The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius

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The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius
Jimmy Neutron Logo modern (2).png
Genre
Created by John A. Davis
Based on Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
by John A. Davis
Directed by
  • Keith Alcorn
  • Mike Gasaway
  • Kirby Atkins
Voices of
Theme music composer Brian Causey
ComposerCharlie Brissette
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes61 (87 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer Steve Oedekerk
Producers
  • Keith Alcorn
  • John A. Davis
  • Paul Marshal
Editors
  • Jon Price
  • John Wahba
  • Joe E. Elwood
Running time11–73 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Nickelodeon
ReleaseJuly 20, 2002 (2002-07-20) –
November 25, 2006 (2006-11-25)
Related

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius (or just The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron and often shortened as Jimmy Neutron) is an American animated television series created by John A. Davis for Nickelodeon. Based on the 2001 film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius , the series serves as a sequel to the film. It originally aired on Nickelodeon for three seasons from July 20, 2002, to November 25, 2006. The show follows an 11-year-old genius from the fictitious town of Retroville, Texas, the eponymous character, as he goes on adventures with his best friends Carl Wheezer and Sheen Estevez. [1] Throughout the show, various mishaps and conflicts occur on these adventures, as Jimmy's various inventions go awry. The series features voices of Debi Derryberry (Jimmy), Rob Paulsen (Carl), and Jeffrey Garcia (Sheen) for the three main characters. [2] It was the first Nicktoon series to be animated in CGI.

Contents

Receiving mostly favorable reviews upon and since its release, the series has been the recipient of various nominations such as the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Cartoon in 2006 and 2007, and has also won an Annie Award for "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production Produced for Children" in 2004 as well as a Motion Picture Sound Editors "Golden Reel Award". [3] [4] [5] A spin-off, Planet Sheen , aired from 2010 to 2013.

Premise

The show follows a scientifically minded boy named Jimmy Neutron from Retroville, Texas [6] who frequently goes on adventures with his two best friends, Carl and Sheen, usually involving his inventions going wrong.

Series overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
Pilot September 7, 1998 (1998-09-07)
Film December 21, 2001 (2001-12-21)
1 19July 20, 2002 (2002-07-20) [7] September 5, 2003 (2003-09-05)
2 17September 19, 2003 (2003-09-19)July 9, 2004 (2004-07-09)
3 19November 11, 2004 (2004-11-11)November 25, 2006 (2006-11-25)
Specials 3May 7, 2004 (2004-05-07)July 21, 2006 (2006-07-21)

The Fairly OddParents crossover episodes

There have also been three tie-ins with special episode crossovers involving the Nickelodeon hand-drawn style series The Fairly OddParents under the title "The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour" (the first alone, the second and third with the subtitles "When Nerds Collide!" and "The Jerkinators!," respectively); the five main characters from Jimmy Neutron meet with the main characters from The Fairly OddParents, Timmy, his godparents, and his two best friends Chester, and AJ, and often cross between each of their worlds of 2D and 3D animation.

Production

Development

Keith Alcorn and John A. Davis created Jimmy (then named Johnny Quasar) sometime during the 1980s and wrote a script titled Runaway Rocketboy (later the name of the pilot), which was abandoned. He later stumbled upon the idea while moving into a new house in the early 1990s. Davis re-worked it as a short film titled Johnny Quasar and presented it at SIGGRAPH, where he met Steve Oedekerk and worked on a television series of the short as well as the movie. Jimmy was still called Johnny Quasar before it was decided to name him Jimmy Neutron because the name sounded eerily similar to Jonny Quest. [8] The pilot involves Jimmy Neutron testing a rocket ship that he has invented, and later uses it when he inadvertently stumbles upon a Yolkian plot to conquer Earth. The pilot was aired in short mini-episodes on Nickelodeon before the film's release, and its plot was used for the film. It was later included as an extra on the "Confusion Fusion" and "The Complete Series" DVDs. It was originally supposed to air as a short on KaBlam! , but the show got canceled before the episode aired. [ citation needed ]

