TV's first animated action-adventure series is about to take you on a breathless ride. All 26 episodes charting the fantastic exploits of brave and brainy 11-year-old Jonathan Quest are yours in a 3-disc set, as originally first broadcast in prime-time on ABC-TV during the 1964-65 season. Unlike the outrageous fantasy plots of cartoons that preceded it, Jonny Quest drew on science and detective-style logic to solve mysteries and apprehend sophisticated villains. Viewers were transported to exotic locales as Jonny's dad, Dr. Benton Quest, tackled each new government assignment, aided by ex-agent "Race" Bannon, Indian boy Hadji, family bulldog Bandit... and, of course, his fearless son Jonny..
Some fifty five years after the debut of Jonny Quest, it's still very clear why the show has remained popular over the years. For starters, the show's mixture of science-fiction and science-fact is still very engrossing. The various episodes offer a nice mixture of story-lines and ideas. Some shows are straight-ahead action-adventure tales, with a slight spy-movie touch, such as "Calcutta Adventure". Whereas others integrate more science-fiction, as with the creepy spider-robot in "The Robot Spy". And several of the episodes wander into an even more fantastic realm, such as "The Invisible Monster" (an episode which terrified me as a child), "The Curse of Anubis" (equally frightening) and "Turu the Terrible". Many of the "science-fiction" elements and gadgets on the show have since become a reality, but that doesn't really alter the show's effectiveness. And with even the most fantastic shows, Jonny Quest manages to come across as somewhat realistic, and never gets "cartoony", save for the antics of Bandit. The show can be viewed as a live-action show, which just happens to be animated. That animation, which was designed by veteran animator/series creator Doug Wildey, is another interesting aspect of the show, as the character designs and location all have very realistic touches and the drawings use very dramatic lighting effects.
But, perhaps the greatest aspect of Jonny Quest is the sense of wonder and imagination in the show. The show's enduring popularity and quality can surely be traced to the fact that many of us would love to be Jonny. The idea of traveling the world and becoming involved in one adventure after another is titillating enough when we watch someone like James Bond do it, but to be 11-years old and have those kind of adventures is the dream-stuff of many adolescents, even when they've long-since passed that age. Sure, some of Jonny Quest feels dated (especially some of the slang), but the show's sense of adventure is timeless, and this collection is a great way to either re-live or discover this animation classic.
Some fifty five years after the debut of Jonny Quest, it's still very clear why the show has remained popular over the years. For starters, the show's mixture of science-fiction and science-fact is still very engrossing. The various episodes offer a nice mixture of story-lines and ideas. Some shows are straight-ahead action-adventure tales, with a slight spy-movie touch, such as "Calcutta Adventure". Whereas others integrate more science-fiction, as with the creepy spider-robot in "The Robot Spy". And several of the episodes wander into an even more fantastic realm, such as "The Invisible Monster" (an episode which terrified me as a child), "The Curse of Anubis" (equally frightening) and "Turu the Terrible". Many of the "science-fiction" elements and gadgets on the show have since become a reality, but that doesn't really alter the show's effectiveness. And with even the most fantastic shows, Jonny Quest manages to come across as somewhat realistic, and never gets "cartoony", save for the antics of Bandit. The show can be viewed as a live-action show, which just happens to be animated. That animation, which was designed by veteran animator/series creator Doug Wildey, is another interesting aspect of the show, as the character designs and location all have very realistic touches and the drawings use very dramatic lighting effects.
But, perhaps the greatest aspect of Jonny Quest is the sense of wonder and imagination in the show. The show's enduring popularity and quality can surely be traced to the fact that many of us would love to be Jonny. The idea of traveling the world and becoming involved in one adventure after another is titillating enough when we watch someone like James Bond do it, but to be 11-years old and have those kind of adventures is the dream-stuff of many adolescents, even when they've long-since passed that age. Sure, some of Jonny Quest feels dated (especially some of the slang), but the show's sense of adventure is timeless, and this collection is a great way to either re-live or discover this animation classic.