Search - Josie and the Pussycats - The Complete Series on DVD

Long Tails and Ears for Hats

The Breech | Long Beach, California United States | 07/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With its catchy theme song, likeable characters and funny plotlines, "Josie and the Pussycats" was one of the best Hanna-Barbera Series ever produced for Saturday Morning television.

Its release on DVD sparks many a memory of Saturday mornings spent in my pajamas as a six year old, enjoying Alpha Bits or Fruit Loops cereal while partaking of the broadcast fare. "Josie and the Pussycats" was a very important part of that ritual. My memories of the show are so vivid that I even remember the "In the Know" segments sandwiched between programs that featured the cast of "Josie" presenting light news features. If memory serves "In The Know" presaged "In The News" which ran for years on CBS Saturday Mornings.

Watching re-runs on Boomerang, I am amazed at how well the show holds up and the 'chase' songs were consistently good. Sure the plots were almost interchangeable, but, so what? The shows were fast paced, hilarious, and to borrow a lyric from the theme, we were invited to "c'mon watch the good guys win."

Unfortunately, this great cartoon premise lasted only a season before producers made the stupid decision to place the characters in Outer Space and for a show with far out plots, this premise was too way-out.

Can't wait to view the original adventures of Josie, Valerie, Melody, Alan, Alexander , Alexandra and Sebastian the Cat with my kids for another generation of enjoyment."

If you love Scooby Doo, you'll like Josie & the Pussycats

John Cronce | Oak Creek, Wis., United States | 07/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you had the least inclination to view this product on Amazon, you'll probably like owning it.

Based on what's been posted by other Amazon reviewers, the chief disappointment about "Josie and the Pussycats" seems to be its reliance on the same cookie-cutter plot episode after episode: the band travels to some exotic location and--against all odds--gets mixed up with another monolithic James Bond-caliber villain (who's eventually driven to articulate the obligatory angst about "those meddling kids"), culminating in a chase scene that's accompanied by a groovy ditty from the mini-skirt era. And of course, the gang triumphs in the end; roll the credits.

It's a good criticism. In fact, it's so good that it could be applied to just about any of the animated products churned out of the prolific studios of Hanna-Barbara--including the studio's most celebrated (and lucrative) creation, "Scooby Doo," which not only relied on the repetition of a contrived formula every episode--it was the same formula that would later be warmed over in "Josie and the Pusssycats" (to name but one of Hanna-Barbera shows that would attempt to cash in on minor variations of the Scooby Doo gimmick).

If this kind of repetition disappoints you, then you're not going to want to own any kid-vid products from the '60s, '70s or '80s. You may not even want to check them out of your local library. But there's nothing particularly worse (or better for that matter) about "Josie and the Pussycats."

What makes us willing to shell out hard-earned cash (or equally hard-earned credit) on these specimens of dreadful production value is not our appraisal of their quality when viewed through 21st century eyes, be it the animation, writing or even singing. It's nostalgia pure and simple. That's why I open my review as I do: if there's enough nostalgia to persuade you to look at the product, it's very likely that this show has a special place in your past and in your heart today.

Sure, when we watch this stuff today we catch things we didn't catch before. We've all grown up. But just as surely, we catch all the things that we did catch before; it's a time machine that takes us back to a nostalgic vision of the early '70s that only era's children ever experienced. Obviously watching this stuff doesn't denude us of our modern-day identity; we just get a chance to remember that those kids in the '70s were also us; we are one. Heavy stuff, but I think that's what going on behind the tingle of emotion we experience. And the real double-whammy of this nostalgia is that we can share it with our kids, at the very least more effectively than our parents could have shared grainy, black-and-white broadcasts of "Hopalong Cassidy" flicks or "Shirley Temple" movies. The next generation, while very different from our own, shares more in common culturally with us that we did with our parents. My five-year-old daughter, for example, recognizes that these Hanna-Barbara cartoons look "different" from what she's accustomed to, but she hasn't picked up on anything different that is also a deterrent. She enjoys them. My dad tried getting me interested in old westerns from the '30s and '40s, and I just couldn't stand the stuff (to say nothing of how Shirley Temple movies struck me).

That said, the value of all of these shows, "Josie" included, will no doubt be proportional to your affection for them 30 or more years ago. Audiences had decades to fall in love with Scooby Doo. They had only one year (or two, if you count the show's "Pussyscats in Outer Space" sequel) to fall in love with Josie. Now connoisseurs may argue that Scooby's longevity proves it to be a vastly superior show, but personally I classify such stilted critiques in the same category with comparative analyses of the various vintages of Cold Duck.

That said, if the cancellation of Josie was a childhood trauma, Amazon's got the cure three decades later. But if it was Scooby Doo you really loved and you have only fond memories of Josie, you'll probably only like this new DVD collection, whereas you'll love the Scooby DVD collections. And in light of what's on the tube these days (in between the rapidly multiplying quantity of commercials), just finding something you like isn't half bad. In that context, "Josie" might actually be better the second time around.
"

Kind of disappointed....

Lit Nerd | 09/21/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I love 'Josie and the Pussycats.' I threw out my old VHSs filled with a lot of the episodes when Cartoon Network use to have marathons of it, anxious for the DVD set.

When I got it, I put it in and was sorely disappointed. On a semi-big screen TV, you'll quickly notice "dirt" galore all over the episodes. This is bad because Josie ATP is a brightly-colored cartoon (unlike the darker Scooby Doo) so the dust, dirt and lines are instantly visible. Another big thing that urks me is there is NO LAUGH TRACK ANYMORE. WHY? Well people all over the internet who sneer at the laugh track, enjoy the awkward pauses where the laughs use to be! And the packaging...it's hard to get the DVDs out! Who's the genius that designed this??

I'm glad I only paid 20 dollars, although I would have probably been better off buying bootlegs on the internet or something. Although it's great to see Josie and the gang, and a nice tribute to poor Dan DeCarlo, this DVD set is surprisingly disappointing. 3 stars because they actually gave Josie a DVD set...but they could've done a lot better."

Pussycats Rule

Bennet Pomerantz | Seabrook, Maryland | 11/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Josie and the Pussycats were like the Beatles or the Monkees. A girlband who goes on madcap adventures, without really trying. This trio of ladies were stereo types, but it worked so well

This Hanna Barbara series retreaded tracks left by the Beatles (in Help! and Hard Days Night) and the Monkees (The Monkees: Season 1). What makes this work is the animated adventures. Some of the humor could only be done in animation...and it worked. This 70's show paved the way for the animated adventures of the (musical) Hardy Boys, The Partridge Family 2020, The Jackson Five and The Osmonds (all not available at this time on DVD)

The show had great animated voice talent. Janet Waldo (the voice of Judy Jetson and Penelope Pitstop) did the voice of Josie. Jackie Joseph did the voice of the lame brain Melody. Barbara Pariot did the voice of Val. Radio DJ and the voice of Shaggy from Scooby Doo Casey Kasem did the voice of their manager of Alex Cabot, the band's manager.

Only 16 episodes were done of this series, but for Hanna Barbera fans these cartoons are golden oldies. They are still great work that could run on Saturday morning TV again or Cartoon Network today..so why arent they

I have a question for those at Warner Brothers DVD animation..when are you releasing the Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space?

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD"