Kim Possible, More

OK, maybe I should describe it, and my interest.  First, I have always enjoyed cartoons (both old style and more modern graphics/anime's.  I've watched almost all of them at some time or another, whether they are intended for children, teens, or adults.  I can start with a very simple explanation:  I was once a child.  I know, I know, adults aren't supposed to admit that. 

But I was watching a show titled 'The History of Comedy' recently and one episode was about animation.  The earliest pre-movie-theater shorts were human comedians (who later moved on to longer movies themselves).  There were some animated characters too.  One was Micky Mouse.  One human shorts comedian commented after seeing a Mickey Mouse cartoon "My career is over.  The mouse can do things I can't".

And that is my interest.  Charlie Chaplin could do some great slapstick, but he couldn't run off a cliff, tread air a few seconds, and survive a 1,000' fall.  Wile E. Coyote could.  Animated characters could sleepwalk across moving girders, step off the end onto a ferris wheel, get off at the bottom, walk home through crazy traffic, and crawl back into bed, etc.

The original children's shows were kindly old adults acting childlike.  Brother Bob, Captain Kangeroo, etc.  The earliest actual animations I can recall were Tom Terrific and Gerald Mc Boing-Boing.  From there it was Popeye and Woody Woodpecker, sliding into Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros.  I wonder how many animated characters I could list?  But don't worry, I won't do it here...

The cleverest early one was Bugs Bunny, the craziest one was Wile E. Coyote, the "adultish" one was Foghorn Leghorn with his asides to the viewer and "smart" jokes.  Then came ones like Flintstones (prime time and aimed at adults) and Jetsons,. 

I left watching those for Star Trek's moral messages and anything "space-oriented" like 1999, Babylon 5, etc.  But I returned to animated shows like 'Angry Beavers'.  The animated show writers had discovered sarcasm (yes so did Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck etc, but it was much simpler). 

Then the Japanese anime arrived.  Animated humanistic (as opposed to animal character) violence was everywhere.  I watched a lot of that until I realized that the plots moved slower than the newspaper strips like Mary Worth, Brenda Starr, and The Girls of Apt 3-G!  So I watched The Simpson's and the copies like Family Guy for a while.  At least they were fast-paced.  I adored Robot-Chicken, I still watch Rick&Morty, Superjail was completely insane.

So that brings me to Kim Possible.  If you are still reading this, I'm impressed!  It started in 2002.  The idea was to create a fast-paced animated show that would mostly attract young teenage girls but still interest boys, and was "adult-friendly".  I read the Wikipedia entry for the show, and the details and thoughts are impressive.

So why did *I* like it?  Well, for a "girls show" it wasn't about unicorns and rainbows.  Kim Possible was the main character in an action role.  Her sidekick Ron Stoppable) was her best friend, a bit of a clumsy male friend from pre-K years who was sort of clueless.  Kim fought super-villains, Ron tagged along to try to help. 

It was partly comedy, partly spy-spoof, and partly the angst of high school years. 

Kim is smart, talented at acrobatics and gymnastics (she is catain of the cheerleading squad.  Her parents are both scientists (Dad is a Rocket Scientist, Mom is a Neurosurgeon, and she has 2 younger brothers who are brilliant but annoying - she calls them the "tweebs" as in twin dweebs).  Kim is one of the popular girls in school and is involved in everything at school.  So, massively good role model.

But she has no special power.  She is "just" brave, agile and smart.  The origin of the show seems to be that Kim goes online to advertise for baby-sitter jobs.  Some busy Dad is looking for both a baby-sitter and a security guard (separate jobs).  Somehow, he hires Kim for baby-sitting and she ends up with a baby-sitting job that gets her involved with fighting off a bad guy.  She is good at it.

I don't recall all the early details, but the excitement attracts her and her friend Ron gets involved and she gets an underground reputation as a rescuer.  She gets all over the world easily through a recurring/running theme of calling in transportation favors from people she helped previously but not seen in any episodes. 

Ron is a nice guy, her best friend, a klutz, a devotee of Bueno Nacho fast Tex-Mex Food.  He is usually helpful to Kim's adventures at some point, but usually by accident.  Ron has a pet, a male Naked Mole Rat named Rufus who usually stays in a pocket of Ron's cargo pants.  Given that "rufus" is normally a hair color, that is pretty clever.  Rufus is often very helpful gnawing ropes and wires and stepping on "off switches".  Everyone on the show has a talent, LOL!

