The Pussycats have been struggling to get their rock band noticed in the small town of Riverdale. The band consists Josie McCoy (Rachael Leigh Cook) on vocals and guitar, Valerie Brown (Rosario Dawson) on bass, and Melody Valentine (Tara Reid) on drums. The girls have been best friends all their lives, and have made a promise promise to always be friends first and a band second. The band’s manager, Alexander Cabot III (Paulo Costanzo), has proven to be somewhat useless, with the girls resorting to renting out a bowling lane just to perform in front of an audience. However, the girls are about to get their big break. The biggest boy band on the planet, Dujour, was just about to kick off its new tour in Riverdale when the band’s private jet went missing. MegaRecords producer Wyatt Frame (Alan Cumming) is being pressured by boss Fiona (Parker Posey) to find a new band, and just happens to serendipitously cross paths with the Pussycats.

With his help, the girls become stars seemingly overnight, with rabid fans sending their songs flying up the charts. However, Wyatt and Fiona have their own nefarious things in the works, and these girls are unknowingly just the latest tool to carry out their evil plan. Fame starts to get to the girls’ heads and this once happy trio of friends now find themselves competing with and resenting one another—especially when Wyatt decides to rename the band to “Josie and the Pussycats”, which doesn’t sit well with Valerie. Will the girls figure out what MegaRecords is really up to before they destroy their friendship and their band?!

Josie and the Pussycats definitely feels like a product of its era, with appearances by Carson Daly and his show TRL, the Movie Phone Guy, references to Heath Ledger, a Bill Cosby impression, and things like the Sony Discman, AOL, Pepsi One, and more. The amount of obvious product placement in the film is ridiculous. At first I found this to be slightly annoying, thinking it was just a huge cash grab. But once it is revealed what the MegaRecords folks are really up to, I found this to be quite genius in a way, adding both a level of absurd humor to the movie as well as a connection to the plot. Over the course of the film, the product placement just keeps getting more and more absurd, but in a really fun way.

The film also has an amazing cast. The movie opens with an over-the-top performance by boy band Dujour (Donald Faison, Seth Green, Breckin Meyer & Alex Martin) singing their hit song “Backdoor Lover”, which has some hilarious double-entendre lyrics. The Pussycats also have great chemistry with one another, truly feeling like lifelong friends. Josie is the leader of the group, coming up with all the ideas, but she’s constantly doubting herself. For years she’s had a crush on neighbor/folk guitarist Alan M. (Gabriel Mann), but doesn’t know if he feels the same way about her. Valerie is strong-willed and perceptive, balancing out Josie’s doubts. And Melody is the free-spirited but dim, absent-minded member of the trio. She’s constantly blurting out the most ridiculous and hilarious things, such as “If I could back in time, I’d want to meet Snoopy”. The band’s flamboyant and somewhat useless manager, Alexander, is always joined by equally snobby twin sister Alexandra (Missi Pyle). It’s not really clear as to why she’s always hanging out with the band, because she doesn’t seem to like the girls, and has nothing to contribute. At one point Alexander even says “I still don’t understand why you’re here” to which she candidly responds “I’m here because I was in the comic book.” The film often likes to make these self-referential jokes.

Wyatt and Fiona make wonderful, over the top villains. Right from the start you get the sense that Wyatt is this smarmy, moustache-twirling guy who’s hiding something, and up to no good. Alan Cumming always plays this type of character to perfection. Meanwhile, the audience’s first introductions to Fiona are just over-the-shoulder glimpses, like a Bond villain. And when she finally does reveal herself, she’s definitely a bit out there with a few screws loose. There are some other fun cameos throughout the film, including an appearance by Eugene Levy playing himself.

In addition to the light character drama, the humor, and mystery of what’s goin on, the film also has some excellent and catchy original songs. From Dujour’s provocative pop songs, to the Pussycats’ rock tunes, these songs will certainly get stuck in your head for days after watching the movie!

Josie and the Pussycats arrives on Blu-ray for the first time from Mill Creek Entertainment for the film’s 20th anniversary. I found the picture to be quite good overall, with a clean picture that captures the film’s bright color palette nicely. While the picture generally looks quite good, there wasn’t a remarkable level of detail in faces and textures a lot of time. In one scene, a montage when the girls get their makeover after signing with Wyatt, the picture looks a bit washed out and grainy, and sometimes slightly out of focus—I was unsure if this was a style choice, or just a limitation of the video for that scene, but I suspect the latter as there was no mention of this in the commentary.

Much of the film focuses the audio in the front channels. While the dialogue is clear, the songs don’t sound as full as they could have been. I wish the surround channel had been utilized to fully immerse the viewer in the performances, but instead there’s just some ambient sounds of the jet. That said, the surround channel finally does kick in (and is utilized quite creatively) once the details of Fiona and Wyatt’s evil plan are revealed.

The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard HD keepcase without a slipcover, and ports over all of the bonus material from the original DVD release of the film. This includes an audio commentary from the filmmakers, a 24-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, Another 23 minutes of raw on-set footage, 3 deletes scenes, 3 music videos, and the film’s trailer. There is no digital copy included.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:38:25)

• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:
All bonus material has been ported over from Universal’s original 2001 DVD release. There is nothing new added for this release.

• Feature Commentary (1:38:25)
  Directors Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont and producer Marc Platt provide a fun and interesting commentary throughout the film. They discuss the cast, the product placement in the film, the music, and more, and share some interesting behind-the-scenes stories and trivia about the production and the evolution of the film.
• Backstage Pass (23:51)
  The cast and filmmakers walk through the main plot points of the film, discuss the cast and their chemistry, and talk about what it was like making the music and movie. Includes clips, recording studio & behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with writer-directors Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont, producer Marc Platt, musicians Cary Kane & Ninette (Powder), costume designer Leesa Evans, and stars Tara Reid (“Melody”), Rosario Dawson (“Valerie”), Parker Posey (“Fiona”), Rachael Leigh Cook (“Josie”), Alan Cumming (“Wyatt Frame”), Paulo Constanzo (“Alexander”), Missi Pyle (“Alexandra”) & Gabriel Mann (“Alan M”). Presented in full frame format.
• Behind the Scenes (22:45)
  Collection of behind-the-scenes footage and related clips from the film, noted with dates/locations/names of some of the cast/crew who appear. Presented in full frame format.
• Deleted Scenes (4:04)
  Three scenes play back-to-back. The first finds Fiona doing a dance number as she arrives at the launch party. In the second, Josie signs albums at the mall while the other Pussycats sit at a far less busy table off to the side. And finally, Wyatt asks Josie how committed she is to becoming a star.
• Josie and the Pussycats “3 Small Words” Music Video (2:54)
• Dujour “Backdoor Lover” Music Video (3:43)
• Dujour “Dujour Around The World” Music Video (2:59)
• Theatrical Trailer (2:28)

Final Thoughts:

Josie and the Pussycats is a zany film set in the world of this famous Riverdale rock band, that doesn’t take things too seriously. It features an amazing, talented and hilarious cast, a fun storyline, and some great music. Mill Creek’s Blu-ray features pretty solid picture and sound, and ports over all of the great bonus material from the previous DVD release. This movie is recommended for any fans of the cast/characters or anyone just looking for an entertaining and over-the-top comedy the whole family can enjoy.