The original Supremes were so very popular that there could have been a number of avenues at Gordy's disposal for expanding the visibility of the group. A cartoon, a movie, a fashion line of some sort. But it probably wasn't until the end of Flo's tenure that Gordy began to think outside of music, which is how we ended up with TCB. And it's important to remember that as popular as the Supremes were, they were still Black women in a society that limited what they could do. It's easy to forget that because they were so popular, but their popularity has to be placed in historical context. The fact that they were even on TV so often was still seen as a big deal.
Also keep in mind that Motown in the 60s was a record company and nothing more. By the time the J5 cartoon hit the airwaves, Motown was transitioning from Detroit record label to Los Angeles entertainment corporation. There was a world of difference between what Motown 1971/72 was doing vs Motown 66/67.
But I think a Supremes cartoon would've been an interesting venture, especially since their male "equivalent" the Beatles had their own cartoon. A movie would've been even better, considering how interesting each girl's personality and chemistry with the camera was. I think a movie- if done right- would've been something fun to watch. A line of Supremes gowns or shoes or wigs [[the latter of which someone would finally attempt to capitalize on during the JML period, but by then the group had lost a lot of it's original popularity) or accessories might have proven successful. Today these are things that are par for the course with an act as big as the Supremes, but back then it was considered a great idea just to get the Supremes' their own brand of white bread.
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