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.