Watching these 1960's Jonny Quest episodes again has made me fall in love with them all over again. The animation though somewhat limited relative to major motion pictures from Disney and elsewhere is still amazing given the budgets and timelines for television. The character designs by the late great Doug Wildey are the core of this serious attempt to bring to the small screen a series of high-octane adventures for the younger eye which still evoke the danger and intrigue found in the then highly popular Bond movies.
There is a direct connection between Jonny Quest and The Rocketeer as well. Dave Stevens worked with Doug Wildey on the Godzilla cartoon. Wildey became something of a mentor to Stevens and to honor that connection he fashioned the character of Peevy in The Rocketeer series after Wildey. Now about the Jonny Quest cartoon itself.
The balance the creators of the cartoon found between the advance of their narrative and their character moments is exquisite. While in some of the later efforts you might say the story suffers as we watch Jonny and Hadji lounge about, it's hardly a concern as there are just as many if not more episodes in which the hazards are revealed from nearly the first moment. The series is hurt from time to time by stereotypical presentations of indigenous peoples, such as Native American White Feather with his Tonto-esque broken English, but by and large the show avoids these pitfalls with sympathetic presentations of most folks.
Some things which chanced upon my mind as I watched these for the umpteenth time are that Dr. Benton Quest is impossibly smart, a polymath of the highest order who darts across the globe dabbling in disparate studies in physics, archeology, chemistry, metallurgy, botany, and on and on. He seems to be a one-man "Fabulous Five". That's fine with me, but I just never thought about it before. Also he's a bit of a bad parent, constantly putting his kid into all kinds of jeopardy, but then I guess the other option was to be an absent parent and that's hardly ideal either.
Another thing which I noticed more this time was the attention to the natural world. Usually I'm so swept up in the adventure these details sail right by me, but everywhere the Quest team goes, they usually find a moment or two to engage the local fauna. Whether it be a toucan, a porpoise, a polar bear, a panther, a sea turtle, a monkey, a gila monster, a jackrabbit, a mongoose, a skunk, there always seems to be a critter around to bring out the wonder of the boys. It's a nifty trope that the show does a great job of using but not overdoing. Bandit is a great creation, mostly just a realistic dog who borders on the edge of the anthropromorphic and occasionally crosses it.
The strength of any Hanna-Barbera production are the voices and Jonny Quest is no exception. Mike Road as Race Bannon is a standout, his virile baritone adding hefty machismo to a show already shimmering in testosterone. Tim Matheson as Jonny has a bright engaging manner and Danny Bravo as Hadji, though at times a bit forced, still sounds like a friendly bloke. Don Messick and John Stephenson taking turns as Doctor Quest offer up warm friendly manners which make the team seem credible. Other voices show up in the series such as Jesse White as the memorable Pasha Peddler, Vic Perrin as pernicious Doctor Zin, and Cathy Lewis as the exotic and alluring Jezebel Jade (as close as the show ever gets to actual sex). One voice I noticed this time which I've never taken note of before is the amazing Nestor Paiva as a range of Hispanic characters, some quite close to Paiva's screen personas.
The way this series holds up so long after its 1964 debut is stunning. It remains, not unlike the Bond movies which inspired it, at once a time capsule of a romantic era of adventure and a story so true to its mythic elements that it never loses its allure. Whenever you hear that amazing opening by composer Hoyt Curtin you are swept away into a super-science fantasy land of high adventure, moral courage and pure entertainment.
It would take decades before more Quest episodes were made. More on those next time.
Rip Off
Is it just me, or does Race Bannon look a little like Sean Connery?
ReplyDeleteI'd say that's no accident.
DeleteOne of the great delights of my childhood! It would be years before I learned about Doug Wildey specifically, but his art & designs captivated me from the start. The series felt like a richly detailed world of adventure, with even more always waiting just beyond what I was watching that week. It's still a joy to watch, and not merely due to nostalgia (although I've got plenty of that as well).
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how well the show holds up to repeated viewings. The later incarnations (which I'll touch on later) aren't as good and I'd be suspect they could repeat it today. There's some magic there somewhere.
DeleteThe music is iconic. Along with "Flight of the Bumblebee" which Al Hirt played for Green Hornet, the Jonny Quest opening theme is the most evocative music I've ever come across. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the Jonny Quest cartoon show was ever shown in the UK. which is strange as if it was a success in the U.S. we usually got these shows at some point ( unless I just missed it). I do remember the comic but never bought it. I do have a book of Alex Toths Jonny Quest (and other) animation model sheets. Ilford to download that link Monc provided to see \hear what I missed.
ReplyDeleteI envy you hearing it for the first time. It's an earworm tune which has been with me all my life.
DeleteYou just missed it, McS, as I remember watching it on TV when I was a kid. Funnily enough, though, I don't recall much about it and don't remember the theme music. (That might change when I hear it again.)
DeleteThanks Kid.. The theme is very .Such as Rip says a bit of an "earworm"
ReplyDeleteJust listened to it, RJ, and though I thought it was okay, it didn't knock my socks of. Most evocative music (as in theme for a TV show)? I'd suggest the theme for The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.
ReplyDelete