The Powerpuff Girls Movie (known within the film simply as The Powerpuff Girls) is a 2002 American animated film based on the Cartoon Network animated television series of the same name. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios for Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network, the film debuted in the United States on July 3, 2002. It was more or less 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. The film performed poorly at the box office. It was the first Hanna-Barbera/Cartoon Network Studios theatrical feature film since 1993's Once Upon a Forest, and is the only film based on a Cartoon Network series to be released theatrically. The movie shows the origin of the Powerpuff Girls before the cartoon series. It explains why they were born and why they dedicated their lives to fighting crime and the forces of evil.