Josie And The Pussycats Cartoon - Valerie Brown - Animated Trailblazing Sistah!

“Josie and the Pussycats!
Long tails — and ears for hats!
Guitars in sharps and flats!
Neat, sweet, a groovy song! You’re invited, come along!”

The Museum of UnCut Funk pays homage to Valerie Brown, the first positive Black female character in a Saturday morning animated cartoon series, Josie and the Pussy Cats.

Josie and the Pussycats was produced for Saturday moring television by Hanna-Barbera Productions, airing on CBS. The series started in 1970 as an all-female counterpart to the Archies. Josie and the Pussycats featured an all-girl pop music band that toured the world with their entourage, getting mixed up in strange adventures, spy capers, and mysteries. On the small-screen, the group consisted of Josie (the leader and lead singer), Valerie (the intelligent Black member) and Melody (the air-headed blond drummer). Other characters included their agent Alexander, his sister Alexandra, her cat Sebastian, and roadie Alan M.

The show, more similar to Hanna-Barbera’s Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! rather than the original Josie comic book, is famous for its music, the girls’ leopard print leotards (replete with “long tails and ears for hats,” as the theme song states), and for featuring the first regularly appearing female character in a Saturday morning cartoon show. Each episode invariably featured a Pussycat song played over a chase scenes which featured the group acting like animated Monkees, running after and from a selection of haplessly villainous characters.

Josie and the Pussycats ran for 16 episodes, from September 9, 1972 – December 23, 1972 on CBS:

The Nemo’s a No-No Affair
A Greenthumb Is Not a Goldfinger
The Secret Six Secret
Swap Plot Flop
Midas Mix-Up
X Marks the Spot
Chili Today and Hot Tamale
Never Mind a Master Mind
Plateau of the Apes Plot
Strangemoon Over Miami
All Wong in Hong Kong
Melody Memory Mix-Up
The Great Pussycat Chase
Spy School Spoof
The Jumpin’ Jupiter Affair
Don’t Count on a Countess

Valerie was voiced by Barbara Pariot.

Her singing voice was provided by Patrice Holloway, sister of singer Brenda Holloway. Hanna-Barbera wanted to recast Patrice Holloway and portray “Josie and the Pussycats” as an all-white trio and alter Valerie, who was Black (Valerie Smith) in the comic book, to make her white. The producer refused to recast Holloway and threatened to walk away from the project. Hanna-Barbera finally relented, kept Holloway and changed Valerie back to being Black.

In 1972, the show was re-conceptualized as Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, 16 episodes aired in 1972-73 and were rerun the following season.

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space episodes:

Where’s Josie
Make Way for the Multi-Men
The Sleeping Planet
Alien Alan
The Water Planet
The Sun Haters
The Mini-Man Menace
The Space Pirates
Anything You Can Zoo
Now You See Them, Now You Don’t
The Four-Eyed Dragon of Cygnon
The Forward Backward People of Xarock
The Hollow Planet
All Hail Goddess Melody
Outer Space Ark
Warrior Woman of Amazonia

Josie and the Pussycats was rerun during 1975-76. The series ran on The Cartoon Network in 1992 and airs today on Boomerang. A live action film was produced in 2001. Two albums were recorded, one soundtrack for the cartoon series, the other soundtrack for the movie. The series has also been released on DVD.

Valerie originally appeared in the Josie and The Pussycats comic book series, as Valerie Smith, from 1968-1982. She premiered in Josie And The Pussycats #45 in December 1968, and first premiered on the cover of Josie And The Pussycats #46.