Mr. Mojo's Rising

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

Narrator: The city of Townsville…

(As he continues, the camera turns down quickly to ground level, through a cutaway view of the earth’s layers. The view resolves into the Professor’s lab and pans slowly to the door.)

 

Narrator: …cannot be seen from the windowless laboratory of the Powerpuff Girls’ suburban home. Nevertheless, it is in this dim den where the brightest of births took place—the creation of the Powerpuff Girls! Every afternoon, Professor Utonium returns to this subterranean lab to continue his noodling with nature. (The door opens.) Oh! Here he comes now.

(Humming to himself, the Professor descends the stairs, walks to a desk, and lights a match to get his pipe going. Pan away from him to the far wall,  where we see the shadows of him and the desk cast large. He is leaning back in his chair. Behind him, the shadow of a long-handled mallet falls  onto the wall and aligns itself with his head. The shadow descends; we see a flash of light and hear the Professor grunt briefly in surprise and pain. When the screen clears, the shadows of him and his chair are lying on the floor and being dragged o.c.)

(Cut back to the door, now closed again. It opens suddenly.)

 

Bubbles: (from hall) Professor!

(Zoom in on the stairs. Bubbles flies down, with Buttercup close behind and smacking her repeatedly with a sadistic smile on her face as she does.)

 

Bubbles: Buttercup’s hitting me! (The two continue o.c.)

Buttercup: (from o.c.) I am not!

Blossom: (flying downstairs) Girls, stop!

(Cut to the girls at the bottom of the stairs and pull back quickly as they gasp in shock. Across the lab, some smashed glassware and the Professor’s pipe are seen. Buttercup has stopped smacking her sister at this point.)

 

Girls: Professor? (Close-up of Bubbles.)

Bubbles: Where’d he go? (Blossom comforts her as she starts crying; pan right to Blossom and Buttercup.)

Blossom: Look for clues. Quick! (The two zip away.)

(Blossom and Buttercup fly back and forth across the lab as Bubbles sadly approaches the desk. On it are the pipe, a burning notepad—set on fire by the ashes—and a sheet of paper. She picks up the pipe and regards it for a long moment, during which the fire goes out, then notices the sheet.)

 

Bubbles: Hey… (picking it up; the others stop behind her) …could this be a clue?

(The sheet is very long, almost a scroll. Blossom and Buttercup look over her shoulders. Close-up of the top end, the camera turning down slowly to show all the text.)

 

Mojo Jojo: (voice-over, reading) “Dear Powerpuff Girls, I have kidnapped Professor Utonium! I have taken him someplace against his will! If you look for him in the spots he likes to be, you will not find him! He’s with me, but not by choice! I took him and he didn’t like it! This message is from, and was written by, Mojo Jojo.”

[Spelling error: “Someplace” is misspelled.]

(Close-up of Bubbles, shrugging in bewilderment.)

 

Bubbles: Who could have done this?

(Pull back; her sisters glare at her in disgust from behind her back over her moment of stupidity. She does not see them, though—she is thinking very hard.)

 

Blossom: Let’s roll! (She and Buttercup take off; Bubbles, surprised, follows them.)

(Cut to a long shot of the observatory, zooming in slowly.)

 

Narrator: Oh, Mojo Jojo, what are you up to this time? (Close-up of the Professor, clamped down spread-eagle inside)

Professor: Oh, Mojo Jojo— (Pull back and rotate 180 degrees.) —what are you up to this time?

(He is attached to a wall upside down. Mojo has his back to him.)

 

Mojo: You’ll find out soon enough.

(Extreme close-up of his ear, a hand cupped to it. Pull back to the sound of the girls approaching.)

 

Mojo: Oh! In fact, you’ll find out right…about… (The girls crash in through the ceiling.) …now!

Blossom: If you’ve hurt the Professor—

Mojo: (hurt tone) Why, girls, I’m insulted. Do you really think I would harm…my own father?!

(The entire family is taken aback by this.)

 

Blossom: What?!

Bubbles: What?!

Professor: What?!

Buttercup: (like Arnold Jackson on Diff’rent Strokes) Whatchu talkin’ about, Mojo?

Mojo: I wasn’t born a supervillain chimp with an oversize brain, you know.

(Dissolve to a flashback of a happy-looking monkey wearing a diaper, with a pink face very similar to Mojo’s, in a science lab.)

 

Mojo: (voice-over) Evil geniuses are made, not born. (Cut to the Professor at his mixing bowl; pull back slightly.) And it was Professor Utonium who made me what I am today. (The monkey peeks over the edge of the table.) I was once Jojo, the Professor’s faithful lab assistant.

