Josie and the Pussycats: The Complete Series - Original 2-Disc vs. Repackaged 3-Disc DVD Comparison Review
By Paul Rudoff on Jan. 30, 2020 at 10:58 PM in Home Video

Josie and the Pussycats is a 16-episode Hanna-Barbera animated series, based upon the Archie Comics series of the same name created by Dan DeCarlo, that aired on CBS during the 1970–1971 television season. In the 1972-1973 television season, the show was re-conceptualized as Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space and aired another 16 episodes. Josie and the Pussycats features an all-girl band that toured the world, getting mixed up in strange adventures, spy capers, and mysteries. The group consisted of lead singer and guitarist Josie, bassist Valerie, and air-headed blonde drummer Melody. Their entourage included cowardly manager Alexander Cabot III, his conniving sister Alexandra, her cat Sebastian, and muscular roadie Alan. The show is very similar to Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! in style and format, including the use of a laugh track, which is omitted from the DVD releases. Warner Brothers has released the complete sixteen episode series of Josie and the Pussycats twice on DVD. The first time was as a 2-disc DVD set on September 18, 2007 and then again as a 3-disc DVD set on June 20, 2017. This review will look at both releases so you'll know which one to buy and which one to avoid.
This set contains all 16 episodes, in the proper 1.33:1 aspect ratio (4:3 format), on two discs. Each episode is contained in one chapter. The first disc is a single-sided, dual-layer disc; while the second is a dual-sided disc (each side being single-layered). The layout of the episodes is listed below, and I am completely perplexed as to why Warner Bros. chose this configuration. Since no one likes "flipper discs", why not make Disc 2 a single-sided, dual-layer disc just like Disc 1? I can only guess that WB wanted to take advantage of the small (but considerate) capacity difference between the 9.4GB total capacity of the dual-sided disc (4.7GB capacity per side) and the 8.54GB capacity of the single-sided dual-layer disc.
DISC 1
01. "The Nemo's a No-No Affair" (September 12, 1970) (21:20)
02. "A Greenthumb Is Not a Goldfinger" (September 19, 1970) (21:36)
03. "The Secret Six Secret" (September 26, 1970) (21:25)
04. "Swap Plot Flop" (October 3, 1970) (21:26)
05. "The Midas Mix-Up" (October 10, 1970) (21:32)
06. "X Marks the Spot" (October 17, 1970) (21:31)
07. "Chili Today, Hot Tamale" (October 24, 1970) (21:33)
08. "Never Mind a Master Mind" (October 31, 1970) (21:33)
DISC 2, SIDE A
09. "Plateau of the Apes Plot" (November 7, 1970) (21:32)
10. "Strangemoon Over Miami" (November 14, 1970) (21:31)
11. "All Wong in Hong Kong" (November 21, 1970) (21:28)
12. "The Melody Memory Mix-Up" (November 28, 1970) (21:30)
DISC 2, SIDE B
13. "The Great Pussycat Chase" (December 5, 1970) (21:32)
14. "Spy School Spoof" (December 12, 1970) (21:22)
15. "The Jumpin' Jupiter Affair" (December 19, 1970) (21:25)
16. "Don't Count on a Countess" (January 2, 1971) (21:32)
The video is in pretty good shape, with strong colors and tight lines, but dirt, spots and lines abound as the print has not been restored. The original English mono audio track is listenable, but the range is very limited, with both the lows and the highs clipped off, and some distortion in the louder parts. Subtitles are available in English only.
All of the bonus features can be found on Disc 2, Side B, though all you will find is a great featurette that pays tribute to Josie's creator: "The Irresistible Charm of Dan DeCarlo" (22:55), presented in 4:3 Letterbox. DeCarlo is no longer with us, but several comic creators, including Stan Lee, sing his praises. The disc also includes trailers for Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Volume 3 (1:03), Classic Cartoons from the Vault - Space Ghost & Dino Boy / Birdman & The Galaxy Trio / Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection (1:21), Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete First Season (1:22), and Popeye The Sailor 1933-1938 Volume 1 (1:50). In addition, ads for The Smurfs: Season 1 and Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volumes 1-5 play on disc boot-up.

