Call Me Beep Me

A while back, I randomly decided that I wanted to do a tribute post to my favorite childhood cartoon, Kim Possible. At the time, I hadn't watched the show in years and only had faint recollections of certain things. Now, I have rewatched the entire series and am prepared to give a full analysis of it. Aren't you excited?

For the ignorants out there, the plot follows a teenage girl as she deals with problems in her life such as who to date, fashion trends, school assignments, balancing her busy schedule, and maintaining her image. Oh yes, and she fights bad guys and saves the world in the meantime.

The thing that make her situation unique is that she doesn't have a double identity. She's just "world famous teen hero, Kim Possible" who lives a regular life at home and at school. And her parents and peers are totally chill with it. She doesn't have any crazy paparazzi or obsessive fans (well, a couple), and her schoolmates and teachers don't treat her any differently than the other kids.

The show broke a lot of boundaries and stereotypes, I think. I mean, it was cliched and stereotyped in a lot of ways, but at the same time, it put a new spin on the things we've seen a million times, making it fun and exciting. There's mad scientists, eccentric billionaires, spoiled cheerleaders, fashion debutantes, death rays, mutants, crazy gadgets, and so on and so on. Even though these things are so cliched, they are presented in a new way in this show, making them memorable and fun.

While the plot(s) are very fun and entertaining, the characters are what really make the show float.

KIM POSSIBLE

Obviously the main character. She's a popular, pretty, athletic, outgoing, cheerleader and honor student who saves the world on a regular basis. She uses her cheerleading moves in her world saving and has dabbled in many different kung-fu and martial arts styles. "She can do anything" according to her website, which yeah, she pretty much can. She fearlessly jumps out of planes, goes up against mutant octopi, dodges laser cannons, scales waterfalls, and more. She tends to trip over her feet a little more when it comes to boys and dating. She is very image-conscious and is easily embarrassed. She did not realize that she never had a steady boyfriend until it was pointed out to her right before her Junior prom, which she began to fret over, feeling she was weirding guys out with her world saving.

RON STOPPABLE

Kim's side-kick and best friend since preschool (and eventually boyfriend). He's a bit of an underdog and yet is still friends with the pretty and popular Kim. He has a much more kick-back personality and is generally unconcerned with what people think of him. Although quite a bit more bumbling and clumsy than Kim, he still does manage to commit a lot of the same stunts that Kim does. He has a deep-rooted fear of monkeys, stemming from his childhood after a bad summer camp experience (he has many phobias stemming from this experience). Ironically, he is later implanted with "Tai Shing Pek Kwar" or "Monkey Kung Fu" and eventually becomes a Monkey Master (it's actually a lot more boss than it sounds). He is famous for always losing his pants, in fact it happens so often, he eventually is not bothered by it.

RUFUS

Ron's pet naked mole rat. Ron bought him the day of his and Kim's first mission. Ron's dad is allergic to every kind of fur, so he searched the internet for an animal without fur and found the naked mole rat. He later picked one up at Smarty-Mart in their town. Rufus spends the large majority of his time in Ron's pants pocket. He shares most of his master's personality traits and quirks, but will sometimes side with Kim if Ron's obsessive nature gets out of hand or if he is feeling neglected. He sometimes helps on the missions usually by chewing through ropes and wires, or climbing into small spaces. More often than not, the villain does not realize that he is there and/or underestimates his abilities so does not bother to apprehend him when they capture Team Possible.

WADE

Kim's tech guy. He's a ten-year-old super genius who never leaves his room. He always communicates with Kim through her Kim-munnicator (they were Facetiming before it was cool ;P). He's responsible for getting her rides all over the world, analyzes samples that Kim sends him, and hooks her up with all sorts of gadgets and gismos of his own invention. He can hack into practically anything. As Ron put it, "Wade has the world wired". He basically controls the entire operation/world from his bedroom. He's not only a pawn in Kim and Ron's world saving business though, he's actually their friend and actively cares for their well being. He often grants them favors outside of the world saving.

DR. DRAKKEN

Kim's arch-foe. Once known as Drew Lipsky, a college drop-out because he was laughed at for his ideas in robotics. He actually was friends with Kim's dad. After he dropped out of college, he became a mad scientist, bent on taking over the world (and turned blue somewhere in there. It is never fully explained how it happened, only that it was on a Tuesday). He is actually very intelligent, capable of inventing practically anything. However, he is not very good at plotting and scheming. His "take over the world" schemes are always his downfall. They're always far too complex and/or ridiculous and end up failing because of it. Or sometimes he will invent something, but there is one slight, but important error (ex. his mind control machine does not communicate with teen's earphones, but rather with senior's hearing aids, so he accidentally creates an army of mindless seniors).

