Jettisoned Jetsons Projects Part Three: The Long and Complicated History of the Unmade Live-Action Jetsons Film

 What do Joe Dante, Robert Rodriguez, James Gunn, and Kanye West all have in common? At one point or another, all of them were in the mix to write or direct a live-action version of The Jetsons. Unlike The Flintstones or Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons were never brought to life via live-action, but it wasn't from a lack of trying. Over three decades, the film has bounced across a variety of production companies, writers, and directors, but it has never materialized. With so many names attached, a lot of the details regarding the film are pretty murky, so I thought I'd take it upon myself to go through the history of the project in an attempt to clear up some of the confusion and rumors often said about it. So, without further ado, I introduce you to my most researched post here to date, a comprehensive history of the Jetsons live-action movie.

The origins of the live-action Jetsons film date all the way back to around 1984. Paramount Pictures had acquired the license to make a Jetsons movie from Hanna-Barbera and put the late Gary Nardino to work as the producer of the project. Before anything else could be done, they needed a writer to give them a script, and the man who got that gig was Eric Luke. Luke had just written the Joe Dante-directed Explorers (before you ask, it'll be a while before he actually enters the story), and became the first-ever writer on the film. When discussing the film on an episode of the Best Movies Never Made podcast, he mentioned some casting information. As far as he knew, Paramount wanted Chevy Chase as George, Goldie Hawn as Jane, and Danny Devito as Mr. Spacely. Sadly, details on what would've occurred in this version of the film are vague, as Luke is no longer in possession of the script. However, you can take a look at what the artwork of that script looked like below! You can also see the film mentioned in a Paramount video from 1985!

After Luke finished taking a crack at the film, Paramount moved the project to Alec Lorimore and Terrence Winkless. Lorimore is best known today for his Oscar-winning work producing several IMAX documentaries, while you may know Winkless as the actor who portrayed Bingo the Gorilla on The Banana Splits. This duo was also interviewed on the aforementioned podcast, but unlike Luke, they were able to recall much of what happened in their version of the film, which was slated for a Christmas 1987 release by this point. 

They approached the movie as if it was an extended episode of the TV series, with the main storyline revolving around George getting into trouble after a chip is accidentally planted in his head that allows him to use the full potential of his brain. All of the other members of the family would have their own unique storylines, too: Jane entered the workforce, Elroy was preparing for space camp, and Judy fell in love with a new student at school, an alien who just so happens to look exactly like Jet Screamer. Cogswell and the one-time character Knuckles Nuclear also appeared.

This script sounds awfully faithful to the series, but that's not to say it didn't have its divergences. For one, the movie introduced a new character, Mr. Ferrari, who you could describe as the polar opposite of George Jetson. Astro also would've had a completely different backstory, this time having crashed onto Earth in a pod during George and Jane's honeymoon. According to the screenwriters, Joe Barbera was not exactly a fan of this change.

So, what exactly went wrong with this version of the film? More than anything else, it was the budget that killed it. Paramount budgeted the script at $15 million at a time when they were looking at $9 million being the maximum for their movies. Because of this, the film never entered production. After this version fell through, Paramount seemingly made no further attempts to make the movie. Soon enough, they lost the film rights.

That's the end of Paramount's involvement in the film, but the story is far from over. Shortly after that, Universal Studios acquired the film rights to both The Flintstones and The Jetsons. It was this deal that led to the 1994 live-action Flintstones film, but for their futuristic counterparts, Universal decided to take a more animated route. Rather than a live-action film, we were treated to 1990's Jetsons: The Movie and that's more or less where Universal's involvement in the story ends. It's unknown if they ever seriously considered doing a live-action version, and even if they did, I imagine the poor performance of the animated movie put the kibosh on that.

We now fast forward all the way to August 1995. By this point, Universal had lost the rights, and they were now owned by Turner Pictures, the film division of Hanna-Barbera's parent company, Turner. Variety reported that the studio had several films that were looking to be greenlit, and one of them was a live-action Jetsons movie. This version was said to be written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, a writing duo that had scripted Tim Burton's Ed Wood the previous year. It was also suggested that Chuck Russell, coming hot off the heels of The Mask, would sit in the director's chair. Finally, that October, the film was officially announced amongst a slew of other films from Turner. The director and writers were both confirmed to be helming the project, and it was said the movie would shoot the following year for release in 1997. After all this time, the movie finally had a director, but it wouldn't last long.

The details are sketchy, but at some point shortly after this, it appears that Russell dropped out of the project. Turner Pictures soon replaced him with the mind behind both Gremlins pictures, Joe Dante. Dante's hiring was announced in March of 1996, with shooting expected to begin sometime in the summer. Despite the director issues, it sounds like progress was going well on this version of the film. VFX company Rhythm and Hues would handle the special effects of the film, having previously helped out on The Flintstones film. Leon Joosen, who later served as animation director on the Scooby-Doo films, also filled that position here (you can hear him talk about both projects on this installment of the JayBee & Milly Podcast). Steve Johnson's XFX was also helping out as the film moved closer to production. Below is a maquette of Rosie the Robot that the studio did for the film. More info on how Johnson contributed to the project can be found in the book, Rubberhead Volume II.

Though it looked like the movie was finally heading towards shooting, things went sour quickly. In June of that same year, Dante left the film over creative differences, causing Turner to put the project on hold. In October of 1997, news started to spread about the movie once again. By this point, development had shifted over to Warner Brothers, as Turner Pictures was shuttered following the Warner-Turner merger. Variety revealed that month that Tommy Boy director Peter Segal was being courted to direct the film, which at this point was getting a new script from writers Stan Zimmerman and James Berg, writers who have worked on everything from Golden Girls to Gilmore Girls. Variety added that following February that Denise Di Novi, a producer who had worked on several Tim Burton movies, would produce this picture. She'll become something of a main character in this saga moving forward.

