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Jonny Quest
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Jonny Quest (often referred to as The Adventures of Jonny Quest, which is actually a separate series) is a science fiction/adventure animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and created and designed by comic book artist Doug Wildey, about a boy who accompanies his father on extraordinary adventures. It featured more realistic violence than earlier Hanna-Barbera programs, adding suspense and impact to the show.
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Encyclopedia
Jonny Quest (often referred to as The Adventures of Jonny Quest, which is actually a separate series) is a science fiction/adventure animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and created and designed by comic book artist Doug Wildey, about a boy who accompanies his father on extraordinary adventures. It featured more realistic violence than earlier Hanna-Barbera programs, adding suspense and impact to the show. The first of several Hanna-Barbera action-based adventure shows, which would later include Space Ghost, The Herculoids, and Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, Jonny Quest ran on ABC in prime time for one season in 1964–1965. After spending two decades in reruns, new episodes were produced for syndication in 1986. Two telefilms and a spin-off series (The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest) later revived the characters for the 1990s. Jonny Quest combined the drama of a radio serial, with the fantasy of an adventure comic book.
Original 1964–1965 show
Inspiration
The James Bond film Dr. No inspired Joseph Barbera to develop an action-adventure program. Hanna-Barbera had originally intended to produce an animated adaptation of the radio serial Jack Armstrong. Hiring noted comic book artist Doug Wildey, the company began negotiations with Jack Armstrong's copyright owners, and produced a short (approximately one-minute) Jack Armstrong test animation sequence in 1962. Negotiations fell through, and the Jack Armstrong project was retooled into Jonny Quest. Scenes from the Jack Armstrong test film were incorporated into the Jonny Quest closing credits montage: they are the scenes of the red-haired boy and his father escaping from the African natives using a hovercraft. The test sequence and a number of drawings and storyboards by Doug Wildey were used to sell the series to ABC and sponsors.
The series drew elements from other prior works, including Milton Caniff's adventure comic strip Terry and the Pirates (also a popular radio show), about a boy's international adventures. Another similar character was Rick Brant, teen star of a boy's adventure series published by Grosset & Dunlap from the 1940s to the 1960s, featuring a likable teen hero, his science-researcher father, a tiny island installation, mystery stories oriented around science and technology, and such regular characters as a secret agent and Chadha, a friend from Calcutta.
Characters, voice cast, and premise
The animated James Bond-like action series focused on the adventures of Dr. Benton Quest, a government scientist tracking down strange occurrences; his 11-year-old son Jonny; brawny jet pilot Race Bannon; Jonny’s turbaned foster-brother Hadji; and the cute, black-masked bulldog puppy Bandit. Dr. Quest did not go looking for adventures, instead adventures always found him. This “serious” show, a departure from the usual Saturday morning fanfare, made for entertaining animated sci-fi.
 - Jonny Quest is an eleven-year-old boy, the son of Dr. Benton Quest. Tim Matheson performed the voice for Jonny. In the sequel series The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest one episode reveals that Jonny's mother's name was Rachel.
- Dr. Benton C. Quest is Jonny's father and "one of the three top scientists in the world", with scientific and technical know-how spanning many fields. Benton Quest was voiced by John Stephenson for five episodes, and by Don Messick for the remainder of the series (despite the two having very different-sounding voices).
- Roger T. "Race" Bannon is a special agent / bodyguard / pilot from Intelligence One. Governmental fears that Jonny could "fall into the wrong hands" resulted in the assignment of Bannon to guard and tutor him. Race is stated to be an expert in Judo, having a third-degree black belt as well as the ability to defeat noted experts and even Sumo wrestlers. Race Bannon was voiced by Mike Road.
- Hadji is Dr. Quest's adopted son, an eleven-year-old Indian boy. Hadji is seldom seen without his bejewelled turban and Nehru jacket. Hadji comes from Calcutta, India, being an orphan by some unexplained event; he is shown to have many mystical talents, sometimes displays hypnotic or telekinetic powers, as well as other magic-tricks such as pickpocketing or vanishing-tricks; he is also highly skilled in Judo, which he originally learned from an American Marine, and later from Race Bannon. Hadji is mentioned during the series to be a "seventh son of a seventh son," which indicates a child-prodigy possessing unusual perception and intelligence. Danny Bravo was the voice for Hadji. In the sequel series The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest Hadji is revealed to be an Indian Prince.
