The Jetsons were built as an optmistic look at the future, but in the 90's movie and the DC comics, their future is revealed to be a dystopian one. I don't know if that says more about how our view of the future changed, or the style of writing changed or just the genre itself. But one thing I know, were the Jetsons to return, they would be very different from their first incarnation.
I think the idea of a dark dystopian future started with films like Logan’s Run and Blade Runner, the only movie that comes to mind that has a positive future was definitely the future of 2015 in Back to the Future II. And after watching this video on The Jetsons, it’s almost similar to The Jetsons’ depiction of the future. Bright and colorful, clear skies and they had flying cars, maybe the team of Back to the Future probably enjoyed the series growing up but I’m probably spitballing here.
90's was a more dark and edgier decade, It's more likely they decided to make the Jetsons movie more dystopian compared to the hopeful optimistic of the 60's television series.
@@tonymata8070 _Brave New World,_ _The Shape of Things to Come_ and _1984_ were dystopian futures written in the 1930s and 1940s. If you're just talking films, there's _Things to Come_ from 1936 and _1984_ from 1956, based on the books mentioned above.
Now that we are in the 21st Century, yes this might seem like "Retro Futurism." But THE JETSONS was set in 2062. So who knows? Even though films exploring the possibilities of the future such as METROPOLIS and THINGS TO COME were produced 90 years ago, their fantasy works, and in amazing ways did predict some things that have come to be. And THE JETSONS did that, too.
Both are futurism, one of a tech advanced society as shown in the Jetsons compared to a low to even no tech post apocalyptic society living with mutated, forced evolved and genetically modified animals from the tech advanced world that lived and destroyed itself leaving what appears to be a prehistoric society. Hence the sentience and ability for human speech displayed by the animal life.
I actually prefer the opposite. Seeing how they did historical versions of our everyday items was very interesting to me. But I get where you come from too
Jetsons were a fun and visual splendor of art deco/ sci-fi ! Beautiful art and wonderful array of characters! Hearing Mel Blancs "JETSON!" still makes me laugh to this very day!
I love that the philosophy of The Jetsons can be boiled down to something Lord Helmet said in Spaceballs, and I think it rings true to reality as well. "Even in the future, nothing works." And honestly, as much as I love the Flintstones, this is why I think the Jetsons is a smarter series. There's a thin patina of a technological Utopia hiding an over-reliance on technology, and spotty technology at that. The Jetsons are clearly middle lower middle working class and often they can only afford the cheapest version of tech. That's why they have Rosie. She was a discounted model.
@@JL4GL That's the problem with technology. No matter how advanced something gets, you're bound by cost, so you have to make due with the cheapest model, which often breaks down. George constantly begging for a raise to fix something seems to be a recurring theme, and I think that adds a level of depth to the show. It may look like a futuristic Utopia, but it's still a consumerist rat race.
Ah, HB cartoons are neat. With the animation style, even if it was limited, I found the expressions usually rather pleasing and friendly. Even when they slightly changed stuff for the 90s, I still think such are pretty cool. I mostly remember the The Jetsons show through their crossover with The Flintstones. Other than that, the retro futurism that we find in a bunch of older animations and some movies has a funny vintage look to it that is rather entertaining. Lots of antennas, saturn rings and amusing boomerang shapes everywhere. What has been as usual be my favourite are the cartoon sounds that added to the wackiness of such shows. The stories take a bit of a step back and I'd rather enjoy the array of funny gizmos and gadgets that the people get to use. Not perhaps the biggest show that HB made but still a show worth checking out, I think.
I loved the Flintstones/Jetsons cross-over! I had no idea about so many things covered in this video - thank you for the lesson!!! The Jetsons will always hold a special and nostalgic place in my heart and I'd love to see a live action movie!
I enjoyed it as the best of the Jetson films. I do wish it went deeper and originally it was going to with this other movie The Jetsons & Flintstones meet the Roman Holidays with the 2 families meeting this other Hanna Barbera family based in a Modern Ancient Rome time. That show (The Roman Holidays) came out in 1972 and only lasted one season with 13 episodes. But that project of course was cancelled.
