Lying Around the House/Transcript

(Opening shot: the city skyline in the morning.)

Narrator: The city of Townsville! Which lies in the heart of America. (Cut to the exterior of the girls’ house.) And in the city of Townsville lies the home of one Professor Utonium.

(Close-up of Blossom, asleep in bed, and pan to each of her sisters in time with the following. Bubbles cradles Octi as usual.)

Narrator: And in that home lie Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup— (Pull back to frame all three.) —also known as the Powerpuff Girls.

Professor: (from downstairs) Girls! (They wake up.) Time to get up! Breakfast is ready!

(They zip out of bed in an instant; cut to the kitchen table. One by one, they stop in the chairs in time with their next lines—they have done the world’s fastest quick-change into their dresses.)

Buttercup: Bacon and eggs!

Bubbles: Waffles!

Blossom: French toast!

(At the stove, the Professor holds up a sizzling pan of some decidedly non-breakfast food. He is dressed, but unshaven.)

Professor: Liver and onions!

(The girls’ happy mood evaporates. Close-up of Blossom as a plate is pushed toward her.)

Professor: (from o.c.) One for you… (Pan to Bubbles; he serves her.) …one for you… (To Buttercup; she gets a plateful.) …one for you… (Cut to a stack of pancakes.) …and one for me.

(The girls lean out around the image—the dish has been placed so as to hide them from view—and peer quizzically at it. Pull back to frame all four; the Professor now sits at the table, with the pancakes in front of himself.)

Professor: Eat up, everyone.

(He buries his face in the morning paper. There is no sound for a few seconds, during which Bubbles’ eyes start to roll back in their sockets. Suddenly she perks up.)

Bubbles: Hey, look! (Close-up of the Professor, then back to her.) The Professor left his beard on. That means it must be Saturday—which means the Professor can spend the whole day playing with us!

(All three girls chatter excitedly, but they stop when he lowers his paper.)

Professor: Um…today?

(Cut to just beside his head. He is looking at a large ad: “The Geek Bowl Quiz Show—Today on Channel 6.” A TV set with a large question mark on its screen is prominently included.)

Professor: I don’t think I can do it today. (lowering paper, seeing crestfallen girls) I’ve got a lot of work to do in my office today. (Cut to a shelf.)

Girls: (from o.c.) Awww!

(A small white creature appears between the containers. It is humanoid, with a bald head and a tail, and it seems a bit bewildered upon finding itself in this environment. However, it soon rubs its hands and giggles mischievously before running o.c. Back to the table; the Professor has stood up and is folding the paper.)

Professor: Now eat up, girls. (rolling/tucking it under arm, carrying pancakes o.c.) I went to a lot of trouble preparing that meal for you. (Cut to the sink; he is scraping the food into it.) And I don’t want to see it go to waste.

(Blossom regards her plate with obvious disdain. Her eyes wander to one side and then widen in surprise; cut to the source of it—the trash can, in which an empty box marked “Liver & Onions” can be seen. Her face shows just how disgusted she is with the Professor’s exaggeration.)

Professor: (walking out of kitchen) You will not be excused from this table until you’ve finished your breakfast.

Buttercup: Liver and onions. I hate liver and onions. This stuff isn’t even fit for a dog to eat!

Bubbles: That’s it! We’ll feed it to our dog!

Buttercup: Duh! We don’t have a dog.

(Bubbles clears her throat and opens her mouth as wide as it will go for a few seconds. However, no sound comes out. Closing it, she smiles placidly.)

Bubbles: We do now.

(The girls peek around the backs of their chairs as a din of barking starts to grow in the distance. Cut to just inside the kitchen window; three dogs jump up into view, tongues hanging eagerly. Bubbles has just cranked up the frequency of her high-powered scream and acted as a Powerpuff dog whistle. Just outside the window now; the pane has been slid up a bit, and the girls hold their plates out over the sill for the hungry canines to chow down.)

(Cut to the kitchen entrance. The Professor enters, but stops short and then smiles.)

Professor: Well, I’m glad to see you ate all of your breakfasts. (The girls sit with clean plates; the window is closed.)

Blossom: Yep.

Bubbles: Yep.

Buttercup: Yep.

(The little white creature, now hiding behind the sugar jar, grows by three small increments—it appears to thrive on the family’s fibbing.)

Professor: (chuckling) Okay, girls, run along. (as they float past) It’s almost time for me to, um… (stammering a bit) …get to work.

[Continuity error: His beard stubble has suddenly vanished in this shot and will not return.]

(“Whitey,” as we shall call the creature from here on in, giggles to itself. Iris out, centering on its face, to black.)

(Iris in to the exterior of the house. Inside, Bubbles lies on the living room floor and is doodling merrily away on a piece of paper; a stack of blank sheets is nearby. She reaches the edge and stops for a moment, rising to her knees with a puzzled expression—now what? This gives way to a smile, and she puts another piece of paper down next to the one she has been using, with edges overlapping so she can continue her doodle. One by one, she keeps laying down more sheets as she hits the edges until she has one butted up against the wall. Her crayon soon goes off it and up the baseboards; head-on view of her, giggling ecstatically, as she keeps right on drawing. Suddenly she cuts herself off and lowers the crayon, giving the camera a very worried look.)

Bubbles: Oh, no!

(Cut to behind her, at a short distance. Her scribbles have followed the paper trail and gone all over the living room wall. Iris out, centering on these, to black.)

(Iris in to the same location, with the papers still on the floor and a tall house plant set in front of the mess on the wall. The Professor walks into view, but stops upon finding this particular configuration of the décor. He scratches his head; close-up of the dirt in which the plant is rooted. Bubbles’ crayons are strewn in it—a clumsy effort to hide the evidence. Pull back as he pushes the plant aside with one foot to expose the wall. He calls up toward the second floor.)

Professor: Bubbles! (She floats down to him.)

Bubbles: Y-Yes, Professor?

Professor: (pointing vaguely to plant, wall) What is this?

Bubbles: That’s a ficus.

Professor: (clearly indicating wall) Not the plant, this! Are you responsible for this? (She floats down to the papers.)