Animated Series With Josie and Pussycat Character

Left to right: Alexander, Valerie, Melody, Josie, Alan, Alexandra. Foreground: Sebastian.

"Josie and the Pussycats!
Long tails and ears for hats!
Guitars and sharps and flats!
Neat, sweet, a groovy song
You're invited, come forth!"

- First poesy of the theme song

Although based on an Archie Comics publication, this series was produced by Hanna-Barbera rather than Filmation and aired from 1970 to 1971. The all-female rock trio comprised guitarist Josie McCoy, tambourinist Valerie Brown, and drummer Melody Valentine. Valerie is Black and Nerdy, Melody is a Impaired Blonde and Josie is of average intellect.

Supporting characters were Alan Mayberry, an ex-country singer who became the Pussycats' roadie and Josie'due south love interest; Alexander Cabot Iii, the Pussycats' cowardly director; Alexandra Cabot, Alexander'southward twin who continually tried to steal Alan away from Josie and/or supervene upon Josie as leader of the band; and Sebastian, Alexandra'south snickering cat.

Each episode usually had the grouping traveling to their next gig or recording session, only to stumble upon criminals, mad scientists, or terrorists and foil their plot.

It had a successor series, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space that aired in 1972. While posing for a photo shoot in front of a infinite ship, Alexandra accidentally makes the grouping stumble into the ship and it blasts off. By the time they become the ship under control, they are hopelessly lost in infinite. A woolly creature named Bleep joined the cast, whom Tune could communicate with. Each episode had the group fly the space transport, trying to find Earth, merely to stumble upon a planet with some kind of trouble, usually a dictator or invaders, and fix it. The series was cancelled without the group making it habitation.

Vocalism talent included Janet Waldo, Casey Kasem and Don Messick, enabling Josie and friends to cross over to The New Scooby-Doo Movies .

It was adapted into a alive-action film in 2001. For information on that, click here.

This serial provides examples of the following tropes:

