Kim Possible

The ranks of sisters doing it for themselves have a new member in the form of Kim Possible, and the result is... well, "Kim Possible," Disney's best TV cartoon since "Gargoyles," although the tone of this Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle creation is closer to "Darkwing Duck." Then again, that was also a cracker. But moving on to the large-headed, midriff-baring, wavy-haired, adolescent-targeted young lady who is NOT Christina Aguilera...

High school student and cheerleader Kimberly Ann Possible's website (maintained by genius Wade, who serves as her technical backup during jobs) is set up offering her services to people needing help, but said help generally entails her saving the world at a moment's notice - in a running gag, Kim and her sidekick Ron Stoppable are taken to the episode's hotspot by folks who La Possible helped in unseen escapades; like Mighty Max (and unlike most similar characters), Kim's siblings and parents are fully aware of her extracurricular activities - and, again unlike most similar characters, so is everyone else. One of the best touches of the show, in fact, is having Kim take part in one of the most stereotypically stupid pastimes (cheerleading), while her parents are in two of the most stereotypically brainy professions - as the girl says, "Mom's a brain surgeon, Dad's a rocket scientist..." (The next time some cleverdick chunters on about Americans having no sense of irony, try bringing this up.)

By itself, saving the world is "no big," but Kim obviously has to deal with all the difficulties of being a heroine and a regular teenage girl, on top of having as her best friend and partner the aforementioned Master Stoppable, who unfortunately lives up to his name a lot. Though this is in a sense admirable as part of the show's overall refusal to play gender stereotypes (Kim and Ron have one of the few truly platonic male/female relationships on television - even Xander, let us not forget, used to have a crush on Buffy), he also comes close to forcing the show to name itself after him, because his antics have more room for comedy than Kim's. Fortunately the show's writers hit a good balance more often than not and remember that it's supposed to be a mix of comedy AND action; but though Kim's not one to mess with when the chips are down, she never comes over as a heartless machine. Though some male viewers will probably refuse to watch it because it might make guys look bad, they'd be missing the fact that the male characters are mostly positive, with the nastiest character being Sheego (Kim's opposite number, and the assistant to Kim's arch-enemy Dr. Drakken - and a lot more dangerous and intelligent than he is; if this was "24," she would be Sherry Palmer). They'd also really need to grow up.

In any case, "Kim Possible" is so entertaining that dismissing it on the grounds of sexism would be silly; well-paced, funny without being overly stupid, easy on the morals, with genuinely exciting fight scenes, and a lead character worth at least 30 of Clover, Alex and Sam on the similar but wildly inferior "Totally Spies!" (with the added bonus of Kim leaving her closest live action counterpart - Sydney Bristow from fellow Disney/Touchstone show "Alias" - standing in both the hotness AND fighting stakes), this might not appeal to people still wishing they made cartoons as good as, say, "My Little Pony" or "Avenger Penguins," but it's their loss. And as for people demanding credibility, they can watch "King of the Hill." But if you don't want to go into a coma, remember the advice Christina Milian gives in Cory Lerios and George Gabriel's irresistibly catchy theme song - you know that you always can call Kim Possible.

"So what's the stitch?"

Nothing is perfect, so stop complaining people.

The voice talent alone is worth tuning in for. Patrick Warburton (David Puddy from Seinfeld) is a teacher, Ricardo Montalban as rich and mildly dangerous Señor Senior, Sr. and his son Nestor Carbonall as vain and stupid muscle bound Señor Senior, Jr. are great. John DiMaggio (Bender from Futurama) as failure supervillain Drakken, with annoyed and doubting kungfu sidekick Shego (Nicole Sullivan, who doesn't love Nicole Sullivan?).

Not to mention guest voices like Wendy Malik, Adam West, Brad Garrett, Richard Kind, more.

When Ron and "junior" get in a fight by messing up each other's studly hair, and struggle for the possession of a comb, how can one not be amused? People who hate this show have no sense of humor.

And since when does a cartoon have to be plausible, people?! Is PPG plausible? Samurai Jack? Pokemon? Cowboy Bebop? Up and down the spectrum of animated TV, very little is plausible. Why must KP be?

They explained how she got started, and that should be enough. For those who DON'T know: she started a website with her name to promote her baby sitting service, and was mistaken for mission IMpossible, or team IMpossible, something like that. She decides to solve the case, and the IMpossible team starts getting requests for her to save the day. She decides it's more interesting than baby sitting. What could be more plausible than that? ;)

It appeals to kids, it appeals to teens, it appeals to adults. This show is hysterically funny, with jokes many different age groups will laugh at individually as well as together, and exciting without being too violent for the young ones. Great voice acting from the usual Disney contract players and outstanding writing and artwork. The only drawback is they repeat the same few episodes a lot, but fortunately I can watch an episode of KP many times and not get tired of it (of course, maybe that's just me...) Between this on tv and Lilo & Stitch in the theatres, I see a very promising trend developing at Disney.

Five stars!

Kim Possible is about a teenage high school girl who is a part time super hero. She spends her days in school, and the rest of the time battling her nemeses. Each of the villains is faulted in some way that is a flash back to the coyote from the roadrunner cartoons.

I started watching this cartoon when my youngest sister (she is 24) was watching it while visiting me for the summer. The first couple of episodes, you will probably be scratching your head trying to figure out why the villains are so quirky. After about a week of watching, I was grounded enough to appreciate the humor. If you like older cartoons, or cartoons like Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, or Courage the cowardly dog, you will probably like this cartoon.

Ron Stoppable and Rufus (his naked mole rat companion) will probably be your favorite characters. Ron is a series of random disasters that seem to always be for the best.

Take the time to watch a couple episodes, if you like it, you will be addicted.

Kim Possible's not meant to be taken as a serious epic or dramatic action show. Its focus on the blend of "saving the world" as a by-the-way activity on the side while handling the ordinary life of being a high school student is part of what makes this show so appealing. Using witty dialogue between the characters, the show often pokes fun at the clichés of villains and action shows. The interactions between each of the hilariously paired characters is really what drives the show. For example, note the team of Kim and Ron (extreme competence and intelligence versus extreme incompetence). Or better yet, note the humorous tension between benign villains and their very evil counterparts. (Dr. Drakken and Shego, and Senor Junior and Senor Senior). This show can be enjoyed on many different levels, which is why it can appeal to such a wide range of age groups.