After that, no major developments were made until after the new millennium began. In November 2001, Variety announced that Rob Minkoff, a co-director of The Lion King, was now piloting the ship. The script was also rewritten by Dan Forman and Paul Foley. This is where I'd tell you what other projects they wrote, but as far as I can tell, they do not have any credits to their names. Variety did later report that the duo was to write a script for the third live-action Scooby-Doo movie after completing The Jetsons, but as we all know, that too never came to fruition. One interesting tidbit about this version of the film is that Syd Mead, the legendary artist who had done concept art on classics like Blade Runner and Tron, actually did some work on it. Below is one piece of art he created for the movie, which can also be seen in his book Sentury II. I believe a few other pieces he did for the project can be seen in other compilations of his work.

In March of 2003, Variety gave out yet another update on the film, and with it came another director change. Minkoff was out, and Adam Shankman, director of The Wedding Planner was in. Shankman would not only direct the film but act as a co-writer on it as well. Over a year later, Denise Di Novi told IGN that the movie was indeed going forward at WB. At this point, Shankman was still attached as director, and helping him out on writing duties was Sam Harper, who had written the Cheaper by the Dozen films. 

This next turn in the story is a minor one, but I thought it was pretty interesting regardless. At some point during the mid-2000s, future Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn was being discussed to write the movie. Gunn wrote in a Facebook post celebrating the 15th anniversary of the first Scooby flick that WB offered him several films based on various Hanna-Barbera franchises following its success. These included not just The Jetsons, but also Jabberjaw and Captain Caveman as well. In the end, however, Gunn rejected the offer in favor of writing the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake.

May 2006 was when we got the next big update on the film, which came in the announcement that the film would be written by the future creator of The Goldbergs, Adam F. Goldberg. Donald De Line also enters the fold at this point. The former vice president of Touchstone joined Di Novi as a producer on the movie. Unlike many of the prior versions, we do know at least one little bit of information regarding this incarnation of the film. According to Goldberg in a 2021 Twitter post, it took place entirely on Earth, which prompted Warner to give him a note stating that the film wasn't "high-concept" enough.

Barely a year later, The Hollywood Reporter learned that Robert Rodriguez was now being looked at to direct the movie. However, the matter was complicated, as Rodriguez was simultaneously interested in directing a film based on the 70s TV series The Land of The Lost. Rodriguez ultimately put the film on the back burner, but it wouldn't be long before his attention was drawn to it again.

In July 2007, just two months after that update, Variety said that the script was again being rewritten, this time by a pair of King of the Hill writers, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. News on the film remained quiet until June 2009, when Rodriguez gave an update on the film to MTV Movies Blog. He said the movie was in the process of being rewritten, and that they were hoping to start shooting the film by next year. Not long after that, however, the project would change drastically yet again. 

This next piece of information was merely a rumor, but I figured I'd include it since there could be some truth in it. In November 2009, the website Pajiba learned that Rodriguez had left the project. WB was seemingly already set on a new director, as it was also stated that the studio was looking at Peter Segal to direct the movie. Yes, the same Peter Segal who was attached to direct the movie a decade prior. Although the validity of this rumor is questionable, one part of it would soon be revealed to be true. In an interview with ComingSoon.net in July of 2011, Denise Di Novi confirmed that Rodriguez had indeed left the movie, as there was a belief inside WB that his vision wasn't a "mainstream studio version." Rodriguez would be the last director officially attached to the film, but our story isn't done just yet.

In probably the weirdest turn of events for this entire saga thus far, January 2012 saw rapper Kanye West become involved with the movie. Kinda. During a lengthy Twitter rant, West stated that he had become the "creative director" of the movie. News of this spread so fast that producers Di Novi and De Line had to come out and state that although they did have a chat with him on the subject, West had not been hired in this position (a position I might add that doesn't exist on a film). As strange as the news was, it seems like it did remind WB of the project, as just a month later, writers Van Robichaux and Evan Susser came in to rewrite the film. They were relatively unknown at the time, but they would grow to prominence later for producing the series Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Then, in February 2015, the film got its most radical update yet. Outlets began reporting that The Jetsons was being worked on once again at WB, but this time as an animated feature. Matt Lieberman, who would later write 2020's Scoob!, was announced as the writer. Details on the film have been sporadic since then, but as long as it remains in the works, it seems unlikely the live-action film will be getting any updates anytime soon.

I do say "film" though, as on the small screen, it's a slightly different story. In August 2017, ABC ordered a pilot for a live-action Jetsons series, to be produced by Robert Zemeckis. Later, in 2019, it was told that Zemeckis himself would direct the pilot, although there have been no updates on this series since then. Is it still happening? Your guess is as good as mine.

All in all, the history of the live-action Jetsons flick spans thirty years, four production companies, and at least thirty-six writers, according to Adam Goldberg. Yes, you heard that number right. I've only shared stories about a dozen or so writers involved in the project, so there's definitely way more to this saga than even what I've shared. Regardless of whether or not this film ever does become a reality, I hope you enjoyed this research into the evolution of the project. I now leave you with the aforementioned tweet from Goldberg, which I feel acts as a pretty good resolution to this piece.

