History Trivia / JosieAndThePussycats

* ExecutiveMeddling: Valerie owes her entire existence to this, as Dan [=DeCarlo=] recalls in an interview in the book ''American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960s''. When the comic was about to be retooled into one about a traveling band, editor John Goldwater insisted to him that Pepper should be removed due to him having a problem with how [[DeadpanSnarker sharp-tongued]] she was, saying that "At Riverdale, everyone respects authority, respects everyone," (how he felt about Alexandra and Alexander's antagonism is anyone's guess). [=DeCarlo=] noted that Josie and her friends didn't even live in Riverdale at the time, but didn't press the issue. Valerie was then introduced, and the rest is history.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Valerie owes her entire existence to this. As the comic was about to be retooled into one about a traveling band, Pepper was dropped from the comic at the request of higher-ups due to being too similar to student protesters and activists at the time. Valerie was then introduced, and the rest is history.

** Averted in TheNewTens when the series was released on home video in the United Kingdom.

!!Live-Action Film
* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget: $39 million. Final box office gross: $14.8 million. Its self-referential tone alienated family audiences, and, as mentioned below, the film's flopping led to ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' (which began as a college-oriented semi-parody along the lines of ''Josie'') toning down its adult humor so it wouldn't make the same mistake.
* CaliforniaDoubling: Most of the film was shot in UsefulNotes/{{Vancouver}}, doubling for New York and various other locations.
* CreatorKiller: Pulled a triple on directors/writers Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan and executive producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. Elfont and Kaplan never directed another movie and would not write another film until 2004, while Edmonds has never produced another film.
* DisownedAdaptation: Archie Comics were less than thrilled about the amount of adult humor in the film. In fact, they even made a letter on their website from "Alan M." complaining about the film. Universal subsequently released the film in two versions: the original film and a PG-rated family-friendly cut, which basically toned down all innuendos, including the "pussy" double entendres.
* ProductionPosse: Most of Du Jour previously appeared in another Elfont/Kaplan movie, ''Film/CantHardlyWait''.
** Going forwards, ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', co-created by Creator/SethGreen, also featured Creator/BreckinMeyer and Creator/DonaldFaison on a regular basis, as well as Rachael Leigh Cook (notably [[ParodyAssistance parodying her infamous "This is your brain on drugs" PSA in the very first episode).
* StarDerailingRole: Plenty of people suffered from the failure of this film (as also covered underneath CreatorKiller), but as far as the actors go, in particular both Creator/RachaelLeighCook and Creator/TaraReid's once-promising careers took nosedives from which they never fully recovered. Creator/RosarioDawson managed to avoid this due to appearances in hits/cult classics such as ''Film/SinCity'' and ''Film/{{RENT}}''.
* StillbornFranchise: The film was meant to be the first of several adult-oriented, semi-parody Creator/HannaBarbera movie adaptations[[note]]It was the last H-B feature to be overseen by their previous distributors, Creator/{{Universal}}. All projects since have been produced through Creator/WarnerBros, the studio's current owners.[[/note]] which attempted to recreate the novelty appeal of the then-recent Creator/AdultSwim shows like ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'', ''WesternAnimation/Sealab2021'' and, to a lesser extent, ''WesternAnimation/TheBrakShow'' for a wider audience. Its failure resulted in the ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' movie having much of its adult humor toned down.
* VindicatedByCable: The movie bombed at the box office, but found a following thanks to DVD sales and network airings.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Music/{{Aaliyah}} was originally offered the role of Valerie, but turned it down. [[HarsherInHindsight She died four months after the film was released. In a Bahamas plane crash.]] Music/{{Beyonce}} and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes also read for the role. Creator/MaggieGyllenhaal and Creator/ZooeyDeschanel read for Josie.
** One of the parody ProductPlacement ads they wanted was "Everybody in Leopard", parodying the Gap ads of the era that had "Everybody in Denim" or something similar. But Gap read the script and didn't want to be part of it.
** When the movie was first pitched, Elfont and Kaplan briefly spitballed adapting the infamous ''Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space'', but ultimately opted against it.
* [[https://comicbook.com/movies/news/josie-and-the-pussycats-filmmakers-pitched-a-sequel-to-netflix/ A few years back]], Elfont, Kaplan, Seth Green and Breckin Meyer teamed up to pitch a sequel to Netflix following the lives of a [[ScrewedByTheLawyers renamed Dujour]] reuniting. It never happened, though Dujour did reappear in, aptly enough, a ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' special based around Archie characters in 2021 (with Green, Meyer and Donald Faison reprising their roles, and Rachael Leigh Cook reprising the role of Josie too)