(Jojo reaches up with a test tube. Dissolve to the Professor embracing him lovingly.)

 

Mojo: (voice-over) We were very happy together, until…

(Scenes from the opening sequence play out: the smashing of the flask of Chemical X and subsequent spill into the pot, the explosion—which throws Jojo across the room—and the girls floating above the table.)

 

Mojo: (voice-over) …you three came along! (Pull back across the lab; the top of Jojo’s skull is gone, and his brain is exposed.) The blast of chemicals that created you also affected me as well. (His brain swells.) My simple simian brain began to mutate and grow.

(Close-up of Jojo, reading a volume of quantum physics; his face has now assumed its green tint. Books are stacked up behind him. Pull back slightly as Mojo speaks.)

 

Mojo: (voice-over) And although the accident had caused an increase in my intelligence—

(The sound of a girl in flight is heard, and a shadow falls over him. Pull back to show Blossom holding a couch up so the Professor can vacuum under it.)

 

Mojo: (voice-over) —I was completely overshadowed by your tremendous physical powers!

(Cut to the lab. The Professor holds a piece of glass with a pair of tongs while Buttercup melts it down with her eye lasers. Zoom in on Mojo, hunched over in the background and working intently on something.)

 

Mojo: (voice-over) Next to these superhuman strengths— (He holds up a Tinkertoy model of the DNA molecule; another piece of glass slides into view in front of him.) —my brilliant accomplishments went unnoticed.

(The glass is melted down, and Jojo’s face falls. He sadly tosses the model away. Cut to him running along, carrying a test tube.)

 

Mojo: (voice-over) Plus there was nothing I could do— (It is whisked out of his hand; cut to the Professor and Bubbles, who holds the tube up to him.) —to compete with your girlish charms.

(Cut to him hugging her and turn down to his feet. Jojo stands by him, slumped over and looking very dejected. Now we see the Professor and the girls at the living room window, laughing over something, and Jojo looking in from outside. During the next line, he turns away sadly and walks out of view, a bundle slung on a stick over his shoulder.)

 

Mojo: (voice-over) I was left with only one choice.

(As he continues, the monkey suits up in today’s outfit, piece by piece. The helmet, or “brain cap,” is set in place to cover the exposed gray matter.)

 

Mojo: (voice-over) To dedicate my life to crushing you and the world that loves you! It is on that day that Jojo became… (Close-up of him in the present day.) …MOJO JOJO!!

(Cut to each girl in turn. Once again they are quite shocked.)

 

Blossom: What?

Buttercup: What?

Bubbles: I don’t believe it! We had our very own pet monkey? (The others glare at her again.)

(Cut to the Professor; the girls fly up to him.)

 

Blossom: Is it true, Professor?

Professor: Well, I do remember a lab monkey named Jojo, but the rest is…uh…well, actually, I don’t remember much before you girls brightened my life. (Back to Mojo.)

Mojo: (crying) You see? That’s what I’m talking about! It’s always the girls. Never poor Jojo. (Pull back; the Professor addresses him from behind his back.)

Professor: Jojo, I feel horrible. If there’s some way I could make it up to you…

Mojo: (sniffling) Well, there is one way.

(The Professor is released from his restraints, and the girls catch him before he can fall to the floor. They set him down next to Mojo; he straightens his tie and seems quite at ease. Suddenly, the monkey points at him angrily.)

 

Mojo: GIVE ME SUPERPOWERS LIKE THEM!!

Blossom: What?!

Bubbles: Nuh-uh!

Buttercup: No way!

Professor: Okay. (The girls gasp in shock, totally dumbfounded and floored by the Professor's  casual reply to an agreement. Cut to him; they fly up one by one.)

Blossom: But, Professor!

Buttercup: He’s our worst—

Bubbles: —enemy!

Professor: And we have only ourselves to blame. (Pull back to show Mojo’s weaponry scattered about.) All the gadgets and evil plots are just a desperate cry for help— (Pan to the Professor’s other side; he puts a hand on Mojo’s head.) —from a little-lost monkey, whose only wish is to be an equal member of his poor, neglectful family. Isn’t that right, Jojo?

Mojo: (small voice) Yes.

(Close-up of their hands as they reach into view to shake. The girls look on uneasily from the background.)

 

Professor: (from o.c.) Let’s get to work.

