This is another property that I am surprised has not been made into a movie franchise. It's got action, likeable characters, and huge nostalgia value. Perhaps if Shazam! is a big hit, studios might take a look at its potential for a live action treatment.
I'm afraid that if they did try to do a Jonny Quest movie now, they'd take more cues from Venture Brothers than from any iteration of the show. Heck, I'm 95% positive the reason we haven't had a revival (not even on the Boomerang service) is because every time you mention JQ or try to revive it, the Adult Swim fans come around & harangue you for liking it. I'm not joking; they did that with Future Quest fans & Future Quest was great.
ReplyDeleteStill, appreciate that someone else likes JQ & remembers the awesome Comico series. :)
Whoa! Great Cover.
ReplyDeleteI know of Johnny Quest, but never got into the character. I was more Speed Racer. Is he "Young Indiana Jones"? A boy version of "Lara Croft"?
I don't know, Ross. The live-action version of SPEED RACER didn't do all that well. And that had loads of non-super-powered action and adventure, too! Then, again, it seemed to have used the same green-screen process as the SIN CITY flicks. So, maybe if a JQ film was to shoot in actual real-world locations (like was done by Marvel Films, for example?), the production company working for Time/Warner might stand a fighting chance of getting their money back!
ReplyDeleteP.S.--@Air Dave: "yes" (sort of) to both.
ReplyDeleteHanna-Barbera produced the original one-shot series, circa 1964, from an idea they were presented by one Douglas Wildey, who originally envisioned an animated version of the Depression-era radio "The Adventures of Jack Armstrong (The All-American Boy)." H-B even made a test sequence for the heads of Screen Gems (the TV arm of Columbia Pictures) to view!*
Almost every single image of which later had a story written around it.
*It went on to become the ending credit montage.
I loved JONNY QUEST, but I'm afraid Mela is right- times have changed too much for a big-budget relaunch, either in animated or live-action form. Maybe a webcomic version of it might find a niche, or a limited run comic book.
ReplyDeleteJohnny Quest was one of my favorites growing up - mainly because it was like John Blaine’s Rick Brant science adventure series - which I gave no doubt it was inspired by. A live action series? Yeah I’d watch that so long as it stayed close to the original.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason not to have a relaunch is that in today's environment, Race would have to be a woman. Not that there's anything wrong with that, as having a woman being the ass-kicker in a group has been successfully done several times now, but it would ruin Jonny's "no girls allowed" vibe (actually more of a "girl? what's a girl?" vibe).
ReplyDeleteMela's right. For instance; Will Farrell's cinematic b*****dization of Sid and Marty Krofft's LAND OF THE LOST was not so much based on the NBC Saturday morning original. But, rather, ABC TV's prime-time b*****dization of same!
ReplyDeleteI greatly fear the same thing would happen to a live-action Jonny Quest film.
I think one of the reasons for Jonny Quest to not get a movie treatment is IF they are going to invest in such a project they would want to prepare for sequels and unless they are very good at casting (aka Harry Potter franchise) they will have trouble finding two kids who could carry much of the movie for a few years and not age too quickly. Can you see Jonny Quest and Hadji as late teens?
ReplyDeleteThere was talk in 2015 about a movie but it faded away. Robert Rodriguez and Terry
Rossio were rewriting the script initially penned by Dan Mazeau, with Rodriguez on board to direct. Dan Lin and Adrian Askarieh were producing.
I, too, would welcome a live-action big-screen Jonny Quest -- but I would have said the same thing about Land of the Lost before Will Farrel's demolition derby of an outing. (Admittedly, I haven't seen said outing in full; just seeing the clips and trailers gave me too much of a headache.) To work, a Jonny Quest film would need to be as true as possible to the original, while still acknowledging the sensibilities of the early 21st century -- not an easy task, but still possible.
ReplyDeleteOn another point, I think it might be interesting to see Fin Fang Foom in some future Marvel film -- perhaps as a supporting/secondary villain in a Doctor Strange sequel.
...another great cover, Ross. i like your use of Fin Fang Foom as a typical '60's Quest monster...
ReplyDelete...the Quest crew ever teamed with Tintin and company???
I'd think Jonny Quest would work best as a serious CGI animated movie instead of just a "cartoon".
ReplyDeleteThat way, the characters remain "timeless" and you can still stay as modern as you'd like.
But at least we have the Future Quest comics to enjoy.
@JACKEL - Yes, JQ met Tintin in a two part story way back in #186 & 187
ReplyDeletehttps://braveandboldlost.blogspot.com/2012/09/tintin-and-jonny-quest-part-one.html
IIRC, there was a woman secret agent named Jade who appeared in the original TV series a couple of times. I think she had been a colleague of Race Bannon's in the CIA or Secret Service, and it was implied that they had been romantically involved. So it might be possible to have a strong, competent heroine in a new JQ movie without having to make Race a woman.
ReplyDelete...a gathering of a white comic book/strip dogs including...
ReplyDeleteRex the Wonder Dog...
Dogbert from Dilbert...
Brian from Family Guy...
Radar the Dog Supreme from Supreme...
Krypto from the pages of Superman...
Snowy from the Adventures of Tintin...
Bandit from Jonny Quest...
Snoopy from Peanuts...
...the Plain White K-9s.
@TC: How about Race's Jade meeting Jade, Silver Age daughter of the Golden Age GL?
ReplyDeleteI'd watch a Fin Fang Foom motion picture series 5 or 8 Movies a new one every year with the first one about the trip to earth and the last one about getting the "rings" back and leaving earth. SIDE NOTE: FOOM also means Friends Of Old Marvel. I'm not expecting a No-Prize, nor do I anticipate a MMMS Flexidisc. I'm just saying.
ReplyDelete