With the popularity of the British girl group Spice Girls, the cultural industry began to realize that women's themes were a lucrative market, and cartoons dominated by female characters were launched one after another. Let's take a look at five 2000s female cartoons, as well as the gender issues behind the plot!
Beverly Hills, laser lipstick, three agents... Seeing these keywords, do you think of the classic spy cartoon "School Girl"?
According to the French media company Banijay Kids & Family, Warner Bros. Discovery has officially acquired the copyright of the cartoon series "School Girl", and a new seventh season of content is expected to be released in 2024.
As the return of "School Girl" to the small screen is revealed, memories of childhood characters competing to play cartoon characters emerge, inviting you to walk into the time tunnel and watch five cartoons of the 2000s dominated by female characters!
"School Girl" - Girls can also meet challenges with glamour
The story of "School Girl" revolves around the story of three female high school students in Beverly Hills, Shanshan , Coco and Ellie, who accidentally become agents of the World Human Protection Association, and balance school life and saving the world.
Communication powder boxes, telescopic belts, lipstick in bags and other strange props will become sharp weapons, which are the memories of many people's childhood. In the era of male characters such as "American Dragon: Jack Dragon", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Popeye", as a rare cartoon with women as key roles in the same period, "School Girl" is regarded as a new attempt, allowing people to see the possibility of women being able to dominate in film and television works.
And the best thing is that this cartoon, in addition to breaking stereotypes to present the multiple looks of female heroes, also shows that girls can calmly meet challenges and achieve self-achievement while loving to dress up and socialize!
Image | IMDb
TMI[1]:
- BREAKING 1,000 SETS OF NON-REPETITIVE SPY LOOKS IN THE PLAY ARE ALL DESIGNED BY FRENCH DESIGN COMPANY PROMOSTYLE.
- Shanshan, Coco and Ellie's mother were all former spies.
- It is a companion drama to the cartoon "School Soldiers", which also depicts how three spies defend their homeland, and there is an episode in which two cartoon characters even go on missions together.
Image | IMDb
"Spicy Girl" - Break the imagination of a good girl
The protagonist of "Spicy Girl" is a female high school student named Kim who grew up in a family with strict tutoring, but Kim is a secret agent who travels around the world to fight crime, and his high school classmates are constantly acting as his partner in fighting crime.
Compared with "School Girl", the focus of this cartoon is to "break the rigid gender stereotype", and it spends more effort to subvert the traditional concept of gender.
Take Vivian Porter, a female scientist who appeared in the episode of the AI Machine Theft. With blonde hair, a miniskirt and a crop top, she confidently displays her charm, thereby deconstructing society's expectations that good girls and female scientists should be conservative and dull.
In addition, Vivian Porter's partner is a man whose physique is not lean and his appearance is not defined as a mainstream handsome man, which greatly breaks the normal rules of the dating market - handsome men and beautiful women.
This also shows the right of women to choose their ideal partner, and at the same time, through the role of the play, Vivian Porter's purposeful choice of mate, subtly portrays how the public views partners who are not matched in appearance.
(Guess what you want: a feminist's mate selection conditions)
Image | IMDb
"Spicy Girl" TMI:
- In 2022, the news of the shooting of the live-action movie "Spicy Girl" came out.
- The show sees characters of different races appear, such as Professor Ramesh and Robert Chen, Kim's father's friends, Duff Killigan, Master Sensei and Yori.
- "Spicy Girl" has a Chinese version of the theme song, which is sung by Lin Youjia's wife Ding Wenqi.
Image | IMDb
"The Powerpuff Girls" - see the value of men and women together to build a harmonious society
In an ordinary laboratory in a small town, Professor Yutanion tries to make the perfect little girl with "sugar, spices, and all good tastes", but accidentally adds "chemical X" during the production process, thus creating flowers, hairs, and bubbles with superpowers. Wise and brave, they are responsible for fighting criminals and protecting the safety of small towns and villages every day.
Compared with the two works mentioned earlier, in "The Powerpuff Girls" we see the value of a harmonious society between men and women. For example, the plots of Professor Yutanion, who is also a parent, the mayor and the auxiliary officer Miss Belen jointly govern and maintain the safety of the small town and village, all of which re-present the diverse imagination of women empowered, and if men and women can play their best in their respective positions, they will help each other.