- Bandit is Jonny's pet bulldog, a small white dog with black masklike coloration around the eyes (hence the name "Bandit"). Bandit often provides comic relief but is occasionally instrumental in foiling the bad guys. Don Messick provided Bandit's vocal effects, which were combined with an archived clip of an actual dog barking.
It is revealed in the first episode that Jonny's mother is dead. The Quests have a compound in the Florida Keys (on the island of Palm Key), but their adventures take them all over the world. The Quest team travels the globe studying scientific mysteries, which get them into scrapes with foes that range from espionage robots and electrical monsters to Egyptian mummies and pterosaurs. Although most menaces appeared in only one episode, one recurring nemesis is known as Dr. Zin, an Asian mastermind. The voices of Dr. Zin and other assorted characters were done by Vic Perrin. Race Bannon's mysterious old flame, Jade, appears twice.
Animation technique
The series visual style was unusual for its time, combining a fairly realistic depiction of human figures and objects with fairly limited animation techniques. The series made heavy use of rich music scores, offscreen impacts with sound effects, reaction shots, cycling animations, cutaways, scene to scene dissolves, and abbreviated dialogue to move the story forward, without requiring extensive original animation of figures.
Music
The percussion-heavy big band jazz theme music for the 1960s series was written by Hoyt Curtin. In a 1999 interview, he stated that the jazz band for the series consisted of 4 trumpets, 6 trombones, 5 woodwind doublers, and a 5 man rhythm section. Alvin Stohler or Frankie Capp usually played drums. While a string section comes in at moments of tension or using pizzicatos for comic relief, the score is primarily driven by a big brass sound.
The band took about an hour to record the main theme, according to musical director Curtin. The opening theme's trombone solo was performed by jazz veteran Frank Rosolino. Other cues in the series were generally recorded in one take, done by a regular group of union session players who could "read like demons". Composer Curtin has stated that he never actually met the show's conceptual creator, Doug Wildey. Curtin died in December 2000.
For the new animated version, the music was later adapted for orchestra and added major dramatic and intriguing tones.
Network run and Saturday morning rerun
Jonny Quest first aired on September 18, 1964 on the ABC network, in prime time, and was an almost instant success, both critically and ratings-wise. It was canceled after one season, not because of poor ratings, but because each episode of the show went over budget. Like the original Star Trek television series, this series would be a big money-maker in syndication but this avenue to profits was unknown when the show was canceled in 1965. Reruns of the show were broadcast on various networks’ Saturday morning lineups beginning in 1967.
The "classic" series was released to DVD as Jonny Quest: The Complete First Season on May 11, 2004, which contains some minor editing to remove dialog that might be viewed as culturally or racially insensitive.
Comic books
A Jonny Quest comic book (a retelling of the first TV episode, "Mystery of the Lizard Men") was published by Gold Key Comics in 1964. Comico began publication of a Jonny Quest series in 1986, with the first issue featuring Doug Wildey's artwork. The series was written by William Messner-Loebs and ran for 31 issues, with 2 specials and 3 "classic" issues drawn by Wildey retelling Quest TV episodes ("Shadow of the Condor", "Calcutta Adventure", and "Werewolf of the Timberland"). Wildey drew several additional covers, as did Steve Rude and Dave Stevens. The series also spun-off a 3-issue series named Jezebel Jade — drawn by Adam Kubert — which told the story of Jade's relationship and adventures with Race Bannon.