* VindicatedByCable: The movie bombed at the box office, but found a following thanks to DVD and network airings.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The film, [[TurnOfTheMillennium made in 2001]], takes place in a world where {{boy band}}s and {{girl group}}s are the biggest things in pop music, the major labels wield near-supreme control over what becomes popular, Creator/{{MTV}} is still thought of as a music network first (and even features the show ''Total Request Live'', complete with Carson Daly still hosting), and everyone gets their music from brick-and-mortar record stores. File-sharing isn't even mentioned, despite the fact that Napster was at the peak of its popularity and infamy when the film came out. Additionally, some of the brands [[ProductPlacement featured]] ''[[UpToEleven very heavily]]'' in the film have faded out of relevance, such as [=MovieFone=] and America Online, both of which faded into irrelevance later in the decade with the rise of the Internet and cable [=ISPs=], respectively, as well as the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast, which had just been discontinued a week before the film's premiere (the movie was filmed early enough that the [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8HUrem_gPg0/VZeanSHMrII/AAAAAAAAG8M/hudhM_rmHaM/s1600/sega-dreamcast-box.png original packaging for the DC]] is visible as opposed to the [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QeEtI9lptVo/VZealkVJxtI/AAAAAAAAG8E/XzYdwQ1jgKo/s1600/box.png later variant]]). It also predicted that bubblegum teen pop would be swept aside by PopPunk in the early 2000s. While the titular band's outfits and videos are reminiscent of Music/DestinysChild and early Music/BritneySpears, the actual music sounds more like Music/AvrilLavigne or Music/GoodCharlotte. This only further dates it to the early 2000s, the era in which that wave of pop-punk was at its height.
** On a much sadder note one scene firmly ties the film to the first half of 2001. There is a shot of the Pussycat's jet flying over Manhattan, with an extremely prominent placement of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. The film opened mere months before the September 11th Attacks.

* BigNameFan: ''[[Music/{{U2}} Bono]]'', of all people, [[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jarettwieselman/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-josie-and-the-pussycats loved the film]].

* CreatorBacklash: Archie Comics were less than thrilled about the amount of adult humor in the film. In fact, they even made a letter on their website from "Alan M." complaining about the film. Universal subsequently released the film in two versions: the original film and a PG-rated family-friendly cut, which basically toned down all innuendos, including the "pussy" double entendres.

* StarDerailingRole: Plenty of people suffered from the failure of this film (as also covered underneath CreatorKiller), but as far as the actors go, in particular both Creator/RachaelLeighCook and Creator/TaraReid's once-promising careers took nosedive from which they never fully recovered. Creator/RosarioDawson managed to avoid this due to appearances in hits/cult classics such as ''Film/SinCity'' and ''Film/{{RENT}}''.

* RetroactiveRecognition:
** [[Film/WarOfTheWorlds Tom Cruise's whiny son]] plays a recurring Josie fan.
** [[Film/GingerSnaps Ginger Fitzgerald]][=/=][[Film/AmericanMary Mary Mason]] is a member of the GirlPosse that goes from laughing at the Pussycats to embracing them as {{Teen Idol}}s.
** [[Creator/GabrielMann Alan M.]] moved to the Hamptons to help a friend get ''Series/{{Revenge}}''. Alternately, [[WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes he's a gamma-irradiated scientist with anger issues]].

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The film, [[TurnOfTheMillennium made in 2001]], takes place in a world where {{boy band}}s and {{girl group}}s are the biggest things in pop music, the major labels wield near-supreme control over what becomes popular, Creator/{{MTV}} is still thought of as a music network first, and everyone gets their music from brick-and-mortar record stores. File-sharing isn't even mentioned, despite the fact that Napster was at the peak of its popularity and infamy when the film came out. Additionally, some of the brands [[ProductPlacement featured]] ''[[UpToEleven very heavily]]'' in the film have faded out of relevance, such as [=MovieFone=] and America Online, both of which faded into irrelevance later in the decade with the rise of the Internet and cable [=ISPs=], respectively, as well as the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast, which had just been discontinued a week before the film's premiere (the movie was filmed early enough that the [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8HUrem_gPg0/VZeanSHMrII/AAAAAAAAG8M/hudhM_rmHaM/s1600/sega-dreamcast-box.png original packaging for the DC]] is visible as opposed to the [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QeEtI9lptVo/VZealkVJxtI/AAAAAAAAG8E/XzYdwQ1jgKo/s1600/box.png later variant]]). It also predicted that bubblegum teen pop would be swept aside by PopPunk in the early 2000s. While the titular band's outfits and videos are reminiscent of Music/DestinysChild and early Music/BritneySpears, the actual music sounds more like Music/AvrilLavigne or Music/GoodCharlotte. This only further dates it to the early 2000s, the era in which that wave of pop-punk was at its height.

** [Creator/GabrielMann Alan M.]] moved to the Hamptons to help a friend get ''Series/{{Revenge}}''. Alternately, [[WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes he's a gamma-irradiated scientist with anger issues]].