As a kid I loved The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones, flawed as it was. If any movie deserves a remake, it's that one. I'm also a huge fan of Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law.
The Jetsons seem to be one of those properties that's always been more "iconic" than successful. Everyone knows the characters, but none of their appearances were ever a really big hit with audiences or critics. I have to figure the association with the Flintstones has a lot to do with why there's still interest in reviving the Jetsons, while other HB characters of the time have largely faded into obscurity. (Still waiting on that edgy, modern Top Cat reboot!)
Critics? Other than evaluating TV Shows, there were not "Critics" for animation back then since animation had not been taken as seriously as it is now.
@@AJTate-bs6li There's no point in it. It's been tried and as always, with the originators having passed away, you do not have the same sensibilities and insight coming from the current generation working in the industry. Anything they would attempt would be a strained effort to duplicate the original which would be fruitless. And when others have tried to update or make their own interpretations, these have also failed due to comparisons to the originals. This is why it is best to leave those icons as they were and create original works which contemporary artists understand.
I loved watching Top Cat back in the 60s...I got the biggest kick out of Benny The Ball. These major cartoons of the era filled up all of my Saturday mornings during the 60s.
Jane: Oh my god! George! George: Dis you not here me out there? Elroy: What happened Daddy? George: Go to your room Elroy! Elroy: But what happened? George: I said: GO TO YOUR ROOM!!!! Jane, for 45 minutes, I was out their screaming and nobody came to help! Jane: Oh George, Im sorry! George: I’m sorry Jane, I’m sorry!!! I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!!!
I always, always loved The Jetsons as much as I enjoyed The Flintstones. I always loved anything future focused, and never realised how short their initial run was. I was very excited when they got a reboot in the late 80s! Thanks for this tribute! 🚀
Indeed, without the Jetsons, today's future may never happened with the devices and such they invented and predict it. Kudos to the creators for making this series exist and make the future find a way to come true.
Sorry to burst your bubble. But technology progresses with or without influences. People will look at something and wonder if there's a market for it. Cause we don't have practical jet packs or commercially available flying cars. Also, humans are dangerous enough on the ground. Imagine them in air traffic.
I find that a bit of a stretch. The technology in the show was based on things that were already happening, and these ideas also existed elsewhere. We got flat screen TVs because we already had TVs and wanted them to not weigh 10 000 pounds. The internet was already an idea being developed. Video calling was already an idea in sci-fi, as were robots. What you're suggesting is similar to what people say about word and acronym origins (like how SOS means "save our souls"), but all of that is pure nonsense and just people not understanding the course of development and just trying to confirm their own weird ideas and misunderstandings.
Joseph Clegg yeah but my cast for a live action Jetsons goes more like this George Jetson:Chris Pratt Jane Jetson:Judy Greer Elroy Jetson:Jason Maybaum Judy Jetson:Dove Cameron Mr.spacely:Simon pegg Mrs.spacely:Sarah Wayne callies Henry orbit:Arnold Schwarzenegger Mr.cogswell:Scott bakula
Happy 60th anniversary to Hanna-Barbera's first family of the future....the Jetsons! I still watch them with my family every weekend for the past several years. Thanks guys!
It was such a crying shame they only made 24 episodes of the original Jetsons. When other HB prime time one season wonders Jonny Quest made 26 and Top Cat made 30. I also would have much preferred to see the 70s version where they were to age Judy and Elroy, over the 80s version that we did get.
I was a huge fan of The Jetsons, and as a kid, I had no idea that some of the episodes were from the 1960s and some were from the 1980s. I also loved Flintstones crossover movie. At the time, such shared universes seemed new and novel.
I know it’s a cheesy movie with tons of controversy, but my introduction to the Jetsons (and indeed to film in general) was their 1990 movie. So it holds a special place in my heart lol
I was born in 1974 in Abadan/Iran. We grew up to American TV shows, Arabic and American Radio and Farsi music and schools. What a great time. I still remember watching The Jetsons, The Flintstones etc. every Friday morning.