Controversies
In the 1970s, Jonny Quest became one of the main targets of parental watchdog groups such as Action for Children's Television (ACT). With its multiple on-screen deaths, murder attempts, use of firearms and deadly weapons (especially by children, notably Jonny), frequent use of racial stereotypes, and tense moments, Jonny Quest was decried as the epitome of what was wrong with Saturday morning cartoons, regardless of the fact that it indeed was not an original Saturday morning cartoon. The reruns were taken off the air in 1972, but returned to Saturday morning, in edited form, sporadically afterwards, even though the removal of violent scenes often rendered the action incomprehensible (e.g. the heroes would be saved by a villain suddenly seeming to fall dead/unconscious for no apparent reason). Reruns also appeared on Cartoon Network in 1993, running sporadically until 2003. It currently runs every night on the Boomerang Network, in unedited form.
The New Adventures of Jonny Quest
By the mid-1980s, the edited episodes of Jonny Quest (each episode was missing about five minutes of footage edited for time constraints and content) were part of the syndication package The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. Thirteen episodes were produced in 1986 (although some sources state 1987) to accompany the originals in the Funtastic World programming block. These episodes were referred to simply as Jonny Quest on their title cards, and were noticeably less violent and more "kid-friendly" than the 1960s originals, and introduced the new characters Hardrock, an ancient man made of stone, and a young girl named Jessie Bradshaw, the daughter of a family friend, as a counterpart for Jonny. Hardrock did not return in any later versions of the program, without background alteration.
A feature length animated telefilm, Jonny's Golden Quest, was produced by Hanna-Barbera for USA Network in 1993, which again pitted the Quest team against Dr. Zin, who murders Jonny's mother in the film. Jonny’s Golden Quest also revised Jessie as Race's young daughter, and she would appear as a character in all subsequent versions of the Jonny Quest property. A second telefilm, Jonny Quest vs. The Cyber Insects, was produced for TNT in 1995, and was promoted as being the final iteration of the "Classic Jonny Quest".
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
The new Quest series, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, premiered on all three major Turner Broadcasting entertainment networks (Cartoon Network, TBS Superstation, and TNT), and met with mixed ratings and reviews. The characters were aged, with Jonny, Hadji, and Jessie becoming teenagers. Dr. Quest's compound has moved to a rocky island off the Maine coast.
Production on the series had been problem-laden since 1992, and when it was finally broadcast, it featured two different versions of the Jonny Quest universe: the first batch of episodes (referred to as the "season one" episodes) gave the Quest team a futuristic look, while the second batch (referred to as "season two") harkened back to the original 1960s episodes. Several of the "season one" adventures in this series took place in a cyberspace realm known as "Questworld", depicted using 3-D computer animation. Both "seasons" aired during the 1996 – 1997 television season, and the show was canceled after 52 episodes (26 of each type). A live action movie was planned to debut following the series premiere but never materialized.
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest returned in the late 1990s on Cartoon Network. It was part of the original Toonami rotation when the block launched on March 17, 1997 and aired consistently on Toonami until September 24, 1999. It then continued to air sporadically until December 14, 2002.
The first 13 episodes of the first season were released to DVD on February 17, 2009.
Feature film
On August 7, 2007, it was announced that Warner Bros. is developing a live-action film based on the series and characters. Adrian Askarieh and Daniel Alter will produce and the script will be written by Dan Mazeau. The scheduled release date is 2010. Ridley Scott the famous Director of Gladitor , Alien , Bladerunner , and American Gangster is rumored to Direct the movie.
Feature film Rumored Cast
The rumors about Zac Efron playing Jonny Quest are fake.
Dwayne Johnson is rumored to play Race Bannon.
Andrew Pleavin is also rumored to play Race Bannon because of the role he played in the movie 300.
William H Macy is rumored to play Dr. Quest.
Ken Watanabe is rumored to play Dr.Zin.
Other media
- In 1991, Hi-Tec Software published
Jonny Quest in Doctor Zin's Underworld, an officially licensed Jonny Quest platform game for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 home computers.
Parodies
The characters and setting of Jonny Quest have frequently been the subject of brief parodies, especially in later animated programs. In addition, a few have made extensive reference to the show:
The Venture Bros. features characters who are parodic analogues of the Jonny Quest cast: Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture, his bodyguard Brock Samson, and his sons Hank and Dean. Flashbacks reveal that Rusty is himself the son of a Benton Quest analog, now coasting on the fame of his late father. During the first season, the creators of the show realized that Cartoon Network owned Jonny Quest and began using the actual characters, including Jonny as a paranoiac damaged by the constant harm his father put him in, and Hadji as a hard-working competent engineer.
