With their long tails and ears for hats, the animated trio Josie & the Pussycats represented the cartoon universe's most daring plunge into the realm of rock & roll. Debuting in the early '70s, the Pussycats broke new ground as an all-female group as well as a multi-cultural unit, a vanguard advancement not only within the realm of animation, but also in the real world, where pop music remained a largely male and largely white phenomenon. In fact, with their twee popcraft, sassy attitude, and cute-as-a-button image, it could be argued that they were the original cuddle-core band. Like the Banana Splits, Josie & the Pussycats were the creation of producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the unquestioned kings of '60s and '70s Saturday morning television. The Archies were the Hanna-Barbera team's first television-to-music success story: an animated series based on the long-running comic book about teenager Archie Andrews and the rock band he formed with his friends Betty, Veronica, Reggie, and Jughead, the program spawned the 1969 smash "Sugar Sugar," a single performed by a group of anonymous New York session players which, when marketed as an Archies record, became the year's biggest hit.