Jonny Quest

***Jonny Quest*** (also known as ***The Adventures of Jonny Quest***) is an American animated science fiction adventure television series about a boy who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for Screen Gems, and was created and designed by comic book artist Doug Wildey.

Inspired by radio serials and comics in the action-adventure genre, it featured more realistic art, characters, and stories than Hanna-Barbera's previous cartoon programs. It was the first of several Hanna-Barbera action-based adventure shows—which would later include *Space Ghost*, *The Herculoids*, and *Birdman and the Galaxy Trio*—and ran on ABC in prime time on early Friday nights for one season in 1964–1965.

After spending two decades in reruns, during which time it appeared on all three major U.S. television networks of the time, new episodes were produced for syndication in 1986 as part of *The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera*'s second season. Two telefilms, a comic book series, and a more modern revival series, *The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest*, were produced in the 1990s.

## Development

Comic book artist Doug Wildey, after having worked on Cambria Productions' 1962 animated television series *Space Angel*, found work at the Hanna-Barbera studio, which asked him to design a series starring the radio drama adventure character Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy.

Wildey wrote and drew a presentation, using such magazines as *Popular Science*, *Popular Mechanics*, and *Science Digest* "to project what would be happening 10 years hence", and devising or fancifully updating such devices as a "snowskimmer" and hydrofoils. When Hanna-Barbera could not or would not obtain the rights to Jack Armstrong, the studio had Wildey rework the concept. Wildey said he "went home and wrote *Jonny Quest* that night—which was not that tough." For inspiration he drew on Jackie Cooper and Frankie Darrow movies, Milton Caniff's comic strip *Terry and the Pirates*, and, at the behest of Hanna-Barbera, the James Bond movie *Dr. No*. As Wildey described in 1986, producer Joe Barbera had seen that first film about the English superspy "and wanted to get in stuff like '007' numbers. Which we included, by the way, in the first [episode of] *Jonny Quest*. It was called 'Jonny Quest File 037' or something. We dropped that later; it didn't work. But that was his father's code name as he worked for the government as a scientist and that kind of thing." Hanna-Barbera refused to give him a "created by" credit, Wildey said, and he and studio "finally arrived on 'based on an idea created by', and that was my credit."

The prime-time animated TV series *Jonny Quest* debuted on ABC at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Friday, September 18, 1964. As comics historian Daniel Herman wrote,

Wildey did not design the more cartoonishly drawn pet bulldog, Bandit, which was designed by animator Richard Bickenbach.

Although they do not appear in any episode, scenes from the *Jack Armstrong* test film were incorporated into the *Jonny Quest* closing credits. They are the scenes of Jack Armstrong and Billy Fairfield escaping from African warriors by hovercraft. The test sequence and a number of drawings and storyboards by Wildey were used to sell the series to ABC and sponsors.

The show's working titles were *The Saga of Chip Baloo*, which Wildey said "wasn't really serious, but that was it for the beginning", and *Quest File 037*. The name *Quest* was selected from a phone book, for its adventurous implications.