Adaptational Hairstyle Alter: In the Archie Comics, the early Shes Josie serial has Alexandra Cabot equally Josie's romantic rival. Alexandra is a brunette with a bobbed style similar to Josie's, and grown to shoulder length at most. When Hanna-Barbera leased the concept from Archie Comics, Alexandra was restyled into a raven ponytail with a skunk stripe that extends to cover her thoracic vertebrae, and is tied with a big red bow. The success of the cartoon series prompted Archie Comics to Retcon Alexandra with the new pattern.
Adaptational Intelligence: In the comic strip, Alan was portrayed to exist, at all-time, an average guy with muscles or, at worst, a bit of Impaired Musculus, simply in the cartoon, he is made out to exist just as intelligent equally Valerie, turning him into a Genius Bruiser.
Culling Foreign Theme Song: Like well-nigh Hanna-Barbera shows of the period, the Japanese dub came with its own customized opening.
Animated Adaptation: It started in Archie Comics, after all.
Artsy Beret: Exploited past Alexander while Josie and the Pussycats are hiding from two mooks in a fashion studio by posing as the couturier (manner designer) Charles of the Bowery. Alex's wardrobe is already eclectic, only gets pushed to absurdity with a huge bow tie and an oversized beret. The mooks are skeptical but withhold their aggression. Then the real couturier appears: a middle-anile, balding homo dressed similar a proper banker.
Ascended Extra: Similar to Hot Domestic dog in The Archie Show , Sebastian has a much larger part in the cartoon than he did in the comics.
Aside Comment/Cats Are Snarkers: Sebastian's snickering.
Purse of Kidnapping: An apeman nabs Josie, Tune, and Valerie with this method in "Plateau of the Apes Plot".
Belly Dancer: In an episode called "Swap Plot Flop".
Betty and Veronica: Averted, because Alan is unwaveringly involved with Josie and has no interest in the scheming Alexandra.
The Blank: Mastermind from "Never Heed a Master Heed".
Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Drummer Tune is the Blonde, Valerie has tambourines every bit the Brunette, and Josie on electric guitar is the Redhead.
Botanical Abomination: The villain Doctor Greenthumb plans to cultivate and loose an army of eight-foot alpine aggressive plant-monsters in battalion forcefulness, unless he'southward paid richly to keep them bottled.
Helm Nemo Copy: Josie and Company are captured by Captain Nemo and taken aboard his submarine. The captain claims that his great-grandfather helmed a sub exactly like his. The mad helm is using a huge drill bit on the ship's prow to puncture the hulls of merchant ships, sinking them, then looting them safely underwater. The vessel even includes a pipe organ on the bridge.
Cats Are Hateful: Sebastian was a nasty prankster in the master testify. He bedeviled Scooby when there was a Crossover, and he and Blip were in a abiding land of war when the show ended upwardly Recycled IN Space!.
Cat Daughter: The theme of the band.
-"...long tails, and ears for hats."
True cat Stereotype: Sebastian the true cat is their Team Pet. He has mostly black fur, with white paws, cage, cheeks, and a white streak running along the crest of his caput. Sebastian is often in the care of Alexandra, the troupe's Token Evil Teammate, who has a white streak herself, and like Alexandra, Sebastian is guileful and destructive. Fortunately, Sebastian never slips into evil territory, remaining a Lawful Neutral past using his guile to subvert villains.
Chase Scene: A staple of each episode accompanied by a song from the 'Cats.
Classical Anti-Hero: Alexander, the cocky-described "chicken."
- Can also be interpreted as Adaptational Wimp; in the comics, though Alex is far from being a heroic and noble character, he isn't nearly as cowardly as his blithe version.
Crossover: Specially noticeable is the one with Scooby Doo.
The Ditz/Dumb Blonde: Tune, to the point she could be the poster child of both tropes!
Darker and Edgier: Subverted with respect to the kind of villains that Josie and the gang faced in comparison to the "Scooby-Doo" Hoax involving villains that were not professional criminals and were hands foiled by Those Meddling Kids. On the other hand, villains that menaced the Pussycats were truly dangerous and potentially murderous criminals who had henchmen that sometimes used guns and other lethal force. Though nobody ever got hurt and the villains eventually succumbed to Bail Villain Stupidity.
Dumb and Drummer: It likely isn't a coincidence that Tune is the drummer.
Dumb Is Good: Melody. Too being uber-squeamish:
- She had a preternatural power to sympathize the speech of alien animals.
- She wept when upon hearing Alexandra'southward voice (she was hiding in a plant - see Shout-Out below), she thought Alexandra was eaten by ane of Greenthumb'south plant-monsters!
"Everybody Laughs" Catastrophe: Usually considering of some tragedy befalling Alexandra.
Expy: The bear witness being heavily inspired by Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! , Alan and Alexander have been retooled into adequately obvious expies for Fred and Shaggy. The modify is most noticeable with Alexander, whose comic-book counterpart is an Expy of Reggie Mantle.
- Alan beingness a Fred expy is lampshaded by Fred himself in a Cartoon Network bumper where he chastizes Velma for setting Daphne upwardly for a engagement with Alan ("He's me with more muscles!").
Failure Is the Only Pick: Once the serial was recycled in Space, this became the just option for our heroes finding their way home. Even if some benevolent aliens pointed them in the right direction, Alexandra would inevitably accidentally bump into something, throwing them off form (which is how they got lost in space in the start place).
Faint in Shock: The episode "The Underground Half dozen Hole-and-corner" has the villains loose a Bengal tiger in the girls' hotel room, because they know likewise much. Alan manages to trap the tiger in a Murphy bed. Upon hearing what the girls endured, Alexander faints. When his sister, Alexandra, tries to give Alan a Smooch of Victory, she trips over Alex's inert form.
Alexandra: The next fourth dimension you make up one's mind to faint, do information technology by an open window.
Fainting: Alexander is prone to this, whether out of fright or by Foreign Queasine.
False Defector: On a few occasions, Sebastian fakes buddying upwardly to a given villain in order to aid the group later on (like deactivating a death trap or swiping keys to handcuffs).
Female Fighter, Male Handler: Alexander is the band'due south manager, and Josie's sort of boyfriend Alan is their roadie.
Fishbowl Helmet: Sebastian the true cat plunks an actual fishbowl over his head in order to rescue Josie and the Pussycats from prison capsules on the ocean floor. Thanks to Cartoon Physics, this works.
Friendly Enemies: Alexandra may hate the ring and especially Josie, merely she occasionally helps them defeat the villains and defends them when the chips are down.
Fun with Acronyms: In "Spy School Spoof", the gang enters Laser's lair claiming to be from QUACK (Quality Undercover Agents Checking Kooks).
Genius Ditz: As impaired equally Melody is, she plays the drums professionally.
Tune: Consume your centre out, Ringo!

