These are some of my childhood memories that I cherish deeply. Yes, I know I have a pretty good memory. Eat your fish, kids! 😉
Release date: January 20, 2014
My age: 8
Ah, yes, Dance Pantsed. I remember the hype was real when there were hints dropping to this short animation. People were saying that it's a complete reboot, so I had a misunderstanding that this was going to be the pilot of the reboot. Oh, how I wish that this misunderstanding stayed inside of me.. I really admired the artistic direction of this animation. The girls looked so cool!! ^-^ The animation for it was quirky, but definitely not in a bad way. I still remember making sure to record it on the VCR so I could watch it the very next night, while I ate a sandwich from Subways, LOL. I really wish the team that worked on this animation worked on the reboot, then I wouldn't have despised the reboot as much.. oh well, guess that gives me more of a reason to lean back on PPGZ and this animated short. Heh..
My age when I was consuming said media: 4-10
Yes, I know that the Boomerang Channel on TV existed for a bit longer than 2015, but a lot of people.. ahem.. the true fans say that it died during the 2015 rebrand. The channel had lost it's soul, as it's sole raison d'etre was to share older cartoons with the younger generation. I'm sure that before that horrid rebrand happened, the channel was very successful in fufilling it's purpose. I became a more open-minded person when it came to the older generation that supposedly grew up with these animations/cartoons, and I learnt to respect these cartoons more. I had a heavy preference watching the Boomerang Channel over Cartoon Network at times, and constantly used the VCR to catch shows that either often aired constantly (like the Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends) or rarely at all (The Grim Adventures of Bill and Mandy) when I was at school or asleep, lol. I really did appreciate this channel, even if I may not have been initially the target audience. It just became a shell of itself, before it shut down for good.
I also admired the amount of creativity and diversity in the bumpers during the channel's original run too. The post-rebrand/2015 bumpers were meaningless and generic-looking. It was really disappointing to be honest. Regardless, I grew up watching a lot of cartoons that a lot more older people had watched in their youth too, thanks to this channel. I do remember during the mid-2010's they started to air more modern or recent cartoons from the past decade or so, and I wish they would've aired Kids Next Door on there or something.. i would've loved to watch it, the last time I saw it was sometime in 2008 on Cartoon Network, LOL. Anyway.. this enters my next memory that I want to preserve.
My age when I was consuming said media: 7-10
I have a specific memory that I would like to share with you all. I was able to catch a airing of the Powerpuff Girls movie sometime in 2014. I was fortunate enough to record it on the VCR. I tried to watch it with my father, but he fell asleep. It was okay though, because I ate popcorn and hot dogs, to replicate the experience or feeling of seeing it in theaters. I also dimmed the lights of my parents' bedroom (since they had the TV in there) in order to really invest in the experience. It was all thanks to the Boomerang Theatre that I was able to have that experience.
I have to admit, I saw the PPG movie already a few years prior. Someone uploaded the entire thing to YouTube.. and that was in like 2011-2013. I watched it all in one sitting. I honestly felt a bit bretrayed and confused as to why no one told me there was no PPG Movie until the day that I discovered it on Youtube, lol.. I mean, I happen to have the same birthday as the girls and the series' original premiere in 1998, but I was born the year the show had officially stopped running.. Since then, I always had this strange complex hoping and wishing to be older, so I could've experienced those things, and showed support where support was needed, like watching the PPG movie at my local theatre, and a second time again with some snacks and drinks so I can really enjoy watching it without any interruptions. I knew that the PPG movie didn't perform well, and that hurt to learn. It really did, as I believed for the longest time that me discovering the PPG during the Boomerang channel's hayday was practically the best thing to ever happen to me. That's all I have to say about this now.. but thank you for letting me share this memory with you.