I'M STARTING A VIP CLUB!
Membership Requirement:
Be one of the 36 writers who penned a script for a live-action Jetsons remake!@kanyewest @Rodriguez @elprotecto @EvanSusser @jaredstern @GaryJanetti @zimmermanstan @Karaszewski @aholdenj @stevieb8812 @VanTheBrand @Scottcantype pic.twitter.com/iSl6Kw1knY

— Adam F. Goldberg (@adamfgoldberg) July 22, 2021

Video of the Week: LG Jetsons Commercial

 As I've mentioned a few times this month, probably the most amount of exposure the Jetsons have seen over the last twenty or so years has been through advertising. They've been featured in ads for Electrosol, Metlife, and the list goes on. But one I only found out about recently is this 2017 commercial for LG's SmartThinQ, and it's got to be one of the more unique ads the family has appeared in. In this two-minute short, we get to see a look at what the future has in store for the Jetsons, showcasing older versions of each member of the family. Check it out below!

I'd also like to share some info on the voices featured in this commercial, or at least what I was able to gather. Andi Gibson (who also uploaded this ad to Youtube) voices Jane here, and as far as I know, it's the only time she's voiced the character. According to Behind the Voice Actors, voice veteran Wally Wingert portrays both George and Astro, having previously played them in Harvey Birdman. However, it doesn't seem the website has any idea who voiced any of the other characters that appear. If any of you have a clue as to who they are, I'd love to hear from you! That's all for today, but get ready for tomorrow, as I cap off Jetsons June with a big deep dive into the unmade live-action Jetsons flick! 

The Cereal of the Future

 As Jetsons June winds down, I thought I'd shed some light on one aspect of the Jetsons I haven't touched on this month: merchandising! Today, the focus will be on one of the more forgotten pieces of Jetsons marketing, Jetsons the Cereal. Just as The Flintstones had Fruity Pebbles and its various offshoots, the Jetsons had their own short-lived cereal released in 1990 to help promote the feature film. As the packaging so proudly explains, this cereal was Apple and Cinnamon flavored, with shapes that resembled rockets, stars, and other outer space objects. Of course, no cereal is complete without a few goodies inside, and this cereal more than delivered on that front. Everything from toys to glow-in-the-dark stickers was included, the latter of which you can check out below. 

Last but not least, Jetsons Cereal also had its own animated commercial to help promote it. This ad features the cast of the animated film reprising their roles, including Jeff Bergman as both George and Mr. Spacely and Patric Zimmerman as Elroy. Unfortunately, Astro is MIA here, and Judy has no speaking lines at all. I guess they didn't want to shell out more money on Tiffany?

Jettisoned Jetsons Projects Part Two: Canceled 1990s Revivals

The last few days on this blog have been focused on the 1990 Jetsons animated film, so we should move forward and look at the rest of the Jetsons productions released in the 90s. Except, there is one small problem. There weren't any Jetsons productions! Apart from commercials for Cartoon Network, Radioshack, and a few others, the futuristic family sat out the rest of the decade. But that's not to say the folks at Hanna-Barbera weren't trying to do more with the franchise. As far as I am aware, there were at least two attempts to revitalize the series, and neither quite got off the ground. So sit tight as we discuss both plans in the second part of this three-part series!

The first attempt is one few people seem to know of, and that's probably because the only time it was ever mentioned was in a newspaper interview with Janet Waldo shortly after she was recast in the animated film. In this piece, she says the following (A big thank you to Yowp for preserving this!):

"The studio told me they want to continue with some more episodes replacing the cast where they need to," says Waldo. "It wasn't necessary to replace me completely. They just wanted to."

So, as far as Waldo was aware, there was some interest at Hanna-Barbera in doing more Jetsons after the film was released. Of course, as you know, no such episodes were produced, and the reason why is short and to the point. The failure of the film, both critically and financially, likely scared the studio off of doing anything more with the characters. Had the film been the commercial hit they thought it was going to be, I have no doubt that we would have gotten more Jetsons stuff in the decade, but that's not what ended up happening. As far as I've looked, no further details exist about these new episodes, and if I had to guess, I imagine they never got passed the conception stage. That's about all there is to say on this attempt, but we still have one more to look at.

We're now going to jump ahead a few years for the second attempt to bring the Jetsons back. By this point in time, Hanna-Barbera was now under the ownership of Turner, and they were quickly bringing back many of their properties through new specials and shows. The original shows were also getting new leases on life, as the recent introduction of the Cartoon Network gave them a new home, and new generations of fans to entertain. Maybe now, the time was right to dust off the Jetsons, or so Hanna-Barbera thought in 1995, when Ed Scharlach was brought in to write a pilot for a whole new series. That name might not ring a bell, so to bring you up to speed, Scharlach is an extremely prolific TV writer whose credits date all the way back to the 1960s. He's written episodes of shows like That Girl, Happy Days, and Mork & Mindy, just to name a few. In the '90s, Scharlach began to write in animation, and has since then worked on cartoons such as Duckman, Invader ZIM, and What's New, Scooby-Doo?. A writer with experience in animation and sitcoms, Scharlach seemed like a perfect fit for revitalizing The Jetsons, and he soon got to work on a pilot script.

As detailed in an interview with A Podcast Named Scooby-Doo!, the storyline for this pilot would've involved the Jetsons replacing their robotic maid Rosie with something completely different: a human maid! According to Scharlach, this would've been treated as if it was a completely new invention to citizens of the future. Unfortunately, Elroy and Judy aren't too happy with this new maid, especially with her constant crying and complaining, and so they eventually get Rosie back. The pilot was also apparently ready to enter production according to Scharlach, so it is possible that there's more material from this project that has yet to be seen by the public. But why did this revival never come to pass? Blame the world of media mergers, my good friend.

