Astro
| Astro | |
|---|---|
 Rhe rog rof romorrow (The dog of tomorrow) | |
| Species | Dog (Great Dane) |
| Gender | Male |
| Member of | Space Mutts[Note 1] |
| Affiliation | Elroy Jetson George Jetson Jane Jetson Judy Jetson Rosie Orbitty |
| Occupation | Housepet |
| Marital status | He once had an unnamed mate |
| Children | A litter of unnamed puppies with said mate |
| First appearance | TJ: "The Coming of Astro" (1962) |
| Played by | Don Messick (1962-90) Wally Wingert (2004) Frank Welker (2017) Ron Funches (2024) |
 Jetsons: The Movie | |
 "The Jetsons" (Arconic) | |
 The Jetsons | |
 Jellystone! | |
Astro is the pet dog of the Jetsons and one of the main characters of the Jetsons franchise. His voice was originated by Don Messick.
Adopted by the Jetsons family in the year 2062, Astro lives a life as a housepet of theirs. Although a little clumsy and a stress to the family, he remains consistently loyal to those around him, especially his best friend George.
Character description
Appearances
TV series
Movies
- The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones
- Rockin' with Judy Jetson
- Jetsons: The Movie
- The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania
Specials
Shorts
- Spümcø shorts
- 1. "Father & Son Day" (no lines)
- 2. "The Best Son" (no lines)
- "The Jetsons" (photo)
Comics
Books
Video games
Biography
The Coming of Astro
Astro made his debut in the fifth episode of the series, "The Coming of Astro," where Elroy first brought him to the Jetsons residence. Elroy states that he was an "orphaned puppy" and demonstrated him dog tricks to his mother Jane, and older daughter Judy. Although the two quickly accept Astro as a sweet pet, Jane was hesitant because George would refuse to let them have a dog in their apartment. They first hid the dog until George gets home. But when George arrived, he surprises his family with a nuclear-powered robot dog named 'Lectronimo; with the added promise that it will keep burglers away. After Astro lunges at George, he ordered the dog to leave. But Jane insists that he should not let Astro go, and the rest of the family propose on having a contest on which dog can stay. Despite Astro's best efforts, 'Lectronimo wins the contest and Astro is left out of the home, much to Elroy's disappointment. The two dogs were put to the test when a cat burgler showed up in the Jetsons' apartment. 'Lectromino was unable to catch the burglar after several mishaps, prompting Astro to stop him and convince George to adopt him as a permanent member of the family.
In "Millionaire Astro," it was later revealed that Astro was the former pet of a rich industrialist named J.P. Gottrockets, and that his actual name was "Tralfaz." Despite Astro having no recollection of Gottrockets as his owner, the man was not happy that he had taken a different name under the Jetsons family and seeks to return Astro back to his ownership. However, the family was hesitant to give Astro back to his former owner, and starts to worry on what would happen if they lose their dog. After the Jetsons' failed attempt to pose Astro as their "Uncle Charlie," Gottrockets tries reposses him, but not long before George proposes to him on a trial over ownership of the dog. When Gottrockets is taken to the stand on trial, he shows the judge a pedigree that shows that he had ownership of Tralfaz. Elroy, who later was put into testimony, reveals that he had rescued Astro in a playground, further explaining that the dog wanted to live with a real family rather than a life of wealth and privilege. Despite Astro's sympathy, Gottrocket wins the trial and takes him back to his estate much to the family's sadness over their loss. Astro, under Gottrockets' estate, was not happy with the wealthy living conditions of his former owner. But after seeing how much he loved the Jetsons, Gottrockets transfers his legal ownership and gives Astro back to them.
Astro in the Funny Books
Marvel's Laff-a-Lympics
Development
Gallery
- Main article: Astro/Gallery
Toys and merchandise
- Main article: Astro/Toys
Behind the scenes
- Don Messick would later use Astro's dog-like accent and the phrase "Ruh-roh!" for when he provided the voice of Scooby-Doo during his career.
