Jonny Quest (TV series)

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Jonny Quest
Jonny-quest-logo.jpg
Title card
Also known asThe Adventures of Jonny Quest
Genre
Created by Doug Wildey
Written by
Directed by
Voices of
Theme music composer Hoyt Curtin
Composers Hoyt Curtin and Ted Nichols
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes26 (list of episodes)
Production
Producers
Running time25 minutes
Production company Hanna-Barbera Productions
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseSeptember 18, 1964 (1964-09-18) –
March 11, 1965 (1965-03-11)

Jonny Quest (also known as The Adventures of Jonny Quest) is an American animated science fiction adventure television series about a boy who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for Screen Gems, and was created and designed by comic book artist Doug Wildey.

Contents

The show was inspired by radio serials and comics in the action-adventure genre, and featured more realistic art, human characters, and stories than Hanna-Barbera's previous cartoon programs. [2] It was the first of several Hanna-Barbera action-based adventure shows—which would later include Space Ghost , The Herculoids , and Birdman and the Galaxy Trio —and ran on ABC in prime time on early Friday nights for one season from 1964 to 1965.

After 20 years of reruns, during which time the series appeared on all three major U.S. television networks of the time, new episodes were produced for syndication in 1986 as part of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera 's second season. Two telefilms, a comic book series, and a second revival series, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest , were produced in the 1990s. Characters from the series also appear throughout The Venture Bros.

Development

Comic book artist Doug Wildey, after having worked on Cambria Productions' 1962 animated television series Space Angel , [3] found work at the Hanna-Barbera studio, which asked him to design a series starring the radio drama adventure character Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy. [4]

Wildey wrote and drew a presentation, using magazines like Popular Science , Popular Mechanics , and Science Digest "to project what would be happening 10 years hence", and devising or updating such devices as a "snowskimmer" and hydrofoils. When Hanna-Barbera could not or would not obtain the rights to Jack Armstrong, the studio had Wildey rework the concept. Wildey said he "went home and wrote Jonny Quest that night—which was not that tough." For inspiration, he drew on Jackie Cooper and Frankie Darro movies, Milton Caniff's comic strip Terry and the Pirates , and, at the behest of Hanna-Barbera, the James Bond movie Dr. No . As Wildey described in 1986, producer Joe Barbera had seen that first film about the English superspy "and wanted to get in stuff like '007' numbers. Which we included, by the way, in the first [episode of] Jonny Quest. It was called 'Jonny Quest File 037' or something. We dropped that later; it didn't work. But that was his father's code name as he worked for the government as a scientist and that kind of thing." [4] Wildey stated that Hanna-Barbera refused to give him a "created by" credit, and that he and the studio "finally arrived on 'based on an idea created by', and that was my credit." [4]

Jonny Quest debuted on ABC at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Friday, September 18, 1964. [5] As comics historian Daniel Herman wrote,

Wildey's designs on Jonny Quest gave a cartoon a distinctive look, with its heavy blacks [i.e. shading and shadow] and its Caniff-inspired characters. ... The show was an action/adventure story involving the feature's namesake, an 11-year-old boy. The cast of characters included Jonny's kid sidekick, named Hadji, Jonny's globetrotting scientist dad ... and the group's handsome bodyguard, secret agent Race Bannon, who looks as if he stepped out of the pages of [Caniff's comic strip] Steve Canyon . ... The look of Jonny Quest was unlike any other cartoon television show of the time, with its colorful backgrounds, and its focus on the characters with their jet packs, hydrofoils, and lasers. Wildey would work on other animation projects, but it was with his work on Jonny Quest that he reached his widest audience, bringing a comic book sense of design and style to television cartoons. [6]

Wildey did not design the more cartoonishly drawn pet bulldog, Bandit, which was designed by animator Richard Bickenbach. [4]

Although they do not appear in any episode, scenes from the Jack Armstrong test film were incorporated into the Jonny Quest closing credits. [4] [7] They feature Jack Armstrong and Billy Fairfield escaping from African warriors by hovercraft. The test sequence and several drawings and storyboards by Wildey were used to sell the series to ABC and sponsors.[ citation needed ]

Scenes from the abandoned Jack Armstrong test film
Demo1.gif Demo2.gif Demo03.gif Demo04.gif

The show's working titles were The Saga of Chip Baloo, which Wildey said "wasn't really serious, but that was it for the beginning", [4] and Quest File 037. [8] [9] [10] The name Quest was selected from a phone book, for its adventurous implications. [4] [11]

Characters

The Quest team. Front row (left to right): Dr. Benton Quest and "Race" Bannon. Back row: Jonny Quest, Hadji, and Bandit. Jonny-quest-opening-title.jpg
The Quest team. Front row (left to right): Dr. Benton Quest and "Race" Bannon. Back row: Jonny Quest, Hadji, and Bandit.

The main five characters of the show are:

The Quest family has a home compound in the Florida Keys located on the island of Palm Key, but their adventures take them around the world as they travel the globe studying scientific mysteries, which generally end up being the work of various adversaries. These adversaries range from espionage robots and electric monsters to Egyptian mummies and prehistoric pterosaurs.

Although most antagonists appeared in only one episode, there are recurring antagonists such as Dr. Zin, an Asian criminal mastermind. [21] Dr. Zin and other characters were voiced by Vic Perrin.

Race's mysterious old flame, Jade, voiced by Cathy Lewis, appears in two episodes, as do the characters of Corbin, an Intelligence One agent, and the Professor, a scientist colleague of Dr. Quest's.

