The Powerpuff Girls Movie (titled in the film simply as The Powerpuff Girls) is a 2002 American animated action film based on the Cartoon Network animated television series of the same name. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios for Warner Bros. Pictures and Cartoon Network, the film debuted in the United States on July 3, 2002. It was a prequel of the series, telling the origin story of how the Powerpuff Girls were created and how they came to be the defenders of Townsville. Despite the film receiving positive reception, it performed poorly at the box office despite being made profitable. It was the first Hanna-Barbera/Cartoon Network Studios theatrical feature film since 1993's Once Upon a Forest, and is the first (and so far, only) film based on a Cartoon Network series to be released the