Jetsons: The Movie (film)

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Jetsons: The Movie

Theatrical poster.
Production company Hanna-Barbera Productions
Distributor Universal Pictures
Release date July 6, 1990
Starring George O'Hanlon
Mel Blanc
Tiffany
Daws Butler
Penny Singleton
Don Messick
Jean Vander Pyl
Producer(s) Joseph Barbera
William Hanna
Bruce David Johnson
Music composed by John Debney
Screenplay by Dennis Marks
Director(s) Joseph Barbera
William Hanna
Title card

Jetsons: The Movie is an American animated sci-fi comedy/forced environmental film based on the 1962 TV series The Jetsons. The film was produced by Hanna-Barbera, and distributed by Universal Pictures on July 6, 1990. It was written by Dennis Marks, and produced and directed by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna.

Mysterious production delays at Spacely's Ore Orbiting Asteroid forces Spacely no choice but to put George in charge, who has to figure out who or what is disrupting his plant. The rest of the family also adapts to their new home and makes new friends.

The film served as the de facto series finale to the aforementioned TV series, as no new episodes aired after its release. In fact, no new official Jetsons productions had been done for 27 years until the release of the 2017 direct-to-video film, The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania.

Detailed summary

Memorable quotes

Characters

Legend
Character debut Speaking debut Ep. debut No lines Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character Actor
Rosie Jean Vander Pyl
Tweeter N/A
George Jetson George O'Hanlon
Elroy Jetson Patric Zimmerman
Judy Jetson Tiffany
Jane Jetson Penny Singleton
Astro Don Messick
Rocket Rick Rick Dees
Cop Unavailable
Cosmo Spacely Mel Blanc
Board member #1 Michael Bell
Gertrude Susan Silo
Alexander Throttlebottom
Rudy 2 Ronnie Schell
Basketball coach #1 Michael Bell
Cosmic Cosmo Steve McClintock
Mrs. Skypad N/A
Alien hitchhiker N/A
Lucy 2 Patti Deutsch
Doris
Susie
Mary
Helen
Fergie Furbelow Russi Taylor
Bertie Furbelow Brad Garrett
Gertie Furbelow B.J. Ward
Apollo Blue Paul Kreppel
Teddy 2 Dana Hill
Basketball coach #2 Frank Welker
Squeak Frank Welker


Organizations

Locations

Objects

Vehicles

  • Flying cars

Production

Development

Trade ad with original date.

In 1984, Paramount Pictures purchased the rights to live-action Jetsons movie.[1] A 1985 promotional video for what films Paramount Pictures were working on and had planned, it was announced that The Jetsons was in preproduction as a live-action feature film to be executive produced by Gary Nordino.[2]

Although scheduled for December 1989, it was moved to the summer of 1990.[3]

Casting

The most controversial moment in the making of the movie is that Janet Waldo, the original voice of Judy, who had been hired for the movie, had all her lines redubbed by then-teen pop star Tiffany, under contract by MCA Records,[4] due to a studio decision by Universal Pictures to draw in more of a bigger audience.[4] According to Jean Vander Pyl, the voice of Rosie, Tiffany would only do the songs as Judy if she could have the role, too.[5] Casting director, Andrea Romano, demanded her name to be removed from the credits, although she didn't realize it was still left in.

George O'Hanlon, who had become blind and was wheelchair-bound, suffered a second stroke during pickups at the studio. Jean Vander Pyl reported that she saw O'Hanlon leave the studio in an ambulance.[5] He was taken to St. Joseph's Medical Center in Burbank where he died.[6]

Daws Butler, the voice of Elroy, also died before production began, so he was replaced by Patric Zimmerman.[5]

Filming

Jon McClenahan was hired by Hanna to animate, but when animation stalled, he was put on storyboarding duties. When McClenahan was finished he had to have them approved by Iwao Takamoto, who was more interested in lecturing him on what he was doing wrong, even after McClenahan made the changes that Takamoto himself suggested. Growing tired of this after two weeks, McClenahan told Hanna that he was done, but he would still animate when they were ready for him which eventually they were. Ultimately, the final product was an embarrassment for McClenahan to watch.[7]

Additional dialogue was credited to Carl Sautter.

Jeff Bergman was hired to fill in for George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc's additional lines, as Blanc's health was also failing,[8] beginning his career as the characters. Blanc had died after the majority of the film had been recorded.

Aftermath

Janet Waldo was "totally crushed" and took it personally that she was the only one who had been replaced, and felt it was "very disloyal" of Hanna and Barbera, particularly, to have done that to her. Hanna and Barbera tried consoling her with letters and flowers while promising her that it was a one-time thing and that she would voice Judy again in future projects.[4] While she did not voice Judy again (Judy even being notably absent from The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera ride), she did continue to be employed by Hanna-Barbera, sporadically. She did, however, get to voice Judy again with complete exuberance for two audio commentaries for The Jetsons: The Complete First Season DVD.

Music

Main article: Jetsons: The Movie (soundtrack)

The music was composed by John Debney.

Songs

  1. "Gotcha"
  2. "Maybe Love, Maybe Not"
  3. "Staying Together"
  4. "I Always Thought I'd See You Again"
  5. "First Time in Love"
  6. "You and Me"
  7. "Home"
  8. "We're the Jetsons (Jetsons' Rap)"
  9. "With You All the Way"

Release

Dates are in order of release:

  • United States: July 6, 1990

Behind the scenes

  • This is the third film in a row (films being the only continuation of the franchise at this point), where Judy falls in love with a rockstar.
  • The film is depicted as being in the late 21st century.
  • The family watch a soap opera called All My Androids, a parody of All My Children.
  • Squeak sounds no different to Orbitty, due to both being voiced by Frank Welker.
  • Shortly before the release of the film, Universal Studios Florida opened up a ride called The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, with the same principal cast, aside from Waldo or Tiffany as Judy, as she did not appear at all, for reasons unknown.

Errors

  • Earth somehow has a pollution problem, apparently just for the sake of spreading an environmental message, which drastically conflicts with the previous series and films, where there was no such problem.
  • Elroy being a child prodigy has been played down, so that he appears as just an average boy. Despite showing in "Two Many Georges," that he could be both.
  • Judy refers to Cosmic Cosmo as her former boyfriend when they hadn't even gone on one date.

Marketing and promotion

Main article: Jetsons: The Movie (film)/Marketing campaign

Hanna-Barbera had granted 50 licensees.[3]

In 1990, Mallard Press published a book adaptation also called Jetsons: The Movie, which was written by Etta Wilson and illustrated by Bob Singer. Grosset & Dunlap also published two books, Jetsons on the Move and Elroy's Great Space Adventure, which were written by Marc Gave, illustrated with photographs from the film.

Critical reception

Box office

In other languages

Language Name Meaning

Home availability

Trailers

First trailer:

Click to load content

Second trailer:

Click to load content

References

  1. ^ (November 27, 1984). Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  2. ^ TheKillerWithinNJ (October 8, 2008). "Paramount's Future- from 1985" (at 7:13). YouTube. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Sanchez, Jesus (November 16, 1989). "Like Disney, Hanna-Barbera will diversify into theme parks and retail.". Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c (July 13, 1990). "Actress Who Originated Judt Jetson Voice Speaks Out". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Dooley, J. (1991). "Speaking of Wilma...," page 66. Comics Scene #19. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  6. ^ (February 14, 1989). "George O'Hanlon; Father's Voice on 'Jetsons'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  7. ^ "John McClenahan Interview Part II". Platypus Comix. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  8. ^ (June 29, 1990). USA Today. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
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