Why So Blu?

Josie And The Pussycats: The Complete Series (Blu-ray Review)

Hot on the Hanna-Barbara train, Warner Bros Archive Collection is releasing Josie and the Pussycats: The Complete Series to Blu-ray. You’ll remember over the last few weeks we’ve seen Space Ghost and Dino Boy and The Flintstones complete series collections make the Blu-ray jump. Naturally, here come Josie and the Pussycats. Now, this is just the original run of the series and does no include any episodes from Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space which was the show’s rebranded second year. These 16 episodes are on a 2-disc set and have a nice little pair of legacy bonus features intact. The release date for this was November 3rd, so you can order it right now from Warner Archive Collection or by using the paid Amazon Associates link following the end of the review. Here’s hoping they DO go forth and do the Outer Space season very soon.

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Series 

They’re back and better than ever in High-Definition on Blu-ray! All 16 episodes of the hit animated adaptation of the beloved comic-book series are here, as the all-girl rock banded by guitarist Josie and Pussycats Melody and Valerie sing their catchy tunes through exotic adventures and fabulous hair. They are joined by Josie’s devoted boyfriend Alan, their manager Alexander, his trouble-making sister Alexandra, and not to be forgotten Alexandra’s mischievous feline Sebastian.

Josie and the Pussycats has interesting origins in and of itself. Many know the title and the characters. They’ve popped up with some sort of regularity since their comic book origins long ago. From the 2001 live action feature film to more recently being a part of the CW show Riverdale, there’s clearly value in them. Speaking of Riverdale, that’s their origin, Archie comics.

After the success of Funimation’s cartoon adaptation of Archie and primarily the popularity of the song “Candy Girl” that came out of it, Hanna-Barbara wanted to recreate that success and sought out the rights for the characters of Jose and the Pussycats from the Archie universe. The idea was to send them on crazy adventures and since they were a band, have a song or songs in the episodes. The idea was to land a “Candy Girl” every time.

Unfortunately it didn’t go that way. The show only lasted one year and was rebranded the following with the in Outer Space addition to the title. Josie and the Pussycats also bounced around through all the networks in its life time in reruns. Over all, its weird, charming little show. It definitely is a little bit better holding up for me than going through Space Ghost and Dino Boy was, but its still healthier in smaller, spread out samplings as opposed to one huge binge. Looking back, its rather cute and the songs range from pretty good to decently fine.

Episodes

This release contains all episode from the entire series run of Jose and the Pussycats.

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Layers: BD-50

Clarity/Detail: Jose and the Pussycats not only features a similar animation style, but the restoration and transfer is up to par with the previous Hanna-Barbara releases of Space Ghost and Dino Boy and The Flintstones on Blu-ray. Those shows feature a nice, old hand drawn animation. Warner Archive Collection’s presentation of Josie and the Pussycats is as crisp and razor sharp as you could ask for. You can see the strokes from drawing or coloring as well as a the nice details, shades and textures where it is not just a flat color.

Depth:  Yes, this is flat 2D animation, but with its motions and fluidity, it make for a nice clean appearance despite not offering much in the distance and third dimension department.

Black Levels: Blacks are deep and quite strong with good shading and strong outlines to the characters. When possible, there are textures and such in darker areas, but its mostly using blacks for shading and dimensions on the actual characters and planet surfaces. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction: Colors are pretty flat, with a more primary display in its palette. However, they are quite thick and bold with a full appearance. This show features a more various palette and really pops more with colors than the other releases as its a bit more extravagant with its usage.

Flesh Tones: N/A

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 2.0 Mono DTS-HD MA

Subtitles: English SDH

Dynamics: Josie and the Pussycats features a solid mono track, accurate to its feeling watching on the ‘ol tube, but now with much more space to breath and clarity. Effects now have a nice depth and there is good layering creating the environments. Vocals, effects and music all balance and work in tandem quite well. Songs sound really nice and resonate well in this mixture. This is pretty much the best you could ask for in terms of the sound quality for the original mono track of the series.

Height: N/A

Low Frequency Extension: N/A

Surround Sound Presentation: N/A

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and have good attention and clarity to the actors’ dictions and vocal inflections.

Extras 

Jose and the Pussycats: The Complete Series is a 2-Disc set.

Disc 2

The Irresistible Charm of Dan DeCarlo (HD, 22:56) – Many talking heads give us an appreciation, career history and reflection on the legacy of artist Dan DeCarlo.

Summary 

Josie and the Pussycats is still a pretty fun and silly show. Your mileage returning to or discovering it may vary. If you’re familiar with The Flintstones or Space Ghost sets, then you already know how good the image on the restoration is. Which is to say its quite great. Audio here is lossless and more than adequate. Pulling over a legacy bonus featurette is a nice move too. People wanting to collect this should be pretty happy with their purchase.

This is a paid Amazon Associates link