Jonny Quest (TV series)

Development

Comic book artist Doug Wildey joined Hanna-Barbera after working on the 1962 animated series Space Angel. The studio asked him to design a series around the radio adventure character Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy. Wildey created a presentation using magazines like Popular Science and Popular Mechanics to imagine technology ten years in the future, including a snowskimmer and hydrofoils. When Hanna-Barbera couldn't secure the rights to Jack Armstrong, Wildey reworked the concept.

He said he wrote Jonny Quest that same night, drawing from Jackie Cooper and Frankie Darro movies, the comic strip Terry and the Pirates, and, at the studio's request, the James Bond film Dr. No. Producer Joe Barbera wanted elements like "007 numbers," which appeared in the first episode but were later dropped. Wildey said Hanna-Barbera refused him a "created by" credit, settling on "based on an idea created by." The show's working titles included The Saga of Chip Baloo and Quest File 037.

The name Quest came from a phone book, chosen for its adventurous feel. The bulldog Bandit was designed by animator Richard Bickenbach, not Wildey. Scenes from the Jack Armstrong test film, showing the characters escaping African warriors by hovercraft, were used in the Jonny Quest closing credits.

Characters

The five main characters are Jonny Quest, Dr. Benton C. Quest, Roger T. Race Bannon, Hadji, and Bandit. Jonny Quest, voiced by Tim Matheson, is an 11-year-old American boy who lost his mother at an early age. He is intelligent, brave, athletic, and proficient in judo, scuba diving, and handling firearms. Dr. Benton C. Quest, voiced by John Stephenson for five episodes and Don Messick for the remainder, is Jonny's father and a scientific genius who works for the U.S. Government, considered one of the three top scientists in the world.

He has raised Jonny as a single father. Roger T. Race Bannon, voiced by Mike Road, is a special agent from Intelligence One assigned to safeguard Jonny around the clock. He is an expert in judo with a third-degree black belt and is also a pilot. His design was modeled after actor Jeff Chandler. Hadji is Jonny's adoptive brother and companion. Bandit is the family's pet bulldog.

Merchandise

Fans could pick up a PF Flyers code ring featuring a movable wheel, magnifying lens, signal flasher, and hidden compartment. Whitman put out a Jonny Quest coloring book in 1965 with two different cover designs. Milton Bradley made a card game for the U.S. market and licensed it to John Sands Ltd. for Australia, and also issued six puzzle sets split across three age groups. Transogram offered three coloring sets—paint-by-number, crayon-by-number, and pencil-by-number—plus a board game. Kenner sold two versions of its Give-A-Show projector in 1965 with different Jonny Quest slides, and in 1969 released a short-film projector that included a Jonny Quest cartridge. Hanna-Barbera records produced a 28-minute LP audio story, a 7-inch 45 rpm abridgment, and another 45 titled Favorite Songs of Jonny Quest.

Appearances in other programs

The Jonny Quest characters have made numerous crossover appearances in other animated series over the years. Jonny and Hadji appeared as elderly versions of themselves on an episode of I Am Weasel. In Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, the main cast appeared with Dee Bradley Baker voicing Jonny, Neil Ross as Dr. Benton Quest, Thom Pinto as Race Bannon, Wally Wingert as Hadji, and Billy West as Dr. Zin. One episode saw Dr. Zin using a robot double of Race in a custody scheme against Dr. Quest, which Harvey Birdman foiled by revealing Zin was posing as a female court reporter.

Another episode featured Race and Dr. Quest trying to get gay marriage recognized by the Justices League. The Venture Bros., an Adult Swim parody series, has used the original Jonny Quest characters or thinly disguised versions as guests. The Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated episodes "Pawn of Shadows" and "Heart of Evil" included Dr. Benton Quest and Dr. Zin, voiced by Eric Bauza, and Race Bannon, voiced by Christopher Corey Smith, with Dr. Quest tied to Dynomutt's origin and Dr. Zin as an enemy of Blue Falcon.

The 2015 film Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest crossed the cat-and-mouse duo with the Quest team, featuring Reese Hartwig as Jonny, Arnie Pantoja as Hadji, Eric Bauza again as Dr. Quest, Michael Hanks as Race, and James Hong as Dr. Zin, as they stopped an evil cat army. A brief clip from the original series appeared in a scene from the 2018 film Incredibles 2. Dr. Benton Quest had a non-speaking cameo in the end credits of the 2020 film Scoob!, working for Blue Falcon.

In Jellystone!, Jonny and Hadji are adults voiced by Andrew Frankel and Fajer Al-Kaisi, owning a bowling alley called Quest Bowl and depicted as an implicit couple, while Race Bannon appears in the episode "Snowdodio" voiced by Diedrich Bader.