Jonny Quest

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Template:Infobox television 2 Jonny Quest (often referred to as The Adventures of Jonny Quest) was a science fiction American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and created and designed by comic book artist Doug Wildey, about the adventures of a young boy who accompanies his father on extraordinary adventures. 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, and two telefilms and a spin-off series (The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest) later revived the characters for the 1990s.

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Original 1964 – 1965 show

Image:Jonny-quest-jack-armstrong.jpg

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Inspiration

Jonny Quest was designed to evoke both the drama of a dramatic adventure radio serial, and the fantasy of a comic book. Unlike earlier H-B programs, violence was not shied away from, but used to add suspense and impact to the show.

The show’s most notable inspiration comes from the classic old-time radio serial Jack Armstrong. In fact, Hanna-Barbera had originally intended to produce an animated adaptation of Jack Armstrong . Hiring noted comic book artist Doug Wildey, H-B began negotiations with Jack Armstrong's copyright owners, and produced a test Jack Armstrong pilot in 1962. Negotiations fell through, and the Jack Armstrong project was retooled into Jonny Quest an original series based on a similar idea. 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.

Other acknowledged inspirations for Jonny Quest come from Milton Caniff’s adventure comic strip Terry and the Pirates (which was also a popular radio show), and the James Bond film Dr. No, which had inspired Joseph Barbera to develop an action-adventure program.

However, many critics have also noted a very strong resemblance between JQ and Rick Brant, teen star of a boys-oriented adventure series published by Grossett & Dunlap in the 1940's, 50's, and 60's (along with The Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Jr., etc.). The Rick Brant SCIENCE Adventures featured 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 Race Bannon-like secret agent and a young Hadji-like pal, Chadha--from Calcutta. Nevertheless, the similarity between Rick Brant and Jonny Quest has never been officially acknowledged by Hanna-Barbera.

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Characters, voice cast, and premise

Jonny Quest is an eleven-year-old boy, the son of Dr. Benton Quest, "one of the three top scientists in the world," and apparently something of a Renaissance man; his scientific and technical know-how spans many fields. Mrs. Quest is dead, possibly the victim of a plot against Dr. Quest, and mentioned only in the pilot episode. Government fears that Jonny could "fall into the wrong hands," resulted in the assignment of a bodyguard, Roger "Race" Bannon, from Intelligence One. Bannon guards and tutors Jonny and Dr. Quest's adopted second son, an Indian boy named Hadji (his original last name is never mentioned), who is seldom seen without his jewelled turban and Nehru jacket. The Quests have a compound in the Florida Keys (the particular island is named Palm Key), but their adventures take them all over the world. Jonny's pet, a bulldog puppy named Bandit, provides comic relief.

Dr. Quest travels the globe studying scientific mysteries, which get him into scrapes with foes that range from espionage robots and electrical monsters to Egyptian mummies. Although most menaces were unique to the episode, one recurring nemesis is known as Dr. Zin, an Asian mastermind. Race Bannon's mysterious old flame, Jezebel Jade, also occasionally appears.

Image:Jonny-quest-opening-title.jpg Tim Matheson performed the voice of Jonny. Mike Road was "Race" Bannon, Danny Bravo was Hadji, and Dr. Benton Quest was voiced by John Stephenson for five episodes, and by Don Messick for the remainder of the shows. Messick also provided Bandit's vocal effects, which were combined with an archived clip of an actual dog's barking. The voice of Dr. Zin and other assorted characters were done by Vic Perrin, who is best remembered as the "Control Voice" for the original The Outer Limits television series.

The memorable theme music for the 1960s series, a percussion-heavy big band "spy jazz" piece with no lyrics, was written by Hoyt Curtin. The character Hadji was noted as the first major non-white character to be presented as an equal sympathetic participant in the stories in American television.

Jonny Quest first aired on September 18, 1964 on the ABC network, 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. Notably more realistic and detailed than previous Hanna-Barbera prime time programs such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons, Jonny Quest required an attention to detail that ABC was unable to afford. Since its initial run on ABC, it has been shown in re-runs on NBC and CBS as well as various incarnations on cable.

