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cKiine Possible*dreamCan cartoons be judged not by their sex, but by the content of their characters?Contact Ted Cox at (847) 427-4528, fax (847) 427-1301 or e-mail tcox@dailyherald.comBy Ted CoxDoth) Herald IV/Radio ColumnistFor years, male characters dominated cartoons—especially on TV on Saturday morning—for a very simple reason. Girls would watch cartoons about boys, but boys refused to watch cartoons about girls.A few years ago, ABC outbid Nickelodeon for the winsome cartoon version of Ludwig Bemelmans’ picture-book series “Madeleine,” only to cancel it almost immediately because boys wouldn’t watch it on Saturday morning. “Madeleine” now runs on Disney’s Family Channel, but it’s never seemed as comfortable there as it was originally on Nick.Yet a new breed of girlie-action cartoon heroines is changing the landscape of children’s television. The Powerpuff Girls have proved to be one of the most popular entries in the Cartoon Network’s original “Cartoon Cartoon” series, to the extent that they move up to feature films next week. Now the Disney Channel has added the new “Kim Possible,” in which it’s taken for granted that girls can be every bit as brave, agile and heroic as boys—and if boys want to watch, fine, but if not, who needs them?“Kim Possible’s” feminine charms — and her lively action sequences—are on ample display in a new episode titled “Bueno Nacho,” debuting at 5:30 p.m. today on the Disney Channel. What 1 like about this series is not just its liveliness — dig the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” homage in the final battle — but also its sly wit (catch the gratuitous swipe at Wisconsin accents) and the way it treats equality of the sexes as a given.A cynic could label “Kim Possible” as “Jennie Quest,” sort of an updated, equal-opportunity version of the old “Johnny Quest” prime-time cartoon from die '60s, but it’s really more of an animated version of the current ABC series “Alias.” It mixes a woman’s—or, in this case, a girl’s—life as an international crime-fighting agent with her normal life at home and at school. The difference is that Kim Possible really does have a normal home life, where there is very little normal about Sydney’s life in “Alias.” Kim has a standard-issue set of obnoxious twin younger brothers, and her good-natured, well-meaning father typically hides himself behind the morning paper at breakfast. (Reading of her heroic »• exploits in the pilot episode, he said, “Nice work, honey,” then returned to the paper.) In today’s fourth episode, aSee KIM on PAGE 38Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible: Platonic pals fightingcrime and sexualstereotypes.