Great Review. You touched on the limited animation style used by HB. Would it be worth your time to do a deep dive on limited animation, how it came about, what makes it different than conventional animation, and its impact on the industry as a whole? IMO might be an interesting topic. Thanks!
I love the jetsons and the voice cast is just amazing and Jetsons the movie was the best with great animation and songs so Happy 60 years to the jetsons!😄👍🚀😍❤🎉
Hi Dave :) I 1st saw the Jetsons on TV on Saturday mornings in the late 60s and early 70s. That is the version that I love best. Even with limited animation it looks less plastic than the later shows.
I grew up watching reruns of the original and 80's revival only barely noticing the differences between the two parts at the time. I remember the rivalry between Cogswell and Spacely were my favorite episodes. The best moment in the entire series though was the Jet Screamer song Eep Ock Ork Ah Ah. John K. was not a fan of The Jetsons growing up so his takes on the characters were not from a loving place.
Jet Screamer was actually voiced (including singing) by the actor who played Otis The Town Drunk on The Andy Griffith Show...he also voiced the father character on the animated kid's show Davey & Goliath.
Actor Hal Smith played the voice of Jet Screamer, portrayed Otis The Town Dunk on The Andy Griffith Show, and voiced the father on the animated Davey & Goliath.
My older sister and I loved the Jet Screamer song Eep Ock Ork Ah Ah, and the animation visuals that went with it -- and we would sing along with the cartoon show whenever it aired Saturday mornings. We looked forward to seeing its rerun episode.❤️
That was real dirty of Hanna-Barbera to replace Janet Waldo as Judy after she had recorded all her lines. Tiffany had no business being given the complete character. She should have been kept to just providing the singing voice only. What HB did was wrong on every level. They sacrificed the last opportunity audiences had to hear the original voice of Judy along with the other surviving cast members. They allowed the movie to be highjacked and used as a vehicle for a flash in the pan teen pop star who did not have a future after her 15 mins of fame ran out. In respect to Janet Waldo a version of the film with her voice track put in place of Tiffany's needs to be released or included as an alternative option in the bonus features of a bluray release. Hopefully, her voice track for the film still exists and was not disposed of.
@@dutchmansmine9053 The movie was panned because it ended up being a vehicle for Tiffany instead of a Jetsons movie. Had they allowed Janet Waldo to remain as Judy and kept Tiffany as the singing voice only the reception would have been much better. The way the film was promoted was all about Tiffany in the role of Judy and that was enough to turn off die heart Jetsons fans.
Dave! Greetings from Hollywood! Thanks for doing this one!! Daws Butler (the ORIGINAL voice of Elroy, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and countless others, and the guy who REALLY WAS the “Man Of 1000 Voices”, when Chuck Jones himself once said, “Mel Blanc was credited with being a “Man Of 1000 Voices”… but they were ALL THE SAME VOICE!), and Daws was my Voice Acting Coach. And he was a friend of the PREMIER Voice Actor Down Under, the one and only Keith Scott! And by the way, I bought ALL the original episodes of “Thunderbirds”!
7:57, Fun Fact: Don Messick (known as the original voice of Scooby-Doo & 2nd voice of Scrappy-Doo) is original the voice of Astro in the original Jetsons series and the Theatrical Movie in the early 1990s until 22:19 The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-Wrestlemania where he is voiced by Frank Welker himself (still known as Fred Jones and the new voice of Scooby-Doo), along with Grey Delisle Griffin voicing Jane Jetson in the same movie, too.
Plus Jeff Bergman reprised the roles of George and Spacely from the 1990 film albeit he only did a few lines for both characters in the 1990 film, to the WWE one. Making him and Frank Welker who voiced Oribity in the 1980s revised series the only previous Jetsons cast members to be involved in the recent film.