At the same time this was being developed, Turner was merging with Time Warner. Like what happens with any merger or acquisition, old executives leave, new ones replace them, and those replacements don't always have an interest in the things their predecessors did. Clearly, the new regime following the merger didn't find the prospect of rebooting the Jetsons appealing, so it was promptly axed. The exact reasons behind the decision are sketchy, but I have two theories. For one, around the same time this show was being developed, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest premiered on TV. Like Scharlach's Jetsons, this was a reboot of a Hanna-Barbera classic, and it was one both the studio and Turner sunk a lot of money into. Accompanied by a blitz of merchandising and marketing material, it was arguably the biggest project Hanna-Barbera took on since the Turner acquisition. In the end, however, The Real Adventures was a bonafide bomb. Neither the show nor the merchandise took off, and as the show's failure happened around the same time as this merger, they likely didn't want to sink more expenses into a similar project. I theorize that the failure of the animated Jetsons film also played a role in Warner pulling the plug. After all, if you were in the shoes of an executive, would you really want to put a bunch of money into a project based around a franchise that already didn't perform well previously?

In the end, despite two separate attempts, it seemed there wasn't much of an interest in continuing The Jetsons following the release of the theatrical movie. It's a shame neither project got a chance in the end, especially Scharlach's, which sounded like it had a lot of potential, at least in my opinion. However, I'm not done with canceled Jetsons stuff just yet! Tune in next Friday as I wrap up both this series and Jetsons June with a look at the many, many attempts to bring George and the rest of the Jetsons to the realm of live-action!

Video of the Week: Tiffany Talks Jetsons

 Yesterday, we looked at the controversial recasting of Judy Jetson in 1990's Jetsons: The Movie. Or, at least, Janet Waldo's perspective on the ordeal. Now, I think it's only fair that we spend today hearing Tiffany's side of the story. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there's much in the way of press featuring her talking about the movie, both from the time and in retrospect. That being said, I did find this segment on Entertainment Tonight that features the pop singer discussing her first major movie role, and what it was like to step into the world of such an iconic animated series. Give it a watch below!

Where's (Janet) Waldo?

 

As Jetsons June continues, it's time we talk about possibly the most infamous entry in the entire franchise, 1990's Jetsons: The Movie. This was a movie plagued by production issues and controversy, from development troubles to the passing of several voice actors. However, the one we'll be discussing is easily the most well-known element of the film today, and that is the recasting of Judy Jetson with pop singer Tiffany.

I'm sure many of you know the story, but I'll recap it in case you haven't. At some point during the film's development, a choice was made to have Judy sing a few musical numbers, which would be provided by Tiffany, still at the height of her career. At some point after that, however, the choice was made to have Tiffany take over the role of Judy throughout the entire movie, replacing Janet Waldo who had already finished recording her lines by this point. Why was the decision made? The same reason any decision like this is made: money. Universal (who also owned Tiffany's label, MCA) believed Tiffany's name would draw in a crowd that otherwise would not see the film. Just like that, Waldo was out, and Tiffany was in.

News of the recasting was poorly received, both by fans and by various crew members on the film. Andrea Romano, who served as a voice director on the film, hated the change and asked for her name to be removed from the credits (Despite this, it should be noted that she is indeed credited for this film). She also received plenty of hate mail for the change. 

With all the backstory now out of the way, I'm here today to share two different articles focusing on the casting change. The first one is from May 30th, 1989, and appeared in the Syracuse Herald Journal. It's a pretty small excerpt, but it's one of the earliest pieces I could find discussing the recast.

Judy, Judy, Judy

    We hear that Janet Waldo has been bumped from the movie version of the Jetsons, "Jetsons: The Movie!"

    Waldo is of course the woman who has supplied the warm familiar, though somewhat nasal voice of Judy Jetson. Rick Miramontez, a disinterested observer (except that he is Waldo's publicist) points out that MCA-owned Universal Pictures has tapped MCA Records star Tiffany for Waldo's role in a "seeming attempt to exploit (Tiffany's) career." Tiffany, by the way, is also contributing several songs to the "Jetsons" soundtrack.

    Miramontez is hoping Jetsons fans will flood MCA with angry letters and force the entertainment giant to reinstate his client.

This next piece came out on July 13th, 1990, a week after the film's release, and was featured in the Twin Falls Times News. Here, we hear both Janet Waldo's and Bill Hanna's thoughts on the change.

Voice of Judy Jetson dumped in favor of name recognition

    HOLLYWOOD —  One person who won't be buying a ticket to "Jetsons: The Movie": actress Janet Waldo.

    Waldo voiced the character of Judy Jetson for the animated series, which ran on all three networks between 1962 and 1983 and is now in syndication. She had reprised the role for the just-out Universal feature film —  and then got dumped for youthful pop singer Tiffany.

    All because Hanna-Barbera Production figures Tiffany — who performs songs on the soundtrack, and is under contract to MCA Records - will sell more tickets.

    "I was totally crushed," Waldo says. "I originated the character, and I feel very sentimental about Judy."

    "I can understand how Janet feels," Bill Hanna says. "It was purely a business decision..."

So what happened after the film was released? After everything was said and done, the Jetsons film earned $20 million on a budget of $8 million. Sounds like it was a success, but once you throw in the numbers added due to marketing and other such factors, it was seen as a failure. While it is up for debate the degree to which the controversy hurt the film's performance, it seems obvious that Tiffany's name didn't draw the audience in the way Universal was expecting. Reviews were also harsh. Today, the movie sits at 27% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a lot of criticism being aimed at Tiffany's performance. Unsurprisingly, Tiffany never did any other voicework after this film.

As for Waldo, she soon patched things up with Hanna-Barbera, and continued to appear in their productions throughout the rest of the 90s. She would also reprise the role of Judy Jetson several times before passing away in 2016. According to animation writer and historian Mark Evanier, Joe Barbera himself even apologized to Waldo during a retirement party for fellow voice actor Don Messick back in 1997. I've also heard her state in a few interviews that Barbera apologized several more times after the film's release.