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law featured the cast in several episodes. In "Bannon Custody Battle", Bannon and Dr. Quest fight for custody of Jonny and Hadji, and in "Return of Birdgirl" the men try to marry. Other episodes featured the Lizard Men from "Mystery of the Lizard Men", the mummy from "Curse of Anubis", a yeti from "Monsters in the Monastery", a gargoyle from "The House of the Seven Gargoyles", the robotic spider from "The Robot Spy," etc.
Casanova features a genius villain going by the name of Sabine Seychelle, who works with a large Indian bodyguard named Samir; Fraction recounts his inspiration for them in the text column at the end of Casanova #4 that "I liked the idea of Johnny Quest, all adult and crooked. The son of an adventure scientist and his bePolo'd sidekick would grow up...how, exactly? Bent, I supposed. Weeeird. The kind of guy that would create phenomenal machines...and then sleep with them three at a time."
Episode guide
1964 – 1965
- The Mystery of the Lizard Men (first episode, Hadji does not appear) original air date 18 September, 1964: Dr. Quest is called in when several boats and ships are destroyed by a mysterious light beam.
- Arctic Splashdown (first appearance of Hadji) original air date 25 September, 1964: Jonny and company head for the Arctic to trace a missile that went off course.
- The Curse of Anubis original air date 2 October, 1964: An old friend summons Dr. Quest to Egypt, informing the Doctor that he's uncovered the fabled lost city of Ghiva.
- Pursuit of the Po-Ho original air date 9 October, 1964: A friend of Dr. Quest's is taken prisoner in the jungle by the dreaded Po-Ho tribe.
- Riddle of the Gold original air date 16 October, 1964: Dr. Quest tries to solve the "Riddle of the Gold" being mined from a vein in India that was supposedly tapped out years ago. Dr. Zin makes his first appearance.
- Treasure of the Temple original air date 23 October, 1964: The Quests set out on an archeological expedition to the lost city of Malatan. Someone doesn't want them to be there.
- Calcutta Adventure (origin of Hadji) original air date 30 October, 1964: In India, Dr. Quest aids locals who have contracted a mysterious illness.
- The Robot Spy original air date 6 November, 1964: Dr. Zin's UFO transports a giant spider-like robot with which he hopes to obtain information about Dr. Quest's para-power ray gun.
- Double Danger (Jade episode) original air date 13 November, 1964: Dr. Zin wants to use a Race Bannon impostor to steal the formula for a tranquilizer which could hypnotize whole cities.
- Shadow of the Condor original air date 20 November, 1964: On a trip to South America, the Quests' plane develops engine trouble over the Andes and they are forced to land at the home of a mysterious German Baron.
- Skull and Double Crossbones original air date 27 November, 1964: The Quests tangle with pirates searching for sunken treasure.
- The Dreadful Doll original air date 4 December, 1964: Dr. Quest is called in when a young girl falls under the spell of an apparent voodoo curse.
- A Small Matter of Pygmies original air date 11 December, 1964: Jonny, Race and Hadji are taken prisoner by a tribe of hostile pygmies.
- Dragons of Ashida original air date 18 December, 1964: An old scientist friend of Dr. Quest's has been conducting experiments with lizards-resulting in an island full of dragons.
- Turu the Terrible original air date 25 December, 1964: In the jungle, the Quest party encounters a pteranodon.
- The Fraudulent Volcano original air date 31 December, 1964: Dr. Quest is called in to investigate a volcano that is behaving abnormally.
- Werewolf of the Timberland original air date 7 January, 1965: The Quests go in search of a rare type of petrified wood in an area where they are warned about a prowling werewolf.
- Pirates from Below original air date 14 January, 1965: Jonny and Race are captured by pirates who are hijacking Dr. Quest's new undersea crawler.