Oddly in the UK when l spoke of _The Jetsons_ at School, as a child, nobody else had heard of it; then years later in the pub noone had heard of it either. This is surprising when in the UK we grew up on US culture with Westerns and Star Trek etc etc Was this a Mandela effect 🤔 Then suddenly it took off and l hear of it from all quarters now. It was my favourite cartoon. Loved all the noises of the cars lifts etc. The styling reminded me of Jensen (Swedish) car design.
My favorite incarnation of The Jetsons is the first one, with an optimistic view of the future. If there will be another version of The Jetsons, I want to see a cheerful live action comedy movie. Dystopias are a cliche now, we need to feel more hope for the future again because the news is so depressing now.
I was sad there wasn't a real live action Jetsons movie like the Flintstones. But I remember a series George Lopez did a episode Leave It To Lopez when George Lopez dreamed that him and his family dressed up like the real Jetsons in 2004.
I went to see _The Jetsons Movie_ first run, don't really remember much about it though. I do recall that my gf and I, and like 3 other people, stayed through the credits and gave applause to the dedication at the end to O'Hanlon and Blanc. Everyone else got up and left as soon as the credits started to roll.
@user-nq5pw6mw2r I think Warner Bros should team up with Bad Robot Productions to both produce and make a Jetsons Live Action Movie in my opinion. Just Saying?
Another great cartoon evolution! I knew The Jetsons Movie didn't do well but I didn't know it was scorned THAT much. I really like the Jetsons Movie, tbh. It definitely has flaws; the CG looks too plastic and dated even in 1990, the story gets a little muddled, and Tiffany ain't no Janet Waldo... But I do like the fuller animation, the stakes being higher than your average Jetsons story, the scope and environment is much larger and reaches the potential of the Jetsons idea better than the 60s show ever did, and even in the last year of their lives, Mel Blanc and George O'Hanlon are terrific as Mr. Spacely and George respectively. I think the Jetsons Movie deserves a little more love, and definitely a watch for those who haven't seen it!
And The Jetsons movie make its first Universal Pictures and Hanna-Barbera Production where later on producing an Hanna-Barbera Live-action adaptation based on the original TV series, The Flintstones (1994 & 2000) and Josie and the Pussycats (2001, with MGM, also the same company behind Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1940-1967).
Before he voiced George Jetson for the Jetsons, George O'Hanlon voiced the father in another futuristic cartoon that featured flying cars. It's called Your Safety First (1956), and was a promotional film for the automotive industry. Search the title and you can find it on RU-vid.
I loved both the original Flintstones and Jetsons up to a young adult, but, not owning a TV, I met them in comic magazines and I rarely saw the animated versions.
The Jetsons should live above the clouds because the future is awesome, not because they live in a dystopia. The whole point is that they live in an amazing tomorrow, but remained human, so they still have problems. (George complains about a 2 hour workweek, Jane still wants a robot maid when most home appliances are automated, etc)
I grew up on reruns of the Jetsons, im one of those kids didn't know i was just watching repeats of 24 episodes. It reminds me of when i Found out gilgan island only had three seasons
The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera was also the same name for the motion simulator theme park ride at Universal Studios Florida which opened on June 7th 1990 and included all of the Hanna-Barbera characters. The ride closed in 2002 and replaced by Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast which was closed in 2011 and replaced by Despicable Me Minion Mayhem.
20:34 Harvey Comics, the company behind Casper the Friendly Ghost and other Harvey properties also published this Jetsons comics, while WB's current parent company, DC Comics was also published and Archie Comics, which Jetsons comics also published. Archie Comics and Hanna-Barbera are also one of the producers for Josie and the Pussycats TV series in 1970s, Harvey Entertainment co-produced with Hanna-Barbera for Casper and the Angels TV series and DC Comics also produced with Hanna-Barbera for Super Friends TV series.
@@davaotripsters And yet, Hanna-Barbera (still owned by Warner Bros. many years later) stoll had the rights to The Jetsons without any Copyrighted problems.