Over thirty years since the film's release, this controversy remains the most discussed element of the movie. Since then, we've seen many other films replace established voice actors in favor of more famous celebrities, from Scoob to Space Jam 2. Many fans have also expressed interest in seeing an edition of the film with Waldo's lines restored, but it's unknown if such a version exists (although several of her lines do remain in the film). I'll share this excerpt from a post on Evanier's blog, which sums up the situation better than I could.

"To answer a question that several folks have asked in e-mails: I do not know if Janet Waldo's voice tracks as Judy for The Jetsons: The Movie still exist or if anyone knows where they are. There's an awful lot of stuff in Hanna-Barbera history which was lost for years and years before someone stumbled across it in some warehouse...and there's plenty that remains unfound. I also don't know if Tiffany's contract creates legal problems with putting Janet's voice back where it belonged or if anyone would think to check to see if it did."

A Jetsons-Themed Birthday Party

1987 was a big year for The Jetsons, and for a number of reasons. The series' third season aired, The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones crossover premiered, and the show had its 25th anniversary that fall. How was such an occasion celebrated you may ask? With a birthday party, full of voice actors and costumed characters, of course! Check out this excerpt from The Cincinnati Enquirer dated November  17th, 1987, discussing the event.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pictures of the event anywhere online, which is a real shame. I for one would love to see what this cake actually looked like! However, I found this archived article from the Los Angeles Times about the party. It's locked behind a paywall, but there are some interesting tidbits in it not found in the excerpt above. Namely, this one mentions that Penny Singleton (Jane Jetson) and Bill Hanna were in attendance. I wonder if there were any other HB personalities that attended this party that aren't mentioned in either piece. 

A Chat With Daws Butler

 We're taking a break from the Jetsons for today's post. Well, sort of. Instead, it's time to highlight one of Hanna-Barbera's most celebrated voice actors, Daws Butler. Butler provided several voices for The Jetsons and essentially every other Hanna-Barbera classic you could think of. From Yogi Bear to Snagglepuss, from Elroy Jetson to Huckleberry Hound, the list of iconic cartoon characters Daws gave life to is truly immense. Daws Butler also influenced many modern voice actors through the workshops he held in the 1970s and 1980s. Actors like Nancy Cartwright, Corey Burton, and Bill Farmer are just three of the people who got their start through these workshops. 

Daws Butler sadly passed away from a heart attack on May 18th, 1988. Yet, even thirty-five years since his passing, Butler's legacy lives on through the characters he helped create, the voice artists he taught, and the memories he made.

Today, I'm going to share a short little interview with Butler that appeared in the Sandusky Register on September 11th, 1985. Here, Daws discusses both the then-upcoming Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera TV block, and also shares some insight on the thought process behind creating a cartoon voice. It's a very insightful piece, although be warned that there is an incorrect statement that the first cartoon voices he did were for Walter Lantz (he had done several Tex Avery cartoons before then). Regardless, I hope you enjoy this one!

His voices bring dozens of cartoon friends to life

    HOLLYWOOD (UPI) — Some of the most familiar voices to your child's ears belong to the same man.

    If your tots watch television on Saturday mornings or tune in animated cartoons often, they can hardly escape hearing the voices of Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss, Quick-Draw McGraw, Blabber Mouse, Huckleberry Hound, Wally Gator and a dozen others.

    Their vocal gymnastics are the product of Daws Butler, whose versatile voice will be a mainstay of "The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera," a new 90-minute syndicated series making its debut on more than 100 stations this month.

    The omnibus show involves three distinct segments — "The Paw Paws," "Yogi's Treasure Hunt" and "Goltar and the Golden Lance."

    All three will feature Butler's voices in familiar and new animated characters.

    "The Paw Paws" involves the hijinks of a family of tiny Indian bears in a verdant forest. "Yogi's Treasure Hunt" follows the adventures of Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo aboard the S.S. Jelly Roger, a marvelous machine that flies, floats and rolls into mischief. "Galtar and the Golden Lance" is a gothic tale of knights in armor and princesses in distress.

    Butler is one of a small company of vocal magicians — among them Frank Welker, Mel Blanc, Walker Edmiston, Paul Frees, June Foray and Don Messick — whose voices will forever be more famous than their faces.

    They supply dialogue for an army of beloved animated characters that entertain millions of kids around the world. They also provide thousands of radio and voiceover TV commercials familiar to millions of adults.

    Butler's longest-running commercial character is Captain Crunch, which he has been doing for 20 years.

    "It's a good and interesting living," Butler said the other day in a workshop behind his Beverly Hills home, where he holds classes for budding voiceover performers.

    Butler, a small, graying, energetic man, has been heard on more than 1,000 episodes of various cartoon series, among them Elroy in "The Jetsons," a Hanna-Barbera series returning with 41 new episodes this season.

    "I guess my best-known voice is Yogi," he said. "And the best-known line is Yogi saying, 'I', smarter than the average bear.'

    "But the one I enjoy doing most is Huckleberry Hound. I love Southern accents and he has a very funny one.

    "Animals are more fun than human beings because the exaggeration is greater. Also, humans don't animate as well as four-footed critters.

    "I try to give high energy to all the characters and provide a subtext to make them more believable to myself. I have to know them inside and out, how they react in different situations.

    "You don't just use your voice in this work. I employ my whole body, especially the diaphragm and chest. There's also a lot of head and body movement. There has to be when a five-foot-two guy like me is talking for an eight-foot bear.

    "For some reason, big animals are always sort of dumb, and the little ones are smart. Among the little guys I've done are Cogswell, Fibber Fox and Baba Looey."

    Butler began his show business career as a mimic with two other impersonators in Chicago, mostly on radio and later in clubs and theaters. In Hollywood he became a single, doing radio shows with far-ranging dialects.

