"Meet George
Jetson... Jane, his wife... daughter Judy... his boy Elroy..." The
catchy tune of The Jetsons ideally captures the
lighthearted
essence of the show, a futuristic counterpoint
to The
Flintstones that reflected the
space-age optimism
of the
times. The Jetsons were the very first family, animated or not,
to have
a big-screen
home entertainment system decades before it became
a reality. They
also had flying cars, floating cities and
androids, all
commonplace scenery of today's most popular blockbusters.
CRITIQUE
I remember seeing
The Jetsons when I was a kid on Saturday mornings. It was
mainly the futuristic aspect of the show that appealed to me. I
was envious of the characters somewhat, especially little Elroy. Now after twelve or so years the show hasn't lost its sense of
humor and adventure, though I didn't remember the laugh track.
The laugh track is a
bit too much, but I learned to ignore it after several episodes. The
humor is never mean-spirited, except for when it's on George
maybe. Some jokes I don't get, but the majority of them are
amusing. The family relationships are good, especially between
Judy and her parents, which is still the same today, sometimes
rebellious, but sweet also.
In terms of
production quality, animation looks pretty good. The first season
consists of twenty-four episodes but the writing is not consistent
for each one. There are a few generic ones, but most of the
episodic stories are entertaining. Unlike some of the wild and
technological gadgets, The Jetsons passes the test of time.
THE VIDEO
Warner Home Video presents
The Jetsons in 1.33:1 fullscreen format. Despite its age,
the video looks good. Colors are sometimes a little faded, but
mostly they are bright and clear. A little dirt shows up in some
areas, but nothing major. The overall quality is perfectly fine.
THE AUDIO
Warner Home Video presents
The Jetsons in English 2.0 Dolby Surround. Sound is emitted
by the front speakers at all times, dialogue and sound effects
are clearly audible. Audio quality is as you would expect from a
cartoon.
THE EXTRAS
There aren't many
extras, but what's here is a generous offering. The audio
commentary by Janet Waldo on the first two episodes (Rosie
the Robot and A Date with Jet Screamer) is not too
bad. She tells some nice stories and reveals a few neat tidbits,
but also covers voice work and collaboration with the cast,
among other things.
The Jetsons -
The Family of the Future is an 8-minute featurette with
interviews of both William Hanna and Joseph Barbera discussing
the show and other things. It's kind of neat to see this
archival footage, plus there's also a short clip of Waldo in
here. Nuclear Family Album shows us clips of the
characters, and Space Age Gadgets is a 5-minute
featurette on technological "gadgets" from the show that haven't
yet made their way into our stores. Rounding out the extras is
Rosie the Robot Maid, a 3-minute profile on the
character.
This four-disc set
arrives in a fold-out digipak case. The first season consists of
24 episodes, each one runs approximately 22 minutes but there are
no chapter stops (which kind of sucks). The complete running time
of the season is approximately 629 minutes.
SUMMARY
The Jetsons - The
Complete First Season is a good package with a few extras and good
video/audio quality. Fans will want to check it out, but it's
recommended to everyone.