The pilot had a few differences from the main series. In it, Jimmy wore a red and white striped shirt and did not wear his signature red atom shirt, Judy's hair was darker, Hugh wore a blue suit (instead of a sweater vest and tie) and was a bit smarter, the Yolkians all wore grey suits and King Goobot's crown was a different color, the theme song was longer with a few lines that were cut later, Goddard was voiced by Kim Saxon instead of Frank Welker, Carl Wheezer had a very different design, main characters Sheen Estevez, Cindy Vortex, and Libby Folfax were absent and the title card had a picture in the scene.

Writing

The show began with Jed Spingarn as story editor and Steven Banks as head writer, though the series featured a variety of freelance writers as well. Midway through the first season, Jed Spingarn was promoted to Co-Producer and started writing less episodes, while Gene Grillo took his place as story editor. In seasons 2 and 3 the show featured less freelance writers and most episodes were written by Banks and Grillo. In addition, season 1 was more episodic and had mostly 11-minute episodes, while seasons 2 and 3 had serial elements and mostly half-hour episodes.

Animation

DNA Productions retooled their pipeline when moving from the film to the TV series, to reuse assets for the episodes. Some of the programming team at the studio programmed a special code that allowed the animators to animate scenes in Maya, which can then be rendered in Lightwave. This helped the team keep up with the deadline and avoid going over budget. [9]

Possible reboot/revival plans

In 2016, director John A. Davis has stated that he has a story for a Jimmy Neutron reboot feature that he would like to make, but he is waiting for the "right situation" to make it. [10]

When asked about a reboot in 2020, Rob Paulsen stated "Well, I've got to tell you, man. I go all over the world when we don't have the coronavirus, and people love Carl. They love Carl. I don't think it would be a bad thing at all to reboot Jimmy Neutron. I think that's one of those shows that a lot of people would love to see again. It was very good. Really smart. That wouldn't surprise me." [11]

Theme song

The theme song was originally written by Brian Causey for the pilot episode. Pop-punk band Bowling for Soup later revamped and extended Causey's theme for the film version theme. Ultimately, the original theme was kept for the TV series intro and outro. [12] [13]

Reception

Critical reception

Joly Herman of Common Sense Media gave the series 3 out of 5 stars; saying that, "Jimmy Neutron has all the trappings of a Nickelodeon show: the preteen peer pressure, the gadgets, the spacey parents. But it's clever enough and funny enough to have earned a devoted following. The script is generally well written and well executed – the adults behind this show approach the project with apparent zeal. [...] Kids will enjoy this program, while parents might get a kick out of some of the gags as well. And though the computer animation may seem a bit freaky for old-school animation fans, it does allow for quality special effects." [14]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef
2003 BMI Awards BMI Cable AwardCharlie BrissetteWon [15]
2004 31st Annie Awards Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production Produced for ChildrenNickelodeon and DNA ProductionsWon [16]
Outstanding Achievement Directing in an Animated Television ProductionMike GasawayNominated
Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting in an Animated Television ProductionJeff Garcia as SheenWon
10th annual NAMIC Vision AwardsChildren'sMTV/Nickelodeon for The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy GeniusNominated [17]
BMI Awards BMI Cable AwardCharlie Brissette and Brian CauseyWon [18]
Golden Reel Awards Best Sound Editing in Television AnimationThe Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy GeniusWon [19]
2005 32nd Annie Awards Outstanding Achievement in Directing in an Animated Television ProductionKeith AlcornNominated [20]
Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting in an Animated Television ProductionCarolyn Lawrence as CindyNominated
2006 33rd Annie Awards Outstanding Achievement in Writing in an Animated Television ProductionChristopher PainterNominated [21]
2006 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite CartoonThe Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy GeniusNominated [22]
2007 2007 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite CartoonThe Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy GeniusNominated [23]