(''Close-up of the end of a wrench as it descends into view; pull back to show the Professor tightening a nut on a piece of equipment. Pan across it; Mojo is working on the other side. Now a few drops of liquid descend, landing in a flask Mojo is filling. The heads of two mallets are brought down, with both workers swinging at full force. The Professor operates a power  drill, and Mojo does a little spot welding. Next, the Professor hammers  at a computer keyboard; a nut is adjusted, and more welding goes on. Now we see a quick sequence of shots of various bits of work, interspersed with close-ups of the two sweating faces, ending with shots  of Mojo’s and the Professor’s open hands descending. Pull back; they clap one another on the back and look at their final product. The core of this consists of four panels, three small and one large; each has a set of clamps at its corners. Other pieces of machinery hang down from above.'')

(Dissolve to a close-up of Bubbles.)

 

Bubbles: (nervously) Uh…are you sure this is okay, Professor? (Pan from her, across a suspicious Buttercup, and to Blossom on the next line.)

Blossom: Well, of course. The Professor knows what he’s doing…right, Professor?

(Pull back. The girls are clamped to the three small panels; the Professor stands in front of them, his hand on a control lever. He seems quite at ease with what's about to happen next.)

 

Professor: Of course, girls. All this machine will do is copy your powers into Jojo. Ready, Jojo? (Pan to Mojo, who is clamped down on the large panel.)

Mojo: Ready!

(The Professor pulls the lever, and a red light marked “ACTIVATE” begins to glow. Part of the overhead machinery charges; a button marked “COPY” is pressed next, and a broad beam of light emerges and sweeps across the girls as if they were documents in a Xerox machine. It passes over Mojo, and the camera zooms in slowly on him to an extreme close-up. His eyes pop wide open and take on the Powerpuff look, turning light violet. He addresses himself o.c.)

 

Mojo: (voice trembling) Father?

Professor: Son?

Buttercup: Oh, brother.

(The Professor runs eagerly across the lab, his arms outstretched. Mojo flies toward him and knocks him off his feet, and the two embrace.)

 

Mojo: Oh, thank you, Father. (hands on Professor’s cheeks) I was once a vengeful, mad genius bent on destroying mankind. (pinching cheeks, angry tone) Well, now I’m a vengeful, mad genius bent on destroying mankind…with superpowers!

(The girls, still clamped down, gasp in surprise and anger at this act of betrayal of both their and the Professor's trust that Mojo had wanted to reform.)

 

Blossom: I knew he couldn’t be trusted. Get him!

(They break loose and charge, carrying Mojo high into the air. However, he grabs them and  throws them back across the lair for a triple forward pass, and they smash into the far wall. His eyes have returned to normal. They pull loose and rush him again; cut to him on the ground, laughing. He takes note of their offensive and starts throwing punches and kicks to repel them. They hit the floor hard enough to put three craters into it as he watches from midair.)

(Poking their heads up from the holes, they leap into the air and face off against Mojo again. They try yet another frontal attack but run flat into a blast from eye lasers as strong as their own. Now he picks up Bubbles and swings her like a baseball bat, knocking the other two girls across the lair and into the wall. They collapse to the floor, and Bubbles drops into view to land on her head. She tumbles onto her side.)

(Now the camera begins to shake as a low rumbling is heard. The girls snap out of their daze a moment before the section of the floor they are lying on shoots into the air. It crashes against the ceiling, and we see that Mojo has carried it up. He flies o.c.; the masonry crumbles away to show the girls embedded in the ceiling. They pull loose and float for a moment.)

 

Buttercup: (groaning slightly) How are we gonna beat him?

Bubbles: He’s got every power we got.

Blossom: Exactly. We know everything he can throw at us, so there’s no way he can surprise us. It’s just a matter of wearing him down.

Mojo: (from o.c.) Oh, girls…

(Close-up of his brain cap; the girls’ reflections are visible in it.)

 

Mojo: You’ve forgotten one thing. (Pull back; the cap starts to glow with the girls’ colors.) My superior, better-than-average, more-than-usual, superior brainpower!

(On the end of this, a tri-colored beam of light shoots from the cap. Cut to a long shot of the girls and zoom in quickly.)

 

Buttercup: We…

Blossom: …can’t…

Bubbles: …do…

(A flash of light and the girls are knocked flying.)

 

Girls: …THAT!

(Cut to the Professor, lying dazed on the floor. The girls crash down in the background.)

 

Narrator: Oh, no! Has this sibling rivalry come to an end? (Overhead view of the girls, pulling back.) Has Mojo Jojo finally defeated the Powerpuff Girls? (Mojo comes into view, looking down at them.)

Mojo: YES!! I have defeated the Powerpuff Girls! (Close-up of him, back on the ground.) The Powerpuff Girls are beaten, and it is by me that they are not victorious! With my own two hands, I have defeated them!

