Does “Graduation” actually bring Kim Possible’s career to a close? Maybe

Jim Hill

17 years ago

When you’re the creator of a popular television program, It’s always a somewhat bittersweet experience to put the finishing touches on a series finale.

Well, for Robert Schooley and Mark McCorkle, working on “Graduation” (i.e. the two-part “Kim Possible” closer that airs on the Disney Channel tomorrow night starting at 8 p.m.) was especially bittersweet. Given that — as they were mixing the sound on the “KP” finale — Robert & Mark were also packing up their offices in the Frank Wells building. Getting ready to decamp from Walt Disney Television Animation and start anew over at Nickelodeon.

“Here we were, buttoning up an episode that talks about closure and how you have to learn to embrace change. While at the same time, we’re ending our 15 year stint at Disney,” McCorkle remarked. “So, yeah. It was a little ironic.”

Mind you, this isn’t the first time that Robert & Mark had said “good-bye” to Kim. When “So the Drama” originally aired in April of 2005, that 71-minute-long TV movie was originally intended to be the KP series finale. But when this allegedly final “Kim Possible” show racked up huge ratings, Robert & Mark began hearing rumors that Disney Channel executives were thinking about reviving the series.

“All summer long, we kept hearing these rumors how they were thinking of greenlighting two new ‘Kim Possible’ movies or one new TV movie and five new episodes,” Robert explained. “They toyed with all sorts of combinations.”

But in the end, Disney Channel execs surprised Schooley & McCorkle by ordering up 22 episodes. A full season of brand-new shows. And given that they thought this might be their very last chance to produce any new “Kim Possibles,” Robert & Mark decided to go for broke.

“Any story idea that had originally been proposed for the first three seasons of the show that we had previously dismissed as being too out-there, too crazy, we finally went with,” Mark said. ” Like ‘Cap’n Drakken.’ Everyone thought that we produced that episode because we were under pressure from Disney to come up with a ‘Kim Possible’ episode that could be used to cross-promote ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.’ But that wasn’t really the case. We just wanted to do an episode that featured pirates. And so we did.”

Schooley & McCorkle also made a real effort to please ‘Kim Possible’ fans. They used the Internet to keep tabs on which earlier episodes had been particularly popular, which characters the fans wanted to see again. They then used this information to help map out the final season of the show.

“This time around,” Mark continued, ” It was all about closure & continuity. Tying up the loose ends. Bringing back favorite characters for one final bow.”

And all that effort comes to a head tomorrow night with “Graduation.” Which starts out with Ron Stoppable being all freaked out because he & Kim are about to graduate from high school. She tries to reassure him that “Graduation is not the end of the world.” But — as it turns out — “the end” may be a lot closer than Kim or Ron think, as invading aliens interrupt their graduation to kidnap Ms. Possible.

Now it’s up to Ron to rescue his college-bound girlfriend. But — in order to do that — Stoppable will first have to join forces with Kim’s arch-nemesises, Dr. Drakken & Shego. For they hold the key to defeating Warmonga & Warhok.

Mind you, Schooley & McCorkle found working on “Graduation” to be something of a challenge. But not for the reasons that you might think.

“This is the first time that we’ve done a two-parter,” Robert admitted. “And it was a little tougher to break the story down. Make sure that it felt big enough to give these characters and the show a proper send-off. While — at the same time — still fit into that hour-long time slot. But we did it.”

And while some “Kim Possible” fans may grouse because the series finale is only a two-parter, rather than a new feature-length adventure … Still, it’s hard to find fault with the Disney Channel. Given that — as part of their special send-off for this series — this top-rated cable channel is now holding a three-day-long “Kim Possible Every Possible Episode” marathon.

“We have to admit that that was a nice surprise,” Mark stated. “I mean, Bob & I always knew that the folks at the Disney Channel were very fond of the show. They’d been very supportive through all four seasons. But to have them schedule a marathon of every single episode of ‘Kim Possible’ that then leads up the airing of the series finale … That’s pretty special.”

FYI: That “Kim Possible Every Possible Episode” continues today starting at 12 p.m. and then runs right to 6 a.m. tomorrow. So if you’d like to see some of your favorite episodes again and/or see what all the fuss is about, be sure and tune in the Disney Channel over the next two days.

Anyway … Getting back to “Graduation” now. Sure, this is a somewhat sad moment for Kim Possible fans. But let’s remember that it’s not like this character is actually going away.

Take — for example — Epcot‘s “Team Possible” attraction. Last year’s play-test of this proposed World Showcase-based interactive game proved to be so popular with WDW visitors that it’s now becoming a permanent fixture at that theme park. Look for “Team Possible” to go live at Epcot starting in early 2008.

And while Schooley & McCorkle are now working at Nickelodeon on a yet-to-be-officially-announced project, they still haven’t completely closed the door of “Kim Possible.” After all, they already said “good-bye” to this character once before. Only to then get called back by the Disney Channel to do another full season of the show.

“And who says that — in Kim’s next incarnation — that she still has to be an animated character?,” Robert concluded. “Let’s remember that — when we originally wrote ‘So the Drama’ — that was supposed to the screenplay for a live-action ‘Kim Possible’ feature. Disney came within inches of actually making that movie, only to then make ‘Sky High‘ instead. But live-action features that are based on animated cartoons are really popular these days. So who knows? Maybe Disney will revisit that idea someday and invite Mark and I to come write the script.”

A live-action “Kim Possible” ? Really? … Then again, why not? Let’s remember this character’s catchphrase: “She can do anything.”

The “Kim Possible Every Possible Episode Ever” marathon continues today & tomorrow (12 p.m. to 6 a.m.) on the Disney Channel. This special three-day promotional event then concludes tomorrow night at 8 p.m. with the premiere of “Graduation,” the one-hour-long “Kim Possible” series finale.