In popular culture
| WARNING: The following section contains content that may be seen as mature or offensive to some readers. Reader discretion is advised. |
- Main article: List of pop culture references to Jetsons
- Although having no part in the actual movie, Astro, along with George and Jane, was featured on the poster of the film D.A.R.Y.L. The inclusion of the family may represent something Daryl is missing out on, while Paramount Pictures may have included it as an Easter egg as they had acquired the rights the same year for what became an undeveloped live-action movie.
- In the Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures episode "Don't Touch That Dial," the amoeba pet's love for his owner, Al Jetstone, is similar to Astro's love for George.
- In Chris Rice's song "Cartoons," Rice questions if Astro is religious and would say "Rough-ray-roo-loo-yah" in place of "Hallelujah."
- In The Fairly OddParents TV movie Channel Chasers (part 1), Astro is parodied as a robotic dog belonging to Tony Futurelli, who are both portrayed as stereotypical Italian-Americans in the same vein as the HBO drama The Sopranos. Just as in the closing credits to The Jetsons, Tony takes his dog for a walk, but the dog is distracted by a cat who owes him money. The dog and cat end up jumping on the balcony as they watch Tony get stuck on the revolving treadmill.
- In the Drawn Together episode "Toot Goes Bollywood," at the beginning of the episode, Foxxy is making love to Scooby, who she mistakes for Astro.
- In the DTV movie Futurama: Bender's Game (cut as part 2 when aired as part of the TV series), Rosie has been sent to the HAL Institute for Criminally Insane Robots for killing Astro, referring to him as a "dirty dog".
- Astro (along with the family) appears as a painting in Kanye West's animated music video for "Heartless."
- In "Episode 18" (series 7) of the UK BBC One quiz show Pointless, the first round of questions that fell into the "Cartoon" category is Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters, with host Alexander Armstrong showing an image of several of them together. The contestants have to be able to pick out all the obscure characters that 100 anonymous public people had been able to guess. Nobody chose Astro, which would've been a score of one point.
- An anthropomorphic thug-like dog strongly resembles Astro in the Samurai Jack episode "Episode XCVII." Greg Baldwin voiced him, although he didn't sound like Astro.
- Michael Gelman, one of the show's executives, was dressed as Astro for the 2021 Halloween special of Live with Kelly and Ryan.
Family Guy
- Main article: Family Guy
- "Brian in Love:" We get to see what happens after the closing titles, when George eventually finds his way back inside the house after being left screaming for Jane on the treadmill, with bruises and a torn shirt. He excuses Elroy to leave, so he can chastise Jane for not hearing his cries for help. Jane can only apologize, although she is not forgiven.
- "From Method to Madness:" Peter thinks it's fine for Stewie to go into acting at such a young age because he thinks Elroy turned out okay. But Elroy has grown up to become a poor drunk. He gets taken out of a bar by its bouncer and put into a taxi driven by another former child star Bamm-Bamm. The bouncer tells Bamm-Bamm to take Elroy home, but he wants to go to Astro's grave, instead. Elroy and Bamm-Bamm later attended one of Stewie's terrible one-man shows.
A reenactment of the treadmill incident.
Full House
- "The First Day at School:" Danny has bought a Jetsons lunch box for Stephanie's first day of kindergarten. Joey makes the flying car sound effects as he takes it to her. He then pretends to be George saying hello to Jane, Elroy, and Astro, followed by Joey acting out a response for Astro saying hello back to George. Stephanie uses it again in "Joey's Place."
- "Star Search:" Danny had Joey as a guest on the former's college talk show, getting Joey to do his Jetsons routine, which includes him doing an impression of Astro saying, "I ruv you, George," after he gets fired by Mr. Spacely.
- "The Legend of Ranger Joe:" When Joey auditions to replace Ranger Roy, Joey says he does every cartoon voice known to man, and then proceeds to say "I ruv you, George" in Astro's voice.
Scrubs
- "My Balancing Act:" Carla asks Turk to say he loves her in Spanish then as Astro, who obliges by saying, "I rove roo" in Astro's voice.
- "My T.C.W.:" After Dr. Cox finds out that J.D. practiced kissing his stuffed dog, he teases him by calling him fictional dog names throughout the day, such as Scooby-Doo and Astro.