- Attack of the Tree People original air date 21 January, 1965: A fire on the high seas forces the Quest party to abandon ship, and Jonny and Hadji are marooned on an island.
- The Invisible Monster original air date 29 January, 1965: A scientist's experiments have gotten out of hand-he calls for Dr. Quest's help after he unintentionally creates an invisible energy beast.
- The Devil's Tower original air date 4 February, 1965: The team tries to recover an instrument-laden weather balloon when it lands atop a remote mountain peak.
- The Quetong Missile Mystery (title card shows "The 'Q' Missile Mystery" for the 1964-65 season's re-run of this episode) original air date 11 February, 1965: The police commissioner of Quetong calls in Dr. Quest to investigate the strange disappearance of four of his men.
- The House of Seven Gargoyles original air date 18 February, 1965: The Quests visit a colleague in his castle in Norway.
- Terror Island (Jade episode) original air date 25 February, 1965: In Hong Kong, Dr. Quest is kidnapped by a mad scientist who turns ordinary animals into giant monsters.
- Monster in the Monastery original air date 4 March, 1965: The Quests travel to a Himalayan village where the natives live in a fear of terrifying snow creatures.
- The Sea Haunt original air date 11 March, 1965: The Quest team boards a seemingly deserted ship on the Java Sea, only to learn that an amphibious reptilian deep sea creature has attacked the crew, killing the captain and sabotaging the ship. The Quest family eventually forces the monster off the ship with a combination of fire, strong light, flares and a harpoon gun.
1986 – 1987
- Peril of the Reptilian original air date 14 September, 1986: Mysterious attacks on military installations in the South Pacific lead Dr. Quest to evil Dr. Phorbus, who has engineered prehistoric remains into mutant dinosaur-like "reptile-men" to help him rule the world.
- Nightmares of Steel original air date 21 September, 1986: Sheik Abu Saddi asks Dr. Quest for help in dealing with a vicious marauder band who have developed robot horses stolen from the sheik.
- Aliens Among Us original air date 28 September, 1986: A matter transportation device invented by Dr. Quest is stolen by apparent aliens.
- Deadly Junket original air date 5 October, 1986: Dr. Zin once again causes problems when he kidnaps Dr. Bradshaw to work on an anti-missile system
- Forty Fathoms Into Yesterday original air date 12 October, 1986: After being thrown back into the year 1944, the Quests discover that a time machine discovered aboard a submarine is being used by a German scientist to change the course of history.
- Vikong Lives original air date 19 October, 1986: While in the arctic, the Quests' discover an ape-like creature being frozen in the ice.
- The Monolith Man original air date 1 November, 1986: Hardrock, a living rock joins the Quest team.
- Secret of the Clay Warriors original air date 8 November, 1986: The Quests' receive a plea for help from an archaeologist friend, they arrive to help end the reign of terror by ghostly clay warriors.
- Warlord of the Sky original air date 15 November, 1986: An evil scientist plans to rule the skies with an incredible flying craft called the Dreadnought
- The Scourge of Skyborg original air date 22 November, 1986: Race tests a new computerized autopilot (CAP), and runs afoul of Skyborg, a renegade half-man, half-robot, who pits Race against CAP in a battle to win the Quests freedom
- Temple of Gloom original air date 6 December, 1986: Hadji's old teacher is being forced by the evil Deprave to disrupt a peace conference.
- Creeping Unknown original air date 13 December, 1986: A monster made of plants terrorizes the area near a swamp.
- Skullduggery original air date 1 March, 1987: Dr. Zin is behind a plan to use tokens of power to gain mastery over the world.
DVD releases
On May 11, 2004, Warner Home Video released the first season of Jonny Quest on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. It is unknown if the second season (1980s episodes) will be released at some point. It is important to note, for collectors, that these episodes are edited both in content (to make them more politically correct) and in titles (the original ending titles are not used).
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
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| Jonny Quest- Season 1 | 26 | May 11 2004 |
- Jonny Quest Files
- Jonny Quest Video Handbook
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See also
External links
at the Big Cartoon DataBase
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