might even wonder how Cartoon Network and Warner authorized the multi-million dollar budget for something that looks and feels somewhat uncommercial". Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle gave the film 3 and a half stars out of 5, describing it as "retro fun that contains a serious self-empowerment message for little girls and little boys alike", as well as "brilliant, wacky, and utterly charming fluff". In a review for the newspaper Riverfront Times, Gregory Weinkauf said that the film's exploration of the girls' emotions during the asteroid scene was "a brilliant sequence" before the "blaze of chaotic action" in the third act. However, he was critical about the film's "bizarre anal sensibilities" (e.g. "cheeky shots of monkey butts — electroshocks slithering up into them [and] turd-bombs plopping out of them") and what he deemed as a "psychosexual fodder" of the Mayor having a "pickle fetish" and Sara Bellum's "voluptuous curves [that] fill the frame but whose actual head and identity as a mature woman are curiously omitted." In early 2003, the Online Film Critics Society released its list of the Top 100 Animated Features of All Time, where The Powerpuff Girls Movie was placed at number 86. In 2019, Paste magazine ranked the film number 72 on its list of the 100 best superhero movies of all time. The film also received some mild criticism for its violence, which some felt was too extreme for a family-oriented film, especially in the wake of the 9/11 attacks the previous year. In the 2009 documentary The Powerpuff Girls: Who, What Where, How, Why... Who Cares?, McCracken said, "In hindsight, maybe I wish it was a little sillier, a little more lighter, a little more... not so heavy the whole time." In 2016, he stated that due to the politics of the film's production, he would stick to the television industry instead of branching out into movies. Box office The Powerpuff Girls Movie premiered in theaters in the United States on July 3, 2002. Because of the popularity of the TV show, some analysts predicted it would gross $15 million over the Fourth of July weekend. However, Mekeisha Madden from The News Tribune noted that the movie was facing a strong competition against films like Men in Black II and Lilo & Stitch: "The real question, according to some fans and industry experts, is if the movie is still timely. While the show