Harmless Electrocution: This has been featured in a few episodes:
- In "The Nemo's A No No Affair", Alexander gets shocked when he plugs a cord in a port to start up the motor of a motorboat and as this happens, his entire body flashes in various, neon colors.
- In "X Marks The Spot", Alexandra, jealous as usual of Josie and her band, decides to switch out the speaker wires to make Josie sound terrible. This unfortunately backfires on her when she gets zapped and engulfed in sparks causing her to bounce around the venue the ring is performing at.
Heroes Want Redheads: Though he's not The Hero (he fits every bit a sort-of Lancer), Alan would rather have Josie than Alexandra.
Human Popsicle: The Scorpion captures Alexander, Melody and Alexandra, and traps them in transparent tubes that he fills with "freeze gas." The three are frozen in place in those tubes until Alan, Josie and Valerie sneak into the control room and open the tubes. The three prisoners topple forward, and shatter the ice around them upon impact. Somehow, they're none the worse for this ordeal.
Insult Backlash: Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation-Guided Karma aimed at Alexandra, especially when she calls anyone "dum-dum".
Iron Barrel Monkey: Alexandra, for all of her Amusing Injuries.
Ironic Echo Cut: In "The Jumpin' Jupiter Affair":
(cut to Alexander, running for his life equally a result of his sister'south bumbling)

Alexander: HELP!
Jerk with a Center of Gold: Sebastian. He'southward an oftentimes hateful-spirited prankster who finds other people's hurting and humiliation hilariously funny, but he does care about his humans, particularly Alexandra, and volition provide aid and support when needed.
Jerkass: Alexandra'south airs, impatience and pomposity make her very difficult to like.
Just Consume Gilligan: You really do have to wonder why they even put up with Alexandra, who is nothing more than The Load and The Millstone to the group. In the outer infinite series, they could take gotten home if they had just pushed her out the airlock or left her on the next planet they landed (this would've been wildly out of character for the main trio, but even so).
Karmic Butt-Monkey: Alexandra Cabot is often a subversive glory-hog in the cartoons. Her efforts to displace or humilliate Josie ever backfire. However, though Alexandra dislikes Josie, she abhors villains.
Big Ham: Alexander in the comics, Alexandra in the cartoon.
Leotard of Ability: Their feline stage outfits.
Let's Carve up, Gang!: Lampshaded by Alexandra in the final episode, having been sent off with Sebastian, Alexander, and Melody:

