| Abracadaver | |
| Episode name pun on: Abracadabra and Cadaver | |
|---|---|
| |
| Airdate: | December 16, 1998 |
| Credits | |
| Director: | John McIntyre and Craig McCracken |
| Story: | Michael Ryan and Jason Butler Rote |
| See also | |
| episode transcript |
image gallery |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "Boogie Frights" |
Next "Telephonies" |
| Rating | |
Abracadaver is the 5th episode of season 1. It aired on December 16th, 1998.
Sypnosis
A local magician named Al Lusion pulls a deathly trick where he comes back from the dead as a zombie to haunt Townsville. The Powerpuff Girls are left to deal with him while he runs around scaring people with his dark magic and exacting his revenge for being mocked and humiliated in his end days.
Episode Summary
The episode begins with the Mayor, Ms. Sara Bellum and The Powerpuff Girls at an old magic theater; though celebrated, it is condemned and slated for destruction. Taking notice of an old magic poster, the Mayor tells the girls of an old magician named Al Lusion. When the mayor was the same age as the girls, he went to his final performance, spectacular in its own right. When the magician asked for an assistant from the audience, Al chose a little girl who the Mayor himself described to be as sweet and charming as the Girls (and somewhat resembled Blossom). The magician asked for the girl's teddy bear and did an incredible trick by making it disappear. Heartbroken by the loss of her bear, the girl accidentally pulled down his pants, revealing that Al was nothing but a phony, opening him to laughs and heckling. Al panicked tried to retain his magic and show, but stumbled into an iron maiden loaded with spikes, the girl and audience watched as tragically lost his life in what was otherwise a laughable show.
After a moment of respect, the Mayor begins the demolition of the theater, only for one of the wrecking balls to hit the old iron maiden that held Al Lusion and set him free once more.
That night at the Powerpuff house, the girls are watching a horror movie filled with zombies when they hear noises. Meanwhile, Al Lusion has returned from the dead as the magical zombie, Abracadaver. Armed with "real" magical powers, he exacts his revenge by using his now evil magic to destroy the town. From transforming innocent civilians into cards to conjuring giant saws to cut through the buildings of Townsville, the resurrected magician's acts of terror prompt the Mayor to call the girls to come to their rescue.
Even though they are terrified, the girls fly to where Abracadaver is. As fast as they spot him and confront him, he immediately mistakes Blossom for the little girl who humiliated him and incited his fatal accident. In an act of revenge driven by mistaken identity, he hypnotizes her. Buttercup tries to rescue her sister by punching Abracadaver to pieces, but like a zombie, he easily reassembles himself and traps the girls in separate magic traps. Abracadaver then returns to the hypnotized Blossom, ties her up, and throws her into an iron maiden where it slams shut on her. It seems that Abracadaver had killed Blossom in the way of his own fatal accident as the townspeople and narrator sadly think their heroines are gone forever, but Blossom rips off her disguise, alive! Wasting no time, Blossom then proceeds to rescue Buttercup and Bubbles. After having been surprised by how Blossom and Abracadaver switched places, they soon show that Abracadaver is the one in the coffin--having been put to rest once more--and the narrator laughs, saying he loves the "voodoo that the Girls do," and the episode ends.
Trivia
- Only the Narrator refers to Abracadaver by name.
- This is one of the two episodes where the hotline's facial expression changes. The other episode is Tough Love.
- This is the second time that the girls fight a villain at night, following Boogie Frights and preceding Burglar Alarmed, Something's a Ms. and Aspirations.
- This is one of the few horror-themed episodes.
- Al Lusion is a pun on the word "illusion".
- The coffin in which Al died is called an iron maiden and is a type of medieval execution device.
- This and Boogie Frights are the only two horror-themed episodes to not feature HIM.
- Abracadaver makes a cameo appearance in the title sequence and in the episode Bought and Scold.
- The Powerpuff Girls discover they have another superpower Magic, they haven't used this power until the episode Nuthin' Special, where they make cards disappear on their hands.
- The magic power Blossom first used, brought her back to life and unhypnotized, which proves the girls are very powerful.
- A photo of Blossom and Abracadaver is seen in the 2016 TV series episode Memory Lane of Pain.
- It is odd for Buttercup to be scared when the hotline was ringing during a zombie movie. This could be most likely because she wasn't expecting for a giant zombie magician to be causing mischief in Townsville.
- Coincidentally, Frank Welker, who voiced Abracadaver is the announcer on Cartoon Network at the time of the first premiere of this episode, in addition, Coming Up Next bumper of those days has a theme based on hypnotist.
Errors
- When Abracadaver pulls out his watch and begins to hypnotize Blossom, he is shown to be holding the watch chain in his right hand. However, when he yells at Buttercup for hitting him (before he attaches the arm that was holding the watch chain, as the arm holding the chain was left behind to keep Blossom under his control), he is shown to be missing his left arm instead. However, when he casts the spell on Buttercup that causes her to be sawed in half, he casts the spell with his left hand. Additionally, when he attaches the arm that was holding the watch chain, it is shown to be his right arm.
- In addition to the above inconsistency, another inconsistency occurs dealing with Abracadaver's right arm. When Buttercup punches Abracadaver into the building and causes him to fall apart, his right arm stays behind to keep Blossom under his control. When he collides with the wall, as well as when he reassembles himself, he is shown to be missing his entire right arm, from the shoulder down. However, when he reattaches the arm that was holding the chain, he is shown to only be missing his right arm from roughly the elbow down.