A group of shows that has had one of the oddest legacies is the work of Hanna-Barbera. Once the dominant force of TV animation in the mid-20th century, they mostly exist these days as part of the larger backlog of cartoons WB owns. Outside of Scooby Doo and occasionally the Flintstones and Jetsons, not much attention is given to them, and a lot more criticism has been thrown at their cheaper and repetitive animation practices that were widely adopted and negatively affected the industry in the 70s and 80s. However, in the late 90s and early 2000s, a lot more was happening with them. Not only were they a large part of Cartoon Network when it started and its own channel, Boomerang, but there was a push for more satirical projects focusing on these old shows. Whether it be shorts or the entire Adult Swim lineup, basically starting out by reusing old HB animation for crude and surreal shows, the focus on HB was to use these old shows as a platform for stranger and more experimental stuff.
The most ambitious attempt regarding this brief movement was the 2001 movie, Josie and the Pussycats. Based on the Archie comic, which got its own Hanna-Barbera show, it follows the titular band, Josie, Valerie, and Melody, as they end up signing a contract with Mega Records and having to navigate becoming pop stars out of the blue. The outline of the story is basic. The usual rags to riches with the scheming corporate villains and drama regarding the band and fame. Honestly, it isn’t the best in terms of plot and character development. However, the secret to this film is that it is using the Josie characters and world to trojan horse wild and over-the-top satire about the music industry and consumerism, and is extremely self-aware about that and the ensuing tropes.
The main conflict in this film is that Mega Records doesn’t actually focus on making music, but uses generic popular music to send subliminal messages about brands and new trends. Messages are put underneath the music, and the public immediately starts impulsively buying the new product or following a new trend that the messaging says. The musicians they sign are only there to project the messaging, and their music really doesn’t matter. If a band catches onto this, they are disposed of as seen in the cold open, where the boy band, DuJour, is left on a crashing plane after they bring up the odd sounds under their music. They even use MTV News, Total Request Live, and Behind the Music to cover up their tracks and create stories to explain to the public about why a musician disappeared or went crazy. The satire also extends to other elements, such as the production design. When the band gets to the big city, brand logos are plastered everywhere. They reach the sky on billboards and are all over the walls in buildings. Even the shower in the hotel has the McDonald’s logo and scrunchies shaped like the characters. It showcases the somewhat (but not really) exaggerated way that consumerism and corporate interests are tied into modern pop music.
The cast is all enjoyable, and each is on board with the campy tone of the film. The highlights being Alan Cumming as the scheming manager for Mega Records and Parker Posey as the unstable CEO. The girls who play in the band do a good job showing great chemistry and personality with each other. Tara Reid as Melody might be my favorite, though, since you can’t go wrong with the airheaded and constantly optimistic blond. Alongside the actors, there are cameos that elevate the humor and the overacting satire. The aforementioned news and TV shows that are used by the record companies for their messaging actually have real newscasters and celebrities like Serena Altschul and Carson Daly to bring a level of authenticity and bizarreness. Especially in the case of Carson, where he’s actually sent to take out Melody and Valerie by the company. The subliminal messages were done by Russ Letherman of Moviefone, which was a major online service at the time. Even Eugene Levy is brought on as himself in an in-universe video explaining Mega Records’ business practices and how it operates.
One more subtle element that I feel plays into the satire as well is the cinematography. It is helmed by Matthew Libatique, who is most famous for being the consistent collaborator of Darren Aronofsky’s films. Since the film he shot before was the infamously intense Requiem for a Dream, the directors took advantage of this by using odd and contrasting choices in the cinematography to elevate a sense of bizarre unease that underlines the film. Many scenes are shot uncomfortably, whether it be the color grading or the angles. Fish eye lenses are used to great effect, such as one scene where a bunch of fan girls, who bullied Josie and her friends earlier in the film, show up to their hotel room screeching like crazy and saying that they are their favorite band. It plays into the unsettling nature of the brainwashing that the music implements and puts you in the shoes of the girls who probably feel really unsettled.
This is absolutely an underrated and underdiscussed film that really is both interesting to analyze while still being fun to watch. Sadly, this film ended up bombing at the box office and got a mixed reception. The directors, who only did this as their second film, ended up never directing another movie again as of now and have only really been involved in writing scripts for less-than-stellar comedies. It marked the end of Hanna Barbera satires or more ambitious projects with their shows, as the then-upcoming Scooby Doo movie, which was intended as a PG-13 parody, got toned down immensely. Eventually, the second wave of love towards Hanna Barbera had sort of dissipated by the end of the 2000s, with them disappearing completely from CN and Boomerang being rebranded to basically be a network for CN’s secondary shows, with a few HB shows remaining. In time, though, this film has become more of a beloved cult hit due to its over-the-top satire and wild tone, becoming much more appreciated now. Honestly, given how fan culture has evolved with the internet into something even more vicious and has also been exploited by companies in many ways, the satire has aged so well and remains extremely relevant. It definitely lines up with many other beloved cult films that just were too ahead of the curve for audiences when they came out. While it doesn’t have the most amazing plot or characters, it really doesn’t matter since those honestly aren’t the focus here. The wild satire and tone really do elevate this to something special. I highly recommend checking it out since it is far stranger and more compelling than you would ever expect a Josie and the Pussycats movie to ever be.