The Load: Alexandra, who stoops to subversion to undermine Josie, and insists upon beingness the Designated Hero, which often sunders the endeavour to thwart the villain, though in that location were times when she actually managed to thwart the villain of the episode, mainly by accident.
Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: If y'all're gonna kidnap Valerie, you'd better exist damn sure she tin can't move or speak.
Lovable Coward: Alexander, who talks a big game, merely has no spine to back up his boasting.
Honey Triangle: Josie, Alan, Alexandra. In the comics, Alexander is less cowardly and more devious, and has a crush on Josie, creating a Love Quadrangle.
Loves Only Gilt: The episode "The Midas Mix-up" has Josie and the Pussycats encounter a reclusive Mad Scientist who would threaten, "Unless I am paid half the gold in the world, I shall destroy all the gilt in the globe!" Midas has perfected a microbe mist that can dissolve aureate, and plans to consign the stuff disguised as spray cologne.
Luminescent Chroma: "In Chili Today And Hot Tamale", Alexandra's face turns raspberry scarlet and smoke comes out of her ears, and mouth, as a result of eating a taco with hot sauce, which was poured on past Sebastian.
MacGyvering: Valerie was the champion of this, making solutions and springing traps with guitar strings, chimera gum and hairspray.
Mad Scientist: SEVERAL.
Marilyn Maneuver: In the episode, "A Pollex Is Not A Goldfinger", Valerie'due south dress floats slightly in the breeze, as she and the others cling onto i another and parachute to the ground.
- Alexandra in "The Jumping' Jupiter Affair". Her skirt gets lifted from backside, as she hangs on tightly to a kite and the gust carries them idly. In a possible animation goof, she seems to exist commando.
- Melody in "Never Mind A Primary Mind". Her brim flies up as she and the others drop to the ground after being suspended in the air by a ray gun used to cause levitation, and the effect wears off. As a possible animation goof, she doesn't seem to clothing undies in this.
- In "All Wong In Hong Kong", Valerie's dress flows lightly or slightly as she hangs onto a flying rocket and grabs, and carries Alexandra. But the quondam isn't seen from behind when this happens.
Falling star-Summoning Set on: The primary characters come across the villain Doctor Strangemoon, whose Evil Plan is to launch a satellite that will concenter fiery comets to Earth, raining havoc upon civilization. He launches the vehicle with iii of those meddling kids (Alexander, Alexandra and Tune) aboard. Fortunately, Alexandra pulls the capsule off course somehow, and so the satellite never pulls a comet to Earth as intended.
Miles Gloriosus: Alexander will gladly accept credit for foiling the villain. However, in "Plateau of the Apes Plot", he has this to say at the finish - this was after he had been transformed into a gorilla and had to be rescued from the pound:
Alexander: "At that place never was whatsoever doubt that we could handle the state of affairs. After all, under my skillful and fearless leadership, mmph ..."
The Millstone: Whenever the gang has some kind of program, Alexandra, in an attempt to show everyone else up, will inadvertently ruin information technology.
Heed Control: Melody gets hypnotized, brainwashed and mind-controlled by the villains a lot. In every single instance they end up wishing they hadn't, because her ditzy nature is simply exaggerated when she'south hypnotized, and she will spiral up the simplest of tasks. Sometimes it'due south hinted she isn't mind-controlled and simply pretending to thwart the villains.
Villain: I am your Master!
Melody: Yes, Mustard! (giggle)
(Cue Villain getting increasingly annoyed)
Listen-Control Eyes: Again, Melody gets them when under the influence of the villains.
Ms. Fanservice: All the female, principal characters. Whether they're wearing miniskirts/minidresses, leopard skin leotards, or babydoll dresses as seen in "The Surreptitious Six Secret", they provide this.
Nearly Normal Animate being/Speech-Dumb Beast: Sebastian falls in between.
Non-Human Sidekick: Sebastian, and Bleep in outer space.
Pain to the Ass: Every bit the Chew Toy of the group, Alexandra receives a lot of ass-based slapstick, including landing butt-beginning on a cactus, getting it striking by a door, pinched past a crab, and likewise many others to count. She really is the Butt Monkey of the group.