A Jonny Quest comic book (a retelling of the first TV episode, Mystery of the Lizard Men) was published by Gold Key in 1964. Comico began publication of a Jonny Quest series in 1986, with the first issue featuring Doug Wildey's artwork. The series ran for 31 issues, with 2 specials and 3 "classic" issues drawn by Wildey retelling three of the Quest TV episodes ("Shadow of the Condor", "Calcutta Adventure", and "Werewolf of the Timberland"). The series attracted Doug Wildey for several more covers, as well as Steve Rude, Dave Stevens and other famous artists. The series also spun-off a 3-issue series named Jezebel Jade which told the story of Jade's relationship and adventures with Race Bannon.

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Saturday morning reruns and controversy

Reruns of the show were broadcast on various networks’ Saturday morning lineups beginning in 1967. On Saturday morning, 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, uses of firearms and deadly weapons, and tense moments, Jonny Quest was decried as the epitome of what was wrong with Saturday morning cartoons, regardless of that 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, periodically afterwards.

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1986 revival and telefilms

Image:Jonny-quest-1980s.JPG 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 new Jonny Quest episodes were produced in 1986 to accompany the originals in the Funtastic World programming block. These episodes (sometimes referred to as The New Adventures of Jonny Quest, but referred to simply as Jonny Quest on their title cards) 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 tv-movie, Jonny's Golden Quest, was produced by Hanna-Barbera for the 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 retconned 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 1996, and was promoted as being the final iteration of the “Classic Jonny Quest”. The original series, which had begun regularly on the Cartoon Network in 1993, was taken off the air in 1996 after a heavily promoted marathon, to make way for a new, revised Quest series.

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Image:Real-jq-video.jpg Main entry: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

The new Quest series, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, premiered on all three major Turner Broadcasting 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, and Dr. Quest and Race entering middle age.

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. Regardless of their labeling, both the “Season One” and “Season Two” of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest aired during the 1996 – 1997 television season, and the show was canceled after 52 episodes (26 of each type). The second season removed Questworld, and 'killed' the enemy responsible. He brainwashed Jesse, and in revenge, she removed his ability to access Questworld freely, trapping him forever in a cyberspace limbo.

The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest was revived in the late 90s on Cartoon Network due to popular demand. The show was part of the original Toonami rotation when the block launched on March 17, 1997 and aired consistently on Toonami until it's permanent removal from the block on September 24, 1999. Re-runs of the "classic-era" Jonny Quest can still be seen occasionally on Cartoon Network’s Boomerang channel, while the Real Adventures episodes air in syndication (courtesy of The Program Exchange). The original 1960s run of the series was released to DVD as Jonny Quest: The Complete First Season in 2004.

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Cultural impact

Several elements of Jonny Quest have become parts of American pop culture. The original 1960s series is notable as being representative of the Cold War, with most of the villains being of Eastern European or Asian origin. When said villains are defeated, they, more often than not, scream a heavily accented "aiieee!" as they fall to their deaths, a scream that has been heavily parodied since.

An inferred homosexual relationship that fans speculated on between Dr. Quest and Race was the basis of the "Bannon Custody Battle" episode of Adult Swim's Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Another Adult Swim show, The Venture Bros., is a campy pastiche of Jonny Quest. It includes direct references, such as a cameo appearance by a dying Race Bannon.

Other notable Jonny Quest parodies include the "Toby Danger" episode of Freakazoid , which featured members of the original cast, and the "Channel Chasers" episode of Fairly Odd Parents. In addition, several elements of Pixar’s The Incredibles show direct inspiration from Jonny Quest, particularly a one-eyed robot who terrorizes the populace the same way Dr. Zin’s one-eyed robot does in the 1964 episode “The Robot Spy.” The Samurai Jack episode Chicken Jack also features this type of robot. In 2005, Warner Brothers debuted a new action/adventure animation series about a boy named Johnny Test as a pun on Jonny Quest.