Home media

DVD releases

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius home media releases
SeasonTitleRegionRelease date
1 Confusion Fusion1May 27, 2003
2October 8, 2003
Sea of Trouble1October 7, 2003
2March 24. 2005 [24]
Jimmy Timmy Power Hour1May 11, 2004
Nick Picks #21October 18, 2005
Nick Picks #31February 7, 2006
Nick Picks #41June 6, 2006
Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 31July 25, 2006
Party at Neutron's2September 4, 2006
King of Mars4July 5, 2007
Best of Season One1September 16, 2008
The Complete Series1October 26, 2021 [25]
2 Jet Fusion1February 3, 2004
2July 7, 2005 [26]
Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 21March 14, 2006
Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 31July 25, 2006
Best of Season Two1September 16, 2008
The Complete Series1October 26, 2021
3 Attack of the Twonkies1November 16, 2004
Nick Picks #51March 13, 2007
King of Mars4July 5, 2007 [27]
Best of Season Three1September 16, 2008
The Complete Series1October 26, 2021

Spin-off

A spin-off series, Planet Sheen , aired from 2010 to 2013. The show focuses on Sheen Estevez, who accidentally crash-lands on the planet Zeenu in the pilot episode.

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References

  1. ↑ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 63–65. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  2. ↑ Nick Animation (September 15, 2017), Episode 41: Jimmy Neutron Cast | Nick Animation Podcast , retrieved June 22, 2018
  3. ↑ "Annie Awards". annieawards.org. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  4. ↑ "49th Golden Reel Awards Nominees Announced". Mixonline. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  5. ↑ "2006 Host/Nominee Release – Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2006 Press Site". www.nickkcapress.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  6. ↑ Season 3 Episode 3, "Stranded"
  7. ↑ "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius: Season 1". Zap2It . Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  8. ↑ Frank Moldstad. "Making Jimmy Neutron, An interview with John Davis, Director, and creator of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius". Archived from the original on February 21, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  9. ↑ Gruppetstudios (October 14, 2016), Cartoons VS Cancer Ep. 11 – (The One with John Davis!) , retrieved November 24, 2017
  10. ↑ Gruppetstudios (October 14, 2016), Cartoons VS Cancer Ep. 11 – (The One with John Davis!) , retrieved November 24, 2017
  11. ↑ "Jimmy Neutron Star Says a Reboot Wouldn't be Surprising". April 4, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Randy Edelman, Merv Griffin, Eminem Among Honorees at BMI Film/TV Awards". BMI.com. May 14, 2003. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  13. ↑ "2004 BMI Film/TV Awards". BMI.com. May 12, 2004. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  14. ↑ Herman, Joly (July 20, 2002). "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Buy Genius review". Common Sense Media.
  15. ↑ "2003 BMI Film/TV Awards". May 14, 2003.
  16. ↑ "31st Annie Awards". annieawards.org.
  17. ↑ Morfoot, Addie (March 28, 2004). "Namic names nominee names". Variety.
  18. ↑ "2004 BMI Film/TV Awards". May 12, 2004.
  19. ↑ "MPSE Announces Golden Reel Award Winners". ProSoundNetwork.com. March 2005.
  20. ↑ "32nd Annie Awards". annieawards.org.
  21. ↑ "33rd Annie Awards". annieawards.org.
  22. ↑ "Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2006 host and nominees". www.nickkcapress.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2007 host and nominees". www.nickkcapress.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2007. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  24. ↑ "DVD – Jimmy neutron: sea of trouble". Archived from the original on October 3, 2011.
  25. ↑ "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius: The Complete Series". Amazon. October 26, 2021.
  26. ↑ "DVD – Jimmy Neutron: Jet fusion". Archived from the original on October 3, 2011.
  27. ↑ "DVD – Jimmy Neutron: King of Mars". Archived from the original on October 3, 2011.
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