Still reading?  Good!

The main villains are Dr Draken (a blue-skinned mad scientist) and his sidekick Shego (an evil adult women with basically equal acrobatic skills and a wicked greed force she shoots from her hands, Dr Demento ( a mind-enhancer villain with a helmet, and my favorite ones (bored billionaire Senor Senior, Senior and his self-absorbed son, Senor Senior, Junior).  There are some infrequently other villains.

Kim has signature look.  Large flowing red hair, slim gymnastic build, and dresses according the styles of the time.  In adventures ("missions") she sports a black crop-top and olive cargo pants with useful tools.  Her most commonly used item is a ninja tri-hook on a rope fired with a gun, but mostly she depends on her own abilities and quick-thinking.

Ron is blond but average-looking, wears a black t-shirt and usually gray pants.  His persona is the "high school loser who has a lot of accidents (losing his pants during missions is another recurring theme (which is probably funny to teenage girls and boys).

Kim has friends that show up.  One is Wade, a 10 year old computer genius who spends all his time in his room.  He feeds Kim locations and technical information.  Monique is a new student who becomes her best female friend and is a connection between school and missions.  There are a few boys in school Kin "crushes" on, but they don't last.  Interestingly, Ron just discusses them with her as a friend. 

For a couple years, the story plot was similar to sitcoms.  Problem, situation, resolution, reset to square one the next week.  

But after a couple years, the story arc developed.

Shego was once part of a hero team called the "GO Team".  It was a Fantastic Four spoof with different powers.  Hego was the strong guy and leader.  Mego was a shrinker.  Theygo could make multiples of himself.  Shego had a force energy.  Their origin was atypically silly (deliberately, I assume.  A rainbow-colored asteroid struck their treehouse when they were children and they all gained POWERS.  Shego left the team because she found "evil" more exciting.  Shego is usually Kim's adversary.

But Kim has a high school adversary too (true to teenage angst).  the next best cheerleader is Bonnie, who (of course) likes her boyfriends "big, strong, and not-too bright" (the football team quarterback, "Brick Flagg").  There are also some weird extended family members who are extremely talented in their own ways (we late learn that Nana was once a crime fighter like Kim)

Along the way, Ron is faced with his worst fear (ninja monkeys led by future villain Lord Montgy Fisk who eventually becomes Lord Monkey Fist.  Ron is contacted by a Tibetan Monk type who sees a power in him and gives some training.  The training is not immediately evident. 

And also along the way, there are some humorous episodes that lighten the viewing.  In one, Shego and Kim are struck with microchips that cause them to randomly experience extreme emotions at the same time, one where Draken invents an good/evil exchange ray and Shego becomes Kim's best friend for a while.  We learn that Shego is not quite as evil as she seems to be, because, at the end when she is returned to her usual self, she is holding one of those old photobooth series of photos and looks at them wistfully before zapping them with her green force.

In another, Draken steals a mind switching machine (where DOES he find these things?) in order to switch bodies with a military security guard in order to steal something better.  Naturally, Kim and Ron get switched in the course of a fight with Shego.  I could say simply that "hilarity abounds" but it continues into school.  Each experiences the life of the other for a day or two. 

As a result, Ron learns that Kim's life is full of demands of her numerous activities and clubs, confidence, sureness, practice, and security at home.  Kim learns that Ron's life is filled with uncertainty, bullies, disrespect, things that go wrong by no fault of his own, and worry about his future.  The immediate problem is that Kim is the cheerleader leader and there is a regional competition the next day.

They each have difficulties adjusting to each others' bodies.  And there is no hint of sexual curiousty there; this is for young teens.  But Kim can't make Ron's body do her cheerleading moves at the competition and Ron can't either.  In the end, when Ron (as Kim) is trying and failing, Kim (as Ron) bumps him out of the way and manages (through utter determination) to make the finale grand act.  They get switched back again, or course.

There almost wasn't a finale to the series.  Disney has a general rule about its animated original shows of 3 years and out.  Fan demand convinced them to extend the series when the creators promised arcs to an ending.  Disney relented and signed on for 2 more year with a definite ending.

So, one of the hardest characters for Kim to defeat was an 8' alien female.  At the end, she brings her partner, a 9' killer named Warhok to help her get revenge.  These aliens really do have what all Kim's enemies have lacked.  Real tech, real power, real focus.  They arrive on Earth, destroying the (unoccupied) Possible Family house, the school, the Bueno Nacho and land hunbdreds of War Of The Worlds style machines all over.  They have won. 

