From Scooby-Doo 3 to Jonny Quest: The Unmade Live-Action Hanna-Barbera Flicks

 Following the release of 1994's The Flintstones live-action film, Hollywood got to work doing what it does best: milking something for everything it's worth. Since Flintstones was such a success, the next place to go was to make live-action movies of other Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Many have been in development over the last thirty years, but aside from Scooby and Yogi, they have yet to materialize. So what were some of these canceled live-action Hanna-Barbera movies? Find your seat in the theater, and sit back as we discuss several movies that will not be coming to a theater near you.

The Jetsons

The Flintstones have two live-action films under their belts, but what of their futuristic counterparts, The Jetsons? Believe it or not, The Jetsons had been in the works since 1985, a couple years before The Flintstones even began development. The film continued to be in various stages of development until 2015 when Warner Brothers pulled the plug and elected to make an animated version instead. Over those thirty years, numerous writers and directors bounced around the project. Joe Dante of Gremlins was going to direct it at one point, and there were even rumblings of Stephen Spielberg doing it. I've actually discussed this movie in great detail before (check that post out right here), so I won't dwell on it too much today, but it's kind of funny to see that, even in live-action, The Jetsons seem destined to be outdone by their stone-age ancestors.

Scooby-Doo 3

Intended for a 2006 release date, Scooby-Doo 3 would've been the finale of the live-action Scooby-Doo film series that began in 2002. In the director's chair would've been James Gunn, who wrote the first two flicks, and would go on to helm several films for both Marvel and DC Comics. Had it been made, it would've been his first directing gig in Hollywood. The plotline here revolves around Mystery Inc. visiting a town in Scotland infested by monsters, only to learn that the monsters are the victims of this story. Gunn said in a 2019 interview that the reason the film didn't come to pass is because the second movie simply didn't do well enough to justify another. However, between Gunn's return to WB and the surge of nostalgia surrounding these movies, there might be a chance that this film will happen after all. Maybe.

Hong Kong Phooey

Nope, your eyes are not deceiving you. The image above comes from test footage for a live-action take on Hong Kong Phooey, featuring Eddie Murphy in the title role. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news in 2009 that Warners was looking to bring Hong Kong Phooey to the big screen, and not long after, Alex Zamm was in the director's chair (you may know him for "classics" like Inspector Gadget 2). 2011 saw the announcement that Eddie Murphy would play the character, and after that...nothing! Near the end of 2012, the aforementioned test footage was leaked, and that was pretty much the last we heard of the film. If I had to wager a bet, I'd say the poor critical and box-office reaction to the Yogi Bear film that was released a few years prior played a role in putting this project on ice. If you'd for some reason like to see this footage, check it out here. This was also not the only project the live-action Yogi Bear movie would affect, but we'll get to that later.

Jonny Quest

Out of all the Hanna-Barbera properties, Jonny Quest feels like the obvious choice to turn into a Hollywood mega-franchise. It appeals to people young and old, mixes action and adventure, and has a colorful cast of heroes and villains. But despite numerous attempts over the years, the Quest crew has yet to get the silver screen treatment. The first attempt was by Turner Pictures in the nineties, who wanted Richard Donner (who had been considered for Flintstones years prior) to direct. A script was finished, but the film never happened. Years later, WB revived the project, and it's been in various states of development since. In 2018, Chris McKay, hot off The Lego Batman Movie, was hired to direct. He said a script had been turned in in 2021, and there hasn't been a peep since. Considering WB doesn't seem to be into much at the moment aside from DC adaptations, I doubt this version will manifest. That being said, I don't think it's the last we've heard of this one, either. If you'd like to know more about this one, stay tuned. I've got a post all about it which will be coming this fall!

Johnny Bravo

Swapping out one Johnny for another, there were talks about doing a big-screen version of Johnny Bravo in the early 2000s. Variety announced in late 2002 that WB planned on doing the movie with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the character (funnily enough, The Rock would later on be considered for the role of Race Bannon in one version of Jonny Quest). And that's more or less where the story ends. As far as we know, no writer or director was ever hired for the movie. Why it didn't move forward is anyone's guess as well. Maybe the box-office failure of that year's Powerpuff Girls movie scared WB off from doing more films based on Cartoon Network properties? Or maybe The Rock felt he was too big for this kind of movie? The world may never know!

Yogi Bear 2

Remember when I said the live-action Yogi Bear movie killed plans for other Hanna-Barbera movies? Well, add this one to the body count. Yogi Bear 2 was the planned sequel to the original Yogi Bear released in 2010. For those expecting this would've been a David Lynch film, you'll sadly be disappointed. News broke in late 2012 that the film was in development, with the writers from the first returning to pen this entry, while Jay Chandrasekhar of Super Troopers fame directing. And just like the Johnny Bravo film, apart from that, nothing more was said. Again, seeing as the first movie didn't exactly light the world on fire, it's no surprise that this one didn't happen.

Space Ghost

When you think of Jason Segel, you might think of him as an actor, or as a comedian. But how about a Space Ghost fanboy? In a podcast he did with Deadline last year, Segel mentioned that he's a big fan of Space Ghost, and wrote a script around him in his free time. Nothing he said necessarily indicates the film is in active development, and it's unclear if he was referring to the original series or Coast to Coast, but Space Ghost is another character who could lend himself well to live-action if given the proper time and care. In an age full of so many silver-screen superheroes, it's kind of shocking it took someone this long to give Space Ghost a shot!

And Many More...

Those are the biggest projects I could find information on, but that isn't to say these were the only Hanna-Barbera films ever considered. For example, after the success of the first Scooby-Doo movie, James Gunn was approached to write films for both Jabberjaw and Captain Caveman, though he declined. Considering the sheer amount of characters found in the Hanna-Barbera library, I'm confident there are a lot more out there that we have yet to learn of. Maybe when the day comes when we learn of canned films for Sealab 2020 and Magilla Gorilla, I'll revisit this list. Until then, I'm curious to hear from you guys as to which films you would have liked to have seen made. And no, "none" isn't an answer!