    The closest he came to performing on camera was working hand puppets for Stan Freberg in an early TV series titled "Time For Beany." He began providing cartoon voices in the 1950s for Walter Lantz.

    His first distinguishable voice was that of Smedley (the dog) for Lantz. In addition to his long-standing association with Hanna-Barbera, beginning with the "Ruff and Reddy" series, he was the voice of several characters in the old "Rocky and Bullwinkle" series.

    "There's no telling how many voices I've done in my career," Butler said. "I can't think of how many possibilities remain."

Video of the Week: 1986 Jetsons Music Video

 Yesterday, I shared an article previewing the 1985 revival of The Jetsons. One of the things that caught my attention in the piece was a mention of an MTV-styled music video featuring the show's iconic theme song, and, after a little bit of digging on Youtube, I managed to find that video! First airing in 1986, this video got airtime on MTV, and was but one classic TV theme released on the album "Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1." The theme was later made available as a single in 1986, which led to this video being commissioned. According to this piece from the LA Times, the song soon reached number nine on Billboard's retail sales charts. Check out the video below, which features clips from both the original series and the revival!

The Jetsons Arrive to the Far-off Year of 1985

 As I mentioned in my previous entry to this blog, The Jetsons, in its initial form, only lasted one season back in 1962. After the show was canceled, the series began to play in reruns on Saturday mornings, and this schedule shift gave the show a second chance. Over the next two decades, The Jetsons was a staple of Saturday morning cartoons, entertaining generations of children during that time. Finally, in 1984, the decision was made to bring The Jetsons back, with the original voice cast and all.

Nowadays, reboots and revivals are all the rage, even in animation. Just last month, Clone High returned to TV after a similarly long gap between episodes. Next month, Futurama comes back (again!) to Hulu. But this was really the first time a cartoon was brought back just as it was when it ended. 

That's not to say that the 1980s run of episodes was entirely consistent with what had come before, however. These newer episodes focused a lot more on weird sci-fi stories, instead of the typical sitcom hallmarks the family went through in the original series. New characters like Orbitty joined the show's colorful cast of characters. George and Jane also took a backseat in these episodes, as it was believed that kids (the main target audience of the revival), would relate to the adventures of Judy and Elroy easier than they would their parents. From a technological perspective, these episodes were the first example of a cartoon using digital ink and paint, instead of the traditional way. The revival episodes were also aired in stereo, a first for the studio.

Nowadays, the general consensus on these episodes is pretty split. Some feel they lost what made the original show so memorable, while others see them as a worthy continuation of what came before. I think Judy Jetson herself, Janet Waldo said it best in an interview: "Some of them were great, and some of them were not-so-great."

Regardless of what you think of them, as the first major cartoon revival, the Jetsons' return generated a lot of press back in 1985. Here's an in-depth piece from September 26th, 1985, that appeared in the Colorado Springs Gazette. Also check out an image of the main cast right next to their futuristic counterparts, taken from the recording sessions of the 1980's episodes!

'Jetsons' rescued from the land of reruns'
By Michael Yockel

    Meet George Jetson, his wife Jane, their teenage hipster daughter Judy, their little boy Elroy and their gravelly voiced dog Astro. After bouncing around cartoon purgatory for 23 years, "The Jetsons" has returned to television with 41 new episodes. Coupled with the show's original 24 episodes, they are on the air Mondays through Fridays (7:30 a.m. Channel 21). The program is already signed up for 80 U.S. markets, including all of the top 30.

    You do remember "The Jetsons"? Better than any other TV show, it depicted a vision of the future that is permanently imprinted on the collective mind of the "Big Chill" generation.

    The show took an optimistic, post-Eisenhower world view and projected it into the year 2000—a sort of futuristic "Father Knows Best." Jovial husband/dad George whisked to his job in an atomic-powered bubble car. Practical wife/mom Jane stayed home and did housewifey chores with the aid of Rosie the Robot. Antenna beany-topped Elroy whooshed to school each morning in a pneumatic tube. And pert and pretty Judy yammered on the viewer-phone and concentrated on getting her good foot down to the Solar Swivel dance. Things were future perfect, so to speak.

    When "The Jetsons" premiered in prime time Sundays (7:30-8 p.m.) on ABC in Sept. 1962, all was peachy with the American dream.

    Handsome John F. Kennedy was in the White House, preparing to stare down the Russians in Cuba. Space hero John Clenn jauntily cruised around the Earth. Likable Arnie Palmer won the Masters and the British Open golf tournies. And Chubby Checker's dance craze, "The Twist," was the No. 1 record of the year.

    Life was good. Simple, too. Hanna-Barbera, creators of such notable period characters as Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, and Quick Draw McGraw, took the upbeat spirit of the era and grafted it onto the futuristic nuclear family.

    Originally, "The Jetsons" was born out of the enormous success of another half-hour Hanna-Barbera cartoon, "The Flintstones"—the animated Stone Age version of Hacjie Gleason's "The Honeymooners." Hanna-Barbera reasoned that since the cartoon sit-com concept worked so well in a prehistoric setting, why not try something similar in the future.

    Well, what's good for the past isn't necessarily good for the future. "The Jetsons" was a commercial flop. Actually, it didn't have much of a chance, given the fact that it was up against the popular "Denni The Menace" on CBS and NBC's perennial kids powerhouse, "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color." George et al., it seems, were victims of a tough time slot. And, according, to Bob Hathcock, producer of the new "Jetsons" series, the original show was savaged by the critics.

