Professor Utonium's Laboratory

Lore & Background

The laboratory's defining moment is the accidental creation of the Powerpuff Girls. Professor Utonium mixed sugar, spice, and everything nice, but Jojo's accidental breaking of a flask of Chemical X created Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. Later, Jojo—now superintelligent after the Chemical X explosion mutated his brain—tricked the girls into helping him build a laboratory and a machine powered by Chemical X, which he claimed would "improve the city." He then used this machine to inject zoo primates with Chemical X, turning them into evil mutants. After the girls were stranded on a distant planet, they returned to Earth and confronted Mojo Jojo, who had injected himself with a massive dose of Chemical X to become a giant monster. The Professor arrived with an antidote for Chemical X, and the girls tricked Mojo into inhaling it as a gas cloud, shrinking him down to his original size. The Professor then suggested the girls use their powers to help people, and the Mayor officially deputized them as the city's crime-fighting superhero team, "The Powerpuff Girls," before the final battle.

In Their Own Story

The hum of fluorescent lights was the only sound in the laboratory until the phone rang. Professor Utonium adjusted his glasses, wiping chalk dust from his hands onto his apron. He knew that ring meant trouble, but he also knew exactly who would answer it. The glowing vial on his desk pulsed softly, a reminder of the day everything changed. Outside, sirens wailed in the distance, signaling another night where science and heroism had to collide once more.

Reader's Guide

Professor Utonium's Laboratory is the birthplace of the Powerpuff Girls and the site of Mojo Jojo's later conspiracy. It is where the Professor mixed sugar, spice, and everything nice, and where Jojo accidentally broke a flask of Chemical X, creating Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. Later, Mojo Jojo tricked the girls into helping him build a new laboratory and a machine powered by Chemical X, which he used to create an army of evil primates. The laboratory is also where the Professor was arrested and jailed after the girls caused extensive damage to Townsville while playing tag. After the girls' exile and return, the Professor arrived at the final battle with an antidote for Chemical X, which Mojo Jojo landed on, shrinking him down. The Mayor then requested the girls use their powers to fight crime, and with the Professor's permission, they became the Powerpuff Girls. The laboratory represents the intersection of scientific innovation and family life, where a single mistake led to the creation of the city's greatest defenders.

Did You Know?

• The Powerpuff Girls were created when Jojo, the professor's pet monkey and destructive laboratory assistant, broke a flask of Chemical X that spilled onto a mixture of sugar, spice, and everything nice.
• Jojo's brain was mutated by the Chemical X explosion, giving him superintelligence, and he later renamed himself Mojo Jojo.
• Mojo Jojo tricked the girls into helping him build a laboratory and a machine powered by Chemical X, which he used to create an army of evil primates.
• The film was produced by Cartoon Network Studios as its first theatrical film and was released on July 3, 2002.
• The film earned $16 million on a budget of $11 million, and its box-office failure was partly blamed on a crowded marketplace.

The Origin Experiment

In the crime- and injustice-riddled city of Townsville, Professor Utonium mixed sugar, spice, and everything nice, hoping to produce the "perfect little girls" to improve Townsville. However, Jojo, the professor's pet chimpanzee and destructive laboratory assistant, broke a flask of Chemical X, which spilled onto the concoction. The experiment succeeded, producing three little girls whom the Professor named Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. He also discovered that the girls had gained superpowers from the added Chemical X. Despite the girls' recklessness with their powers, they all immediately grew to love each other as a family. On their first day of school, the girls learned about the game of tag and began to play it among themselves, which quickly grew destructive once they used their powers. The girls took their game downtown, where they caused extensive damage to the city until the Professor calmed them down. That night, the Professor told the girls to not use their powers in public anymore.

The Mojo Jojo Conspiracy

Seeking revenge at the Professor for favoring the girls instead of him, Jojo—now superintelligent after the Chemical X explosion mutated his brain—gained the girls' sympathy by convincing them that he was also hated for his powers and tricked them into helping him build a laboratory and a machine powered by Chemical X, which he claimed would "improve the city." Afterward, Jojo rewarded them with a trip to the local zoo, where he secretly implanted small transportation devices on all the primates there. That night, Jojo teleported the primates to his lab and used his new machine to inject them with Chemical X, which turned them into evil mutants like himself. The next morning, after the Professor was released from prison, the girls showed him all the "good" they had done, only to discover that the primates were attacking the city. Jojo, renaming himself as Mojo Jojo, publicly announced the girls assisted him, which damaged their reputation further and made the Professor completely heartbroken beyond his criminal conviction. Dejected, the girls exiled themselves on an asteroid in outer space.

Redemption and Public Acceptance

Mojo announced his intention to rule the planet but became angry when his minions disobeyed him. Meanwhile, on the asteroid, the banished girls heard Mojo trying to strangle the Professor and returned to Earth, where they started rescuing the citizens. After Buttercup used her powers to defeat a giant ape, Blossom convinced the former and Bubbles that they could use their powers to fight back. After his army was defeated, Mojo gave himself an overdose of Chemical X and grew into a giant monster, easily subduing the girls. Rejecting Mojo's offer of an alliance to take over the world, the girls pushed him off a decrepit skyscraper just as the Professor arrived with an antidote for Chemical X. Mojo landed on the Antidote X, which shrunk him down to his original size and allowed the police to arrest him. The girls considered using the Antidote X to remove their powers, thinking they would be accepted as normal girls, but the people of Townsville protested against this, apologized for misjudging them, and praised them instead for their heroism. The Mayor of Townsville requested that the girls use their powers to fight crime in the city and, with permission from the Professor, they became the city's most beloved crime-fighting superhero team, "The Powerpuff Girls."

Film Production and Legacy

The Powerpuff Girls Movie was released in theaters on July 3, 2002, by Warner Bros. Pictures. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios as its first theatrical film, it was directed and co-written by series creator Craig McCracken. The film was a prequel to the television series. Although the film received generally positive reviews from critics, it was a box-office failure, earning $16 million on a budget of $11 million, which was partly blamed on a crowded marketplace. Series composer James L. Venable wrote the film's music score. In June 2026, a new Powerpuff Girls film was announced to be in development at Warner Bros. Pictures Animation.