(Pull back; we see his collection of evil toys again.)

 

Mojo: All the gadgets and evil plots— (flying across the screen) —useless!

(He destroys part of the pile and catches a large missile that falls loose.)

 

Mojo: Unnecessary! (flying o.c.) Pointless!

(Cut to him in flight, smashing through several pieces of machinery as he goes.)

 

Mojo: Not with mechanical machines— (throwing missile o.c.) —will I destroy this planet…

(The missile obliterates a machine, and a large globe is propelled across the lair. Mojo catches this.)

 

Mojo: …but with my own bare hands! (He throws the globe to the floor, where it shatters.)

(Long shot of the Professor, still lying on the floor and now surrounded by bits of debris. Zoom in slowly to the sound of explosions, apparatus being smashed, and Mojo’s laughter. The camera shakes from time to time.)

 

Professor: (dazed) Now, Jojo…stop that…be a good monkey…put that down…Jojo, please…Jojo, behave yourself…please be good…please, Jojo…

(By this time, we are at an extreme close-up of the Professor’s eye. His words echo as he  blinks and reflections of scenes from the past appear: a newly-mutated Jojo smashing a flask, jumping on a piece of broken equipment, warming his rear at a fire. The flames remain in the Professor’s eye as the camera pulls back—his face is now set in anger. He sits up and addresses  Mojo, who is holding a piece of equipment over his head. The sound of the Professor's voice brings Mojo's rampage to a halt as he now has a startled, shocked look on his face as the Professor speaks.)

 

Professor: Mojo Jojo?! (crossing floor to him) Now I remember you! You were the worst lab assistant I ever had! All you ever did was break everything you got your grimy little paws on!

(Cut to his perspective; as he continues, Mojo puts the machine behind his back and smiles nervously.)

 

Professor: Oh, you haven’t changed one bit! (Close-up of the recovering girls, the others in the background.) I was finally forced to throw you out when the girls were born! (Back to him.) As a matter of fact…it was that very day!

(Flashback: once again we see him at his mixing bowl.)

 

Professor: (voice-over) I was busy working on my formula for the perfect little girl. (Close-up next to the bowl and pan across; we see the components.) I had added the three essential ingredients—sugar, spice, and everything nice. (Jojo pops up next to these.) When all of a sudden…

(Pull back; the monkey reaches into view and shoves the Professor.)

 

Professor: (voice-over) …you pushed me! Which caused me to accidentally smash into a container of Chemical X.

(On the end of this, the handle of his spoon breaks the flask and the contents spill into the pot.)

 

Professor: (voice-over) Which poured into the perfect-girl formula— (The explosion; he is thrown across the lab.) —causing a giant explosion— (The girls appear; Jojo looks on.) —which resulted in— (Close-up of him in the present.) —the Powerpuff Girls being born!

(Pull back slightly. The girls gather behind him, fully recovered, and a dumbfounded Mojo watches.)

 

Professor: (smiling) Hey! Well, what do you know? Thanks to your monkeyshines, Mojo, you kinda created the Powerpuff Girls! (Cut to Mojo.)

Mojo: (softly) What? I created the Powerpuff Girls? (Blossom and Bubbles fly into view and lift him up, carrying him along.) I’m responsible for their birth? It was me who caused them to be?

(Cut to Buttercup at the controls; she throws the lever as the Professor watches.)

 

Mojo: (from o.c.) I triggered the events that led to their being on this earth?

(A red light marked “REMOVE POWERS” glows. As Mojo continues, cut to him, clamped onto his panel. The machinery revs up again.)

 

Mojo: I’ve dedicated my life to destroying what I had a hand in creating. (A beam sweeps over him.) I created them. It’s all my fault.

(The beam washes over the entire screen; when it clears; the girls have hold of the Professor and Mojo is still stunned.)

 

Mojo: I did it. It was me… (He repeats this last under the next lines.)

Professor: Well, Mojo, keep in touch…son.

Blossom: Yeah!

Bubbles: See you around…

Buttercup: …Dad! (Giggling, they carry the Professor out through the hole in the ceiling.)

(The background for the end shot comes up.)

 

Narrator: (laughing) Wow! Talk about ironic! Professor creates Mojo, Mojo creates girls, it’s crazy, I tell you! (laughing again) Yeah! So once again the day is saved, thanks to the Powerpuff Girls—

(Mojo appears, his mind still blown.)

 

Narrator: —but thanks originally to Mojo Jojo!

Mojo: (softly) It was me…it was me…it was me…it was me…it was me…