This is where several themes finally come together (Graduation).  Draken's latest scheme involved mutated plants and he gets hit by his own machine.  Initially, this is humor, as all it does is cause large flower petals to surround his head no matter how many times he pulls them off.  

Still with me here?

The aliens capture him and Kim (while she is giving a graduation speech).  They are both immobilized on the alien ship.  Draken is gleeful that at least Kim will share him fate.  Kim manages to get free.  Meanwhile, on Earth, both Ron and Shego are determined to save their partners and agree to cooperate.  The get on the alien chute (via the trash dump - Star Wars reference) and meet up with Kim and Draken.  They escape (Rufus finds an "Off Switch") and all eventually land on Earth fighting. 

Dracken and Shego flee.  Kim fights, Ron is shoved away or something.  Draken has a vine pops out of his neck and he discovers he can order it to grow and destroy things.  Draken suddenly has "The Best Plan He Has Ever Had".  Draken and Shego return and spray the mutant plant goo all other the machines.  The Aliens laugh at him and he smiles...

Something like "grow my pretties and destroy those machines"!  And they do.  So it is aliens vs Earthians again.  Dracken and Shego are beaten, Draken knocken far away and Shego at the scene

Ron attacks the 9' guy and is smashed back knocking Kim out.  He has a jetpack and is ready to try again.  This is where another arc comes in.  Sensei, who tried to teach Ron Monkey Fist skills appears to him.  He says that Ron's time has come, if he is ready.  Well, something like that.
 Ron, seein Kim being held up like a broken toy doll, is angered.  He focuses is energy on the Monkey Fist skills.  He spreads his arms and levitates with energy and debris circling around him.  Kim awakes and sees.  Shego awakes and sees.

Ron attacks both the aliens with Monkey Fist arts and throws them both into the falling spaceship which explodes.  Kim and Shego are stunned!  Draken returns a moment later and,surveying the damage and the absence of the aliens, asks "Did I miss something?"

Shego says "I think the sidekick stepped up".  Ron floats down and help Kim up (as she has done for him SO MANY times before.

A day forward...  It is back to High School Graduation Day.  Every one gets their degree (except Bonnie who is 1 credit short and has to attend Summer School.  But Senor Senior Junior (her new boyfriend) is there to comfort her.  Draken gets awarded a medal for saving the world and there are people in the audience holding up signs cheering him.  He apparently decided that being a good guy is nice (it was the only plan he ever made that worked). 

While Shego is standing next to him (In a green dress instead of her regular green and black battlesuit, Draken's vines wrap around them both and she has a slight smile (it was always assumed she liked him in spite of her sarcasm). 

Kim and Ron jump in her car (enhanced by the tweebs) and her at the wheel, and they go flying off together. 

One of the best finales of all time...  I both cheered and cried the first and every time I saw it.

Now, a couple of things I picked up at various Kim Possible sites...  Kim is extremely talented in many ways.  But she has weaknesses.  She crushed on boys that were right for her and some who weren't.  She is a bit obsessive about her parent's approval.  She is less sure about herself than others think she is.  In action, she is brave, talented and quick-thinking.  At home and in school she is not.  She is an over-achiever with typical teen self-doubt.

Ron is, of course, rather her opposite.  He loses his pants all the time in missions, fails most courses, eats total junk food, has a naked mole rat as a pet, and has to be saved a lot by Kim.  But I think it is often missed that he is loyal, supportive, follows Kim into real danger in spite of having no skills until the very end, but helps her more than is usually noticed, is her true friend even when she talks about "crushing" on other boys trying to help her.

Rufus is the comic relief, but also a brave little friend to Ron at all times. 

Shego might be one of the more interesting characters.  Usually portrayed as evil, there is also a sense that she just loves Draken and will do anything for him.  She's an interesting composite of powerful feminism (those powerful green forces she attacks with), the fact that most of the time SHE saves Draken from his own evil plots, and one senses that she really is the stronger member of the team.  But then, what she most seems to enjoy is lounging in a beach chair and reading magazines.  You never quite know what to make of her.  I think the finale did mostly answer that.  *I* think she smiled coyly when Dracken's vines pulled her to him.

So that's about Kim Possible and why I enjoyed it.  There is a lot more.  Look her up on Wikipedia.  I just loved the series.