During Hanna-Barberas heyday in the early 60s, they brought their animation to primetime. The Flintstones, The Jetsons and Top Cat were not created for Saturday morning. They were family hour painted adaptations of The Honeymooners and Sgt. Bilko. The fourth of the shows they produced was completely original TV. Jonny Quest was an action adventure show about a boy who races around the world with his genius father battling evil masterminds. Hes got a bodyguard, a young Indian pal and a pesky dog. Comic book artist Doug Wildey designed characters that didnt look like cartoons. The series only lasted a season, but had been rerun for decades. In 1996 the Cartoon Network revived the series as The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. They made Jonny and Hadji older and more ripped. Dr. Quest and Race took a backseat on the missions. The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest: Season One, Volume One contains the first 13 of the 52 episodes created for this revival.
The biggest thing they do in the show is explain away the uncomfortable relationship between Dr. Quest and his bodyguard Race Bannon. Did you ever see the episode of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law where Race and Dr. Quest fight for custody of the kids? They kinda hint that Race did more than guard his employers body. For the new series we get Jessie Bannon. That’s right, Race has a daughter. This opens up the bigger question of what really happened to Races wife. Did she and Dr. Quests wife fall in love and desert their families? Is the widower business just a cover to keep their manhood?
The revamped series goes bigger and louder than the old version. Each show is only 22 minutes so theres no time for kid stuff. “The Darkest Fathoms” has Jonny going into the Bermuda Triangle to uncover whats behind a ghost ship attacking the oil industry. “Escape to Questworld” has Race attempting to contain nerve gas in Chicago. This is probably the next excuse why the Cubs havent won a World Series. “In the Realm of the Condor” has the crew discover El Dorado. They find everything on this show. “Rage’s Burning Wheel” has a pack of apocalyptic freaks hijack the space shuttle and mission control. “Alien in Washington” is the best of the boxset. Turns out the Vice President of the USA is an alien. Now remember that this episode aired long before Dick Cheney took over the second in command role. How does an alien get to be so powerful? Wouldnt he slip up at some point on the campaign trail and eat a baby?
There are people who complained about the inclusion of Jessie Bannon ruined the chemistry between all the men. But what alters the dynamics from the original series is that Jonny and Hadji are old enough that they dont need adult supervision. Theres no real reason for Dr. Quest and Race to be in the episodes. While they were voiced by George Segal (Just Shoot Me) and Robert Patrick (Terminator 2), they no longer commanded the screen. Also having them both have kids takes off that ambiguous male bonding undercurrent that was in the original. The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest brings back the action without rehashing the past with new haircuts on the characters.
The Episodes
“The Darkest Fathoms,” “Escape to Questworld,” “In the Realm of the Condor,” “Rage’s Burning Wheel,” “Ndovu’s Last Journey,” “Manhattan Maneater,” “East of Zanzibar,” “Assault on Questworld,” “Ezekiel Rage,” “Alien in Washington,” “Return of the Anasazi,” “The Alchemist,” and “Trouble on the Colorado”
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfers look sharp with the computer generated animation mixing with 2-D effects. It does help that the series isnt that old. The audio is Dolby Digital Stereo. The mix is good since it is all post production generated sound. Theres a Portuguese dub track. The subtitles are in English, French and Portuguese.
Jonny Quest Returns (12:41) discusses the transition from the original series to this new update. They mention how the show didnt have any women. The new one does have girl power. A speaker says Jonny was a teenage Captain Kirk. Which is interesting since it describes the Kirk character in the new Star Trek movie.
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest is a nostalgic trip back for folks who were kids a decade ago. The show does its best to update all the elements of the show. Its a good approach to revamping a cult classic.
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Warner Home Video presents The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest: Season One, Volume One. Starring George Segal and Robert Patick. Boxset Contents: 13 Episodes on 2 DVDs. Released on DVD: Feburary 17, 2009. Available at Amazon.
