The Mystery of the Lizard Men
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The Mystery of the Lizard Men | |
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Production number | 7-3 |
Network | ABC |
Premiere date | October 2, 1964 |
Starring | Tim Matthieson John Stephenson Mike Road Don Messick Nestor Paiva Doug Young Vic Perrin |
Music composed by | Hoyt Curtin |
Writer(s) | Joseph Barbera William Hanna Doug Wildey Alex Lovy |
Director(s) | William Hanna |
Voice director(s) | Joseph Barbera |
Animation director(s) | Charles A. Nichols |
Episode navigation | |
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Title card | |
"The Mystery of the Lizard Men" is the first episode of Jonny Quest season one. It aired on October 2, 1964 on ABC. It was written by Joseph Barbera, William Hanna, Alex Lovy, and series creator, Doug Wildey (credited as Douglas Wildey), and produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the founders of Hanna-Barbera Productions.
Ships have been vanishing in the Sargasso Sea, chalked up to mysterious lizard-like men and red flashing lights, leading Dr. Quest and his family to investigate.
Detailed summary
Memorable quotes
Race: Well, that's one down, forty to go.
Characters
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Organizations
Locations
- Earth
- Atlantic Ocean
- United States
- France (indirectly)
- French Riveria (mentioned)
- The Moon (mentioned)
Objects
- Sargasso weed
- File 0-37
- UNICE
Vehicles
- F-Tralina
- Hydrofoil
- Lizard Men's submarine
- Man to the Moon rocket
Production
Development
Filming
Music
The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin, who was credited as musical director.
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: October 2, 1964 on ABC
Behind the scenes
- The agency that Race works for isn't named until "Riddle of the Gold."
- The bad guys are described as looking like frogs and lizards. They're never explicitly referred to as Lizard Men.
- In real life, the first Moon landing didn't occur until July 20, 1969.
- Although Wildey is credited as Douglas for being a writer, he's credited as Doug for being the supervising art director and layout artist.
Errors
- In close-ups of Dr. Quest being on the boat, his raincoat is replaced with his lab coat.
- When Jonny spots the frogman he knocked out with the air vent grille, Jonny's sclerae are flesh.
- At the end of the episode, when Race tries to recall what they were doing before the mission, the back of Dr. Quest is shown and he's wearing his raincoat even though at this point, he had gone back to his lab coat.
Legacy
- In 1988, Race recalls this adventure in Comico's Jonny Quest #26, but the Lizard Men he is punching look more like gill-men from the Black Lagoon.
- Lizard Men pop up throughout the 2000s TV series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, sometimes even being named.
In popular culture
- Main article: List of pop culture references to Jonny Quest
- The series is lampooned in the Evil Con Carne episode "Max Courage!" Major Dr. Ghastly requests a visit from her old mentor, Dr. Courage, to visit Bunny Island, which is a ploy to trap him and force him to help finish her build Hector Con Carne's Doomsday Machine. Dr. Courage, is a pastiche between Dr. Quest and Race, who has two biological sons, Rick and Max, the latter being a spoof on Jonny, and whom Dr. Courage prefers over to Rick. They also have a helpful pet weasel named Rascal. In the Courages' boat ride to and escape from Bunny Island, and Rascal's fight with the guard, the music is inspired by the Jonny Quest theme song. During the escape, they are also chased by frogmen based on what happened in "The Mystery of the Lizard Men."
- In the Recess episode "The Coolest Heatwave Ever," Gus revealed that he and his lieutenant father saved the world's economy after they captured DeSilvo while skiing in the Alps. They were also chased by DeSilvo's henchmen referred to as "frogmen."
- The episode is lampooned in The Venture Bros. episode "Ghosts of the Sargasso."
Marketing and promotion
- In September 1964, a month before the episode's premiere, Gold Key Comics published an adaptation. It was called Issue #1, although it remained the only one.
Critical reception
In other languages
Language | Name | Meaning |
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Home availability
- In the United States:
- February 20, 1989: Worldvision Home Video releases Jonny Quest on VHS.
- 1989: Hanna-Barbera Video releases Jonny Quest on VHS.
- 19??: Image Entertainment releases Jonny Quest: Volume 2 on LaserDisc.
- August 15, 2006: Warner Home Video releases Jonny Quest: The Complete First Season on DVD.
- June 6, 2017: Warner Home Video releases Jonny Quest: The Complete First Season (Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection edition) on DVD.
- June 11, 2019: Warner Archive Collection releases Jonny Quest: The Complete Original Series on Blu-ray Disc.