Panty Shot: Melody and Alexandra in "Swap Plot Flot". In this moment that can only be caught as a all the same, before they and most of the others can finish a large pot from falling off the top of a building, they and the others end upward falling over with it anyway, and there are rear views of their undies. Melody's undies friction match her mint greenish vest and Alexandra's lucifer the red portions of her dress.
- All the girls in "The Hole-and-corner Six Undercover", when they're wearing their babydoll dresses and they're bouncing from bed to bed to escape a tiger.
Establish Mooks: Mad Scientist Doctor Greenthumb sought to create an ground forces of establish-creatures in the episode "A Greenthumb Is Not A Goldfinger." His Evil Program never made it out of beta.
Pokémon Speak: Bleep
Power Trio: Josie, Melody, Valerie.
Prince and Pauper: Tune was more once mistaken for somebody of elevated condition, including one Outer Infinite episode where the residents of a planet mistook her for their goddess.
- For that matter, a pair of shoes was accidentally mixed up for another pair of shoes that were intelligence-gathering devices.
- Valerie turned out to be a dead ringer for a princess from India, and agreed to human activity as a decoy to catch a villain who was after her.
Rapid Aging: The plot of "Don't Count on a Countess". Affects both the cast (sans Valerie) and the villains of the episode
Recognizable past Sound: While sneaking around the mansion of Mad Scientist Md Greenthumb in the episode "A Greenthumb Is Non a Goldfinger," the three band members come across a walking pile of leaves. They assume that this is one of the mad doctor's plant creatures, and set on it. While Josie and Valerie are pummeling the creature, information technology cries in pain from the blows. Melody recognizes the vox, and begins sobbing, "That sounds like Alexandra. The creature-plant must have eaten her!" Immediately, Josie and Valerie realize that Dumbass Has a Betoken, and it's revealed that the creature was Alexandra bearded as a fauna plant.
Recycled IN Infinite!: Their outer space adventures are the Trope Codifier, peradventure the Trope Namer.
Cerise Live Lobster: The gang takes a intermission on a beach. Alexandra tries to seduce Alan with a hula dance, and grabs a nearby grass brim. She somehow fails to discover a cherry crab on the leafy green skirt, and wears it around her hips. The crab dislikes all the motion, and pinches Alexandra'southward glutes to steady itself. She gets very wiggly with this impromptu prompting.
Replaced with Replica:
- "Never Mind a Mastermind" has the Pussycats attempt to safeguard an anti-gravity ray gun past posing as scientists at a symposium, and swapping out the device with a not-functioning replica. Alas, Mastermind deduced this plan, and used a Batman Gambit to seize the device from the Pussycats.
- "Spy School Spoof" has technical plans to a ray gun erroneously delivered to the Pussycats. When the villain's mooks try to wrest the plans from the 'Cats, Valerie draws upwardly a close but not-working copy. The villain succeeds in capturing the Pussycats and attaining the plans, but the weapon behaves very differently than anticipated.
Rich Bitch: Alexandra, the sarcastic and selfish twin sister of the Pussycats' manager, Alexander.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: Josie and the Pussy Cats need to observe their roadies, who were taken to the lab of the Mad Scientist to be fed to his Plant Monsters. However, the 'Cats are unfamliar with the mansion's layout, and have no idea which fashion the greenhouse lies. Melody, who is The Ditz and a Cloud Cuckoolander, postulates this: "Plants have to kept warm, and it's ever warmer in the South. Permit's get s." Valerie rolls her eyes, merely can't give a improve choice, and then they go south. This turns out to be the right direction when they see Alexandra, who is disguised equally a plant-beast.
Stone Trio: A pop version that swapped the bass guitar with a tambourine.
"Scooby-Doo" Hoax: The plot of "The Jumpin' Jupiter Affair," subverted in that the villains were revealed to the audition in the middle of the episode.
She'southward Got Legs: All the girls often have their legs bared, for one reason or another, peculiarly in the first series.
Aircraft Torpedo: Alexandra routinely tries to sabotage the Josie + Alan pair, never making a dent, and always suffering a Backstab Backfire for her efforts.
Shout-Out: From the debut episode, "Greenthumb Is Non a Goldfinger", later the others find Alexandra, Alexander and Sebastian hiding in plants:
Josie: Alexandra, it'south you!