    After one season of 24 episodes, "The Jetsons" was withdrawn from ABC's prime-time lineup, and Hanna-Barbera ceased production of the series. ABC Shifted "The Jetsons" to its Saturday morning cartoon cavalcade for the '63 season, and the following year the show moved to CBS' Saturday morning schedule. Phew. George and family logged some serious network miles.

    "The Jetsons" stayed with NBC for three years before being dropped by the network, only to be resuscitated in 1971 for a 12-year run through 1983. Amazingly, the same original 24 episodes were being shown over and over again. Until last September, the show could be seen in 80 U.S. markets and 55 countries. Then Worldvision Enterprises, the show's new distributor, decided to pull it from the air waves, gearing up for the fall '85 "Jetsons" assault.

    Work began on the 41 new episodes late last year at a cost of approximately $300,000 per show, says Hanna-Barbera-spokeswoman Sarah Baisley. All of the actors and actresses who provided the voices for the original show have returned to work on the new episodes: George O'Hanlon (George); Penny Singleton (Jane); Janet Waldo (Judy); Daws Butler (Elroy); Don Messick (Astro); and the ubiquitous Mel Blanc (George's boss, Cosmo G. Spacely).

    Most are cartoon voiceover veterans, especially Blanc, who is responsible for the voices of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Roadrunner, Daffy Duck, and a gaggle of other Warner Brothers cartoon characters. Messick has done time as the voice of Bamm-Bamm on "The Flintstones" and as Dr. Benton Quest on "Johnny Quest," while 77-year-old Singleton is best known for her portrayal of Blondie in a slew of '30s and '40s films.

    Hathcock, whose father was an animator on the original show, says that because the actors are now older and their voices may have deepened, some "voice enhancement" could be required in order to match the sound of the old episodes with the sound of the new ones. But he's adamant that the look and attitude of "The Jetsons" be unchanged.

    "The spirit of the show will be the same," Hathcock explains. "It will still be offered as a sit-com. We want it to be true to the original, because there's an audience out there that almost constitutes a 'Jetsons' cult, and they want to see what they remember as 'The Jetsons."

    To that end, the family's new-wavey fashions will remain the same: above-the-knee dresses for Jane; triangular and circular stand-up collars for everyone, and miniskirts with Spandex leggings for Judy. Come to think of it, it's taken 20 years for women's fashions to catch up with Judy.

    Another constant will be Jane's character. Despite the omnipresent women's movement of the past 15 years, Jane will continue to be a space-age June Cleaver. "I think that the family relationship should stay the same," Hathcock says. "We haven't said, 'We have to get Jane a job.' However, we've avoided some of the things that we regard as the more negative aspects of the '50s culture, like 'the little woman.' There was one (original) episode called 'Jane's Driving Lesson.' You can imagine what that was like."

    Ditto for Judy. Says Baisley, "Judy isn't going to study to be a nuclear scientist. She's still going to get crushes on boys and be interested in the latest dance craze."

    The new "Jetsons" will feature one additional character—an interplanetary pet named Orbitty, who joins the family after being discovered by Elroy. Cute and cuddly, Orbitty sports springs for legs and changes color according to its mood. As Astro would say, "Rut-roh."

    Also expect some new gadgetry. The real doozy is a 3-D "holographic" TV. With it, viewer and viewee can jive, signify and flirt with each other as the latter's TV image materializes ghost-like from out of the screen. Outta sight. Then there's the Shapeupizer, a large contraption that whips your body into perfect condition.

    Look too for: the Memominder, a skeletal gizmo which hovers several paces behind you and bleats your daily appointments; the Clothing Vending Machine, which lives up to its name; the Dressing Cone, a vertically oscillating energy ring which attires you in the garb of your choice, and the sublime Judy's Diary, a hovering heart-shaped doo-dad which records Judy's love conquests and heartbreaks.

    Some familiar gadgetry will return, too. For instance, the family's Skypad Apartments will be raised and lowered to escape foul weather; Jane will choose meals from her automat-like "foodarackacycle" and call housekeeping shots with the seeing-eye vacuum cleaner and the voice-operated washing machine; and presumably, George will walk Astro on the pet treadmill—the same machine that trips him during the show's credits.

    The show's theme song—which has been revived and given extensive airplay on Los Angeles radio—will be re-recorded in stereo, and, according to Baisley, an MTV-style video is being created for it with clips from the series.

    Both Hathcock and Baisley are keeping mum on the content of the 41 new shows, although Baisley says that one episode will be a parody of "Love Boat," and Hathcock says another will be a take-off on "A Christmas Carol."

    So who is going to watch "The Jetsons" this time around? "Kids 2 to 11, of course," says John Riggio, Worldvision's director of creative services, "and if we can get women watching and other adults, then fine. Sure it's a kids show, but it also lends itself to adult viewing. After all, it is a sit-com and has broad appeal. You know, "The Jetsons" is mentioned in the Baby Boomer edition of Trivial Pursuit, and we're hoping to capitalize on the whole nostalgia renaissance."

    Baisley also is counting on baby boomers to watch the show. "The second you mention 'The Jetsons' to them" she says laughing, "they start singing the theme song."

That's it for tonight, but before I sign off, I want to recommend you check out the blog, "The Golden Age of Animation." It's only just gotten off the ground, but I'm always willing to shout out a blog, especially as someone who has similarly only gotten started.

Jettisoned Jetsons Projects Part One: Judy and Elroy, All Grown Up

 Jetsons June continues with part one in a series that'll run throughout the month that we'll call "Jettisoned Jetsons Projects". In today's installment, we'll look at the very first attempt to bring the Jetsons back!

