The Powerpuff Pilot That Never Was: How a Sales Reel Became a "Leak"

In early 2025, a roughly 3.5-minute video clip from The CW's canceled live-action Powerpuff Girls project (titled Powerpuff) went viral online. Shared across social media, Reddit, and lost media communities, it was widely described as a "leaked trailer" from a never-produced pilot. The clip featured an edgier, adult-oriented take on Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, complete with jokes and effects that sparked widespread discussion and backlash. Many outlets reported it as footage from a 2021 pilot shoot that had mysteriously surfaced four years later, with the upload quickly gaining millions of views before facing copyright takedowns from Warner Bros.

This widespread narrative is incorrect. The video is not from a secret internal leak or an unauthorized release of a completed pilot. It is an "Upfront" sales presentation piece created for advertisers , and its online appearance stems from a standard portfolio posting by visual effects artist Brian Oliver, who was the Executive Director of Animation at The CW during its production.

What the Footage Actually Is

The piece was an Upfront promo, a sales tool used by networks to pitch programming blocks to advertisers for the fall season. It was assembled in post-production using "principal photography dailies" from an early pilot shoot.

If an actual completed pilot did exist, Brian Oliver was not aware of it, having never seen one during his tenure. To the best of his knowledge, the Upfront presentation was constructed entirely from existing footage provided by the creative and editorial teams, with nothing shot specifically for the promo itself.

Watch the Original Footage: The full, high-quality Upfront presentation can be viewed directly on Brian Oliver's official portfolio: https://www.xandad.com/powerpuff

Brian handled a significant portion of the visual effects, including compositing, wire removals, and particle effects.

The Lab Shot: He highlighted the lab sequence at the start (around 0:02) as a personal favorite. He noted that practical lighting in the source footage (green, magenta, and blue lights during the "They're Alive!" moment) served as visual anchor points for adding colored smoke and particle effects, which also required roto work.

What He Didn't Do: He confirmed he did not work on the monster shots at the end, Chloe's eye lasers, or the titles and audio. These elements were handled in-house or by other vendors.

In 2023, Brian posted the spot on his personal website (xandad.com) as a professional portfolio example showcasing his motion design and VFX work. This is common practice in the industry unless restricted by an NDA, and this piece was not limited by one as it had already been presented publicly to hundreds of advertisers.

How the "Leak" Narrative Formed

One morning in 2025, Brian noticed his site traffic spiking dramatically overnight—jumping from a usual ~30 monthly visitors to over a thousand hits. Upon investigation, he traced the activity to the Powerpuff sales piece.

Based on his server data, he pieced together the chain of events:

1. A user stumbled onto his site and screen-captured the video.

2. The user re-encoded the file, resulting in a different codec, smaller file size, and visible blocking artifacts.

3. The degraded file was uploaded to an FTP site and subsequently shared on Reddit.

From there, it was picked up by the Twitter (X) account "Lost Media Busters" (LMB), where it was presented as a "leaked trailer". The post gained massive attention before being removed due to copyright claims. Many links pointed directly back to Brian's site, driving the traffic spike. Some reposts and sites even added their own watermarks to his work.

This confirms the file circulating online was a "theft" of a public portfolio post rather than an internal "leak".

Visual Proof: The Lab Sequence

To demonstrate the authenticity of his files, Brian Oliver provided RelicPress with the original raw frames from the project.

The original "pre-build" plate received from the editor, featuring practical lighting but no visual effects.

The final composite produced by Brian Oliver using After Effects, adding the signature colored smoke and particles.

Note that neither image contains the CW watermark. The version widely circulated online (and the version on Brian's public portfolio) contains the network bug because it was the final broadcast version. These clean frames are the raw master files, proving definitively that the source is the artist himself.

Why This Matters for Preservation

The idea that this was a "malicious leak" from a finished pilot perpetuates misinformation about lost media. In reality:

• The "Lost Pilot" Status: While a completed pilot cannot be definitively ruled out, the Executive Director of Animation never saw one and believes it likely was never finished.

• It Was Sales Material: The footage is from a sales promo edited from dailies.

• The Source Was Public: Its spread came from the screen-recording of a legitimate public portfolio post, not an insider breach.

Brian emphasizes his right to showcase work he personally produced. The viral "leak" was simply a degraded copy of a high-res master file he had hosted publicly for nearly a year.

This article is based directly on correspondence with Brian Oliver on January 13, 2026. He has reviewed the text for accuracy.