The fearless redhead. The dingbatty blonde. The ingenious African-American. The hunky roadie. The gutless manager. The catty raven. The snickering Shorttail. The gallery of brilliant villains. A library of marvelous music. The perfect formula for a great cartoon series named "Josie and The Pussycats". Yeah, yeah, dirty minds(and several little minds)would go nuts about a certain part of the title, but the rest of us think the title was really groovy. Based on Archie Comics' great comic book, the Hanna-Barbera cartoon showcases musicians Josie McCoy, Melody Valentine and Valerie Brown, their roadie Alan Mayberry, their manager Alexander Cabot III, his volatile sister Alexandra and her snickering cat Sebastian. They perform all around the world, spending their spare time thwarting international schemes to conquer the world. Troublemakers such as The Countess, Mr. X, Greenthumb, Evil Eye, Midas, Nemo, and the Scorpion make the band's lives a living HELP(a term Alexander never forgets to yell for in every episode)! Janet Waldo, Jackie Joseph, and Barbara Pariot are the terrific trio, Jerry Dexter and Scooby Doo Alumni Casey Kasem are the dudes, Sherry Alberoni is the 'tude and Scooby himself, Don Messick, is the cool cat. The girls who give us those cool tunes such as my favorite, "You still have a way to go" are really Catherine Dougherty, Patrice Halloway and Cheryl Ladd as Melody's singing voice. JATP's charm comes from Josie and her allies. Josie makes the perfect leader, a perfect combo of wisdom, strength and beauty. Melody is the giggling silly of the group, always smiling and laughing no matter what the situation. Valerie is one of the first influential Afro-American cartoon characters. A pre-Cleopatra Jones like super spy who's the brains of the outfit and the lyrics of Josie's songs. Alexandra's cattiness keeps Josie on her toes and Alexander's gutlessness makes for some fine comedy. Alan's hunky appearance makes Josie and Alexandra's conflicts even more juicier. I felt it was only fair for me to rave over this great cartoon series, because I dissed the movie. Mayhaps if the writers made the movie more closer to the cartoon and more family friendly, I would have loved it. But NOOOOOOO, those saps made it just another Hollywood PG-13 zombie. Phooey on them! Their spin-off, JATP IN OUTER SPACE, may not have all the songs, but it is equally entertaining. I suggest you all see both the cartoon versions . .. and the comics, too.