As most of you may know, The Jetsons wasn't exactly an instant hit when it premiered back in 1962. The show was canceled after only one season following low ratings, and it remained that way until 1985, when the show was brought back for an additional 51 episodes. That isn't to say Hanna-Barbera didn't try to bring the Jetsons back sooner, however. The first notable attempt to resurrect the show came in 1974, but this wouldn't have been just an ordinary revival. Instead, it would have been a sequel set around a decade after the original series, and follow older versions of Judy and Elroy. At least, that was one version that was being considered. Mark Evanier, who helped develop this pitch, has a fascinating post on his blog that shares some insight on the abandoned series. Hanna-Barbera played around with the idea of replacing Elroy with a love interest for Judy. There was even the idea of retooling this character into the fan-favorite Jet Screamer, who was only featured in one episode of the original show. Astro would've also been along for the ride, and much like Elroy, his character evolved greatly during development. Some ideas played with would have seen Astro become an uncle to a miniature version of himself, who Evanier suggested be named "Tralfaz" in reference to the name Astro's initial owner gave him. Check out the image below to get a taste of what the show could've looked like. Big thanks to Yowp for this image, give his post on the show a look if you want to see some more art from this project.

So, what happened to this show? To put it bluntly, CBS just wasn't interested in more Jetsons. While they loved the idea of a show about teens in outer space, there was a feeling that reruns of the original Jetsons would be just as successful as this sequel show. As a result, the show was retooled into The Partridge Family, 2200 A.D. As you can tell by the image of the show shared below, it's pretty evident that the show did indeed start off as an extension of the Jetsons, rather than an original series. Partridge Family, unfortunately, didn't find much success, only airing for one season before it was canceled.  It wouldn't be until 1981 that the Jetsons would get animated again, and even then, it was little more than the similarly shortlived Astro and the Space Mutts.

Of course, that wasn't the last time the powers that be said no to a Jetsons revival. Next week, I'll discuss not one, but two attempts to bring the Jetsons back to TV screens in the 90s! Before I wrap this up, I also wanna give a shout-out to this great Partridge Family 2200 AD fansite, which was an invaluable asset in conducting research for this piece. If you wanna know more about this rather forgotten series in HB's catalog, look no further!

Video of the Week: The Jetsons Comes to ABC

 Jetsons June has just started, so why don't we head back to the very beginning of the first family of the future? Here's a neat 1962 TV promo highlighting the Jetsons premiere on ABC. All the footage is sourced from the very first episode, and it even features some nice narration from George Jetson himself, played of course by George O'Hanlon. Check it out, and see how the world was introduced to the space-age family!

So, Was George Jetson Actually Born in 2022?

 July 31st, 2022, the day George Jetson was born. At least, that's what the internet seems to believe. If you were active on social media at all during that period, I'm sure you saw at least one meme or news article discussing this. But how true is this really? As someone who finished rewatching the show recently and looked far and wide for any hints of his age within it, I thought I'd break this theory down piece by piece, and see how much of it holds weight.

The theory is simple to explain. Its widely believed that the series took place in 2062, one hundred years after its 1962 debut. In the season one episode "Test Pilot", George is told he could live to 150, which prompts him to say he still has 110 years ahead of him. Clearly, that means George's canonical age is 40, placing his birth year at some point in 2022. Case closed, right?

Well, not exactly. For one, it's never actually stated in The Jetsons that the series takes place in the year 2062. So why do people believe such a thing? I chalk it up to material released outside of the show. Several newspaper ads from before the show began (like the one below, which is sourced from Yowp's wonderful blog) explicitly said it took place in 2062, while others simply said it took place "a century or so into the future." Interestingly enough, Hanna-Barbera put out a greeting card for New Year's 1963 with the Jetsons family featured. In it, they celebrate the arrival of 2063. So while it is never stated in the show that it is set in 2062 (likely a deliberate move to help keep the show timeless), I think it's a safe bet that the show does indeed take place at this point in time.

Unfortunately, the case of George's age is not nearly as simple. While we can infer that George's age is 40 from what we're told in the aforementioned episode, another episode in the series flat-out tells us his age, and it is not 40. In the season two episode "Boy George", after being turned into a child, George tells an officer that he is really 38. Okay, so he's 38, right? That might not be the case, either! One of the bonus features included on the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of the original series is a collection of character bios for each member of the Jetsons family. These include their hobbies, occupations, and of course, their ages. George is listed as "mid-30s", which contradicts both of the previously mentioned ages. I don't know where this was sourced from, but given that the ages of the other characters line up with what we know from the show (for example, Elroy is listed as being 6 1/2 years old, which we know from the first episode), I believe there's got to be some sort of nugget of truth to this.

Lastly, this theory states that George was born on July 31st, and to be completely honest with you all, I have no idea where this comes from. The date holds no significance to the Jetsons in any way whatsoever. No episode premiered on that date, it doesn't factor into the story of an episode, and it doesn't even line up with the actual birthdate of George's voice actor, George O'Hanlon. Could it be that George was born on the 31st of July? Sure, but I see no reason to believe that's any more possible than him being born on any of the other 364 days of the year.

And there you have it. While it looks like the Jetsons did probably take place in 2062, George's actual birth year seems a lot sketchier. Given that two different official sources list him as still being in his thirties though, I think we can safely say he is not 40 years old, and as such, was not born last year. Remember folks, don't always believe what you see on the internet!

Video of the Week: Jetsons Toyota Commercial

 Jetsons June begins today with a new video of the week, something I haven't done in a while! From 1992, here's a commercial featuring the Jetsons family promoting Toyota. The Jetsons have appeared in plenty of TV ads over the years, from Radioshack to Cartoon Network and so on, but I only recently discovered this one. I really dig the animation in this commercial. I, unfortunately, can't find any info on what studio produced it, but I highly doubt it was Hanna-Barbera themselves. Besides that, how often do you see Mr. Cogswell in a TV commercial?