SHEGO

Drakken's sarcastic, kick-butt side-kick. She has a power where he hands glow with some sort of green plasma-like force that can rip through pretty much anything. Hero-turned-villain, she is the most evil foe of Kim's in the show. She does most of the physical work for Drakken (breaking into stuff, engaging Kim in battle, and so on), and then sits back making sarcastic comments while Drakken attempts to take over the world. She is obviously more intelligent than Drakken, at least when it comes to common sense and street-smarts, but chooses to take the back seat most of the time and let him call the shots. On some level, in a twisted way, I think she does have a certain fondness for her boss because even though she knows he's completely incompetent and no matter how many times they're separated (whether through jail or she is recruited by another employer), she always returns to him.

MONKEY FIST

Ron's arch-foe (and Monkey Fist hates the fact). Once known as Lord Monty Fiske, he became obsessed with the mysterious "Tai Shing Pek Kwar" even to the point of genetically altering his feet and hands into monkey feet. He is one of two people who were exposed to the mystical Monkey Power (Ron being the other), thus the two became arch-foes as they constantly fought towards the same goals, but on different sides. He is the only villain in the show to consistently remember Ron's name (rather than "the sidekick" or "buffoon" or "that guy") which earned him Ron's respect. Monkey Fist always had a team of monkey ninjas by his side. Anything involving ninjas, mysterious curses/legends, monkeys, or something along those lines, Monkey Fist is usually involved.

SENOR SENIOR SR. and SENOR SENIOR JR.

An eccentric billionaire and his son. They actually originally had no intent to become villains whatsoever until it was unintentionally suggested to them by Ron. Señor Senior Sr. is the one who is truly passionate about being evil while Junior is more interested in becoming a teen pop sensation. Señor Senior Sr. has very traditional views on how to be a villain. He believes that an evil laugh is the most important part of being evil and is always following "tradition". He is the most cliched bad guy you will ever find, but he is cliched on purpose (as he is constantly explaining to his son). Junior would most likely be a far greater villain than his father if he had any interest, since he is always asking questions such as, "why did you shoot the laser at the ice above them? Why not just shoot them?". An excellent point. However, Junior never puts any effort into being evil unless forced or on the rare occasions when he finds actual interest in it.

DUFF KILLIGAN

The world's deadliest golfer. Yes, you read that right. He is self-dubbed as that. His weapons of choice are exploding golf balls which he hits at his enemies or whatever he wants to destroy. He doesn't really have a backstory or anything, he just sort of showed up and then suddenly became one of the show's most popular and reoccurring villains. His original goal was to turn the entire planet into one giant golf course, but he eventually expanded his view and simply decided on world conquest. He speaks with a thick Scottish accent and lives on his own private island called 'Killigan's Island' (ha!).

BONNIE

Kim's arch-rival at school. She is Kim's fellow cheerleader and the second most popular girl in school. She is your typical shallow, self-absorbed cheerleader. She's jealous of Kim's popularity and is constantly trying to one-up her. She is always pointing out Kim's flaws and preying on her insecurities. She's opposite Kim in a lot of ways, but similar in many aspects as well which is why she is able to hit the mark every once in a while. She's in an on-again/off-again relationship with the quarterback, Brick Flagg which she constantly brags about. She enjoys taunting Ron as well as Kim, but he does not mind as much as Kim]. Kim does realize eventually that part of Bonnie's cruel nature may have something to do with her older sisters doing the same thing to her.

MR. BARKIN

A substitute teacher, I think is the best way to sum him up. Although he is many other things. Seriously, he is literally everywhere. He is constantly taking over every single class, extracurricular activity, and anything else at the school because of an illness, injury, vacation, or unexpected accident of a teacher/leader. He practically runs the school on his own. He's not just at the school though. He also works at Smarty-Mart, is a Pixie den mother, and shows up pretty much anywhere that Ron is. He and Ron have a sort of mutual like/dislike for each other. He has a very tough, but fair attitude and is prone to yelling and being overly dramatic.

TWEEBS (JIM and TIM POSSIBLE)

Kim's younger brothers. They're nicknamed "tweebs" by Kim (twin dweebs). They're especially brilliant for their age, always building rockets, creating satellites, or experimenting with radioactive elements in their room. However, they only use their items for mischief and more often than not, their experiments wreck havoc through the house. They've blown up a room or two, even the whole house. Their all time favorite pastime is driving Kim crazy. They often steal her stuff to use for parts or create something extremely complex with the sole purpose of spying on her. Kim is usually annoyed by them, but they all have a soft spot for one another.

