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US animated tv series (2002-2007). Walt Disney Television Animation (see Disney on Television). Created by Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley. Executive Producers Chris Bailey, Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley. Directors include Chris Bailey, David Block and Steve Loter. Writers include Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley. Voice cast includes Nancy Cartwright, John DiMaggio, Will Friedle, Tahj Mowry, Christy Carlson Romano and Nicole Sullivan. 87 22-minute episodes. Colour.
High Schooler Kimberly Ann Possible (Romano) finds crime-fighting comparatively easy: it is the life of a teenager that she struggles with, particularly school (where she is a cheerleader), peer pressure, crushes and embarrassing parents. Kim's best friend and sidekick, Ron Stoppable (Friedle), lacks her skills (both fighting and social) – his pet naked mole rat Rufus (Cartwright) sometimes appearing more capable than he – yet he frequently plays his part in helping Kim save the world. The other team member is ten-year-old Computer expert Wade Load (Mowry). They usually find themselves combating Dr Drakken (DiMaggio) and Shego (Sullivan): the former is a not very competent Mad Scientist with ambitions to conquer the world, the latter his disrespectful and smarter sidekick who comes across as an evil version of Kim.
Kim's adventures have involved AI, an amazonian Alien, a future Dystopia, Genetic Engineering to create hybrid animal plushies, Intelligence boosting, Identity Exchange, Invisibility, monkey ninjas on Spaceships, Powered Armour, becoming trapped inside a Role Playing Game, Robots, Time Travel, Weather Control, and an attempt to recreate Pangaea using the existing continents (to make ruling the world easier – Drakken: "no more bumpy transatlantic flights"). The show is influenced by the James Bond franchise, also referencing Batman and Star Trek.
As Kim is intelligent, smart, athletic, popular and has loving, comfortably-off parents, it is hard to feel too much engagement with her social insecurity. Nevertheless, this was an lively, entertaining show with likeable characters and amusing dialogue, which frequently parodied the Clichés of its genre: Drakken "My pets [sharks] are famished, perhaps you two could stay ..."; Kim (interrupting): "for lunch"; Drakken (clearly lying): "I wasn't going to say that". There is also some Satire, such as Ron's father observing: "I'm an actuary. I can work anywhere people attach a dollar value to human life."
There were two animated movies: Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time (2003) and Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama (2005). Both were subsequently broken up to become three-episode serials in seasons two and three respectively. A disappointing live-action film, Kim Possible (2019), starring Sadie Stanley as Kim and Sean Giambrone as Ron, seemed more interested in its mundane soap-opera plotline than having Kim fight evil: a pity, as Todd Stashwick's and Taylor Ortega's bickering performances as Dr Drakken and Shego were entertaining. [SP]
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Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 02:30 am on 24 April 2024.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/kim_possible>