Each disc has bright orange widescreen menus featuring artwork from the show, with menu options Play, Episodes, and Languages (where you can turn the English subtitles on and off).

The discs are stored in a pressboard case with both discs on the same side, one partially overlapping the other. This disc holder is housed in a colorful slipcase.

While not perfect, it is a decent set for fans of the series.
This set contains all 16 episodes, in the proper 1.33:1 aspect ratio (4:3 format), on three discs. Each episode contains five chapters, placed at the commercial break spots. All three discs are single-sided, single-layer. The layout of the episodes is listed below, and I am completely perplexed as to why Warner Bros. chose to RE-AUTHOR THE DISCS in this new configuration. They removed the bonus feature and extra trailers, so with just the episodes, there is less data to include. With that in mind, wouldn't it have made more sense to author two single-sided dual-layer discs, with eight episodes per disc? Well, there is a positive side to changing the number of discs - it makes it VERY EASY to identify which set to buy (the original) and which set to avoid (this one).
DISC 1
01. "The Nemo's a No-No Affair" (September 12, 1970) (21:20)
02. "A Greenthumb Is Not a Goldfinger" (September 19, 1970) (21:36)
03. "The Secret Six Secret" (September 26, 1970) (21:25)
04. "Swap Plot Flop" (October 3, 1970) (21:26)
05. "The Midas Mix-Up" (October 10, 1970) (21:32)
DISC 2
06. "X Marks the Spot" (October 17, 1970) (21:31)
07. "Chili Today, Hot Tamale" (October 24, 1970) (21:33)
08. "Never Mind a Master Mind" (October 31, 1970) (21:33)
09. "Plateau of the Apes Plot" (November 7, 1970) (21:32)
10. "Strangemoon Over Miami" (November 14, 1970) (21:31)
DISC 3
11. "All Wong in Hong Kong" (November 21, 1970) (21:28)
12. "The Melody Memory Mix-Up" (November 28, 1970) (21:30)
13. "The Great Pussycat Chase" (December 5, 1970) (21:32)
14. "Spy School Spoof" (December 12, 1970) (21:22)
15. "The Jumpin' Jupiter Affair" (December 19, 1970) (21:25)
16. "Don't Count on a Countess" (January 2, 1971) (21:32)
While I have no doubt that Warner Bros. used the same episode masters in this set, they ROYALLY FUCKED UP when re-authoring the discs. All shots that have zooming or panning are jittery as hell. I don't know what they did that reduced the frame rate, but it wasn't done on the original two-disc set. Lest you think that this is a problem on my end, Amazon reviewer Skull Duggery noticed it, too. Audio is still limited to the original English mono track. Subtitles are still only available in English.
All of the bonus features from the original set are GONE! Granted, there was only one (if you don't count the advertisement "trailers"), but it was a damn good one. If I had to guess, Warner Bros. no longer has the rights to the Dan DeCarlo featurette, which is why they needed to re-author the discs. Of course, the featurette is copyright to them, so I don't know why else they couldn't include it anymore.
Each disc features the blandest, most generic "white text on a black background" widescreen menus with the "poster image" shuffled off to the side. The episodes are listed on each main menu screen, with the option to turn the English subtitles on and off buried under the Subtitles option.

The discs are stacked atop each other inside a standard-size plastic keep case, with an episode list insert on the left side.

If that wasn't enough, Warner Bros. even got really lazy when assigning labels to the discs. The original set had the show title in the disc labels ("JOSIE_AND_THE_PUSSYCATS_DISC_1"), while this new set just uses generic numbers ("7000078273_1").

Obviously, this set is a DISGRACE in every conceivable way. The only change they made for the better was in the placement of the chapter marks, but that hardly matters when the episodes are rendered nearly unwatchable by the frame rate reduction. Go pick up a used copy of the 2-disc DVD set instead.
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