In the 2005 direct-to-DVD movie Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (also known as Family Guy: The Movie) makes reference to the show as Jonny Quest, Dr. Benton and Hadji attempt to board an airplane, with Stewie as the flight screener. After Jonny and Dr. Quest are allowed to board, Hadji is informed that he has been 'randomly' selected for "additional screening."

And, of course, computer and entertainment icon Steve Jobs' standard business attire of a black turtleneck, blue jeans and sneakers is an exact copy of Jonny's clothing.

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Episode guide

Image:TV dvd cover johnny quest the complete first season.jpg

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1964 – 1965

  1. ”Mystery of the Lizard Men” (pilot, Hadji does not appear)
  2. "Arctic Splashdown"
  3. "The Curse of Anubis"
  4. "Pursuit of the Po-Ho"
  5. "Riddle of the Gold"
  6. "Treasure of the Temple"
  7. "Calcutta Adventure" (origin of Hadji)
  8. "The Robot Spy"
  9. "Double Danger" (first episode produced)
  10. "Shadow of the Condor"
  11. "Skull and Double Crossbones"
  12. "The Dreadful Doll"
  13. "A Small Matter of Pygmies"
  14. "Dragons of Ashida"
  15. "Turu the Terrible"
  16. "The Fraudulent Volcano"
  17. "Werewolf of the Timberland"
  18. "Pirates from Below"
  19. "Attack of the Tree People"
  20. "The Invisible Monster"
  21. "The Devil's Tower"
  22. "The Quetong Missile Mystery" (title card shows 'The "Q" Missile Mystery' for the 1964-65 season's re-run of this episode)
  23. "House of Seven Gargoyles"
  24. "Terror Island"
  25. "Monster in the Monastery"
  26. "The Sea Haunt"
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1986

  1. "Aliens Among Us"
  2. "Deadly Junket"
  3. "Forty Fathoms Into Yesterday"
  4. "Vikong Lives"
  5. "The Scourge of Skyborg"
  6. "Monolith Man"
  7. "Peril of the Reptilian"
  8. "Nightmares of Steel"
  9. "Skullduggery"
  10. "Temple of Gloom"
  11. "Creeping Unknown"
  12. "Secret of the Clay Warriors"
  13. "Warlord of the Sky"
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1996

("Season 1")

  1. "The Darkest Fathoms"
  2. "Escape to Questworld"
  3. "In the Realm of the Condor"
  4. "Rage's Burning Wheel"
  5. "Ndovu's Last Journey"
  6. "Manhattan Maneater"
  7. "East of Zanzibar"
  8. "Assault on Questworld"
  9. "Ezekiel Rage"
  10. "Alien in Washington"
  11. "Return of the Anasazi"
  12. "The Alchemist"
  13. "Trouble on the Colorado"
  14. "In the Wake of the Mary Celeste"
  15. "Amok"
  16. "Besieged in Paradise"
  17. "The Spectre of the Pine Barrens"
  18. "Heroes"
  19. "The Ballad of Belle Bonnet"
  20. "In the Darkness of the Moon"
  21. "The Secret of the MOAI"
  22. "Expedition to Khumbu"
  23. "Ice Will Burn"
  24. "Future Rage"
  25. "Alligators and Okeechobee Vikings"
  26. "To Bardo and Back"

("Season 2")

  1. "The Mummies of Malenque"
  2. "Rock of Rages"
  3. "Bloodlines"
  4. "Race Against Danger"
  5. "The Dark Mountain"
  6. "Cyberswitch"
  7. "Undersea Urgency"
  8. "Nemesis"
  9. "DNA Doomsday"
  10. "Ghost Quest"
  11. "Nuclear Netherworld"
  12. "Eclipse"
  13. "Without a Trace"
  14. "Village of the Doomed"
  15. "Dark Sentinel"
  16. "Other Space"
  17. "Digital Doublecross"
  18. "Thoughtscape"
  19. "The Bangalore Falcon"
  20. "Diamonds and Jade"
  21. "The Edge of Yesterday"
  22. "The Haunted Sonata"
  23. "General Winter"
  24. "Night of the Zinja"
  25. "The Robot Spies"
  26. "More Than Zero"
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External links

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