Robert Rodriguez to direct Jonny Quest movie, Variety says

Race Bannon about to rescue Jonny Quest

Robert Rodriguez will direct and co-write a live-action Jonny Quest movie, VARIETY REPORTED.

Here’s an excerpt:

Rodriguez has made a name for himself for his violent action pics, but his most successful films to date have been the family-friendly “Spy Kids” movies. That franchise comes from the same mold as “Jonny Quest,” making him seem like the perfect fit for the adaptation.

There are have been three versions of the cartoon, but the most popular among fans is the original, The Adventures of Jonny Quest. That consisted of 26 episodes that aired in prime-time on ABC during the 1964-65 season. Jonny Quest was the only son of important scientist Benton Quest. As a result, U.S. intelligent agent Race Bannon was assigned as combination tutor and bodyguard.

The cartoon was created by cartoonist Doug Wildey for producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It was Hanna-Barbera’s answer to James Bond and development began after Barbera saw Dr. No. Hanna-Barbera initially intended to adapt the radio program Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy, but went with original characters instead. The Hanna-Barbera cartoon brand was later absorbed by Warner Bros.’s animation unit.

UPDATE (8 p.m.): If you want to check them out, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER and DEADLINE: HOLLYWOOD have stories on this subject.

1964: ABC promotes the debut of Jonny Quest

A half-century ago, U.S. television networks would air extended promos for their upcoming program offerings. So it was for upstart ABC (which was once part of NBC until U.S. regulators began to apply pressure).

ABC aired a program-length promo for its 1964-65 lineup. For Friday night, the promo included an extended promo for the upcoming debut of The Adventures of Jonny Quest. The show originated when Joseph Barbera, the “Barbera” half of Hanna-Barbera, saw an early print of Dr. No. The promo doesn’t exactly match up to the series debut (the Hoyt Curtin music doesn’t match the same scenes of the premier episode), but it’s interesting to watch (it begins at the 0:35 mark of this video):

UPDATE: Joseph Barbera, in an interview for the Archive of American Television, discusses the origins of Jonny Quest:

James Bond’s influence on Jonny Quest

We came across an excellent documentary on The Adventures of Jonny Quest, the Hanna-Barbera prime time cartoon that debuted in September 1964. There’s a lot of fascinating behind-the-scenes information, including some James Bond ties to the series.

Producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera hired cartoonist Doug Wildey to spearhead the project. It was originally intended to be an adaptation of the radio show Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy but that was scrapped for an original series. One notion behind the show involved Barbera’s happening to view a certain gentleman agent with a license to kill, as evidenced in this clip starting around the 23-second mark:

The title character of Jonny Quest was the young son of a scientist cosntantly in peril. The show’s Bond surrogate was Roger T. “Race” Bannon, a U.S. agent assigned to protect the Quests. Here’s Race’s origins:

To see the entire documentary, you can CLICK HERE and get instructions how to download it. You can also CLICK OUT THIS BLOG for more Jonny Quest information, art and commentary.

You can also see the entire documentary on YouTube, where it’s divided into 27 parts. Here’s part one, and you should be able to navigate to the others. Again, it’s excellent and takes a critical look at events where it’s warranted: