satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
Deborah Kaplan
Deborah Kaplan (born November 11, 1970) is an American screenwriter and film director.
Early life
Deborah Kaplan was born and raised in Abington, Pennsylvania. Born to Susan Kaplan. She went to Abington Senior High School, which is the schoo ...
Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming (born 27 January 1965) is a British actor. His London stage appearances include ''Hamlet'', the Maniac in ''Accidental Death of an Anarchist'' (for which he received an Olivier Award), the lead in '' Bent'', The National Theatre o ...
cult film
A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...
.
Plot
Wyatt Frame, an executive with the pop music record label MegaRecords, is confronted on a private jet by successful
boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...
DuJour over a strange backing track they have discovered on their recent single. Wyatt and the plane's pilot parachute out of the jet, leaving it to crash with the band still on board, ensuring their deaths.
Landing outside of the town of Riverdale, Wyatt begins searching for a replacement band for DuJour, eventually discovering struggling local rock band The Pussycats: lead vocalist and guitarist Josie McCoy, drummer Melody Valentine, and bassist Valerie Brown. The group accepts Wyatt's immediate offer of a major record deal despite its seeming implausibility, and they are flown to New York City with their manager Alexander, his sister Alexandra, and Josie's friend Alan M. Wyatt renames the band "Josie and the Pussycats" without their permission. Meanwhile, MegaRecords CEO Fiona, in a meeting with world government representatives, details how the United States government has conspired with the music industry to hide subliminal messages in pop music to brainwash teenagers into buying consumer products. Musicians who discover the hidden messages in their music are made to disappear via staged plane crashes, drug overdoses and similar disasters.
The band's first single is released and, due to subliminal messaging, instantly becomes successful. Valerie begins to resent the attention the label gives Josie, while Melody's uncanny behavioral perception makes her suspicious of Fiona. Fiona orders Wyatt to kill the pair before they uncover the conspiracy; they are sent to a fake appearance on '' Total Request Live'' where two fake
Carson Daly
Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, Television producer, producer, and celebrity, television personality. Prior to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'', ...
s attempt to kill them, though the band survives due to their incompetence. Wyatt gives Josie a copy of the group's latest single, which contains a subliminal message track designed to brainwash her into desiring a solo career. After arguing with her bandmates, Josie realizes that the single caused the fight. Her suspicions are confirmed when she uses a mixing board to make the subliminal track audible. However, Fiona catches her unawares.
MegaRecords have organized a giant
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
concert that will be streamed online, wherein they plan to unleash a major subliminal message via themed cat ears headsets that viewers must buy to hear the audio. Fiona and Wyatt plan for Josie to perform solo, but when the band insists on performing together, the pair threaten to kill Melody and Valerie in a staged car explosion if they do not comply. However, the badly injured members of DuJour arrive and thwart the pair's plan, having survived the plane crash by landing the plane in the middle of a
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
concert, where they were assaulted by fans.
Josie, Valerie and Melody fight Fiona, Wyatt and their security guards. During the tussle, Fiona accidentally destroys the machine used to generate the messages, revealing the new subliminal message to be one that would make Fiona universally popular. Fiona reveals that her
lisp
A lisp is a speech impairment in which a person misarticulates sibilants (, , , , , , , ). These misarticulations often result in unclear speech.
Types
* A frontal lisp occurs when the tongue is placed anterior to the target. Interdental lisping ...
made her a social outcast in high school, while Wyatt reveals that his appearance is a disguise—he went to the same high school as Fiona, but was a persecuted and unpopular albino; the two immediately bond. The government agents colluding with Fiona arrive, but with the conspiracy exposed, they arrest the pair as scapegoats to cover up their involvement in the scheme. They abandon the idea of spreading subliminal messages via music, deciding that movies are more effective.
Josie, Valerie, and Melody perform the concert together. Alan M arrives and confesses his love for Josie, who returns his feelings. The concert audience removes their headsets at Josie's suggestion and, able to judge the band on its own merits for the first time, roar their approval.
Cast
* Rachael Leigh Cook as Josie McCoy, the Pussycats' main songwriter, lead singer and guitarist
* Tara Reid as Melody Valentine, the Pussycats' absent-minded blonde drummer and backup singer
* Rosario Dawson as Valerie Brown, the Pussycats' strong-willed and perceptive bassist and backup singer
* Gabriel Mann as Alan M. Mayberry, a folk guitarist and Josie's romantic interest
* Paulo Costanzo as Alexander Cabot, the band's flamboyant and snobby manager
* Missi Pyle as Alexandra Cabot, Alexander's talentless twin sister
*
Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming (born 27 January 1965) is a British actor. His London stage appearances include ''Hamlet'', the Maniac in ''Accidental Death of an Anarchist'' (for which he received an Olivier Award), the lead in '' Bent'', The National Theatre o ...
as Wyatt Frame, a manipulative promoter who recruits and manages young bands for MegaRecords
* Parker Posey as Fiona, MegaRecords
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
who uses
subliminal messages
Subliminal stimuli (; the prefix ' literally means "below" or "less than") are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception, in contrast to stimuli (above threshold). A 2012 review of functional magnetic resonance ...
to manipulate teens' spending
* Tom Butler as Agent Kelly, the government agent who collaborates with Wyatt and Fiona in the scheme
* Donald Faison as D.J., of Du Jour
*
Seth Green
Seth Benjamin Green ( ''né'' Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and writer. Green's film debut came with a role in the comedy-drama film ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), and he went on to have supporting ...
as Travis, of Du Jour
* Breckin Meyer as Marco, of Du Jour
* Alexander Martin as Les, of Du Jour
* Serena Altschul as Herself
*
Carson Daly
Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, Television producer, producer, and celebrity, television personality. Prior to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'', ...
as Himself
*
Aries Spears
Aries Spears (born April 3, 1975) is an American stand-up comedian and actor from New Jersey. Spears was a regular on Fox's sketch comedy series ''MADtv'', appearing in 198 episodes, making him the second longest-serving cast member on the sho ...
as The Other Carson Daly
*
Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy (born December 17, 1946) is a Canadian actor and comedian. From 1976 until 1984, he appeared in the Canadian television sketch comedy series '' SCTV''. He has also appeared in the '' American Pie'' series of films and the Canadian ...