Hadji's friend, Pasha Peddler, appears in the episode "Calcutta Adventure" and is instrumental in arranging Hadji's adoption by the Quest family. Pasha appears to make a living by buying and selling anything he can profit from, and he aids the Quests in their adventure. Although Pasha is presented as and claims to be a native of India, he speaks in jazz-tinged colloquial English. Notably, his skin tone resembles the Quests and not other Asian characters in the show. Although it is never stated outright, it is implied Pasha is the U.S. Marine who originally taught Hadji to speak English and raised him, which is supported by the fact that Pasha is a skilled helicopter pilot.

Broadcast history

Jonny Quest aired from September 18, 1964, to March 11, 1965, in prime time on the ABC network and was an almost instant success both critically and ratings-wise. However, it was canceled after one season due to its high production costs.[ citation needed ]

Jonny Quest also aired on CBS Saturday mornings/early afternoons from 1967 to 1970.

Like the original Star Trek television series, the series was profitable in syndication, but this was not as well-known when the show was canceled in 1965. Along with another Hanna-Barbera series, The Jetsons , Jonny Quest is one of the few television series to have aired on each of the Big Three television networks in the United States.[ citation needed ]

Episodes

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References

  1. ↑ Writing credits for Jonny Quest (1964)
  2. ↑ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 452–456. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  3. ↑ Herman, Daniel. Silver Age: The Second Generation of Comic Artists (Hermes Press, Neshannock Township, Pennsylvania, 2004) p. 195. Trade paperback ISBN   978-1-932563-64-1
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Olbrich, David W. "Doug Wildey, an interview with the creator of Jonny Quest", Amazing Heroes #95 (ISSN 0745-6506), May 15, 1986, p. 34 WebCitation archive
  5. ↑ "Jonny Quest and Television".
  6. ↑ Herman, pp. 195-196
  7. ↑ "Was that 'Jack Armstrong' film ever broadcast?", at Classic Jonny Quest FAQ, retrieved 2014-02-23.
  8. ↑ Castleman, Harry, and Walter J. Podrazik, Harry and Wally's Favorite TV Shows, Prentice Hall, 1989
  9. ↑ Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present , Ballantine Books, 1995 (sixth ed.)
  10. ↑ TV Guide Guide to TV (Barnes and Noble Books, 2004)
  11. ↑ Barbera, Joseph (1994). My Life in "Toons": From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century . Atlanta, GA: Turner Publishing Company. p.  152. ISBN   1-57036-042-1.
  12. ↑ "End Credits for "Jonny Quest"". www.classicjq.com. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  13. ↑ "The Mystery of the Lizard Men", Jonny Quest, 18 September 1964
  14. ↑ "Double Danger", Jonny Quest, 13 November 1964
  15. ↑ Quest documentary, part 11 on YouTube
  16. ↑ "Get Knotted - Original Celtic Knotwork - List of Irish Surnames". Archived from the original on 2010-04-28. Retrieved 2011-05-26.
  17. ↑ "Bannon coat of arms, family crest and Bannon family history".
  18. ↑ "In search of Jonny Quest". Los Angeles Times. 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
  19. ↑ "Calcutta Adventure". Jonny Quest. Season one. Episode seven. 30 October 1964.
  20. ↑ Blosser, Lyle P. (2008), "Classic Jonny Quest FAQ", accessed 23 March 2013.
  21. ↑ Saturday morning fever, Timothy Burke, Kevin Burke pp. 113-116
  22. ↑ Jonny Quest P.F. Flyer Magic Ring at ClassicJQ.com
  23. ↑ Jonny Quest Coloring Books at ClassicJQ.com
  24. ↑ Jonny Quest Card Game at ClassicJQ.com
  25. ↑ Jonny Quest Puzzles at ClassicJQ.com
  26. ↑ Jonny Quest Paint-/Pencil-/Crayon-By-Number Sets at ClassicJQ.com
  27. ↑ Jonny Quest Games and Toys: Jonny Quest Board Game at ClassicJQ.com
  28. ↑ Kenner Give-A-Show Projector at ClassicJQ.com
  29. ↑ Jonny Quest Games and Toys: Kenner Movie Projector at ClassicJQ.com
  30. ↑ Jonny Quest in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at ClassicJQ.com
  31. ↑ Jonny Quest Archived 2012-10-19 at the Wayback Machine at TVShowsOnDVD.com
  32. ↑ Fuqua, Craig. "Jonny Quest Warner DVD Deficiencies" . Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  33. ↑ "Warner Archive Announces June Releases". Blu-Ray.com.
  34. ↑ Fuqua, Craig. "Jonny Quest: The Complete First Season". ClassicJQ.com.
  35. ↑ Hemmert, Kylie (June 24, 2021). "Jellystone!: Hanna-Barbera Characters Return in HBO Max Original Animated Series". Comingsoon.net.
  36. ↑ "Jellystone! I Official Trailer I HBO Max Family". YouTube . June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  37. ↑ "HBO Max and Warner Bros. Animation: Jellystone! | Comic-Con@Home 2021". YouTube .
  38. ↑ "Specials Video - Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! | Stream Free".

Further reading

No.TitleWritten byOriginal air date
1"The Mystery of the Lizard Men"Joseph Barbera, William Hanna, Douglas Wildey, and Alex LovySeptember 18, 1964 (1964-09-18)
While investigating the disappearance of multiple ships in the Sargasso Sea, Dr. Quest discovers a secret laser base (operated by a foreign provocateur and protected by lizard-suited scuba divers) hidden aboard an 18th-century shipwreck (Hadji does not appear in this episode).
2"Arctic Splashdown"Walter BlackSeptember 25, 1964 (1964-09-25)
A foreign submarine crew races Dr. Quest and his recovery team (aboard an American icebreaker) to a downed experimental missile in the Arctic ice cap (the first appearance of Hadji).
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