Jonny Quest

Voices of: Mike Road (26 episodes), Tim Matheson (26 episodes), Don Messick (26 episodes), Danny Bravo (26 episodes), Henry Corden (15 episodes), Doug Young (10 episodes), Vic Perrin (8 episodes), John Stephenson (6 episodes), Sam Edwards (4 episodes), Cathy Lewis (4 episodes), Everett Sloane (3 episodes)
Directed by: Joseph Barbera (26 episodes), William Hanna (26 episodes)
Rating: TV-Y7
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
1964-1965

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The Quest family embark on a series of dangerous adventures around the world.

Review:
Tim: I have to say how much I love Jonny Quest. It's a landmark in animated television and a hugely influential series. I'm sad that more people today aren't familiar with this series. I remember watching it as a boy and being excited and frightened by the show. I desperately wanted to be Jonny- to travel across the globe, having adventures and saving the day. This series was unlike anything else when it was first released and even decades later (when I first watched it), it remained a unique and memorable viewing experience.

In a world filled with cartoons aimed at young audiences, Jonny Quest delivered something very different. Sure, it had cartoonish moments, but this is a more mature series. It didn't pull many punches and put together some surprisingly frightening sequences. I watched the series with my six year-old son and there were definitely moments where he felt uncomfortable. Truthfully, some of the creepier and more intense sequences still affect me as a grown man. What I love about this series is that it doesn't pander to younger audiences. It tells a surprisingly grown up story about monsters, villains, guns, murder, betrayal, and more. It's truly an action adventure series that seeks to elevate what the medium could do.

The animation absolutely helps. The series' colors and design spoke to its seriousness. It didn't shy away from occasionally being frightening and often being intense. The characters are depicted as real and there's a focus on realism throughout the series, even during the more outlandish sequences. This forces the audience to take the events here seriously. It felt like the storylines mattered, that the danger was real. This is still surprising today but was absolutely unique when the series was first launched in the 1960s.

I really love the characters. As mentioned, I wanted to be Jonny Quest. He's brave, good, resourceful. He's an incredible character. His best friend Hadji was so likeable too. I know his portrayal is problematic by today's standards, but there is at least some credit for having a more diverse cast. Dr. Benton Quest is brilliant and the impetus for many of the adventures and I can't even begin to express how cool Race Bannon is. I loved that the series centered on this makeshift family. Each character represented an important piece of the puzzle and they were great fun to watch together.

Watching this series in 2021 with my son was a wonderful experience. However, there are aspects of the series that really didn't age well. So much of the series centers on the characters being "white saviors" and there's a real xenophobia that is present in nearly all the episodes. The villains are most often non-white. It might not hit you as a problem at first, but after episode after episode of the same formula, it becomes increasingly problematic. Of course, you have to watch this series in the context of the 1960s, but it was an unfortunate aspect of the show for sure.

I would have loved to have gotten more than 26 episodes of this original series. It was expensive to produce, so it was canceled after it's first season. However, the Quest family would live on decades later. Still, it was never better than this original series that did so many things differently to what else was on television at the time. This series was unique and influential. Jonny Quest is one of my all-time favorite animated series. I was so excited I got to watch the series with my son as well. My dad was a fan of the series when he was kid, so that's 3 generations of my family that loved this.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: The New Adventures of Jonny Quest, Ducktales