Welcome to the world of jet packs, dinosaurs, unlimited supplies
of guns and ammo, flamboyant villains, exotic but dangerous
locales and an endless summer for 11-year-olds. This is the world
Jonny Quest lives in. With the help of his father, Dr. Benton
Quest, ex-agent and now mentor “Race” Bannon, Indian boy Hadji,
and the family bulldog Bandit, they go on adventures to save the
world from evil doers.
CRITIQUE
Nothing brings me back like the 60s unbelievable cartoons. Being
twelve or so, with the Cartoon Network just working on getting
their programming together, and Snick (Remember “you afraid of the
dark” and when “All that didn’t suck? Good times.) coming to and
end, there was nothing else to watch besides the throwback
episodes of cartoon shows from when some of us weren’t even born.
It gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling. Jonny Quest, TV’s
first animated action-adventure series, was definitely something
to look forward to.
Alright, let me just point out some “weird” things about the show:
1.
Leave it to Americans to go to another country and kidnap a little
Indian boy to become a boy-servant. Not right. Run, Hadji, Run.
2.
The awkwardness with Dr. Benton Quest and “Race”. With every scene
they share together I’m just waiting for “something” to happen - you
know what I mean.
3.
Bandit, the annoying dog.
4.
At most, maybe four out of the first season’s 26 episodes have
something to do with school work or learning beyond an 11-year-old’s
fantasy world.
5.
The spelling of Jonny’s name.
But most of all, it’s knowing that the beginning of everyday for the
characters started out like so:
DR. QUEST
Something horrible is happening in a part of the world that we’ve
never heard of.
JONNY
Cool beans.
DR. QUEST
Figured that would be your reaction. We have way too much money and
own an island. But I can’t find a babysitter.
JONNY
Dad? Are you telling me I can go on a possibly dangerous job with you?
DR. QUEST
Darn rotten.
THE VIDEO
Warner presents the 1960s series in 1.33:1 fullscreen format. You
would think that a cartoon this old would have had some sort of
damage to the quality, but no, the video is as clear and enjoyable
as it was in the 60s, from what I’ve heard.
THE AUDIO
Warner presents the show in the new standard DTX 5100 sound.
Sounds like digital cable, and I’m totally okay with that.
Actually, the audio presentation features both English and Spanish
Dolby Digital Mono tracks. At any rate, you’ll be able to hear
cheesy dialog the way it sounded when it first hit the television
screens forty years ago.
THE EXTRAS
The extras are found on the last (Hadji) disk. First up is
Jonny Quest Files: Fun, Facts and Trivia. Watch the pilot
episode with pop-up information on the characters and creators
of the show. In Jonny Quest: Adventures in Animation we
follow the creators of the show as they go from concept to the
moving image. All aspects of the animated show are established
here and give the show more depth. Jonny Quest: Video
Handbook is self explanatory; it gives us an in-depth view
of the five leads, including Bandit, and then moves into the
montage and voiceovers to explain the Quest’s allies, villains,
gadgets, vehicles and locales.
We
are also given a vintage TV commercial for PF Flyers, which are
the white Converse knock-offs Jonny wears in the show. And you get a
keen multitasking ring with them for free. Just think A Christmas
Story. Rounding out the extras are trailers for other
TV-DVD releases, including Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, and
Samurai Jack.
THE ARTWORK/PACKAGING
Warner and The Mouse House have begun using plastic sleeves for its
television DVDs. The sleeves look cool and sort of protect the weaker
cardboard casing of the actual disks. The Jonny Quest: Season 1
DVD has the classic Uberpose that is a must for any (now) retro 60s
adventure show. All the main juice about the DVD is on the back
including the series synopsis and DVD extras.
Without the plastic sleeve we are given a pretty cool DVD casing. When
unraveled we see each of the four disks with the characters in pose.
Not that creative, but still very cool.
FINAL THOUGHTS
When I was asked if I wanted to review the Jonny Quest DVD I
took the job immediately. But in my mind it thought it was going to be
the redux episodes done in the late 90s with the CGI theme.
BUY IT and know that screaming “Po-Hos are the devil” is really funny.