Alexandra: Of class it's me! Who were you expecting? Scooby-Doo?
Shrunk in the Wash: Subverted in the episode '"A Greenthumb Is Not a Goldfinger." All six protagonists accept been captured by Amazon basin natives, who program to shrink the Pussycats' heads in their potion cauldron. To prove that Pussy Cat magic is stronger than the natives' magic, Alexandra dunks her brother'south shirt into the potion, which has no effect. Alexander'due south shirt was the only one guaranteed not to shrink.
Shrunken Caput: Having fled the mansion of the Mad Scientist, The Pussycats are shortly captured by a tribe of Amazon natives. Alex wonders what the natives will do with their captives. Valerie shows him some shrunken heads, and replies, "Do these reply your question?" Fortunately, the Pussycats are able to use the natives' superstition to effect an escape.
Skintone Sclerae: Only the upper lid of the characters' eyes are fatigued, reflective of Archie Comics' house way as divers by Bob Montana and Dan DeCarlo. Colorists only filled in the sclera rather than guess where the separation should be, as function of Hanna-Barbera's speed-the-plough animation.
Sky Heist: "Chili Today, Hot Tamale" has The Scorpion's mooks succeed in lowering a large horseshoe magnet to capture the Pussycats' dune buggy. Their boss wants the uranium pellets hidden inside Melody'south big bass drum. Josie, Alan and Alexandra get dumped out of the vehicle in the procedure.
Slapstick Knows No Gender: Alexandra suffered past far the nigh comic mishaps on the testify, with Alexander coming in a distant second.
Spy Speak: In the episode "Never Heed a Principal Mind".
Steal It to Protect It: In "Never Mind a Master Mind", the heroes mistakenly receive a bulletin warning of the villain Chief Mind'southward plan to steal an anti-gravity gun from a scientific discipline symposium in Amsterdam. The heroes determine to steal the device themselves, and have information technology Replaced with Replica before Mastermind can get his hands on information technology. Unfortunately, three members of the group, including the 1 with the anti-gravity gun, are captured by Master Heed.
Strictly Formula: Similar to a lot of Hanna-Barbera mystery shows. The gang shows up in a new town, stumbles onto some great law-breaking or mad plot, solves the mystery, and then everyone laughs every bit Alexandra's attempt to steal Alan screws up.
Stylistic Suck: Results whenever Alexandra actually gets to perform.
All of a sudden Fluent in Gibberish: A second-season episode has the squad flying into outer space and encountering a dog-bird alien named Blip, who communicates as follows: "Bleep bleep blip." Melody, the Ditz, says, "Bleep bleep blip, blip bleep?" Bleep responds, "Bleep bleep blip, bleep." Melody and then gives an English translation.
Sunglasses at Night: Alexander, who'southward seldom seen without his sunglasses.
Through the Ceiling, Stealthily: Sneaky escape due to a lack of watchers, not from any effort at stealth. The titular group get captured by the Underground 6, and are tied to rock pillars in an old temple. They're told by the villains that expiry past neglect will be their fate. Alexandra sneers. "These chintzy ropes won't concur us. I happen to be an expert at untying knots." This results in Alexandra, Josie and Alan being imprisoned in a undercover compartment in i wall. The 3 prisoners observe h2o leaking from the compartment'south ceiling, and chisel an exit using a nail file.
Token Minority: Valerie, but this was the late 1960s and early 1970s. Pretty progressive for the times, really, especially considering her Television set Genius and MacGyvering talents.
Tv Genius: Valerie could often hold her own, understanding what the Mad Scientist was talking about.
Villain Ball: In many episodes, the villains would have gotten away if they didn't kidnap those meddling kids!
Walking the Earth: The band was ever getting into trouble in a metropolis or town they'd visit every bit part of a gig for their tour.
Weirdness Magnet: Wherever they bout, one or more supervillains volition e'er be effectually.
With Friends Like These...: Alexandra and Alexander (sometimes Alan besides) got the Pussycats more than oftentimes in trouble than aided them.
Ten-Ray Sparks: Alexander in one episode experiences this, consummate with his shades being visible over his skull eyes!
You Meddling Kids: Very rarely were those words used verbatim, but the sentiment was there when the gang solved the mystery. This was true for the majority of Hanna-Barbera's Animated Serial in the 1970s.