## Characters

* **Jonathan "Jonny" Quest** is a Tom Swift-like 11-year-old American boy who lost his mother at an early age. Although unenthusiastic in his schooling, he is intelligent, brave, adventurous, and generally athletic with a proficiency in judo, scuba diving, and the handling of firearms. He takes on responsibility willingly, attending to his homework (and/or household chores), telling the truth, and treating adults with respect. His voice was provided by actor Tim Matheson.
* **Dr. Benton C. Quest** is Jonny's father and a scientific genius who works for the U.S. Government. He is considered "one of the three top scientists in the world", with interests and technical know-how spanning many fields. Raising Jonny and Hadji as a widowed father, he is benevolent, conscientious and decent, even though he is ready, willing and able to take decisive action when necessary for survival or defense. Dr. Quest was voiced by John Stephenson for five episodes, and by Don Messick for the remainder of the series. One of the government agents in the first episode mentions that Jonny lost his mother sometime earlier but does not say when or, more importantly, *how* she died. The fact a special agent was assigned to protect Jonny suggests Mrs. Quest may have been killed by foreign agents. As the two agents in the first episode fly to Palm Key to meet with Dr. Quest, one explains to the other that "if Jonny fell into the hands of enemy agents, Dr. Quest's value to science would be seriously impaired." So there is definite concern that Jonny might be kidnapped.
* **Roger T. "Race" Bannon** is the special agent from Intelligence One assigned to safeguard Jonny "24 hours a day and 7 days a week as tutor, companion and all-around watchdog". Race was born in Wilmette, Illinois, to John and Sarah Bannon. He is an expert in judo, having a third-degree black belt as well as the ability to defeat notorious experts in various sporting techniques, including sumo wrestlers. He is also a pilot. The character was voiced by Mike Road, with his design modeled on actor Jeff Chandler. The name is a combination of Race Dunhill and Stretch Bannon from an earlier comic strip. The surname Bannon is Irish (from 'O'Banain') meaning "white".
* **Hadji Singh** is a streetwise 11-year-old Kolkata orphan who becomes the adopted son of Dr. Benton Quest, as well as Jonny's best friend and adoptive brother. Rarely depicted without his bejeweled turban and Jodhpuri, he is proficient in judo, which he learned from an American Marine. The seventh son of a seventh son, Hadji seems to possess mystical powers (including snake-charming, levitation and hypnotism), which may or may not be attributed to parlor trickery. The Quest family meets Hadji while Dr. Quest is lecturing at Calcutta University; he subsequently joined the Quest team after saving Dr. Quest's life (by using a basket lid to block a knife thrown at the doctor). Although slightly more circumspect than Jonny, he can reliably be talked into participating in most any adventure by his adoptive brother. He is voiced by Danny Bravo.
* **Bandit** is Jonny's pet bulldog, so named because he is white with black markings - including what appears to be a black domino mask around his eyes. This coloration is occasionally instrumental in foiling adversaries. Bandit is unique among his fellow Hanna-Barbera dogs (such as Scooby-Doo, Huckleberry Hound, and Hong Kong Phooey), as he is a regular non-anthropomorphic dog. Still, he seems uncannily able to understand human speech and is capable of complex facial expressions. Don Messick provided Bandit's vocal effects, which were combined with an archived clip of an actual dog barking.[*citation needed*] Creator Doug Wildey wanted to have a monkey as Jonny's pet, but he was overruled by Hanna-Barbera. Wildey has said Bandit was intended to be a bulldog, though the dog differs in appearance from actual bulldog breeds.
* **"Jezebel" Jade** is a very savvy and mysterious woman. Very little is known about her, except that she is obviously wealthy and/or very well-connected. It is not clear whether Jade is her real name, a nickname, a code name, etc. It *is* clear that she has known the Quest family for some time, and that she and Race apparently once had a romantic relationship (perhaps still do). In "Double Danger", for example, she kisses the agent Korchuk, an agent of Dr. Zin who is pretending to be Race. When Jonny asks Jade how she knew Korchuk was an imposter, she simply replies, "There are some ways a woman cannot be fooled!" Jade is the only female character who appears in two episodes—"Double Danger" and "Terror Island". She is voiced by Cathy Lewis.

The Quest family has a home compound in the Florida Keys (on the island of Palm Key) but their adventures take them around the world. The Quest team travels the globe studying scientific mysteries, which generally end up being explained as the work of various adversaries. Such pursuits get them into scrapes with opponents, ranging from espionage robots and electric monsters to Egyptian mummies and prehistoric pterosaurs. Although most menaces appeared in only one episode each, one recurring nemesis is known as Dr. Zin, an Asian criminal mastermind. With yellow skin and a maniacal laugh, Zin was an example of the Yellow Peril villains common in Cold War-era fiction. The voices of Dr. Zin and other assorted characters were done by Vic Perrin. Race's mysterious old flame, Jade, appears in two episodes, as do the characters of Corbin (an Intelligence One agent) and the Professor (a scientist colleague of Dr. Quest's). The 1993 made-for-TV feature *Jonny's Golden Quest* included in its plotline the concept that Race and Jade had been briefly married years earlier, but it also depicted Race and Hadji in place with the family at Mrs. Quest's death, in direct contradiction to explicit statements and presentation in the original series. Jade's first name is revealed in *Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest* to be Jezebel; but whether Jade is her surname, or her real name at all, is yet to be elicited.

## Broadcast history

*Jonny Quest* first aired from September 18, 1964, to March 11, 1965 in prime time on the ABC network and was an almost instant success, both critically and ratings-wise but it was canceled after one season due to the animated show's high production costs.

Like the original *Star Trek* television series, this series would be a big money-maker in syndication, but this avenue to profits was not as well-known when the show was canceled in 1965. Along with another Hanna-Barbera series, *The Jetsons*, *Jonny Quest* is one of the few television series to have aired on each of the Big Three television networks in the United States.