraid to go against HIM or call him out.
• This is the first time the day is saved by someone other than the Powerpuff Girls, and one of the few times that villains save the day (or do anything good in general).
  • This is the first time that Mojo Jojo saves the day. He saves the day four other times after this.
  • This is the only time where Fuzzy Lumpkins or Him saves the day.
• This is the only episode where the Powerpuff Girls and Gangreen Gang both appear, but never directly interact with each other.
• Blossom says that Fuzzy Lumpkins is "clean". This is a pun on the fact clean means "innocent", and Fuzzy is clean because he was taking a bath when the girls attacked him.
• In this episode, Fuzzy is shown with pink furred feet and legs. For the rest of the series, they are hairless.
• This episode and "Meet the Beat-Alls" are the only two episodes where Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy Lumpkins, and Him get along with each other.
  • Strangely, in this episode, Him is the leader of the group, while in "Meet the Beat-Alls", Mojo Jojo led the group.
  • In "Meet the Beat-Alls", Princess Morbucks joins them.
• Even Him himself says to Mojo "It's me, Him.", though it could be this way so that Him's real name wouldn't be revealed to Mojo.
• When the Gangreen Gang makes the third crank call on the girls, Blossom says "Hello, Mayor" in the same way Jerry Seinfeld would often say "Hello, Newman" on Seinfeld.
• When Mojo, Fuzzy, and Him arrive at the Mayor's office, Mojo is holding a weapon but does not use it.
• The episode could possibly be a parody of the story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf": The girls repeatedly think the Mayor is calling them, only to realize that it is a joke. When an actual crime occurs, they assume he is joking again and they never show up, leaving the villains on their own.
• Snake is the only member who does not make any crank calls.
• Outside of the Powerpuff Girls, Professor Utonium & the Mayor were the only two who fell for the crank calls.
• When Ace calls Café de Paris, he asks the Maitre d' of Café de Paris "Yeah, listen, do you have frogs' legs?" and the Maitre d' replies "But of course." This could be a reference to the commercial of the French mustard, Grey Poupon where two cars pull up and an Englishman in one car asks a French person in the other, "Pardon me. Would you have any Grey Poupon?" and the French guy replies "But of course!!"
• In this episode, Him is shown without his characteristic boots for the first time, since he wears sneakers when exercising. In the following episode, the same thing happens while taking a bath; it is seen that the shape of his feet is the same as that of his boots.
• Some frames during the villain fight are reused and flipped, namely Mojo punching Ace and Grubber, Mojo kicking Grubber and Snake, and Fuzzy punching Snake and Big Billy.
• Despite the Gangreen Gang getting beaten by Mojo, Fuzzy, and Him in the end, they seem to be on good terms with them in other episodes, such as "Moral Decay", where they team up to beat Buttercup after she knocks out their teeth.
  • This episode is also another instance where the main villains were innocent and did nothing wrong.
• In the Dutch dub, the Professor is said to have won 'Tien miljoen Gulden'. However, Guldens were retired in 2002, making the dubbing outdated.

Errors

• Him smiles during the conference call with Mojo and Fuzzy.
• During the last scene, when the Mayor arrives back at his office to find Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy Lumpkins, and Him fighting the Gangreen Gang, and phones the Powerpuff Girls on the hotline, it is clearly shown to be day through the window. However, in the Powerpuff Household, the girls are tucked into bed and it is shown to be night outside.
• When Lil' Arturo and Snake said "Aw, jeepers!", Grubber's mouth moves along with them.
• Grubber was the one mimicking the Mayor but when the gang hung up after they cranked the girls about Him, Ace is the one putting the phone down.
• For a split frame when the Mayor sneaks past the villains fighting, Fuzzy's arm is black furred like Mojo's, Mojo's glove is pink like Fuzzy and Mojo's boot is black like Him's.