JAMES and ANN POSSIBLE

Kim's parents. James is a rocket scientist and Ann is a neurosurgeon. They are both loving and supportive of all their children. They're both surprisingly aloof to all their children's antics. Aloof, but still aware. For example, Kim might say that she is going to go to South America to save the world and they're just like, "Okay, honey. Make sure you're home by midnight. Pack extra food. Say hello to Ron for us!" like she's just going to the movies or something. Or Jim and Tim have just nearly blown one of their heads off with a rocket flying through the house and they just say, "What have I told you? No rockets in the house" and then that's the end of it. They don't tell them to stop making rockets, only to not launch them in the house. The Possible parents are just so cool! "Anything is possible for a Possible!"

MONIQUE

Kim's other friend besides Ron. They met in high school after Monique moved in and she and Kim instantly clicked. Although Ron was jealous at first, he and Monique got along fine when they found they had a lot in common too with pro wrestling, stuffing their faces, and more. Monique's one true love is shopping and fashion. No one knows clothes better than her. Sometimes, she will be Kim's "backup" sidekick if Ron is unavailable.

Some other characters include:
Motor Ed: a motor obsessed villain and Drakken's cousin
Team Go: Shego's brothers, Hego, Mego, and the Wegos. A superhero team
DNAmy: a geneticist obsessed with cuddle buddies
Frugal Lucre: super cheap villain and Drakken's biggest fan
Martin Smarty: CEO of Smarty-Mart
Felix Renton: friend of Ron's with a cybertronic wheelchair
Camille Leon: shape-shifting fashion debutante
Sensei: master of the secret ninja school, Yamanuchi, that Ron attends
Yori: Ron's fellow student at Yamanuchi who has a crush on him
Josh Mankey: Kim's longtime crush
Ned: assistant manager at Bueno Nacho
Brick Flagg: dim-witted quarterback and Bonnie's on-again/off-again boyfriend
Mrs. Lipsky: Drakken's very attentive mother who thinks he is a radio help doctor
Professor Dementor: German-accented mad scientist. Drakken's biggest competitor who is always one step ahead of him

As I said, this show broke so many boundaries and became very iconic in many ways. Everyone knew Kim's four beep ringtone. Who didn't know all the catchphrases back in the day?
"What's the sitch?"
"No big."
"So not the drama."
"Call me, beep me if you wanna reach me."
"That is sick and wrong!"
"You think you're all that, but you're not!"
"Anything is possible for a Possible!"
"Boo-ya!"

I love the way it spoofs popular culture. Some examples: Smarty-Mart= Wal-mart, Bueno Nacho= McDonald's or Taco Bell, Oh Boyz= Backstreet Boys or 'N Synch, Britina= Brittany Spears, cuddle buddies= beanie babies, Fearless Ferret= Batman, American Starmaker= American Idol, and more.

Some moments/realizations from KP:

And let us not forget the school sign:

Some videos:

The theme song, "Call Me Beep Me". Easily one of the catchiest theme

songs ever written.

"Naked Mole Rap". A very famous song from the show. Ron

turned his creative writing paper into a rap to combat 

"Drakken's Rap" (see below) on American Starmaker.

"Drakken's Rap". He created a brainwashing shampoo, but was unable

to sell it, so he decided that if he rapped about it, it would become hip and

people would want to buy it.

Senor Senior Jr.'s biggest dream is to become a teen pop sensation.

So when he's imprisoned, his fellow inmates have to put up with

his performances… the worst torture imaginable.

Dr. Drakken and Shego are one of the funniest duos on

the show. Drakken's cockiness and idiocy mixed with Shego's

wit and dry humor made for a lot funny scenes like these.

One of my favorite episodes, "Emotion Sickness". Kim and Shego are 

accidentally implanted with devices that control their moods, so Ron and

Dr. Drakken have to put up with their dramatic mood swings and are 

especially confused when it gets stuck on lovesick.

Why is Kim Possible the best show? You can find out why HERE

To sum up, I love this show. It is definitely one of the highlights from my childhood. It stood its ground even with its weaker and stupider moments. It will always hold a place in my heart with its amazing action, nacos (nacho-tacos), strong female characters, mystical monkey powers, teen scene junk, memorable characters, implausible scenarios that somehow still make sense, mad scientists, cool gadgets, and more! Live on KP!