PLUME: Have there been any materials produced for an eventual DVD release?

McCRACKEN: Well, a lot of the things we cut out of the movie, we’ll be putting on the DVD – the different edits of certain sequences, I’m hoping to get on there. Just so people can see how a certain sequence was handled at one point.

PLUME: Any behind-the-scenes footage of story sessions and extreme kickboxing?

McCRACKEN: Yeah, there might be some. There’s been some documentation of the making of this, and hopefully we’ll be putting together a long making-of piece. I know we’ve got all the materials for it -it’s just a matter of whether the network puts that together. I would like that… That would be great.

PLUME: And where does the series stand right now?

McCRACKEN: The series has kind-of been on a hiatus as far as production goes. We’re going to be starting up again in August on the fifth season, and just kind-of go from there and continue making the shows.

PLUME: How many episodes exist right now?

McCRACKEN: 49 half-hours.

PLUME: Are there already contingency plans when – I’ll use the word when – the film is a success for the sequel to go into production?

McCRACKEN: I haven’t heard anything as of yet, but I wouldn’t out it past the network saying, “This one did really good. Let’s work on a sequel.” And then I’ll have to say, “Okay – who’s going to make the TV show and who’s going to make this movie?” Because they’re going to want both and, at a certain point, one of the projects is going to have to… I’m not going to be able to be involved in everything. So at a certain point, that decision will have to be made… What do we let go of a little bit…

PLUME: Well, there’s always the cloning option…

McCRACKEN: Yeah! Exactly! That would have been great… I’d love that…

PLUME: You just have to call on that secret Warner Bros’ protocol… the same one they used for Arnold…

McCRACKEN: Yeah! Exactly.

PLUME: In adapting it for the big screen, how did the animation technique change, if any? Was fuller animation used? I really don’t mind the limited animation in Powerpuff, because it fits the style…

McCRACKEN: It’s fuller animation. The drawings are a lot closer to being on-model than they ever have been, because the crew here went over all the layouts an meticulously fixed everything. The main thing we’ve done different is that even though everything was still hand-drawn and our backgrounds were still hand-painted, instead of shooting everything on cels under an animation camera, all of the drawings were scanned into a computer and everything was composited digitally. That just gave us a lot more control over the final frame, and we could move things around a lot more and do a lot more color tweaks. We could move the camera around in ways we never could on the show. So it’s just kind-of a quicker, souped-up version of the series.

PLUME: And for those who may be fearful, are there any musical numbers?

McCRACKEN: No. Not in the movie. That was one thing that we really fought against. We were like, “There are not going to be any pop songs in the middle of this.”

PLUME: So no Peabo Bryson… No Celine Dion…

McCRACKEN: No. Not at all. There’re songs during the end credits, but that’s okay because there’s nothing in the body of the story. We basically said, “We don’t do the show like that, and we’re not about to make the movie that way. People have expectations.”

PLUME: And, thankfully, you were able to retain the original voice cast…

McCRACKEN: Oh yeah… That was the best. That was great. We were a little bit worried for awhile, but everybody worked everything out. It worked out great. It would have been horrible to not have them.

PLUME: Do you have any plans for any other projects? Or is Powerpuff your main focus?

McCRACKEN: Right now, Powerpuff is the main focus. I’m always thinking about what I might want to do next, but there’s still things I want to do with Powerpuff – so I can keep going with this one for awhile.

PLUME: Do they ever come to you can say, “Why can’t you be as productive as so-and-so?”

McCRACKEN: No, not at all.

PLUME: Or do they say, “Just keep raking in the cash for us…”

McCRACKEN: Yeah, they’re pretty happy with the way Powerpuff‘s going, and they’re fine with that. I just don’t want to spread myself too thin, because I want to be too hands-on. I could probably develop another show and then have other people make it, but I couldn’t just let something like that go.

PLUME: So you wouldn’t say that you’re burnt-out on Powerpuff at this point…

McCRACKEN: Not too much. I’m pretty burnt-out as far as just working goes right now and I’m really ready for a break – just kind of stopping and rejuvenating myself. I couldn’t start the series right now. I’m getting six weeks off, which is going to be great, because there’s no way I could start making the show right now. Hopefully this break will do me good.

PLUME: Just think – if you have a great first weekend, they’ll give you the keys to the Warner house in the Bahamas…

McCRACKEN: That would be nice!

PLUME: If it doesn’t, it’s off to Encino…

McCRACKEN: Yeah! Yeah… definitely…

10 QUESTIONS

1. What is your favorite piece of music?
Probably anything by Frank Black is my favorite piece of music. The guy’s entire music library is my favorite piece of music.

2. What is your favorite film?
Buckaroo Banzai.

3. What is your favorite TV program, past or current?
The Adam West 60’s Batman.

4. What do you feel has been your most important professional accomplishment to date?
The Powerpuff Girls.

5. Which project do you feel didn’t live up to what you envisioned?
Probably the show I worked on called 2 Stupid Dogs. I was never really happy with how that worked.

6. What is your favorite book?
All of the TinTin comics.

7. If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?
More creator control.

8. Who – or what – would you say has had the biggest influence on your career?
Jay Ward.

9. What is your next project?
Taking a vacation.

10. What is the one project that you’ve always wanted to do, but have yet to be able to?
I would like to make the next Buckaroo Banzai movie.

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