Johnny Depp
John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...
,
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
and Matt Damon appear as cardboard cut-outs during the TRL scene.
Production
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
,
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...
and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes auditioned for the role of Valerie Brown. Elfont said that they wanted someone who knew how to do comedy, Lopes read for the part twice, she really wanted the role, Beyoncé was "quiet and shy" and Aaliyah was "serious and thoughtful".
In line with its theme of
subliminal advertising
Subliminal stimuli (; the prefix ' literally means "below" or "less than") are any sensory stimulus (physiology), stimuli below an individual's sensory threshold, threshold for conscious perception, in contrast to stimuli (above threshold). A 201 ...
, the inordinate degree of
product placement
Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...
in the film constitutes a running gag. Almost every scene features a mention or appearance of one or more famous brands, including
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
,
Gatorade
Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...
America Online
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
(which has aired the cartoon series on many occasions), Revlon, Kodak,
Puma
Puma or PUMA may refer to:
Animals
* ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae
** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat
Businesses and organisations
* Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company
* Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...
Bounce
Bounce or The Bounce may refer to:
* Deflection (physics), the event where an object Collision, collides with and bounces against a plane surface
Books
* Mr. Bounce, a character from the Mr. Men series of children's books
Broadcasting, film and ...
, and more. None of the advertising was paid promotion by the represented brands; it was inserted voluntarily by the filmmakers.
Cook later expressed surprise as her casting: "somehow, they gave one of the title roles to me, and I cannot sing at all. I don't play guitar. I have no idea." Cook said the producers considered her for the titular lead in ''Josie'' having remembered Cook from her audition for the lead role in '' Can't Hardly Wait'' (both films were co-written and directed by Kaplan and Elfont).
Media
Home media
''Josie and the Pussycats'' was released on VHS and DVD by
Universal Studios Home Video
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...
on August 21, 2001. The film's theatrical PG-13 rating from the MPAA in the United States caused some contention with licenser
Archie Comics
Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.MGM Home Entertainment (through
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...
) on December 17, 2001.
To coincide with the film's 20th Anniversary, the Blu-ray version was released for the first time through Mill Creek Entertainment on September 21, 2021 with most of the extras from the DVD release carried over.
Playtone Records
Playtone (stylized on-screen as PLAY•TONE; a.k.a. The Playtone Company) is an American film and television production company established in 1998 by actor Tom Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman.
It was named after the fictional record company ...
on March 27, 2001, ''Music from the Motion Picture Josie and the Pussycats'' was well-received, certifying a gold album with 500,000 copies despite the film's critical and commercial failure. Cook's singing voice was provided by Kay Hanley of the band Letters to Cleo, while backing vocals were provided by Cook, Reid, Dawson, and Bif Naked.
The soundtrack was reissued on vinyl by Mondo in 2017.
Reception
Initial reception
The film grossed $14,866,015 at the U.S. box office, less than its production budget, an estimated $22–39 million, resulting in a domestic box office bomb.
The film received mixed reviews. Based on the Hanna-Barbera series of the 70s, critics felt it (and other movies like it based on cartoons) did not work on screen. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 53% based on reviews from 123 critics. The site's consensus states: "This live-action update of ''Josie and the Pussycats'' offers up bubbly, fluffy fun, but the constant appearance of
product placement
Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...
s seems rather hypocritical." On Metacritic, the film scores a 47 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film one-half of a star out of a possible four, commenting that "''Josie and the Pussycats'' are not dumber than the
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...
, but they're as dumb as the Spice Girls, which is dumb enough", in an obvious comparison with the British girl group's 1997 feature film, '' Spice World'', which was met with negative reviews, and to which Ebert had given the same score.
Cult status
In the years subsequent to its initial release, ''Josie and the Pussycats'' has been reappraised by critics, and has found success as a
cult film
A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...
. The film has been praised for its satirical take on American pop culture, and for its prescience in satirizing
product placement
Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...
and the corporatization of the music industry. Evaluating the film for '' The A.V. Club'' in 2009, Nathan Rabin writes that it is "funny, sly and sweet" and "a sly, sustained spoof of consumerism". He rates the film as a "secret success". The '' Los Angeles Times'' wrote in 2017 that the film's "sharply satirical vision of the hyper-commercial record industry feels only more relevant."
To commemorate the vinyl reissue of the soundtrack in 2017, ''Josie and the Pussycats'' was screened by Alamo Drafthouse at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, with a performance by Hanley and a panel with Cook, Reid, and Dawson, and received an
oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
feature in '' The Fader''.
DuJour appears in the 2021 ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'' special "The Bleepin' Robot Chicken Archie Comics Special". Green, Meyer and Faison reprise their roles, and Cook reprises her role of Josie.
Scrapped TV series
A month before this film was released, DiC Entertainment, an animation studio with extensive ties to Archie Comics, announced it had bought the rights to create a cartoon featuring the characters, and was planning to release it in the wake of this film. However, these plans were scrapped. Likewise, not much about what this cartoon would had been is known.