(Same scene plus screening: I love me is me | "Black Widow" shows us that you can be a hero to save yourself in your own world)
Image | IMDb
Perhaps, behind the plot of Rao Fu Ping's meaning, it is related to the era that "Powerpuff Girls" wants to pay tribute to. In the seventies and eighties, gender consciousness in the United States had not yet risen, when women were not encouraged to participate in sports competitions and were always absent from sports competitions, so there was a sex flat movement called Powder Puff, which is why the original name of "Powerpuff Girls" was The Powerpuff Girls.
"Powerpuff Girls" TMI:
- "The Powerpuff Girls", formerly known as The Powerpuff Girls, is derived from the rise of the sex flat movement Powder Puff in the United States in the seventies and eighties.
- Flowers' superpowers are cryo-breathing, bubbles' superpowers are ultrasound and communication with small animals, and Mao Mao has no superpowers.
- Not sugar + spices + everything good + chemicals X = Powerpuff Girls, but
Sugar + chemical X = bubble
Fragrance + Chemicals X = Hairy
Everything good + chemicals X = flowers
Image | IMDb
"Magical Girl" - why not be perfect for manhood
"Pretty Magic" is a story about fashionable fairies who save the world through the power of flowers, music, and animals.
The fairies each have handsome and tall companions with strong muscles. Interestingly, behind the seemingly perfect scene, Pretty Magic doesn't exclude some traits that don't deserve perfect masculinity, so we can see the clumsy Timmy, Helia, who loves poetry and small animals, and Nabu, who likes to be lazy with magic.
Image | IMDb
These fairies are not only like us, but also us, we also hold the vision of love, expect confident legs, bare waist, like to wear short skirts on the knee, these seemingly to please others' clothing, does not mean that we just want to cram ourselves into the stereotype of women, just because what we like just happens to be in line with normal beauty.
So boldly choose the clothes you love, this is not a voluntary fall into the male confinement, but a display of your own hobbies. Maybe you can get inspiration for Y2K (Year 2000, a style that was popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s) outfit from the low-rise jeans and fluorescent colors of the Magic Pretty Fairy!
TMI:
- Disney once sued the animation company of "Magic Girl" for plagiarism, and Disney ultimately lost the case.
- The live-action series Fate: The Legend of Pretty Magic is available on Netflix.
- In the original Italian version, Flora's birthday is March 1, but in the English version, her birthday becomes March 16.
Image | IMDb
"The Pearl Mermaid" - a character who breaks away from the gender framework
The story tells the story of the mermaid princess Lucia who came to land and transformed into a girl in order to save her hometown, and adventured with mermaids such as Boeing and Lina while harvesting love. In addition to the impressive plot, classic songs have been sung by the world.
Although the cartoon contains certain stereotypes, it is considered that it is still not delicate enough in dealing with femininity, and there are hidden misunderstandings about femininity, such as Luya, who only wants to be in love, and Mi'er, who always shows weakness to gain pity.
However, in talking about gender, the production unit still creates a new space for discussion, such as a tragic character in the play - Mikael, the official document directly points out that it has no gender, getting rid of the definition of gender framework, in addition to adding a bit of Mikael's mysterious feeling, but also let people see the value of gender diversity.
Image | IMDb
"Pearl Mermaid" TMI:
- The most powerful of the mermaids is the mermaid princess Sharo of the Indian Ocean.
- The voice actors of "Pearl Mermaid" Lua and "Little Witch Doremi" Doremi are the same person.
- The voice actors and singing people of the American mermaids in "True Pearl Mermaid" are not the same.
Although the five cartoons that construct our childhood memories are all based on women as the main characters, they do not reveal the meaning of defeating men, and it shows the so-called equal rights, not overemphasizing the value of women, but that both men and women can play their strengths safely and fearlessly in society.
When holding a microphone, muttering a spell in your mouth or even bare hands, every attack of these cartoon characters hides a gentle and firm power, in addition to hitting the villain solidly, it is more like a shot in the heart of the audience, so we all benefit from this to a greater or lesser extent, shaping the characteristics of bravely dreaming and undertaking challenges.
While harvesting courage, we also hope that the cultural industry can produce more works that correctly show the characteristics of each gender, as a mark of the equal rights generation, and also encourage the people of the era to move towards a more inclusive and open future.