12:37 The Partridge Family 2200 A.D. is now currently owned and distributed rights shared between Sony Pictures Television (which also produced based on a Live-action sitcom, The Partridge Family under Screen Gems TV) and Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (under the parent company, Hanna-Barbera, who also produced this animated series I mentioned).
Maybe that explains why we didn't get a DVD release of that show, which really shouldn't be that hard. Josie and the Pussycats started out as an Archie Comic book series before being turned into a Cartoon show and still managed to get a DVD release of the show, as well as a short VHS Release of the show, too
@@thefantasticretroreviewer3941 yep the same goes for Jeannie (1973 animated series based on the original series, I Dream of Jeannie), it didn't get an official physical home media release especially on DVD, but it does on streaming under Crackle, Sony Pictures' streaming platform.
Actually Sony sold Crackle between 2019 and 2020. First the majority in 2019, then the rest in 2020. Today Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment owns Crackle now. But, both shows are still there.
The Jetsons may have also been Influenced by The Donna Reed Show. Jane's hair was parted like Donna Stone , the daughter was boy crazy, and the son was smart.
Hanna-Barbera! Home of Laff-a-Lympics, Scooby-Doo (still very popular to this day), The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Josie & The Pussycats, Frankenstein Jr. & The Impossibles, Yogi Bear, Top Cat, Hong Kong Phooey, Jabberjaw, The Funky Phantom, Captain Caveman & The Teen Angels, Speed-Buggy, Clue Club, The Banana Splits, Tom & Jerry, Jonny Quest and many more on the way.
11:01 Interesting to note that Gold Key Entertainment is also a company behind Little Lulu franchise in which Universal Pictures (the same company who also produced The Jetsons animated feature with Warner Bros.' parent company, Hanna-Barbera) currently owns the rights under its parent company, DreamWorks Animation's DreamWorks Classics aka Classic Media, while Marvel Comics is now under a Disney brand since its acquisition way back in 2009, since both of these under licensed from Hanna-Barbera (in which now a property of WB). Ironically, both WB and NBCUniversal also owns through the home media joint venture named Studio Distribution Services, LLC., and both Disney and WB are also involved in Who Framed Roger Rabbit film cameos, Disney's Clouds and among others.
16:32 You can blame George Tobin (Tiffany's manager) for the film being a flop and for interfering with the production of the film by forcing Tiffany into the film in the first place.
Mr. Spacely: Jetson! Thank goodness you're still here! I've got some good news and some bad news... George Jetson: What's the bad news, Mr. Spacely? Mr. Spacely: We've discovered a very dangerous computer virus that you have to stop right away! George Jetson: But that could take months! By the way... what's the good news? Mr. Spacely: The good news is I don't have to do it! Bye now!
The DVD release of the original 1960s series in 2004 was kind of the best of all worlds. It was basically featured the original opening and closing credits, as well as the laugh tracks, but it also featured the title cards from the 1980s revival. The title cards are missing, however, when the show is featured on MeTV, which just features the original 1960s episodes.
This might be an interesting suggestion, but maybe you could do a video of the history of Baloo through his Disney appearances in these media: The Jungle Book (animated) TaleSpin (including the Pilot) The Jungle Book (live action, 1994) The Jungle Book 2 (live action, 1998) The Jungle Book 2 (animated, 2003) The Jungle Book (live action, 2016) With the voice actors later on: Harris (1967), Gilbert (1990-1991), Goodman (2003) and Murray (2016)
I love the Jetsons, since I first saw their 1990 movie. I mean, I love both Jetsons and Flintstones, but Snorks and Jetsons are my top two faves from Hanna-Barbera. Yabba Dabba!!
My main aim with these videos is not to only teach you about the shows you love but help you grow a love and respect for those you don't! So, I hope you did get something out of this episode 😊
@@DaveLeeDownUnder and i DID... but i DON'T like the cartoon, because i don't have interest... but i will like if you PLEASE make a GARFIELD cartoon evolution video👍🏻👍🏻